TORONTO, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- YAMANA GOLD INC. (TSX:YRI; NYSE:AUY; LSE:AUY) (“Yamana” or the “Company”) herein provides its updated mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates as at December 31, 2021 in support of its upcoming guidance and longer term outlook which will show sustainable and increasing production growth. The Company will release its guidance and longer term outlook along with its fourth quarter and full year 2021 operational and financial results after market close on Thursday, February 17, 2022.

HIGHLIGHTS

Track Record of Mineral Reserves Replacement: The Company replaced gold mineral reserves at each of its wholly-owned operations and by 130% of depletion highlighting the sustainability and longevity of its mines.
Another Year of Mineral Reserve Growth at Jacobina: Jacobina had another year of mineral reserve and mineral resource growth, adding 324,000 ounces of gold mineral reserves, a 5% year-over-year increase above depletion. Gold mineral reserves have grown by 55% or more than 1 million ounces net of depletion over the past four years to 2.94 million ounces and mineral resources have increased by 69% over the same period. The track record of growth in mineral reserves and mineral resources at Jacobina underpins its significant prospectivity and geological upside, which supports the planned phased expansion strategy that is expected to materially increase production and cash flows, generating strong returns on investment.
Mineral Resource Growth Continues at Odyssey: At Odyssey, mineral resources continue to grow as a result of ongoing exploration drilling, with 2.35 million ounces of indicated gold mineral resources and 13.15 million ounces of inferred gold mineral resources (100% basis) reported at year-end. At East Gouldie, drilling added 82 new pierce points in the mineralized zones, confirming estimated grades and widths and resulting in the first gold indicated mineral resources for the deposit of 1.5 million ounces (100% basis). The ongoing infill drilling program continues to increase the inventory of indicated mineral resources to support the planned conversion of mineral resources to mineral reserves.
Fourth Consecutive Year of Increasing Mineral Reserves at El Peñón: El Peñón achieved a fourth consecutive year of adding mineral reserves in excess of depletion, with mineral reserves growing 23% to 1.3 million gold equivalent ounces (“GEO”)(1) over that period. Mineral reserves added in 2021 were higher grade and increased the average gold and silver mineral reserves grades by 3%. The significance of the result is the continued extension of the El Peñón mine life at a production rate of 220,000 to 230,000 GEO(1) per year, while replacement of mineral resources provides an inventory for future mineral reserves development.
Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource Growth at Cerro Moro: Cerro Moro successfully replaced depletion of mineral reserves on a GEO(1) basis, largely as a result of the expansion of high grade veins at the main ore bodies of Zoe, Martina, and Naty, which remain open at depth. The significance of the result is that it extends the mine life of Cerro Moro at a base production rate of 150,000 to 165,000 GEO(1) and establishes what the Company expects to be an ongoing trend of mineral reserve and mineral resource growth, similar to the mineral reserve replacement cycle established at the Company’s more mature operations.
Company-wide Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources Show Significant Scale: As at December 31, 2021, the Company reports 13.7 million ounces of gold mineral reserves and 111 million ounces of silver mineral reserves, relatively unchanged from the prior year. Further, largely consistent with the prior year, the Company reports measured and indicated mineral resources of 14.5 million ounces of gold, 51 million ounces of silver, and 1.4 billion pounds of copper exclusive of mineral reserves and inferred mineral resources of 15.5 million ounces of gold, 63 million ounces of silver, and 2.13 billion pounds of copper. At the Company's development projects mineral reserves of 7.1 million ounces of gold, 57 million ounces of silver, and 6.7 billion pounds of copper represent significant upside potential within the existing portfolio.
5-YEAR TRACK RECORD OF MINERAL RESERVES AND MINERAL RESOURCES GROWTH

Yamana has attempted to differentiate itself over the last several years by replacing depletion of mineral reserves and has been mostly successful at such differentiation. The result of which is that when looked at over several years, there has been a very significant increase of mineral reserves and corresponding extension of mine lives. This differentiation is expected to continue in the next several years and in most cases, the discovery of new inferred mineral resources at existing mines already represents an excellent source of future proven and probable mineral reserves. Characterized by large land packages in prospective geological districts, Yamana’s operations continue to demonstrate the ability to add value through drilling which, at a minimum, ensures sustainability of mine lives at current production rates. This also, creates opportunities to increase production and ultimately increase free cash flow generation. In recent years, results have exceeded expectations with operations not only replacing depletion but also increasing mineral reserves, mineral resources, and the pipeline of exploration targets for future conversion.

Figure 1: Progression of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources at Operating Mines and Wasamac
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(i) Gold Equivalent Ounces (GEO) calculated using mineral reserves metal price assumptions of $1,250 per ounce of gold and $18 per ounce of silver, and gold and silver metallurgical recoveries on a site-by-site basis.

Last year is a continuation of the Company’s track record of successful brownfield exploration strategy, highlighted by the significant growth in mineral reserves and mineral resources within the five existing operations over the past five years. The acquisition, and subsequent optimization, of the Wasamac project in 2021 further enhances this growth profile.

Over the past five years, total gold equivalent mineral reserves and mineral resources at the five operating mines have increased by 32%, net of the 4.6 million GEO(1) produced by the operations over that period. This brownfield exploration success extends the lives of the existing operations and presents opportunities for growth within the portfolio. As a result, the Company is able to add value through the drill bit, at a low cost per ounce, with low risk and with minimal disturbance to the environment.

With the addition of Wasamac, the mineral reserves and mineral resources growth rate increases to 45% over five years. Wasamac, a small-footprint underground project located 100 kilometres from Canadian Malartic, is already showing the exploration potential to replicate the mineral reserves and mineral resources replacement cycle demonstrated at the Company’s operating mines.

Figure 2: Progression of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources at Canadian Malartic
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At Canadian Malartic, the Odyssey project’s continued exploration success has grown indicated mineral resources to 2.35 million ounces of gold and inferred mineral resources to 13.15 million ounces of gold on a 100% basis. Only 7.3 million ounces, or approximately 47% of these mineral resources are included in the mine plan outlined in the March 2021 technical study, providing significant upside potential to a mine life already expected to last until at least 2039.

Figure 3: Progression of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources at Jacobina
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Jacobina has significantly grown its inventory of mineral reserves and mineral resources to support a low-risk, phased expansion strategy that has allowed the mine to sustainably increase production by 54% over the last five years. The growth in mineral reserves and mineral resources now supports further sustainable growth to 230,000 ounces per year in Phase 2 and a target of 270,000 ounces per year in Phase 3.

Figure 4: Progression of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources at El Peñón
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(i) Gold Equivalent Ounces (GEO) calculated using mineral reserves metal price assumptions of $1,250 per ounce of gold and $18 per ounce of silver, and metallurgical recoveries of 90.3% for gold and 79.9% for silver.

El Peñón, now in its 23rd year of production, continues to replace mineral reserve depletion which was achieved again in 2021, with further exploration successes advancing the objective of increasing production from the significant excess plant capacity.

The approach to replace depletion is also now delivering positive results at Cerro Moro which, for the first time in 2021, replaced depletion of mineral reserves, a foundation of targets and geological knowledge continues to support further exploration plans for the asset.

YEAR-END MINERAL RESERVES AND MINERAL RESOURCES SUMMARY

During the year, the Company's wholly-owned operations successfully replaced depletion. At Odyssey, delineation drilling highlighted the strong geological and grade continuity and underground mineral resources continued to grow in advance of future conversion to mineral reserves. For 2021, the Company reports 13.7 million ounces of gold mineral reserves and 111 million ounces of silver mineral reserves, relatively unchanged from the prior year.

Mineral reserves of 7.1 million ounces of gold, 57 million ounces of silver, and 6.7 billion pounds of copper at the Company’s development projects represents significant upside potential within the existing portfolio. In particular, the wholly-owned Wasamac project in Quebec, advancing towards first production in 2026, is expected to add approximately 200,000 ounces of gold to the Company’s production platform. The MARA project currently at the feasibility study stage, is expected to produce an average of 556 million pounds of copper equivalent in the first 10 years, on a 100% basis, with an initial mine life of 28 years.

Largely consistent with the prior year, the Company reports measured and indicated mineral resources of 14.5 million ounces of gold, 51 million ounces of silver, and 1.4 billion pounds of copper exclusive of mineral reserves. Significant increases in measured and indicated mineral resources at Canadian Malartic, Jacobina and Minera Florida more than offset the change in measured and indicated mineral resources at Wasamac and La Pepa. At Wasamac mineral reserves and mineral resources were updated in mid-2021, providing the foundation for the optimized mine plan and feasibility study update. Yamana successfully increased conversion of mineral resources to mineral reserves through the optimization of the mining method and mine design following an in-depth geotechnical analysis. As a result, mineral reserves increased by 231,000 ounces to 1.91 million ounces with an unchanged average gold grade of 2.56 g/t. At La Pepa, pursuant to the terms of the option agreement with Mineros Atacama SpA (“Mineros”) dated December 14, 2018, in December 2021 Mineros acquired a 20% interest in Minera Cavancha SpA, the legal entity that holds the La Pepa property. The 2021 mineral resource estimate for La Pepa reflects Yamana's current 80% interest (previously 100%). In addition, an updated structural model was used to constrain the mineralization in addition to updated metal price assumptions which were revised to be in-line with Yamana's projects and mining parameters being adjusted to reflect benchmarked costs.

The Company reports inferred mineral resources of 15.5 million ounces of gold, 63 million ounces of silver, and 2.13 billion pounds of copper. The large base of mineral resources provides the pipeline for future conversion to mineral reserves at existing operations and development projects and represents further growth opportunities at the Company’s generative exploration projects.

Additional details relating to the Company’s mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates as at December 31, 2021 are presented below.

Canadian Malartic including Odyssey, Canada (50%)

At Canadian Malartic on a 50% basis, open pit gold mineral reserves of 1.77 million ounces, reflects depletion from 2021 production and an adjustment of approximately 48,000 ounces due to a slight increase in cut-off grade, which will be added to the marginal stockpile, and a localized adjustment in the lower benches of the Canadian Malartic pit. For the Barnat pit, drill hole datasets from the former East Malartic and Sladen underground mines were incorporated into the resource model, increasing confidence in the Barnat grade estimation and without significantly changing mineral reserves or mineral resources. Underground mineral resources for the Odyssey project continue to grow as a result of ongoing exploration drilling, with a total of 2.35 million ounces of indicated mineral resources and 13.15 million ounces of inferred mineral resources reported at year-end. At East Gouldie, drilling added a total of 82 new pierce points in the mineralized zones, confirming estimated grades and widths and resulting in the first gold indicated mineral resources for the deposit of 1.5 million ounces, on a 100% basis. The ongoing infill drilling program continues to increase the inventory of indicated mineral resources to support the planned conversion of mineral resources to mineral reserves. Expansion of the mineral resource envelope on all sides added new inferred mineral resources with a high potential for future conversion in the mine plan, while step out drilling extended the mineralized zone 1,260 metres beyond the reported East Gouldie mineral resource and identified a new subparallel zone, located 400 metres in the footwall of the East Gouldie zone. These exploration holes are still widely spaced and therefore not yet considered in the mineral resource statement.

Figure 5: Change in Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at Canadian Malartic

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(i) Localized adjustments to resource model and cut-off grade.

Jacobina, Brazil

Jacobina had another successful year of exploration, adding 324,000 ounces of gold mineral reserves, a 5% increase compared to the prior year above depletion of mining. Gold mineral reserves have grown by 55% or more than 1 million ounces over the past four years to 2.94 million ounces. Mineral resources have increased by 69% over the same period. Mineral reserves average gold grade is unchanged from the previous year at 2.18 g/t and the Company continues to sequence lower grade stopes later in the mine life. Importantly, the rate of growth in mineral reserves and mineral resources exceeds annual depletion, supporting the Company’s strategy to sustain a multi-decade mine life and facilitating the future Phase 3 expansion to increase production up to 270,000 ounces per year. Highlights from 2021 include the addition of inferred mineral resources at João Belo Sul, which represents a potential new mining sector, and the continued expansion of the Morro do Vento, Canavieiras, and João Belo mines at depth.

Figure 6: Change in Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at Jacobina
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Cerro Moro, Argentina

Cerro Moro successfully replaced depletion of GEO(1) mineral reserves and mineral resources, largely as a result of expansion of high grade veins at the main ore bodies of Zoe, Martina, and Naty, which remain open at depth. The significance of the result is that it establishes what the Company expects to be an ongoing trend of year-over-year mineral reserve and mineral resource growth, similar to the mineral reserves replacement cycle established at the Company’s more mature operations, extending the mine life at a production rate of 150,000 to 165,000 GEO(1) per year. Cerro Moro is a high-grade operation with an average mineral reserves grade of 13.6 g/t gold equivalent. New mineral reserves added in 2021 at a higher average gold to silver ratio and higher silver grade targets will be followed up with drilling in 2022. A high level of geological understanding incorporated into the resource models is resulting in excellent reconciliation and confidence in mine plans, as reflected in improved operational performance. Additionally, Cerro Moro has a significant inventory of lower-grade veins that are not fully reflected in the current mineral reserves and mineral resource statements, which could potentially be processed with an expansion of the processing plant or through a parallel heap leach operation. The Company has initiated an infill drilling program to expand and define the most promising lower-grade, heap leach targets.

Figure 7: Change in Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at Cerro Moro
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(i) Gold Equivalent Ounces (GEO) calculated using mineral reserves metal price assumptions of $1,250 per ounce of gold and $18 per ounce of silver, and metallurgical recoveries of 93% for gold and 93% for silver.

El Peñón, Chile

Successful drilling at El Peñón resulted in the operation achieving a fourth consecutive year of adding new mineral reserves in excess of mining depletion, with mineral reserves growing 23% to 1.3 million GEO(1) over that period. Drilling continues to expand the mineral resource envelopes to depths below several producing sectors, most notably Paloma, Pampa Campamento and Sorpresa. New mineral reserves added in 2021 are typically higher than average grade, resulting in the average gold and silver mineral reserves grades increasing by 3%. The significance of the result is the continued extension of the El Peñón mine life at a production rate of 220,000 to 230,000 GEO(1) per year, while replacement of mineral resources provides an inventory for future mineral reserves development. The year-end mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates do not include results from deep exploratory drilling intercepts targeting extensions of the major producing vein systems at depth and to the south of the mine. Initial drill results show significant potential for discovery of blind continuations of the main vein system which will be followed up with drilling in 2022 to support planned production increases at El Peñón.

Figure 8: Change in Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at El Peñón
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(i) Gold Equivalent Ounces (GEO) calculated using mineral reserves metal price assumptions of $1,250 per ounce of gold and $18 per ounce of silver, and metallurgical recoveries of 90.3% for gold and 79.9% for silver.

Minera Florida, Chile

At Minera Florida, new mineral reserves replaced mining depletion, extending mine life. Drilling in key production sectors of the mine, most notably Don Leopoldo and Fantasma, continued to expand mineralization along strike and down dip. Targets remain open in both directions, underscoring the potential for expansion of the mineral envelope in both sectors. Exploratory drilling at Minera Florida has generated new discoveries in the core mine area, including VNC, providing increased optionality for the mining operation and demonstrating the geological potential in the central Alhué block. The recent discovery of veins such as Cucaracha in new areas beyond the eastern and western limits of the central Alhué block, the historic focus of exploration and mining at Minera Florida, underscores the potential for further near-mine discoveries. The robust exploration results and replacement of mineral reserves and mineral resources at Minera Florida support the plan for production increases at the operation.

Figure 9: Change in Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at Minera Florida
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Wasamac, Canada

Wasamac mineral reserves and mineral resources were updated in mid-2021, providing the foundation for the optimized mine plan and feasibility study update. Yamana successfully increased conversion of mineral resources to mineral reserves through the optimization of the mining method and mine design following an in-depth geotechnical analysis. As a result, mineral reserves increased by 231,000 ounces to 1.91 million ounces with an unchanged average gold grade of 2.56 g/t. Mineral resource classification was updated using revised criteria, with measured mineral resources being reclassified as indicated mineral resources to align with Yamana’s prerequisite that measured mineral resources must be supported by underground development sampling with the required quality assurance and quality control. Additionally, mineral resources are now constrained within potentially mineable shapes to demonstrate reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction and to align with the reporting standard at other Yamana operations. Year-end mineral reserves and mineral resources do not yet include positive drill results from the second half of 2021, which expanded the Wildcat zone and discovered two new mineralized zones, referred to as South Wildcat. The initial drilling results further align with the objective to sustain 200,000 ounces per year of production at Wasamac and achieve a strategic mine life of more than 15 years.

Figure 10: Change in Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at Wasamac
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(i) Adjustments to mine design optimization.

MINERAL RESERVE AND MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATES

Mineral Reserves (Proven and Probable)

The following table sets forth the Mineral Reserve estimates for the Company’s mineral projects as at December 31, 2021.

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