Iamgold Announces GOLD Prepay Arrangements to Defer GOLD Deliveries from the First Quarter of 2024
NEWS RELEASE TSX: IMG NYSE: IAG
IAMGOLD ANNOUNCES GOLD PREPAY ARRANGEMENTS TO DEFER GOLD
DELIVERIES FROM THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2024
All monetary amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise indicated.
Toronto, Ontario, December 18, 2023 – IAMGOLD Corporation (NYSE:IAG, TSX:IMG) (“IAMGOLD” or the “Company”)
is pleased to announce that it has entered into a forward gold sale arrangement (“2025 Q1 Prepay Arrangement”) and a
partial amendment to one of its existing gold prepay arrangements (“Deferral Prepay Arrangement ”, together the
“Arrangements”). The net result of these Arrangements is the effective transition of current gold delivery obligations out of
the first quarter of 2024 into the following year, increasing cashflow in Q1 2024 by approximately $72. 5 million assuming
current gold prices.
“These arrangements take advantage of positive market rates while ensuring the prudent management of IAMGOLD’s
balance sheet during a key juncture for the Company,” said Renaud Adams, President and CEO of IAMGOLD. “The Côté
Gold project is advancing rapidly towards initial production in March 2024 followed by the ramp up of operations through
the year. Under the terms of the prior prepay arrangements, IAMGOLD was contracted to deliver 37,500 ounces of gold in
the first quarter of 2024 at a time when Côté Gold is starting up, thereby weighing the deliveries heavily on Essakane and
Westwood. Pushing these deliveries into the first quarter of 2025 improves the flexibility for the Company for a reasonable
cost at favourable forward gold prices. Our primary goal and focus continues to be on managing the steady ramp up of Côté
Gold towards its design capacity by the end of the year – at which point the mine will be the third largest gold mine in
Canada.”
Under the 2025 Q1 Prepay Arrangement, the Company will receive a prepayment amount of $59.9 million during Q1 2024
in exchange for delivering 31,250 ounces in the first quarter of 2025. The Deferral Prepay Arrangement allows for the
deferral of 6,250 ounce s that were previously scheduled for delivery in Q1 2024 under the existing gold prepay
arrangements entered into in 2022 (the “2022 Prepay Arrangements”) to now be delivered in Q1 2025. The Arrangements
are supported by the Company’s syndicate of banks under its revolving credit facility.
Key terms of the 2025 Q1 Prepay Arrangement are as follows:
• Funding of $59.9 million is provided to IAMGOLD at an effective gold price of $1,916 per ounce and paid equally
in three monthly increments in the first quarter of 2024 for physical delivery of 31,250 ounces of gold over the period
of January 2025 to March 2025.
• Delivery can be made from the production of gold from any of IAMGOLD's operating mines.
Key terms of the Deferral Prepay Arrangement are as follows:
• Deferral of the delivery of 6,250 ounces from Q1 2024 under the 2022 Prepay Arrangements to Q1 2025 . The
ounces that are deferred were previously funded at a price of $1,753 per ounce.
• The Company will make a cash payment of $0.5 million in total at the time of delivery in Q1 2024 in consideration
for the deferral.
• Delivery can be made from the production of gold from any of IAMGOLD's operating mines.
During 2021, the Company entered the 2022 Prepay Arrangements in respect of 150,000 gold ounces. These arrangements
had an average forward contract pre-funded price of $1,753 per ounce on 50,000 gold ounces and a collar range of $1,700
to $2,100 per ounce on the remaining 100,000 gold ounces. The Company received $236.0 million in 2022 and, prior to the
Deferral Prepay Arrangement, was to physically deliver the 150,000 ounces in equal monthly increments of 12,500 ounces
over the course of 2024.
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About IAMGOLD
IAMGOLD is an intermediate gold producer and developer based in Canada with operating mines in North America and
West Africa. The Company is building the large -scale, long life Côté Gold project in Canada in partnership with Sumitomo
Metal Mining Co. Ltd., which is expected to commence production in early 2024. In addition, the Company has an
established portfolio of early stage and advanced exploration projects within high potential mining districts in Canada.
IAMGOLD employs approximately 3,600 people and is committed to maintaining its culture of accountable mining through
high standards of Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") practices, including its commitment to Zero Harm®, in
every aspect of its business. IAMGOLD is listed on the New York Stoc k Exchange (NYSE:IAG) and the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSX:IMG) and is one of the companies on the Jantzi Social Index (“JSI”), a socially screened market
capitalization-weighted consisting of companies which pass a set of broadly based environmental, socia l and governance
rating criteria.
IAMGOLD Contact Information
Graeme Jennings, Vice President, Investor Relations
Tel: 416 360 4743 | Mobile: 416 388 6883
Toll-free: 1 888 464 9999
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
All information included in this news release, including any information as to the Company’s future financial or operating performance and
other statements that express management’s expectations or estimates of future performance, including statements in respect o f the
prospects and/or development of the Company’s projects, other than statements of historical fact, constitutes forward-looking information
or forward -looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively referred to herein as “forward -looking
statements”) and such forward -looking statements are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this news
release. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of words such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “continue”, “expect”,
“budget”, “aim”, “can”, “focus”, “forecast”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “believe”, “intend”, “plan”, “schedule”, “guidance”, “outlook”, “potential”,
“seek”, “targets”, “cover”, “strategy”, “during”, “ongoing”, “subject to”, “future”, “objectives”, “opportunities”, “committed”, “prospective”, or
“project” or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. For example, forward -looking
statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements with respect to: payments, gold production, delivery amounts and
dates underlying the Arrangements and 2022 Prepay Arrangements; the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources and the
realization of such estimates; operational and financial performance including the Company’s guidance for and actual results of production,
costs and capital and other expenditures such as exploration and including depreciation expense and effective tax rate; the e xpected
costs and schedule to complete construction and commence operations of the Côté Gold project; the scale, updated life-of-mine plan,
ramp up assumptions and other project metrics including operating costs in respect to the Côté Gold project; expected benefit s from the
operational improvements and de-risking strategies implemented or to be implemented by the Company; mine development activities; the
Company's capital allocation; the composition of the Company’s portfolio of assets including its operating mines, development and
exploration projects the future price of gold and other commodities; foreign exchange rates and currency fluctuations; impair ment
assessments and assets carrying values estimates.
The Company cautions the reader that forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions
that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, financial, operational and o ther risks,
uncertainties, contingencies and other factors, including those described below, which could cause actual results, performanc e or
achievements of the Company to be materially different from results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-
looking statements and, as such, undue reliance must not be placed on them. Forward -looking statements are also based on numerous
material factors and assumptions, including as described in this news release, including with respect to: the Company's present and future
business strategies; operations performance within expected ranges; anticipated future production and cash flows; local and g lobal
economic conditions and the environment in which the Company wi ll operate in the future; the p rice of precious metals, other minerals
and key commodities; projected mineral grades; international exchanges rates; anticipated capital and operating costs; the availability and
timing of required governmental and other approvals for the construction of the Company's projects.
Risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be
materially different from results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, without
limitation: the ability of the Company to successfully complete the construction of Côté Gold and commence commercial production from
the mine; the ability of the Company to complete the sales of the remaining Bambouk assets; the Company's business strategies and its
ability to execute thereon; security risks, including civil unrest, war or terrorism and disruptions to the Company’s supply chain as a result
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of such security risks, particularly in Burkina Faso and the Sahel region surrounding the Company’s Essakane mine; the ongoing impacts
of COVID-19 (and its variants) on the Company and its workforce; the availability of labour and qualified contractors; the availability of key
inputs for the Company's operations and disruptions in global supply chains; the volatility of the Company's securities; litigation; contests
over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; mine closure and reh abilitation risks; management of certain of the
Company's assets by other companies or joint venture partners; the lack of availability of insurance covering all of the risk s associated
with a mining company's operations; unexpected geological conditions; competition and consolidation in the mining sector; the profitability
of the Company being highly dependent on the condition and results of the mining industry as a whole, and the gold mining ind ustry in
particular; changes in the global prices for gold, a nd commodities used in the operation of the Company's business (such as diesel and
electricity); legal, litigation, legislative, political or economic risks and new developments in the jurisdictions in which the Company carries
on business; changes in taxe s, including mining tax regimes; the failure to obtain in a timely manner from authorities key permits,
authorizations or approvals necessary for exploration, development or operation, operating or technical difficulties in conne ction with
mining or development activities, including geotechnical difficulties and major equipment failure; the inability of the Company to participate
in any gold price increase above the cap in any collar transaction entered into in conjunction with certain gold sale prepaym ent
arrangements; the availability of capital; the level of liquidity and capital resources; access to capital markets and financing; the Company's
level of indebtedness; the Company's ability to satisfy covenants under its credit facilities; changes in intere st rates; adverse changes in
the Company’s credit rating; the Company's choices in capital allocation; effectiveness of the Company's ongoing cost containment efforts;
the Company's ability to execute on de -risking activities and measures to improve operat ions; availability of specific assets to meet
contractual obligations; risks related to third-party contractors, including reduced control over aspects of the Company's operations and/or
the failure and/or the effectiveness of contractors to perform; risks arising from holding derivative instruments; changes in U.S. dollar and
other currency exchange rates or gold lease rates; capital and currency controls in foreign jurisdictions; assessment of carrying values for
the Company’s assets, including the ongoing potential for material impairment and/or write-downs of such assets; the speculative nature
of exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; the fact that reserves a nd resources,
expected metallurgical recoveries, capital and operating costs are estimates which may require revision; the presence of unfavourable
content in ore deposits, including clay and coarse gold; inaccuracies in life of mine plans; failure to meet operational targ ets; equipment
malfunctions; information systems security threats and cybersecurity; laws and regulations governing the protection of the environ ment;
employee relations and labour disputes; the maintenance of tailings storage facilities and the potential for a major spill or failure of the
tailings facilities due to uncontrollable events, lack of reliable infrastructure, including access to roads, bridges, power sources and water
supplies; physical and regulatory risks related to climate change; unpredictable weather patterns and challenging weather conditions at
mine sites; disruptions from weather related events resulting in limited or no productivity such as forest fires, flooding, heavy snowfall,
poor air quality, and extreme heat or cold; attraction and retention of key e mployees and other qualified personnel; availability and
increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour, negotiations with respect to new, reasonable collective labour agreements may
not be agreed to; the ability of contractors to timely complete projects on acceptable term s; the relationship with the communities
surrounding the Company's operations and projects; indigenous rights or claims; illegal mining; the potential direct or indirect operational
impacts resulting from external factors, including infectious diseases, pa ndemics, or other public health emergencies; and the inherent
risks involved in the exploration, development and mining business generally. Please see the Company’s AIF or Form 40 -F available on
www.sedarplus.ca or www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml for a comprehensive discussion of the risks faced by the Company and which may cause
actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from results, performance or achievemen ts
expressed or implied by forward-looking statements.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained
in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward -looking statements whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise except as required by applicable law.
All material information on IAMGOLD can be found at www.sedarplus.ca or at www.sec.gov.
Si vous désirez obtenir la version française de ce communiqué, veuillez consulter le www.iamgold.com/French/accueil/default.aspx.