VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Calibre Mining Corp. (TSX: CXB; OTCQX: CXBMF) (“Calibre” or the “Company”) announces financial and operational results for the three months ended March 31, 2021 (“Q1 2021”). The interim consolidated financial statements and management discussion and analysis can be obtained from www.sedar.com and the Company’s website, www.calibremining.com . All figures are expressed in U.S. dollars.

Q1 2021 HIGHLIGHTS

Gold production: 45,452 ounces, highest quarterly production since Q3 2016;
Production includes the first ore delivery from the Pavon Norte mine to the Libertad mill
Demonstrating Calibre’s ability to advance new satellite deposits: ‘permit to plant’ in less than 18 months;
Positive Pavon gold mine Pre-feasibility Study, currently in production, with strong exploration potential, and an after-tax net present value of $106 million (at a $1,700 price of gold and a discount of 5%) 2 ;
Gold sales of 45,882 ounces generating $82.0 million in revenue, at an average realized gold price of $1,788 per ounce;
Net income of $16.6 million and basic net income per share of $0.05;
All in Sustaining Cost (“AISC”) 1 on a consolidated basis of $1,095 per ounce sold;
Cash generated from operating activities of $25.5 million;
Working capital increase of 13% to $79.0 million at March 31, 2021, compared to $70.0 million at December 31, 2020;
Cash on hand of $58.2 million, a $5.0 million increase from December 31, 2020;
2021 production and cost guidance remain on track;
Growth and exploration capital are currently expected to be H1 weighted;
More than 200% increase in Mineral Reserves to 864,000 ounces since year-end 2019;
Largest Mineral Reserve since 2010 with the highest grade on record, 4.49 g/t Au 2 ;
High-grade drill results reported at Limon, including:
7.98 g/t Au over 6.8 metres at Atravesada underground;
8.92 g/t Au over 9.8 metres at Atravesada underground;
251.90 g/t Au over 1.0 metres at Limon Norte open pit; and
6.97 g/t Au over 6.1 metres at Panteon underground;
Commenced an 80,000 metre, 15 rig, resource expansion and discovery drill program focusing on satellite opportunities, emerging districts and near mill growth targets; and
Initiated a 5,500 metre drilling campaign on high priority near-surface copper and copper-gold mineralization with earn-in partner Rio Tinto Exploration (“Rio Tinto”) on the Borosi concessions located in northeastern Nicaragua.
Darren Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Calibre, stated: “Calibre had a strong start to the year reflecting the integration and expansion of our ‘hub-and-spoke’ strategy. Limon to Libertad ore transport continues steadily at approximately 1,000 tonnes per day. As previously disclosed, we initiated mining and hauling high grade ore from Pavon Norte, leading to a 39% increased average grade milled during the quarter compared to Q1 2020. The addition of Pavon, which will continue to ramp up throughout the year, demonstrates the value of adding new mining spokes without the significant capital cost. The strong production numbers re-enforce our ability to meet guidance and therefore we expect to generate solid operating cash flows to self-fund our exploration and growth investments. With this in mind, we have turned our attention to the Eastern Borosi Project, where we have another high-grade inferred resource which we believe we can expand and develop to be our next mining spoke to feed Libertad.”

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS – Q1 2021

Consolidated Financial Results

$’000 (except per share and per ounce amounts) Q1 2021 Q1 2020
Revenue $ 82,034 $ 61,370
Cost of sales (including depreciation and amortization) (52,074) (38,017)
Operating income $ 29,960 $ 23,353
Net income $ 16,645 $ 12,640
Net income per share (basic) $ 0.05 $ 0.04
Net income per share (fully diluted) $ 0.05 $ 0.04
Cash generated from operating activities $ 25,522 $ 20,354
CAPEX: Mine development and PPE $ 15,261 $ 6,918
CAPEX: Exploration $ 4,660 $ 2,783
Average realized gold price ($/oz) 1 $ 1,788 $ 1,584
Total Cash Costs ($/oz) 1 $ 979 $ 897
AISC ($/oz) 1 $ 1,095 $ 1,038
Consolidated Operational Results

Q1 2021 Q1 2020
Ore Mined (t) 485,654 587,584
Ore Milled (t) 419,340 524,100
Grade (g/t Au) 3.54 2.54
Recovery (%) 91.3 91.8
Gold Production (ounces) 45,452 42,085
Gold Sales (ounces) 45,882 38,755
OPERATING RESULTS

Open Pit Mining Operations

Open pit mine production consisted of 390,614 ore tonnes at an average grade of 3.32 g/t gold. Open pit mine production came from Limon Central (“LC”) Phase 2 in the amount of 184,644 ore tonnes at an average grade of 3.50 g/t, Pavon Norte ore in the amount of 111,696 tonnes at a grade of 3.94 g/t, 86,558 tonnes at a grade of 0.48 g/t of previously processed “spent ore” and 7,716 ore tonnes at 21.46 g/t from artisanal small miners.

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company mined 191,619 ore tonnes at an average grade of 4.39 g/t gold at Limon Central. During Q1 2020, Calibre mined ore from LC Phase 1 and was pre-stripping Phase 2 of LC Phase 2 at the time. The difference in grade of ore mined for LC in Q1 2021 compared to Q1 2020 related to mine sequencing. During Q1 2020, Calibre was mining the Jabali Antena open pit which totaled 120,696 ore tonnes at a grade of 2.73 g/t. The phase of Jabali Antena open pit was completed in Q4 2020 with some residual ore processed in Q1 2021, but the Company expects to resume operations at Jabali Antena in the future. The Company was able to efficiently transition mining operations from one open pit operation (Jabali Antena) and effectively replaced that level of mine production at Pavon Norte from Q4 2020 to Q1 2021. Also, during Q1 2020, Calibre utilized larger amounts of “spent ore”, totaling 236,815 ore tonnes at an average grade of 0.73 g/t and purchased 6,246 ore tonnes at 13.12 g/t gold from artisanal small miners in the period.

Overall, the open pit mining grade rose from 2.57 g/t to 3.32 g/t, or 29% from Q1 2020 to Q1 2021 as a result of shifting from Jabali Antena to higher grade Pavon Norte ore, a significant reduction in use of lower grade “spent ore”, and the higher gold content of artisanal small miner ore.

Waste ore tonnes were significantly reduced in Q1 2021 (4.5 million tonnes) compared to Q1 2020 (5.5 million tonnes) as the mining areas and stages changed period to period. In Q1 2021, waste material was mined from Pavon Norte (0.7 million tonnes) and LC Phase 2 (3.8 million tonnes), while during Q1 2020, waste tonnes were moved from Jabali Antena (2.3 million tonnes) and LC Phase 1 (1.2 million tonnes) and from LC Phase 2 (2.1 million tonnes) where the Company was performing a pre-stripping campaign.

Underground Mining Operations

Underground ore mined in Q1 2021 was 95,040 tonnes at a grade of 3.69 g/t compared to 29,920 ore tonnes mined in Q1 2020 at a grade of 3.87 g/t. Q1 2021 ore production was 45,055 tonnes at a grade of 3.12 g/t from Jabali UG, 21,695 tonnes at a grade of 3.44 g/t from Santa Pancha, 22,750 tonnes at a grade of 4.72 g/t at Veta Nueva and 5,539 tonnes at a grade of 5.05 g/t from development ore at Panteon.

Jabali UG was not in operation in Q1 2020 and resumed operations in Q3 2020. During Q3 and Q4 2020, the Jabali UG mine was being reconditioned. Calibre has steadily increased production since the restart of operations, with ore tonnes mined of 2,648, 25,252 and 45,055 in Q3 2020, Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, respectively.

The Veta Nueva underground mine reached commercial production in January 2021. The Panteon underground mine, which has delivered ore from development drifts in Q1 2021, is expected to deliver ore from stopes during the second quarter. The Company expects to commence ore deliveries from the Atravesada underground mine to the Libertad mill by the first quarter of 2023, which will begin development during the second quarter of 2021. Panteon and Atravesada are high-grade underground discoveries made during 2020.

PROCESSING OPERATIONS

Limon Mill

Q1 2021 Q1 2020
Ore Milled (t) 124,149 130,485
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