ARMN Aris Mining Corporation

All amounts are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise indicated.

VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 12, 2024 /CNW/ - Aris Mining Corporation (Aris Mining or the Company) (TSX: ARIS) (NYSE-A: ARMN) announces its full financial and operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 (Q3 2024 and YTD 2024, respectively).

Neil Woodyer, CEO of Aris Mining, commented: "In the third quarter of this year we achieved a 9% increase in total gold production over the prior quarter and demonstrated effective cost management at Segovia, as illustrated in Figure 1, with an AISC of $1,540 per ounce sold.  The combination of higher gold prices, increased production, and effective cost control led to a 37% increase in AISC margin at Segovia, reaching $44.1 million compared to $32.2 million in Q2, as shown in Figure 2. Our operational focus remains on generating cash flow while advancing our expansion projects at Segovia and Marmato. Over the past 12 months, we have generated Adjusted EBITDA of $147.2 million.

Following Q3, we refinanced our existing $300 million 6.875% Notes with a new 5-year $450 million 8.000% Notes deal, increasing cash reserves and extending maturity. Our current pro forma cash balance has increased to $266 million following the refinancing and receipt of a stream funding installment, as shown in Figure 3. We are well-positioned and funded to deliver on our growth strategy."

Segovia Operations Review

• AISC margins at the Segovia Operations continued to improve to $44.1 million in Q3 compared to $32.2 million in Q2. The improvement was driven by rising gold prices, increased gold production and lower AISC costs of $1,540 per ounce.
• We operate our own mines and collaborate with community-based mining partners, referred to as Contract Mining Partners (CMPs), to increase our total gold production. Some partners work within our infrastructure, while others manage their own mining operations on our tenements. In addition, we purchase high grade mill feed from third-party contractors operating off-title, which further optimizes production and increases operating margins.
• Cash costs for Owner Mining and On-Title CMPs were $1,145 per ounce, representing a 5% improvement over Q2 2024. This cost reduction was driven by increased production, partially offset by a rise in realized gold prices which negatively impacted the cost of CMP-purchased mill feed.
• Similarly, purchase and processing costs for high grade mill feed delivered by off-title CMPs increased in Q3 to $1,834 per ounce from $1,790 per ounce in Q2. The increase reflects higher realized gold prices, partially offset by lower average grades of 28.5 g/t Au compared to 29.1 g/t Au in Q2.
• The Third-Party off-title CMP segment of our business maintained a strong sales margin of $4.9 million in Q3 2024, up from $3.8 million in Q2 2024.

Segovia Expansion Project

• As announced in Q4 2023, the Segovia expansion project aims to increase processing capacity from 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes per day and is progressing as scheduled.
• Phase 1 of the Segovia expansion is complete with the newly expanded receiving area for our CMPs fully commissioned and handed over to operations. The new facility began processing material in October 2024.
• Phase 2, which involves installing a second ball mill in the former contractor receiving area, is underway and scheduled for completion in Q1 2025, followed by a ramp-up period to reach a production rate of 3,000 tpd in the second half of 2025. The new ball mill is expected to increase throughput and gold production by enabling finer grinding and process efficiency.
• The total cost of the expansion project is estimated at $15 million, with $8 million spent as of September 30, 2024.

Marmato Lower Mine Expansion

• Aris Mining commenced construction of the new Marmato Lower Mine in Q3 2023 following the receipt of environmental permits in July 2023. The Lower Mine will access wider porphyry mineralization below the Upper Mine, with both mines estimated to produce a combined 162,000 ounces of gold per year over a 20-year mine life.²
• The site access road and portal face were completed in Q3 2024 and the contractor is preparing to initiate work on the twin declines. Both the semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) and ball mill fabrication are progressing on schedule for completion before the end of 2024.
• As of the end of September 2024, the estimated cost to complete the Lower Mine construction was $235 million, of which $122 million will be funded by existing stream financing commitments; resulting in $113 million of cost to complete on a net basis. On November 6, 2024, Aris Mining received the first $40 million milestone payment under its streaming agreement. Further payments of $40 million and $42 million are expected to be received upon reaching the 50% and 75% construction spend milestones, respectively, next year.

Aris Mining's condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and related MD&A are available on SEDAR+, in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and in the Financials section of Aris Mining's website here. Hard copies of the interim financial statements are available free of charge by written request to info@aris-mining.com.

Q3 2024 Conference Call Details

Management will host a conference call on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, at 9:00 am ET/6:00 am PT to discuss the results. The call will be webcast and can be accessed at Webcast | Q3 2024 Results Conference Call (choruscall.com).

Participants may gain expedited access to the conference call by registering at Diamond Pass Registration (dpregister.com). Upon registering, call in details will be displayed on screen which can be used to bypass the operator and avoid the call queue. Registration will remain open until the end of the live conference call.

Participants who prefer to dial-in and speak with a live operator, can access the call by dialing:

• Toll-free North America: +1-844-763-8274
• International: +1-647-484-8814

After the call, an audio recording will be available via telephone until end of day November 20, 2024. The recording can be accessed by dialing:

• Toll-free in the US and Canada: +1-855-669-9658
• International: +1-412-317-0088; and using the access code: 9996142

A replay of the event will be archived at Events & Presentations - Aris Mining Corporation.

About Aris Mining

Aris Mining is a gold producer in Latin America, currently operating two mines with expansions underway in Colombia. The Segovia Operations and the Marmato Upper Mine produced 226,000 ounces of gold in 2023. Aris Mining is targeting a production rate of approximately 500,000 ounces of gold per year in the second half of 2026, following a ramp-up period after the Segovia mill expansion scheduled for completion in Q1 2025 and the Marmato Lower Mine's first gold pour in late 2025. Aris Mining also operates the 51% owned Soto Norte joint venture, where studies are underway on a new, smaller scale development plan, with results expected in early 2025. In Guyana, Aris Mining is advancing Toroparu, a gold/copper project. Aris Mining intends to pursue acquisitions and other growth opportunities to unlock value through scale and diversification.

Aris Mining promotes the formalization of small-scale mining units into contract mining partners as this process enables all miners to operate in a legal, safe and responsible manner that protects them and the environment.

Additional information on Aris Mining can be found at www.aris-mining.com, www.sedarplus.ca, and on www.sec.gov.

Cautionary Language

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Free cash flow, cash costs ($ per oz sold), AISC ($ per oz sold), EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted (loss)/earning, sustaining capital and expenditures on growth capital are non-GAAP financial measures and non-GAAP ratios. These measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS or by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States, and therefore may not be comparable to other issuers. For full details on these measures and ratios refer to the "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section of the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 (MD&A). The MD&A is incorporated by reference into this news release and is available at www.aris-mining.com, on the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and in its filings with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

The tables below reconcile the non-GAAP financial measures contained in this news release for the current and comparative periods to the most directly comparable financial measure disclosed in the Company's Q3 2024 interim financial statements.

Cash costs per ounce

Reconciliation of total cash costs by business unit at the Segovia Operations to the cash costs as disclosed above.

Cash costs per ounce

All-in sustaining costs (AISC)

Reconciliation of total AISC by business unit at the Segovia Operations to the AISC as disclosed above.

All-in sustaining costs (AISC)

Additions to mineral interests, plant and equipment

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted net earnings and adjusted net earnings per share

Qualified Person and Technical Information 

Pamela De Mark, P.Geo., Senior Vice President Geology and Exploration of Aris Mining, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101), and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Unless otherwise indicated, the scientific disclosure and technical information included in this news release is based upon information included in the NI 43-101 compliant technical report entitled "Technical Report for the Marmato Gold Mine, Caldas Department, Colombia, Pre-Feasibility Study of the Lower Mine Expansion Project" dated November 23, 2022 with an effective date of September 30, 2022 (the "2022 Marmato Pre-Feasibility Study). The 2022 Marmato Pre-Feasibility Study was prepared by Ben Parsons, MAusIMM (CP), Anton Chan, Peng, Brian Prosser, PE, Joanna Poeck, SME-RM, Eric J. Olin, SME-RM, MAusIMM, Fredy Henriquez, SME, ISRM, David Hoekstra, PE, NCEES, SME-RM, Mark Allan Willow, CEM, SME-RM, Vladimir Ugorets, MMSA, Colleen Crystal, PE, GE, Kevin Gunesch, PE, Tommaso Roberto Raponi, P.Eng, David Bird, PG, SME-RM, and Pamela De Mark, P.Geo., each of whom is a "Qualified Person" as such term is defined in NI 43-101, and with the exception of Pamela De Mark of Aris Mining, are independent of the Company within the meaning of NI 43-101.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" or forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements relating to the operational focus of management of the Company and expected growth strategy, the Segovia expansion project increasing processing capacity from 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes per day and the timing and projected cost thereof, the timing, implementation, projected costs and potential benefit of Phase 2 at Segovia, the timing, projected costs and potential benefit of the Marmato Lower Mine expansion project, receipt of payments under existing streaming agreements, the Company's targeted annual production rate, the development and expansion of the Soto Norte and Toroparu projects and the timing thereof and the projected benefits of the formalization of small-scale mining units into contract mining partners are forward-looking. Generally, the forward-looking information and forward looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "will continue" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". The material factors or assumptions used to develop forward looking information or statements are disclosed throughout this news release.

Forward looking information and forward looking statements, while based on management's best estimates and assumptions, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Aris Mining to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or forward looking statements, including but not limited to those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Aris Mining's annual information form dated March 6, 2024 which is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and in the Company's filings with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

Although Aris Mining has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information or statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information or statements. The Company has and continues to disclose in its Management's Discussion and Analysis and other publicly filed documents, changes to material factors or assumptions underlying the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements and to the validity of the information, in the period the changes occur. The forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are made as of the date hereof and Aris Mining disclaims any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information.

This news release contains information that may constitute future-orientated financial information or financial outlook information (collectively, FOFI) about the Company's prospective financial performance, financial position or cash flows, all of which is subject to the same assumptions, risk factors, limitations and qualifications as set forth above. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise or inaccurate and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on FOFI. The Company's actual results, performance and achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, FOFI. The Company has included FOFI in order to provide readers with a more complete perspective on the Company's future operations and management's current expectations relating to the Company's future performance. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. FOFI contained herein was made as of the date of this news release. Unless required by applicable laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any FOFI statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Aris Mining Corporation