IAMGOLD Announces Update on Côté Gold Mine Operations and Exploration Ahead of Mine Tour

Toronto, Ontario–( – October 15, 2024) – IAMGOLD Corporation (TSX: IMG) (NYSE: IAG) (“IAMGOLD” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update for the Côté Gold Mine (“Côté Gold” or “Côté”) including preliminary operating results for the third quarter of 2024 and updated drilling results on the ongoing drill program in the Gosselin zone, an extension of mineralization immediately adjacent to the northeast of the primary Côté zone.

Operating Highlights

• Gold production of 68,000 gold ounces (“ounces” or “oz Au”) on a 100% basis (41,000 ounces attributable).
• The ramp up of the processing plant remains on track to exit the year at 90% of the design throughput rate of 36,000 tonnes per day (“tpd”).
• Mining activity totaled 10.4 million tonnes in the third quarter 2024 with an improvement in the strip ratio to 2.3:1 and total ore mined of 3.2 million tonnes.
• Mill throughput in the third quarter 2024 totaled 1.6 million tonnes, approximately double the rate from the prior quarter.
• Record daily throughput of 40,900 tpd (+14% above nameplate) achieved following the scheduled shutdown in September, during which key optimizations and improvements were made to improve the availability and performance of the processing plant.
• Subsequent to quarter end, the processing rate continued to ramp up from the adjustments and improvements made in the third quarter. Since October 2nd, the plant has averaged a daily throughput of 30,000 tpd, equating to an average of 83% of nameplate design.

Gosselin Zone Exploration Highlights

• The diamond drilling program successfully outlined extensions of the Gosselin Zone outside of the December 31, 2023 resource pit shell. Key extensions have been intersected south and west of the Gosselin West Breccia, and at depth between the Côté and Gosselin West Breccia.
• Assay results include: 368.8 metres (“m”) at 0.96 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”) in drill hole GOS23-151 from 221.2 m; 235.0 m at 2.70 g/t Au in drill hole GOS24-160 from 697.0 m; and 357.0 m at 1.10 g/t Au in drill hole GOS24-166 from 864.0 m.

Renaud Adams, President and Chief Executive Officer of IAMGOLD, commented, “I want to commend the Côté team for the tireless work and commitment to safety as they ramp up what has the potential to be one of Canada’s largest gold mines. I am very proud about the progress we achieved in the third quarter, as we saw definitive signs that the improvements that were deployed throughout the quarter, and during the shutdown in September, are having a measurable and meaningful positive impact on operations. When we look at the processing plant today, we see two primary areas of attention: the crushing circuit before the coarse ore dome, and everything after the coarse ore dome – which entails the HPGR and wet side of the plant. With the coarse ore dome filled, the downstream processing circuits demonstrate very strong performance in availability and capacity. This has allowed us to focus on the crushing circuit, as we look to improve the flexibility and capacity to support a vision for an ultimately larger Côté Gold.

“Our goal remains clear. We are focused on ramping up Côté to achieve 90% of throughput exiting this year towards nameplate in 2025. We believe that Côté is just the start of what will be a mining district. The exploration results today from Gosselin continue to demonstrate the potential for the Côté and Gosselin zones to connect, in addition to highlighting that the overall size and scope of these zones have yet to be defined – as both Côté and Gosselin remain open at depth in all directions.”

Preliminary Côté Gold Q3 2024 Operating Results

Operations

In the third quarter, Côté Gold produced 68,000 ounces on a 100% basis, or 41,000 ounces attributable to IAMGOLD’s current interest of 60.3%.

Mining activity totaled 10.4 million tonnes in the third quarter 2024 with an improvement in the strip ratio to 2.3:1 and total ore mined of 3.2 million tonnes. Currently the mine has two 6060 electric shovels and eighteen 793 autonomous haul trucks in operation, with an additional three haul trucks to be commissioned before the end of the year. Drilling and blasting have seen month over month improvements in drill fleet performance with increased blast pattern preparation resulting in higher levels of in-pit blasted ore inventory available for loading and hauling operations. Mining activities are continually being optimized, including blasting patterns, drill operating procedures and maintenance practices, to increase production levels to meet throughput requirements once the mill has ramped up. During the quarter, the processing plant control room was moved into the integrated operations center where the autonomous hauling and drilling equipment are controlled. This unification of the two primary components of operations – mining and processing – allows for improved communication and operations management.

Mill throughput in the third quarter 2024 totaled 1.6 million tonnes, approximately double the amount from the prior quarter. Head grades of 1.41 g/t were in line with the mine plan that requires feed from a combination of higher grade direct-feed ore and higher-grade stockpiles. Recoveries in the plant averaged 93% in the quarter. The gravity circuit was commissioned towards the end of the second quarter, though has yet to be brought online due to the better than planned recoveries to date, and as the plant operates through periods of instability during the ramp up. The in-circuit gold inventory is approximately 10,000 ounces of gold, in line with design expectations.

Ramp Progress

The ramp up of the processing plant made significant progress in the third quarter. The Company undertook an 8-day mill shutdown in September to deploy key optimizations to improve the operating availability of the plant, in support of the goal to ramp up throughput to 90% by the end of the year and continued improvements in 2025 to achieve nameplate throughput. The priority of the work performed during the shutdown was to stabilize the crushing circuit and attend to the primary causes for low availability in the second quarter which included replacing 90% of the chutes with higher abrasive-resistant material to reduce the level of wear and using new types of screening with refined aperture-shapes in the coarse ore screening area.

Following the restart, the plant soon achieved a record daily throughput of 40,600 tpd. Despite the quick ramp up, tonnages in September were further impacted by a multi-day shutdown towards the end of the month from an electrical failure in one of the plant motor control centers (“MCC”). The electrical equipment was replaced, and the plant resumed the scheduled ramp up of operations.

The current bottleneck of the plant is estimated to be the secondary crusher, which is responsible for filling the coarse ore dome. In order to provide flexibility, redundancy and improve overall capacity, Côté Gold added a mobile crushing unit in the third quarter, which operates in parallel with the primary/secondary crusher. The capacity of the circuit after the coarse ore dome, entailing the flow of material through the HPGR and into the wet-side of the plant (grind, leach, CIP), has demonstrated the ability to operate at levels of availability and throughput in line with or in excess of design capacity. The company will be installing a 2^nd secondary crusher in the second half of next year to provide additional capacity and redundancy in support of the operation. The cost for the additional cone crusher with installation is estimated to be approximately $20 million.

Post third quarter 2024

Subsequent to quarter end, the processing plant continued to make significant strides and benefit from the reparations and improvements made in the third quarter. Since October 2^nd, the plant has averaged a daily throughput of 30,000 tpd, equating to an average of 83% of nameplate production. On October 14, 2024, the plant achieved a new record for daily throughput of 40,900 tpd.

Production guidance at Côté Gold is maintained at the lower end of the guidance range of 220,000 to 290,000 ounces (130,000 to 175,000 ounces on a 60.3% basis), as operations are expected take the next step up in performance in the fourth quarter. The goal continues to be for Côté to achieve 90% throughput, which is expected by the end of the year.

GOSSELIN ZONE EXPLORATION UPDATE

IAMGOLD is pleased to announce additional assay results from its delineation and expansion drilling program at Gosselin. The ongoing 35,000 m diamond drill program was designed to target the potential connecting extensions of mineralized breccias between the Côté and Gosselin zones and test the Gosselin zone for continuity of the mineralized envelope at depth. The assay results reported today comprises thirty-four (34) diamond drill holes totaling 31,861 m completed between August 19, 2023 and September 03, 2024. The program included twenty-eight (28) NQ drill holes totaling 29,603 m along with six (6) extensions of previously drilled holes for 2,258 m drilled. The assay results can be found in Table 1 at the end of this news release.

Highlights of the Gosselin drilling program

• 368.8 metres (“m”) at 0.96 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”) in drill hole GOS23-151 from 221.2 m including:
  • 173.9 m at 1.57 g/t Au from 382.1 m;
• 235.0 m at 2.70 g/t Au in drill hole GOS24-160 from 697.0 m including:
  • 25.5 m at 17.43 g/t Au from 862.5 m;
  • 2.5 m at 102.02 g/t Au from 862.5 m;
• 357.0 m at 1.10 g/t Au in drill hole GOS24-166 from 864.0 m including:
  • 45.0 m at 3.54 g/t Au from 1153.0 m;
• 201.0 m at 1.19 g/t Au in drill hole GOS24-167 from 668.0 m including:
  • 64.0 m at 2.10 g/t Au from 771.0 m;
• 18.5 m at 12.33 g/t Au in drill hole GOS24-177 from 262.50 m including:
  • 2.0 m at 97.8 g/t Au from 278.0 m;

  And 102.0 m at 1.19 g/t Au from 657.0 m including:

  • 16.2 m at 4.27 g/t Au from 740.0 m;

The diamond drilling program has successfully outlined extensions of the Gosselin Zone outside of the December 31, 2023 resource pit shell. Key extensions have been intersected south and west of the Gosselin West Breccia, and at depth between the Côté and Gosselin West Breccia. Numerous short intersections of gold-bearing hydrothermal breccia between the Gosselin East and West Breccias may indicate a more continuous breccia system with breccia textures being obliterated by intense hydrothermal alteration.

Combined with the adjacent Côté deposit, the gold mineralization now spans approximately 3.2 km in strike length and remains open at depth in all directions. Drilling continues by completing deep exploration holes beneath both Gosselin and Côté testing approximately 1,300 m below surface.

On February 15th, 2024, the company announced the updated Gosselin Mineral Resource estimate (100% basis) of 4.4 million Indicated gold ounces in 161.3 million tonnes (“Mt”) at 0.85 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”), and 3.0 million Inferred ounces (123.9 Mt at 0.75 g/t Au).

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