ll monetary amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise indicated.
For more information, refer to the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) and Audited Consolidated
Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 19, 2020) - IAMGOLD Corporation (TSX: IMG) ("IAMGOLD" or the "Company") reported its consolidated financial and operating results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2019.

"2019 was a year of significant challenges for IAMGOLD. I would like to acknowledge the entire IAMGOLD team for how it addressed these challenges, including: realigning Westwood to suit its operating levels, working with our local stakeholders at Rosebel to address unauthorized mining and ensuring the safety of our team at Essakane," stated Gordon Stothart, President and COO. "We are committed to becoming a lower cost and more geographically balanced producer within the next five years, while maintaining our culture of accountable mining through high standards of ESG practices - in fact, 2019 was a record year for health and safety at IAMGOLD, demonstrating significant improvement over a decade. With these goals in mind, we continue to optimize and de-risk our development projects, with Boto Gold's exploitation permit in hand and almost 50% of Côté Gold's detailed engineering now complete."

Mr. Stothart continued, "With our strong balance sheet and pipeline of growth projects complementing our core operating assets, we are optimistic about the future at IAMGOLD. Following the institution of our self-funding model, we are making progress in generating positive cash flows on a consolidated basis. We continue to grow our Resource base as a result of ongoing exploration success. We have announced promising exploration drilling results from district targets within our portfolio, including Gosselin, located just 1.5 kilometres from Côté, the Rouyn Gold Project, located near Westwood, and Karita in Guinea, which is on trend with Boto and Diakha-Siribaya."

2019 Highlights

• Attributable gold production of 762,000 ounces, cost of sales1 of $950 per ounce, total cash costs2 of $907 per ounce produced, and all-in sustaining costs2 of $1,124 per ounce sold.

• Attributable gold sales were 759,000 ounces at an average realized gold price2 of $1,396 per ounce.

• Net loss from continuing operations attributable to equity holders was $373.3 million, or $0.80 per share. The net loss was primarily due to impairment charges, net of reversal ($287.8 million).

• Adjusted net loss including discontinued operations attributable to equity holders2 was $18.3 million, or $0.04 per share2, compared to adjusted net earnings2 of $29.8 million, or $0.06 per share2 in the prior year.

• Net cash from operating activities including discontinued operations was $363.0 million, up $171.9 million from the prior year.

• Net cash from operating activities including discontinued operations before changes in working capital2 was $367.5 million, up $79.1 million from the prior year.

• Steady quarterly operating cash flow improvements throughout 2019.

• Cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and restricted cash totaled $864.8 million at December 31, 2019.

Strategic Developments

Reserves and Resources

• Total attributable proven and probable gold reserves decreased by 6% to 16.7 million ounces from the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to mine depletion at Essakane, Rosebel, and Sadiola, and a reduction in estimated probable reserves at the Boto Gold Project.

• Total attributable measured and indicated resources decreased by 2% to 27.2 million ounces, as a result of mine depletion, while total attributable inferred resources increased by 38% to 12.0 million ounces primarily as a result of the declaration of an initial mineral resource estimate for the Nelligan Gold Project in Canada comprising inferred resources of 97.0 million tonnes grading 1.02 g/t Au for 3.2 million ounces (on a 100% basis).

Exploration

• We exercised our option to increase our undivided interest in the Nelligan Gold Project from 51% to 75% by completing a mineral resource estimate and making cash payments totaling $1.8 million (C$2.35 million).

• We were awarded the Discovery of the Year at the Mining Exploration Association of Quebec's XPLOR 2019 Awards Gala for the Nelligan Gold Project.

Development and Operations

• During 2019, our team achieved a DART rate3 of 0.51, which was the best result achieved by IAMGOLD over the past ten years.

• We announced updated production guidance for Westwood based on a preliminary life of mine plan. The guidance incorporated modified mining methods, operational practices and revised productivity assumptions, based on recent operating experience at the mine. As a result, we recognized an impairment charge of $395.0 million

• We announced positive results from the Carbon-In-Leach ("CIL") and Heap Leach feasibility study completed at Essakane: the feasibility study supported an investment in a mill optimization project to increase CIL plant capacity and the postponement of heap leach operations to the end of life of mine.

• We announced the delivery of the first ore from the Saramacca deposit to the mill at Rosebel. Development work on Saramacca continued with the haul road construction and bush clearing activities progressing, and deliveries of hauling and mining equipment continuing during the quarter.

• Mining activities resumed at Rosebel in all pits by October 2019.

• The carbon-in-column plant at Rosebel, which became fully operational in the first quarter 2019, produced an additional 2,000 ounces in the fourth quarter 2019, for total year-to-date recoveries of 7,600 ounces.

• We continued to de-risk the Côté Gold Project, having commenced site tree clearing activities, entering into an Impacts and Benefits Agreement with our First Nations partners, and reached approximately 46% completion of the detailed project engineering at year end.

• The completion of project design optimization studies continued to confirm robust project economics for the Boto Gold Project.

Financial

• IAMGOLD, together with our joint venture partner, AngloGold Ashanti Limited ("AGA"), entered into an agreement to sell our collective interests in Société d'Exploitation des Mines d'Or de Sadiola S.A. ("Sadiola") to Allied Gold Corp. for a cash consideration of $105.0 million; IAMGOLD and AGA each hold a 41% interest in Sadiola with the remaining 18% interest held by the Government of Mali. As a result, we recognized total impairment charges of $45.7 million.

• Moody's Investor Services released its first assessment of Corporate Governance for the Metals and Mining sector, wherein IAMGOLD achieved the highest level (GA-1) based on adjusted scoring of 2.7. The Corporate Governance framework is a subset of Moody's initiative focusing on Environmental, Social and Corporate governance reviews. The Corporate Governance framework comprises 168 questions reviewing Ownership, Compensation, Board Oversight, Financial Oversight and Compliance Reporting.

• Moody's Investors Service downgraded IAMGOLD's long-term corporate credit rating to B1 from Ba3 with a stable outlook. Moody's noted that the stable outlook benefited from cash in excess of debt and conservative financial policies.

• We participated in INV Metals' private placement of common shares and acquired an additional 13.9 million common shares of INV Metals at a price of C$0.40 per share for an aggregate amount of $4.2 million (C$5.6 million). This acquisition allowed IAMGOLD to maintain a 35.6% ownership in INV Metals.

• In the second quarter 2019, we executed a €20.5 million ($23.3 million) loan agreement with Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation ("Equipment Loan") with an interest rate of 5.23% per annum. The Equipment Loan, secured by certain mobile equipment at Essakane, matures on June 27, 2024 and is repayable in quarterly installments starting September 27, 2019.

• In the first quarter 2019, we entered into a forward gold sale arrangement ("Arrangement") with a syndicate of banks and received a cash prepayment of $169.8 million in December 2019 in exchange for delivering 150,000 ounces of gold in 2022, with a gold floor price of $1,300 per ounce and a cap price of $1,500 per ounce, to provide additional financial flexibility as we execute our growth strategy. The cost of the Arrangement is 5.38% per annum.

• In the first quarter 2019, IAMGOLD, together with AGA, entered into an agreement with the Government of Mali for the sale of the joint venture partners' combined 80% indirect interest in the Yatela mine for $1. The sale is subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions and a one-time payment of estimated rehabilitation, closure and social program costs of approximately $18.5 million.

Subsequent to the Quarter

• We announced that our Chief Executive Officer, Stephen J.J. Letwin intends to retire; P. Gordon Stothart, President and Chief Operating Officer, will succeed Mr. Letwin on the Board of Directors and in the role of President and Chief Executive Officer, effective March 1, 2020.

• We announced that the Government of the Republic of Senegal approved the mining permit application for the Boto Gold Project for an initial 20-year period. The receipt of the mining permit positions the Project for a development decision and eventual production.

• We announced an updated mineral resource estimate for the Pitangui Project in Brazil, comprising 3.33 million tonnes of indicated resources grading 4.39 g/t Au for 470,000 ounces and 3.56 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 3.78 g/t Au for 433,000 ounces.

Upcoming Growth Catalysts

• At Rosebel, we continue to evaluate the underground mining potential of Saramacca, which could result in higher grades and significantly lower waste volumes, thereby reducing costs.

• We are continuing to advance exploration activities along the Saramacca-Brokolonko trend in Suriname to discover additional zones of mineralization and evaluate the resource potential.

• We expect to complete an updated life of mine plan for Westwood and accompanying NI 43-101 Technical Report, in the second quarter of 2020.

SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL AND OPERATING RESULTS
see & read more on
https://www.iamgold.com/English/investors/news-releases/news-releases-details/2020/IAMGOLD-Reports-2019-Year-End-Results/default.aspx