Over 25,000 GEOs Earned in Q4 2022

MONTREAL, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (the “Corporation” or “Osisko”) (OR: TSX & NYSE) is pleased to provide an update on its fourth quarter 2022 deliveries, revenues, cash margin and recent asset advancements. All monetary amounts included in this report are expressed in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted.

PRELIMINARY Q4 2022 RESULTS

Osisko earned approximately 25,023 attributable gold equivalent ounces1 (“GEOs”) in the fourth quarter of 2022, for a total of approximately 89,367 GEOs in 2022, representing record quarterly and annual deliveries for the Corporation.

Osisko recorded preliminary revenues from royalties and streams of $61.9 million during the fourth quarter and preliminary cost of sales (excluding depletion) of $4.7 million, resulting in a record quarterly cash margin2 of approximately $57.2 million (or 92%).

For the year 2022, preliminary revenues from royalties and streams reached a record $217.8 million and preliminary cost of sales (excluding depletion) are estimated at $16.1 million, resulting in a record annual cash margin2 of approximately $201.7 million (or 93%).

As at December 31st, 2022, Osisko’s cash position amounted to approximately $90.5 million, after repaying, in full, the $300 million convertible debentures on December 31, 2022 and advancing US$50 million to SolGold plc (“SolGold”) pursuant to the previously announced royalty financing on the world-class Cascabel copper-gold property. The Corporation’s revolving credit facility was drawn by approximately $150 million at the end of 2022, with an additional amount of $400 million available to be drawn, plus the uncommitted accordion of up to $200 million.

Sandeep Singh, President and CEO of Osisko, commented: “2022 was an exceptionally positive year for Osisko. We had successive quarters of record GEOs earned, revenues and cash margins, we added world-class assets to an already high-quality portfolio, took advantage of volatile markets to buy-back 1.7 million common shares for $22.1 million, reactivated stream payments from the Renard mine, simplified the business with the deconsolidation of Osisko Development Corp. realigning Osisko as a pure-play royalty and streaming business and continued to strengthen and diversify our Board of Directors.

“Our GEOs earned, year-over-year, increased by 12% in 2022 but fell slightly short of the low end of our guidance of 90,000 ounces. This was partly due to the Eagle mine still working towards steady-state production and the Mantos mine facing delays in the ramp up of their mill expansion. That extra growth will flow into upcoming quarters and we expect significant upward momentum in deliveries from both mines going forward. The higher gold-silver price ratio, experienced mostly in the second and third quarters, also reduced GEOs earned by approximately 1,550 ounces in 2022 versus expectations.

“Our asset base continues to outperform through numerous expansions, mine life extensions and reserve and resource replacement, and we look forward to continuing to showcase the depth and quality of our asset base throughout 2023.”

Osisko will provide full production and financial details with the release of its fourth quarter and full year 2022 results after market close on Thursday, February 23rd, 2023 followed by a conference call on Friday, February 24th at 10am ET. More details are provided at the end of this release.

RECENT ASSET ADVANCEMENTS AND UPCOMING CATALYSTS

CSA (100% Silver Stream – Pending Transaction Closing)

On December 28th, Osisko announced that Osisko Bermuda Limited (“OBL”) entered into a revised binding agreement with Metals Acquisition Corp (“MAC”) with respect to the previously announced silver stream on the producing CSA mine (“CSA”) in New South Wales, Australia. The key amendment in the revised agreement is a potential reduction in the upfront deposit amount payable by OBL on closing from US$90 million to US$75 million for 100% of payable silver for the life of mine. Between 2019-2021, annual payable silver production from CSA averaged ~431,000 ounces, or ~5,700 gold equivalent ounces3 annually (based on commodity prices on December 22, 2022).

Additionally, OBL entered into a backstop financing agreement with MAC as an update to the previously announced copper stream option. OBL may provide an upfront deposit of up to US$75 million in respect of a copper stream on CSA, which MAC may draw in whole or in part to fund any shortfall in the equity financing required to complete the acquisition of the mine. If the full deposit is drawn, OBL will be entitled to receive 3.0% of payable copper until the 5th anniversary of the closing date (the “First Threshold Stream”), then 4.875% of payable copper until 33,000 metric tonnes have been delivered in aggregate (the “Second Threshold Stream”), and thereafter 2.25% for the remaining life of mine. Between 2019-2021, annual copper production from CSA averaged ~43,000 metric tonnes. Based on historical production levels, average gold equivalent ounces4 deliverable under the First Threshold Stream and the Second Threshold Stream would equate to between ~5,700 to 9,300 ounces annually (based on commodity prices on December 22, 2022).

Closing of the acquisition is expected in 2023, subject to MAC securing sufficient acquisition financing.

Canadian Malartic Update (5% NSR royalty on open pit and 3-5% NSR royalty on underground)

On November 4th, Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (“Agnico Eagle”) announced a binding offer to acquire Yamana Gold Inc.’s (“Yamana”) interest in its Canadian assets, including the other half of the Canadian Malartic mine (“Canadian Malartic”). The consolidation of Canadian Malartic would give Agnico Eagle operational control during the remaining development period of the Odyssey underground project and would provide the opportunity to monetize future additional mill capacity at the mine, given Agnico Eagle’s extensive operations and strategic land position in the region. In addition to the 3-5% Odyssey net smelter return (“NSR”) royalty, a $0.40 per tonne milling fee is payable to Osisko on ore processed from any property that was not part of the Canadian Malartic Property at the time of the sale of the mine in 2014.

On October 26th, Agnico Eagle reported that construction and development activities at the Odyssey underground project remain on schedule. Shaft sinking activities are expected to commence in January 2023, with pre-commercial production from the Odyssey South ramp expected in March 2023. In the third quarter of 2022, ten diamond drill rigs were active at surface and four rigs were active underground. An expanded drill program is focused on infill drilling at Odyssey South, on drill testing the Odyssey Internal zones and on infill and step-out drilling at East Gouldie. A recent intercept at Odyssey South yielded 5.7 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold over 21.8 meters at 367 meters depth. At East Gouldie, the drilling in the core of the deposit continues to return wide, high-grade intersections, with recent results including 4.6 g/t gold over 50.7 meters at 1,537 meters depth. Step-out drilling to the west of East Gouldie continues to test the western extension and filling the gap between East Gouldie and the Norrie Zone, with a recent intercept of 4.2 g/t gold over 12.8 meters at 1,331 meters depth in an area approximately 100 meters above the Norrie Zone and 670 meters west of the current East Gouldie mineral resources (Figure 1).

At a conference in Toronto in November, Agnico Eagle highlighted that recent drilling at Odyssey has extended East Gouldie to the west by ~670 meters and to the east at depth by ~500 meters, to more than 1,700 meters from the current mineral resources, demonstrating significant resource growth potential. Recent drilling suggests the potential connection of the East Gouldie deposit and the Norrie Zone along strike (Figure 1). The presentation highlighted that, while still in the concept phase, there is the potential for an additional 150,000-250,000 ounces of annual gold production from Odyssey Extension (West or East) based on the assumption of a second shaft producing 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes per day at 2.5 g/t to 2.75 g/t gold (link).

Figure 1: Canadian Malartic Mine – Composite Longitudinal Section is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/693a19f5-8515-4a5c-8985-0e8cd5bf276b

Mantos Blancos Expansion (100% Silver Stream)

On October 31st, Capstone Copper Corp. (“Capstone”) announced that ramp up activities at the Mantos Blancos Concentrator Debottlenecking Project (“MB-CDP”) continued during the third quarter with increased focus on achieving operational stability of the auxiliary systems such as the electrical and tailing systems. Ramp-up in production has been slower than initially expected, however, mill throughput continues to improve and the plant averaged above design throughput level for 20 of 27 planned operating days in October.

Delivery of refined silver to OBL under the silver stream occurs approximately two months post production at the Mantos Blancos mine. As a result, Osisko anticipates starting to fully benefit from the expansion in early 2023.

As part of MD-CDP Phase II, Capstone is analyzing the potential to increase throughput of the plant to 10.0 million tonnes per year (from 7.3 million tonnes per year) using existing underutilized ball mills and process equipment. Capstone is also evaluating the potential to extend the life of copper cathode production. The Advanced Basic Engineering Study is expected to be released in the first half of 2023, and the Environmental DIA application was submitted in August 2022.

Victoria Gold Update (5% NSR Royalty)

Production throughout 2022 at Eagle was affected by slower than expected ramp up to steady state primarily due to mechanical availability of the crushing and conveying circuit being lower than expected. The primary reason for the lower mechanical availability was the conveyor belt failure late in the third quarter resulting in almost three weeks of downtime. Based on improved operational and maintenance staffing and protocols, it is expected that gold production will be higher in 2023.

Drilling over the past two years has focused on testing areas below and adjacent to the current pit at Eagle. Results have extended mineralization to 850 meters depth (previously 350 meters depth) and 500 meters to the west along strike. A new technical report, including an updated mineral resource estimate, is expected early in 2023 on both Eagle and the Raven deposit.

Seabee (3% NSR Royalty)

On December 12th, SSR Mining Inc. (“SSR”) reported exploration results from Seabee including both near-mine resource development drilling adjacent to current underground infrastructure at the Santoy Mine Complex, as well as more regional activity across the Seabee property. Notably, the regional exploration activity included drilling at the Porky Main and Porky West targets, with results to-date returning broad intercepts of near-surface mineralization potentially amenable to open pit mining in the future.

Additional regional exploration included the initial delineation of the Shane target, which remains open along strike and is located adjacent to the Santoy Road that connects the mine to the Seabee processing facility. Results at Shane included 54.3 g/t gold over 4.6 meters. Given the number of prospective targets at Seabee, SSR expects to expand their exploration program at the mine again in 2023, to aggressively advance these opportunities towards potential development.

Island Gold (1.38-3% NSR Royalty)

On November 29th, Alamos Gold Inc. (“Alamos”) reported results from surface and underground exploration drilling at the Island Gold mine, further extending high-grade gold mineralization in Island West, Island East and at depth (Figure 2) and highlighting the significant upside potential; not only laterally and at depth, but within newly defined sub-parallel structures. The majority of highlighted drill intersections are within Osisko’s claims of 2% or 3% NSR royalty, which is a higher NSR royalty than current production. As of November 25th, a total of 28,174 meters of surface directional drilling, 17,984 meters of underground exploration drilling, and 9,707 meters of regional surface exploration drilling has been completed at the Island Gold Mine.

At Island West, high-grade mineralization has been extended 225 meters west of existing Mineral Reserves and Resources. At the Island West Hanging Wall Zones, high-grade gold mineralization was intersected within newly defined sub-parallel zones in the hanging wall (B, G, and G1 zones). These sub-parallel zones are within proximity of existing underground infrastructure and represent a significant opportunity to add near mine Mineral Reserves and Resources. At Island East Lower, high-grade gold mineralization further extended down-plunge from the large high-grade Inferred Mineral Resource block in the lower part of Island East which contained 2.0 million ounces (3.96 million tonnes grading 15.48 g/t gold) as of December 31, 2021. At Island Main, high-grade gold mineralization extended 160 meters below Inferred Mineral Resources (MH30-02), representing one of the deepest intersections to date at a vertical depth of 1,666 meters. This highlights the significant opportunity for further high-grade Mineral Reserve and Resource additions with the deposit open laterally and at depth across the currently defined 2 kilometers strike.

Figure 2: Island Gold – Long Section Highlighting Exploration Drilling Results is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1765ab40-642f-46c6-811e-c95fe46aeb4f

Lamaque (1% NSR Royalty)

On December 5th, Eldorado published its updated mineral resource and reserve estimates having an effective date of September 30, 2022. Lamaque’s Proven and Probable reserves include 4.3 million tonnes of 6.62 g/t gold for 985,000 ounces, which represented a 10% year-over-year decline (or a 7% increase net of annual depletion).
Eldorado plans to spend ~55% of their 2022 exploration budget ($44 million to $48 million) in Canada. Approximately 112,000 meters of drilling is planned with a focus on brownfields opportunities within the Lamaque/Bourlamaque properties, including exploration drift and resource conversion at Ormaque and resource conversion of C6 and C7 at Lower Triangle. Eldorado has 28,000 drill meters dedicated to the Bourlamaque property, where Osisko has a 2.5% NSR royalty.

Windfall Gold Project (2-3% NSR Royalty)

On December 8th, Osisko Mining Inc. (“Osisko Mining”) announced that it had signed a binding term sheet with Miyuukaa Corp. (“Miyuukaa”), a wholly-owned corporation of the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi, with respect to the construction of proposed transmission facilities and the transport of hydroelectric power to the Windfall project. Miyuukaa will finance, build, own and operate a 69 kV dedicated transmission line that will transport hydroelectricity to the Windfall project minimizing the environmental footprint.

On November 28th, Osisko Mining delivered a positive step forward for the Windfall gold project in Québec with the release of feasibility study results highlighting full year average production of 306,000 ounces of gold at an average fully diluted grade of 8.1 g/t gold, an after-tax NPV of $1.2 billion at a 5% discount rate and IRR of 34%. Osisko Mining anticipates completion of the EIA study and commencement of the permitting process in Q1 2023. Project financing plans are expected to be announced in the first half of 2023 with a production decision in early 2024.

On October 18th, Osisko Mining announced a new regional exploration program on its Urban-Barry gold project located in the Abitibi region in Québec. The program, to begin in early 2023, will focus largely on areas outside the Windfall gold deposit and will start with 10,000 meters of drilling, and induced polarization geophysical surveys. Near deposit exploration targets include a high-potential exploration area identified 1.5 kilometers east-northeast of the Windfall deposit and on previously identified showings, including Golden Bear and Fox, which are parallel to the main Windfall deposit.

Cariboo Gold Project (5% NSR Royalty)

On January 3rd, 2023, Osisko Development Corp. (“Osisko Development” or “ODV”) announced results from a feasibility study on the Cariboo Gold Project (“Cariboo”). Results highlighted a scalable project with a base case scenario producing an average of approximately 163,695 ounces of gold annually over a 12-year mine life (1.87 million ounces of cumulative gold production) at an average diluted head grade of 3.78 g/t gold. Initial production (“Phase 1”) for the first three years contemplates a 1,500 tonnes per day operation yielding approximately 72,501 ounces of gold per year. Concurrently, underground development will advance to ramp up operations to 4,900 tonnes per day in year four, increasing annual production to approximately 193,798 ounces of gold per year in Phase 2. The project delivers a 20.7% IRR and an after-tax NPV of $502 million at a 5% discount rate and US$1,700 per ounce gold price. The feasibility study utilized initial Proven and Probable reserves of 16.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 3.78 g/t gold for a total of 2.03 million ounces of gold.

ODV remains on track for completing the Environmental Assessment process early in in the second quarter of 2023, anticipates receiving final permits by the end of 2023, with initial production expected in 2024.

Tintic Project (2.5% Metals Stream)

On November 30th, Osisko Development announced sampling results from its ongoing underground exploration program at its Trixie test mine (“Trixie”). Assay highlights on 702 chip samples, from 177 mine faces, included the high grade result of 4,757 g/t gold and 528 g/t silver over 1.22 meters. Approximately 7,315 meters of surface reverse circulation drilling and 1,274 meters of underground diamond drilling has been completed to November 15, 2022, which, together with the continuous face and back sampling results, will support the completion of an initial mineral resource estimate expected in the first quarter of 2023.

AK Deposit (2% NSR Royalty)

On October 26th, Agnico Eagle reported that an assessment is underway to evaluate the Amalgamated Kirkland Deposit (“AK Deposit” or “AK”) as a potential ore source for its Macassa mine. At a recent conference in Toronto, Agnico Eagle highlighted the potential for the AK Deposit to produce 30,000-50,000 ounces of gold starting in 2024.
The exploration ramp into the AK Deposit was completed in the third quarter of 2022. An infill drilling program from underground is underway, with 9,983 meters completed in 75 holes by the end of the third quarter of 2022. Recent results from infill drilling at AK include a highlight intercept of 30.7 g/t gold over 3.6 meters at 64 meters depth. Further expansion potential of the AK Deposit is now being assessed, as elimination of the property boundaries from the merger with Kirkland Lake simplifies targeting and exploration in the eastern extension of the deposit.

Upper Beaver (2% NSR Royalty)

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