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ALPHAMIN RESOURCES CORPORATION - Alphamin announces record Q1 2021 EBITDA of US$36,5m / Growth initiatives update / changes to board

Release Date: 07/05/2021 16:20
Code(s): APH     PDF:  
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Alphamin announces record Q1 2021 EBITDA of US$36,5m / Growth initiatives update / changes to board

Alphamin Resources Corp.
Continued in the Republic of Mauritius
Date of incorporation: 12 August 1981
Corporation number: C125884 C1/GBL
TSX-V share code: AFM
JSE share code: APH
ISIN: MU0456S00006
(“Alphamin” or the “Company”)

        ALPHAMIN ANNOUNCES RECORD Q1 2021 EBITDA OF US$36,5M/ GROWTH
                    INITIATIVES UPDATE/ CHANGES TO BOARD

MAURITIUS – May 7, 2021 – Alphamin Resources Corp. (AFM:TSXV, APH:JSE AltX,
“Alphamin” or the “Company”), a producer of 4% of the world’s mined tin1 from its high grade
operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is pleased to provide the following operational
and financial update for the quarter ended March 2021:

- Record Q1 EBITDA of $36,5m, at a tin price of $23,083/t (Current: ~$29,000/t);
- Tin sales of 3,351 tons, up 45% from the previous quarter;
- Main Zone mineralisation intercepted at Mpama South, based on visual inspection and
  interpretation, is comparable to the Resource mined at the high grade Mpama North Mine;
- New parallel mineralisation zone discovered in the footwall of the Main Zone at Mpama
  South;
- Mpama North deeps drilling to commence May 2021 (previously August 2021)
- Fine tin recovery plant on schedule for commissioning during June 2021

Operational and Financial Summary for the Quarter ended March 20212

    Description                               Units                              Actual
                                                             Quarter            Quarter
                                                               ended              ended
                                                               March           December
                                                                2021               2020          Variance
    Tons Processed                             Tons           93 997             93 560                0%
    Tin Grade Processed                        % Sn              3,8                4,2               -9%
    Overall Plant Recovery                        %               74                 74                0%
    Contained Tin Produced                     Tons            2 611              2 898              -10%
    Contained Tin Sold                         Tons            3 351              2 306               45%
    EBITDA                                  US$'000           36 453             16 748              118%
    AISC per ton tin sold                     US$/t           12 162             11 384                7%
    Tin Price Achieved                        US$/t           23 083             18 497               25%
___________________________________________________________________________________
1
 Data obtained from International Tin Association Tin Industry Review 2020 2 Production information is disclosed on a 100% basis. Alphamin
indirectly owns 84.14% of its operating subsidiary to which the information relates.

Operational and Financial Performance

Contained tin sales of 3,351 tons was 45% higher than the previous quarter as we recouped
the sales shortfall of Q4 2020. Contained tin production of 2,611 tons was impacted by a lower
feed grade of 3.8% Sn compared to 4.2% Sn the previous quarter. Tin feed grades are variable
between quarters but on average trend close to the targeted 4% Sn Reserve Grade over a
rolling 12-month period. The processing plant performed well at an average recovery of 74%
whilst treating more material than the previous quarter.

EBITDA of $36,5m for Q1 2021 is 118% above the previous quarter due to increased sales
volumes benefiting from a 25% higher tin price. Tin prices are currently trading at around
$29,000/t, some 26% above prices achieved during Q1 2021.

AISC per ton of contained tin sold increased 7% to $12,162 from the previous quarter. AISC
includes government royalties, export fees, product marketing commissions and smelter
deductors all of which are directly linked to the tin price. As a consequence, the AISC increase
is a direct result of the higher tin price achieved during Q1 2021. On average, 15%-20% of the
tin price increase feeds to our AISC.

Alphamin’s unaudited consolidated financial statements and accompanying Management’s
Discussion and Analysis for the quarter ended 31 March 2021 have been filed and are
available under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com.

Production and AISC Guidance for the quarter ending June 20213

We expect contained tin production and sales of approximately 2,700 tons for the quarter
ending June 2021.

Covid-19 Pandemic and Impact on Operations:

The health of our employees is of paramount importance and in this regard the Company has
a range of Covid-19 awareness, prevention and other risk mitigation controls in place.

To date, the Company has been able to continue with normal production and concentrate sales
activities and has not been negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Growth Initiatives

Fine Tin Recovery Plant (FTP) - The FTP is on schedule for full commissioning during June
2021. Estimated expenditure at completion is substantially in line with the budget of US$4.6
million. The FTP has the potential to increase contained tin production by 5%-10% effective
July 2021.

__________________________________________________________________________
3
 Production and sales guidance is based on certain estimates and assumptions, including but not limited to: quantity of material processed, tin
grades of processed material and processing recoveries, truck availabilities for tin sales and assumes mining operations will continue to be
conducted in the same manner as the previous quarter and will not be further impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Exploration Activities - Alphamin’s exploration initiative aims to: extend the life-of-mine at its
currently producing Mpama North operation; to declare a Maiden Mineral Resource for Mpama
South (located 750 metres south of Mpama North); and to discover at least one additional
orebody on the highly prospective Bisie Ridge (13km strike length). In that regard, Alphamin
plans to allocate significant drilling metres to each of these three objectives during 2021 as
follows:

   1. Mpama South – between 8,000 and 14,000 metres drilling which, if successful, would
      allow Alphamin to declare a Maiden Mineral Resource towards the end of 2021 to be
      followed by a conceptual mining study, infill drilling and further step-out drilling to
      determine the extent of mineralisation;
   2. Mpama North – an initial 12,000 to 18,000 metre drilling campaign is planned to test
      the strike and dip extension of the current producing orebody, below 400m in depth
      from the mine portal. Commencement of drilling is targeted for May 2021 (previously
      August 2021);
   3. Two drill targets 6-8km south of Mpama North have been identified along the Bisie
      Ridge. A tightly spaced geochemical soil sampling program is underway and more
      accurate drill targets will be identified by the outcomes of this program in Q3 2021.

Drilling at the Mpama South deposit of 8,200m metres has already been completed with an
additional 5,800 metres planned to be drilled between May and end July 2021 with the goal of
declaring an initial maiden resource towards the end of 2021. As previously reported, all
samples from drilling will be exported for assay by accredited 3rd party off-site laboratories.
Assay results from the first two batches of export samples totalling 13 of the 25 drillholes drilled
in phase 1, are expected in early May 2021 with another 7 drillhole results from batch 3
expected towards end May 2021. All holes completed have shown visual mineralisation,
supporting continuity of the Main Zone system, while several exceptional intercepts
comparable to the thick veins and brecciated zones of cassiterite existing at Mpama North
were also observed. In addition, a new zone of mineralisation was discovered in the footwall
which appears continuous and highly mineralised.

Changes to Board

Mr. Douglas Strong has resigned as a director of the Company and, subject to regulatory
approval, Mr. Brendan Lynch has been appointed to fill the vacancy created by Mr. Strong’s
resignation. The Company would like to thank Mr. Strong for his contributions to Alphamin
during his tenure on the board. Mr. Lynch is a non-executive independent director (previously
CFO) of the Gerald Metals Group and registered as a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Qualified Person

Mr Vaughn Duke Pr.Eng. PMP, MBA, B.Sc. Mining Engineering (Hons.), is a qualified person
(QP) as defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific
and technical information contained in this news release. He is a Principal Consultant, Partner
and Director of Sound Mining Solutions, an independent technical consultant to the Company.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Maritz Smith
CEO
Alphamin Resources Corp.
Tel: +230 269 4166
E-mail: msmith@alphaminresources.com

The results for Q1 2021 are available on the JSE’s website at the following link :
https://senspdf.jse.co.za/documents/2021/jse/isse/aphe/q12021.pdf.

JSE Sponsor
Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking, a division of Nedbank Limited

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Information in this news release that is not a statement of historical fact constitutes forward-
looking information. Forward-looking statements contained herein include, without limitation,
statements relating to anticipated mining, processing and production and sales volumes, timing
and cost of completion of the Company’s fine tin recovery plant and its impact on production,
the timing and success of additional exploration drilling, and road conditions for the export of
tin produced. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to
be reasonable at the time such statements are made. There can be no assurance that such
statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially
from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements. Although Alphamin 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. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected
results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: uncertainties
associated with Alphamin’s resource and reserve estimates, uncertainties regarding estimates
of the expected mined tin grades, processing plant performance and recoveries, uncertainties
regarding global supply and demand for tin and market and sales prices, uncertainties with
respect to social, community and environmental impacts, uninterupted access to required
infrastructure, adverse political events, impacts of the global Covid-19 pandemic on mining
operations and commodity prices as well as those risk factors set out in the Company’s
Management Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure documents available under the
Company’s profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made
as of the date of this news release and Alphamin disclaims any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or
otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined
in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this news release.

USE OF NON-IFRS FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES
This announcement refers to the following non-IFRS financial performance measures:
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) and All-In
Sustaining Cost (“AISC”).
These measures are not recognized under IFRS as they do not have any standardized
meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures
presented by other issuers. We use these measures internally to evaluate the underlying
operating performance of the Company for the reporting periods presented. The use of these
measures enables us to assess performance trends and to evaluate the results of the
underlying business of the Company. We understand that certain investors, and others who
follow the Company’s performance, also assess performance in this way.
We believe that these measures reflect our performance and are useful indicators of our
expected performance in future periods. This data is intended to provide additional information
and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance
prepared in accordance with IFRS.

EBITDA

EBITDA provides insight into our overall business performance (a combination of cost
management and growth) and is the corresponding flow drivers towards the objective of
achieving industry-leading returns. This measure assists readers in understanding the ongoing
cash generating potential of the business including liquidity to fund working capital, servicing
debt, and funding capital expenditures and investment opportunities. EBITDA is profit before
net finance expense, income taxes and depreciation, depletion, and amortization.

Cash Costs

This measures the cash costs to produce a ton of payable tin. This measure includes mine
operating production expenses such as mining, processing, administration, indirect charges
(including surface maintenance and camp and tailings dam construction costs), smelting costs
and deductions, refining and freight, distribution, royalties and product marketing fees. Cash
Costs do not include depreciation, depletion, and amortization, reclamation expenses, capital
sustaining, borrowing costs and exploration expenses.

AISC

This measures the cash costs to produce a ton of payable tin plus the capital sustaining costs
to maintain the mine, processing plant and infrastructure. This measure includes the Cash
Cost per ton and capital sustaining costs less concentrate stock movement divided by tons of
payable tin sold. All-In Sustaining Cost per ton does not include depreciation, depletion, and
amortization, reclamation, borrowing costs and exploration expenses.

Sustaining capital expenditures are defined as those expenditures which do not increase
payable mineral production at a mine site and excludes all expenditures at the Company’s
projects and certain expenditures at the Company’s operating sites which are deemed
expansionary in nature.

Date: 07-05-2021 04:20:00
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