Expansion drilling success drives strong resource growth

Coeur Mining, Inc. (“Coeur” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CDE) today reported year-end 2021 proven and probable reserves of 3.1 million ounces of gold, 238.2 million ounces of silver, 296.1 million pounds of zinc and 193.2 million pounds of lead. Year-over-year gold reserves were essentially unchanged, net of depletion, driven by a higher cut-off grade assumption at Rochester offset by increases at Wharf and Palmarejo. Year-over-year silver reserves decreased due primarily to the higher cut-off grade applied at Rochester partially offset by an increase at Palmarejo.

Measured and indicated resources totaled 3.4 million ounces of gold, 285.0 million ounces of silver, 589.4 million pounds of zinc and 312.6 million pounds of lead, reflecting double-digit year-over-year increases across all metals driven by additions from Palmarejo, Silvertip and Kensington.

Inferred resources were 2.7 million ounces of gold, 91.2 million ounces of silver, 422.3 million pounds of zinc and 200.7 million pounds of lead. Year-over-year gold and silver inferred resources declined due to the higher cut-off grade assumption used at Rochester, partially offset by increases at Kensington and Wharf. Silvertip’s silver, zinc and lead inferred resources increased 48%, 37% and 40%, respectively.

Key Highlights¹

• Success from five-year, nearly $240 million investment in exploration – Infill-focused drilling programs successfully replaced 1.8 million and 56.4 million ounces of cumulative gold and silver production, respectively, as well as added an additional 0.5 million ounces of gold and 85.4 million ounces of silver reserves. Expansion-focused drilling programs successfully added 1.7 million and 113.4 million ounces of measured and indicated gold and silver resources, respectively, and an additional 1.8 million and 31.9 million ounces of new inferred gold and silver resources, respectively
• Resource conversions at Palmarejo and Wharf led to reserve increases net of depletion – Successful infill drilling in the Hidalgo Zone at Palmarejo drove reserve increases in gold and silver of approximately 4% and 5%, respectively, in 2021. A roughly 18% increase in gold reserves at Wharf has added two years to its mine life, further enhancing the overall return on investment from the initial $99 million cash acquisition in 2015
• Significant high-grade resource increase at Silvertip – Silver, zinc and lead measured and indicated resources increased year-over-year by approximately 51%, 33% and 44%, respectively, at the Silvertip property in British Columbia. Silver, zinc and lead inferred resources grew by roughly 48%, 37% and 40%, respectively, during the same period
• Updated reserves at Rochester support robust, 13-year reserve-only mine life in the top mining jurisdiction in the world – The Company raised its cut-off grade assumption to reflect higher anticipated operating costs and updated gold and silver recovery assumptions as part of its recently completed re-baselined Rochester expansion project review
• Sterling and Crown properties in southern Nevada remain a key area of focus in 2022 – Resources remain relatively unchanged following a significant lag in assay results due to assay laboratory delays experienced throughout 2021. The Company is beginning to receive assay results from the 2021 campaign with encouraging drill results from C-Horst, SNA, Daisy and Secret Pass. Infill and expansion drilling is planned to continue throughout 2022 with the goal of an updated resource at Crown zone, including a maiden resource for the C-Horst discovery at year-end

“One of the largest ongoing multi-year exploration campaigns in the precious metals sector continued to drive organic growth throughout our portfolio of diversified North American assets,” said Mitchell J. Krebs, Coeur’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Over the last five years, Coeur has invested approximately $240 million in exploration capped off by our largest program in Company history last year, totaling $71 million. This elevated level of investment in exploration during the five-year period – nearly 73% focused on resource expansion programs – has dramatically increased our inventory of reserves and resources, which we expect will translate into longer mine lives and attractive returns in coming years.

“We plan to invest an additional $40 million Companywide of exploration in 2022 – approximately half focused on infill drilling and half on resource expansion drilling – in an effort to realize further reserve and resource additions throughout Coeur’s long-lived asset portfolio. These priorities include the follow-up of recent exploration success targeting higher-grade gold zones at West Rochester with the potential to be incorporated into future mine plans for the expanded Rochester operation. In addition, we will maintain an aggressive drilling program at Silvertip. With continued exploration success, coupled with successful study work in support of a larger scale operation, Silvertip holds the potential to be Coeur’s next growth driver following the completion of the Rochester expansion.”

Coeur’s gold, zinc, and lead price assumptions for year-end 2021 reserves remained unchanged from a year ago at $1,400 per ounce, $1.15 per pound and $0.95 per pound, respectively. The Company increased its silver price assumption for year-end 2021 reserves from $17.00 per ounce to $20.00 per ounce.

About Coeur

Coeur Mining, Inc. is a U.S.-based, well-diversified, growing precious metals producer with four wholly-owned operations: the Palmarejo gold-silver complex in Mexico, the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska and the Wharf gold mine in South Dakota. In addition, the Company wholly-owns the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead mine in British Columbia and has interests in several precious metals exploration projects throughout North America.

Cautionary Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation in the United States and Canada, including statements regarding exploration efforts and plans, exploration expenditures, growth, mine lives, returns, grade, mine expansion and development plans, and resource delineation, expansion, and upgrade or conversion. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Coeur’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the risk that anticipated additions or upgrades to reserves and resources are not attained, the risk that planned drilling programs may be curtailed or canceled due to budget constraints or other reasons, the risks and hazards inherent in the mining business (including risks inherent in developing large-scale mining projects, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically related conditions), changes in the market prices of gold, silver, zinc and lead and a sustained lower price environment, the uncertainties inherent in Coeur’s production, exploratory and developmental activities, including risks relating to permitting and regulatory delays (including the impact of government shutdowns), ground conditions, grade and recovery variability, any future labor disputes or work stoppages, the uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral reserves, the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts to the availability of our workforce, continued access to financing sources, government orders that may require temporary suspension of operations at one or more of our sites and effects on our suppliers or the refiners and smelters to whom the Company markets its production, changes that could result from Coeur’s future acquisition of new mining properties or businesses, the loss of any third-party smelter to which Coeur markets its production, the effects of environmental and other governmental regulations, the risks inherent in the ownership or operation of or investment in mining properties or businesses in foreign countries, Coeur’s ability to raise additional financing necessary to conduct its business, make payments or refinance its debt, as well as other uncertainties and risk factors set out in filings made from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Canadian securities regulators, including, without limitation, Coeur’s most recent report on Form 10-K. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Coeur disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, Coeur undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of Coeur, its financial or operating results or its securities.

The scientific and technical information concerning our mineral projects in this news release have been reviewed and approved by a “qualified person” under S-K 1300, namely our Senior Director, Technical Services, Christopher Pascoe. For a description of the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate mineral reserves and mineral resources for Coeur’s material properties included in this news release, as well as data verification procedures and a general discussion of the extent to which the estimates may be affected by any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing or other relevant factors, please review the Technical Report Summaries for each of the Company’s material properties which are available at www.sec.gov.

Notes

The potential quantity and grade for the deposits described herein are conceptual in nature. There is insufficient exploratory work to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the applicable target being delineated as a mineral resource.

1. 2021 reserves and resources were determined in accordance with Item 1300 of SEC Regulation S-K. Reserves and resources for prior periods were determined in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Both sets of reporting standards have similar goals in terms of conveying an appropriate level of confidence in the disclosures being reported, but the standards embody slightly different approaches and definitions.
2. Gold equivalence assumes gold-to-silver, -lead, -zinc ratios of 1:60, 1:1,200 and 1:1,000, respectively.

Notes to above Mineral Reserves:

1. The Mineral Reserve estimates are current as of December 31, 2021 and are reported using the definitions in Item 1300 of Regulation S–K (17 CFR Part 229) (SK1300) and were prepared by the company’s technical staff.
2. Assumed metal prices for 2021 Mineral Reserves were $20.00 per ounce of silver, $1,400 per ounce of gold, $1.15 per pound of zinc, $0.95 per pound of lead.
3. Palmarejo Mineral Reserve estimates use the following key input parameters: Assumption of conventional longhole underground mining; reported above a variable gold equivalent cut-off grade that ranges from 1.94–2.51 g/t AuEq and an incremental development cut-off grade of 1.08 g/t AuEq; metallurgical recovery assumption of 93.1% for gold and 81.9% for silver; mining dilution assumes 1 meter of hanging wall waste dilution; mining loss of 5% was applied; variable mining costs that range from US$36.01–US$41.75/tonne, surface haulage costs of US$3.52/t, process costs of US$27.29/tonne, general and administrative costs of US$11.00/tonne, and surface/auxiliary support costs of US$3.19/tonne. Excludes the impact of the Franco-Nevada gold stream agreement at Palmarejo in calculation of Mineral Reserves.
4. Rochester Mineral Reserve estimates are tabulated within a confining pit shell and use the following input parameters: Rochester oxide recovery Au = 85% and Ag = 59%; Nevada Packard oxide recovery Au = 95% and Ag = 61%; with a net smelter return cutoff of $2.55/st oxide and US$2.65/st sulfide, where the NSR is calculated as resource net smelter return (NSR) = silver grade (oz/ton) * silver recovery (%) * silver price ($/oz) - refining cost ($/oz) + gold grade (oz/ton) * gold recovery (%) * gold price ($/oz) - refining cost ($/oz); variable pit slope angles that approximately average 43º over the life-of-mine.
5. Kensington Mineral Reserve estimates use the following key input parameters: assumption of conventional underground mining; gold price of $1400/oz; reported above a gold cut-off grade of 0.143-0.201 oz/st Au; metallurgical recovery assumption of 95%; gold payability of 97.5%; mining dilution varies from 15-23%; mining loss of 5% was applied; variable mining costs that range from US$90.91–150.73/ton mined; process costs of US$46.93/ton processed; general and administrative costs of US$38.83/ton processed; and concentrate refining and shipping costs of US$60.00/oz sold.
6. Wharf Mineral Reserve estimate uses the following key input parameters: assumption of conventional open pit mining; reported above a gold cut-off grade of 0.010 oz/ton Au; metallurgical recovery assumption of 80%; royalty burden of US$56/oz Au; pit slope angles that vary from 34–50º; mining costs of US$2.15/ton mined, rehandle costs of US$1.65/ton rehandled, process costs of US$10.34/ton processed (includes general and administrative costs).
7. Silvertip Underground Mineral Resource estimates are reported using a net smelter return (“NSR”) cutoff of US$130-160/tonne. Mineral Resources are reported insitu using the following assumptions: The estimate use the following key input parameters: lead recovery of 87-88%, zinc recovery of 81-82% and silver recovery of 88-89 %. Lead concentrate grade of 51-53%; zinc concentrate grade of 48-50%; mining dilution varies from 5-25%; mining loss of 5% was applied; mining costs of US$68.77/tonne; processing costs of US$58.20/tonne and US$46.49/tonne, where the NSR ($/tonne) = tonnes x grade x metal prices x metallurgical recoveries – royalties – TCRCs – transport costs over the life of the mine.
8. Rounding of short tons, grades, and troy ounces, as required by reporting guidelines, may result in apparent differences between tons, grades, and contained metal contents. 

Notes to above Mineral Resources:

1. Mineral Resource estimates are reported exclusive of Mineral Reserves, are current as of December 31, 2021, and are reported using definitions in SK1300 on a 100% ownership basis. Mineral Resource estimates were prepared by the Company’s technical staff.
2. Assumed metal prices for 2021 estimated Mineral Resources were $22.00 per ounce of silver, $1,700 per ounce of gold, $1.30 per pound of zinc, $1.00 per pound of lead, unless otherwise noted.
3. Palmarejo Mineral Resource estimates use the following key input parameters: Assumption of conventional longhole underground mining; reported above a variable gold equivalent cut-off grade that ranges from 1.59-2.21 g/t AuEq; metallurgical recovery assumption of 93.1% for gold and 81.9% for silver; variable mining costs that range from US$36.01–US$41.75/t, surface haulage costs of US$3.52/tonne, process costs of US$27.29/tonne, general and administrative costs of US$11.00/tonne, and surface/auxiliary support costs of US$3.19/tonne. Excludes the impact of the Franco-Nevada gold stream agreement at Palmarejo in calculation of Mineral Resources.
4. Kensington Mineral Resource estimates use the following key input parameters: assumption of conventional longhole underground mining; reported above a variable gold cut-off grade that ranges from 0.116–0.164 oz/ton Au; metallurgical recovery assumption of 95%; gold payability of 97.5%, variable mining costs that range from US$90.91–150.73/ton mined, process costs of US$46.93/ton processed, general and administrative costs of US$38.83/ton processed. and concentrate refining and shipping costs of US$60.00/oz sold.
5. Wharf Mineral Resource estimate uses the following key input parameters: assumption of conventional open pit mining; reported above a gold cut-off grade of 0.010 oz/ton Au; metallurgical recovery assumption of 78.7% across all rock types; royalty burden of US$56/oz Au; pit slope angles that vary from 34–50º; mining costs of $2.15/ton mined, rehandle costs of US$1.65/ton rehandled, process costs of US$10.34/ton processed (includes general and administrative costs).
6. Rochester Mineral Resource estimates are tabulated within confining pit shells that uses the following input parameters: oxide gold recovery of 77.7%-93.7% and silver recovery with range of 59%-61%; sulfide gold recovery range of 15.2%-77.7% and silver recovery with range of 0.0%-59% with a net smelter return cutoff of US$2.55–US$3.70/ton oxide and US$2.65/ton sulfide, where the NSR is calculated as resource net smelter return (NSR) = silver grade (oz/ton) * silver recovery (%) * silver price ($/oz) - refining cost ($/oz) + gold grade (oz/ton) * gold recovery (%) * gold price ($/oz) - refining cost ($/oz); and variable pit slope angles that approximately average 43º over the life-of-mine.
7. Silvertip Underground Mineral Resource estimates are reported using a net smelter return (“NSR”) cutoff of US$130/tonne. Mineral Resources are reported insitu using the following assumptions: The estimate use the following key input parameters: lead recovery of 87-88%, zinc recovery of 81-82% and silver recovery of 88-89 %. Lead concentrate grade of 51-53%; zinc concentrate grade of 48-50%; mining costs of US$68.77/tonne; processing costs of US$58.20/tonne and US$46.49/tonne, where the NSR ($/tonne) = tonnes x grade x metal prices x metallurgical recoveries – royalties – TCRCs – transport costs over the life of the mine.
8. Sterling Open Pit Mineral Resource estimates are reported in-situ and are contained within a confining pit shell and use the following key input parameters: reported above a gold cutoff of 0.007 ounces per ton; gold recoveries of 75-80%; mining costs of US$2.16/ton; process costs of US$2.70/ton; G&A costs of $1.00/ton; variable pit slope angles of 39-52º over the life-of-mine.
9. La Preciosa Open Pit Mineral Resource estimate is reported using a net smelter return (“NSR”) cutoff of US$23/tonne and Underground Mineral Resources are reported using a NSR cut-off of $71/tonne. Mineral Resources are reported in-situ and contained within a conceptual measured, indicated and inferred optimized pit shell or conceptual underground mining shapes using the following assumptions: silver price of US$20/oz, gold price of US$1,400/oz. Average silver and gold recovery are 82% and 69%, respectively. Open pit mining cost is US$1.85/tonne, underground mining cost is US$47.96/tonne, processing cost is US$17.53/tonne and G&A cost is US$5.54/tonne. Mineral resources include hanging and footwall dilution, and typical mining recovery is estimated to be 95%. The technical and economic parameters are those that were used in the 2017 Resource Estimation. Based on the QPs review of the estimate, there would be no material change to the Mineral Resource if a gold price of US$1,700/oz, a silver price of US$22/oz or economic parameters were updated. Therefore the 2017 Mineral Resource report is considered current and is presented unchanged.
10. Lincoln Hill Open Pit Mineral Resource estimate is reported in-situ and are contained within a confining pit shell and use the following key input parameters: reported above an oxide gold equivalent cutoff of 0.15 ounces per ton and 0.20 oz ounces per ton assuming a silver to gold ratio of 60:1; gold recoveries of 64%; silver recoveries of 59%; mining costs of US$3.10/ton; process costs of US$3.60/ton; general and administrative costs of $1.50/ton processed; average pit slope angles of 45º over the life-of-mine. The technical and economic parameters are those that were used in the 2018 Resource Estimation. Based on the QPs review of the estimate, there would be no material change to the Mineral Resource if a gold price of US$1,700/oz, a silver price of US$22/oz or economic parameters were updated. Therefore the 2018 Mineral Resource is considered current and is presented unchanged.
11. Wilco Open Pit Mineral Resource estimates are reported using an equivalent gold cutoff of 0.20 ounces per ton assuming a silver to gold ratio of 60:1. Resources are reported in-situ and contained withed a conceptual measured, indicated and inferred optimized pit shell. Silver price of US$20/oz, gold price of US$1,400/oz. Average oxide and sulfide gold recovery is 70%, average carbonaceous gold recovery is 50%. Average oxide and sulfide gold recovery is 60%. Average carbonaceous silver recovery is 50%. Open pit mining cost is US$1.50/ton, processing and processing and G&A cost is US$5.46/ton; average pit slope angles of 50º. The technical and economic parameters are those that were used in the 2018 Resource Estimation. Based on the QPs review of the estimate, there would be no material change to the Mineral Resource if a gold price of US$1,700/oz, a silver price of US$22/oz or economic parameters were updated. Therefore the 2018 Mineral Resource report is considered current and is presented unchanged.
12. Rounding of short tons, grades, and troy ounces, as required by reporting guidelines, may result in apparent differences between tons, grades, and contained metal contents.

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