Mr. Steve Letwin reports

IAMGOLD PROVIDES MINERAL RESOURCE UPDATE FOR COTE GOLD AND REPORTS STRONGEST QUARTER FOR PRODUCTION IN 2012 WITH CONFIRMED PRODUCTION GUIDANCE FOR 2013

Iamgold Corp. is providing a mineral resource update for its Cote gold project in Northern Ontario, along with the company's production results for 2012 and guidance for 2013. All dollar amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

Highlights:

• The vast majority of the Cote gold project mineral resources are now classified as indicated. The updated resource estimate represents a 114-per-cent increase in indicated resources from the previous estimate.
• Strong fourth quarter 2012 gold production of 214,000 attributable ounces brings Iamgold's total-year attributable gold production to 830,000 ounces.
• The company expects that average total cash costs (including royalties) per ounce for 2012 will be around 3 per cent (plus or minus) of the upper end of the previously provided guidance range of $670 to $695 an ounce.
• Gold production in 2013 is expected to range between 875,000 and 950,000 attributable ounces, with total cash costs (including royalties) of between $850 and $925 an ounce.
• Gold production is forecast to grow approximately 80 per cent over the next five years to 1.4 million to 1.6 million ounces by 2017.
• The company expects niobium production of 4.7 million kilograms for 2012.
• Niobium production for 2013 is expected to range between 4.7 million and 5.1 million kilograms at a margin of between $15 and $17 a kilogram.
• The conflict in Mali has not disrupted production at the company's joint venture operations, but exploration activity has been reduced as a precaution.

Steve Letwin, Iamgold's president and chief executive officer, said: "The resource update for [the] Cote gold [project] demonstrates significantly higher confidence in both the geological and gold-grade continuity of the deposit, and reaffirms our decision to acquire this project.

"Our gold production in the fourth quarter was the strongest this year, enabling us to finish 2012 near the lower end of our guidance. While performance at our Iamgold-operated mines has been solid, the underperformance at Sadiola has led us to reassess our strategy with respect to our joint venture operations. Over the next five years, the combination of growth initiatives at our existing mines, the ramp-up to full production at Westwood and the expected start-up of [the] Cote gold [project] in 2017 should drive production up 80 per cent to 1.4 million to 1.6 million ounces."

Cote gold project mineral resource update

The mineral resource estimate for the Cote gold project was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 and incorporates assay results from an additional 85 drill holes (47,325 metres) since the Oct. 4, 2012, estimate. The new Cote gold project resource estimate consists of an indicated resource of 269 million tonnes averaging 0.88 gram per tonne gold for 7.61 million ounces and an inferred resource of 44 million tonnes averaging 0.74 gram per tonne gold for 1.04 million ounces. The updated resource estimate, based on a cut-off grade of 0.3 gram per tonne gold, represents a 114-per-cent increase in indicated resources from the previous estimate, also based on a cut-off grade of 0.3 gram per tonne gold. The updated Cote gold project resource estimate benefited from the infill drilling that substantially upgraded the quality of the estimate through conversion of inferred resources to indicated resources.

A positive attribute of the Cote gold deposit is its accessibility for open-pit mining. The deposit locally outcrops at surface and, based on the extensive drilling program to date, the depth of the barren overburden averages 5.8 metres.

The mineral resource estimate was carried out by Roscoe Postle Associates Inc., and is reported in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 requirements and CIM estimation best-practice guidelines. The resource estimate was prepared by RPA associate principal geologist Jamie Lavigne, PGeo, with geostatistical input and verification provided by Mohan Srivastava, PGeo, a consultant with Iamgold.

The attached table presents the mineral resource at the 0.3-gram-per-tonne cut-off, as well as at several additional cut-off grades for comparison purposes.

            COTE GOLD PROJECT -- MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE 
                           (Dec. 31, 2012)

                Cut-off grade      Tonnes     Grade          Contained Au
Classification       (g/t Au)  (millions)  (g/t Au)  (millions of ounces)

Indicated                0.25         278      0.86                  7.68  
                         0.30         269      0.88                  7.61  
                         0.40         244      0.93                  7.32  
                         0.50         210      1.01                  6.83  
Inferred                 0.25          47      0.71                  1.07  
                         0.30          44      0.74                  1.04 
                         0.40          36      0.83                  0.95  
                         0.50          30      0.90                  0.88  

Notes:
1. Mineral resources are estimated using a gold price of $1,600 per ounce
   and a metallurgical recovery of 93.5 per cent.
2. High-grade assays are capped at 15 g/t Au and 20 g/t Au depending on 
   the subdomain.
3. A bulk density of 2.71 tonnes per cubic metre was used for tonalite
   and breccia, and 2.79 tonnes per cubic metre was used for diorite.
4. The mineral resource estimate is constrained within a Whittle pit 
   shell using assumed costs, and the above-noted gold recovery and gold
   price.
5. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not yet have 
   demonstrated economic viability, but are deemed to have a reasonable
   prospect of economic extraction.
6. Numbers in the table may not add due to rounding.
7. Mineral resources are reported on a 100-per-cent basis; Iamgold has a
   92.5-per-cent average attributable ownership of this project.

The effective date of this resource estimate is Dec. 31, 2012, and includes all validated drill results available as at Dec. 31, 2012. This estimate is based on assay results from a total of 293 diamond drill holes (158,047 metres). Since the completion of the Oct. 4, 2012, estimate, which was based on 208 diamond drill holes (110,722 metres), a further 85 diamond drill holes (47,325 metres) were available and validated as at Dec. 31, 2012. Mineralized wire frames were interpreted and used to constrain grade interpolation by ordinary kriging.

Gold production for 2012

Attributable gold production for the fourth quarter of 2012 was 214,000 ounces, bringing production for the full year 2012 to 830,000 ounces. Full year production was slightly below the lower end of the guidance range of 840,000 to 910,000 ounces, primarily due to the company's underperforming joint venture operations. The company expects that average total cash costs (including royalties) per ounce will be around 3 per cent (plus or minus) of the upper end of the previously provided guidance range of $670 to $695 an ounce.

                 ATTRIBUTABLE GOLD PRODUCTION
                   (in thousands of ounces)   
 
                     Q1 2012  Q2 2012  Q3 2012  Q4 2012  2012

Iamgold as operator                                
Essakane (90%)            80       81       77       77   315
Rosebel (95%)             93       94       95      100   382
Doyon (100%)               2        2        -        -     4
Totals                   175      177      172      177   701
Joint ventures                                  
Sadiola (41%)             25       22       26       27   100
Yatela (40%)               7        5        7       10    29
Totals                    32       27       33       37   129
Grand totals             207      204      205      214   830

Niobium production for 2012

In 2012, Iamgold produced 4.7 million kilograms of niobium at an average margin of $15 per kilogram, which was within the guidance range of 4.6 million to 5.1 million kilograms at an average margin of between $15 and $17 a kilogram.

Production and cash-cost guidance

Gold production and cash costs

The company confirms its previously announced gold production guidance of 875,000 to 950,000 attributable ounces for 2013. As in the past, production is expected to vary from quarter to quarter as a result of such factors as the rainy season in Suriname in the second quarter and the ramp-up in production at Westwood throughout 2013.

With the Westwood processing facility on track to begin gold production by the end of March, and development studies and permitting at the Cote gold project expected to be completed in 2014, followed by a construction start the following year, the company confirms its five-year production guidance with gold production expected to grow by approximately 80 per cent to 1.4 million to 1.6 million ounces by 2017.

At the company's joint venture operations in Mali, which underperformed in 2012, the recent escalation of conflict in the country has not disrupted production nor has there been any interruption in supply chains. Although it is business as usual at the Sadiola and Yatela mines operated by the company's joint venture partner, which are approximately 1,300 kilometres by road from the regions of conflict, the company is reducing its exploration activity in the region at this time as a precautionary measure.

Total cash costs, including royalties, for 2013 are expected to increase to a range of between $850 and $925 an ounce. Approximately one-third of the increase in cash costs per ounce is attributed to inflation while another third reflects the impact of lower ore grades on production costs. The balance of the expected year-over-year increase is due to both the transition to harder ore at the company's mature mines and the higher unit costs at Westwood attributed to lower production in its first year of operation. The growing proportion of harder ore drives up stripping ratios and labour costs, and exerts a greater demand on crushing and grinding capacity, which in turn increases energy consumption and the use of reagents.

Mr. Letwin continued: "The lower grades of ore, combined with the energy- and labour-intensive nature of low-grade deposits, present a cost challenge in our industry. Whether existing projects or future developments, we have to explore more innovative ways of curbing cost escalation, and that applies to operating costs and capital expenditures. Sustaining operational excellence is key, so the one thing we're changing is the way we benchmark our performance. This has to be an ongoing process and not a quarterly event. In the ensuing months we plan to adopt a more broad-based measure of operating efficiency and to refine those same cost elements, such as sustaining capital and general and administrative costs, for inclusion in the calculation of expected rates of return on our projects."

Guidance for 2013 is based on certain economic assumptions, including:

• An average gold price per ounce of $1,700;
• An average crude oil price per barrel of $95;
• A U.S. dollar value of the euro of 1.25;
• A Canadian dollar value of the U.S. dollar of $1;
• An effective tax rate of 38 per cent.

Niobium production

The company expects to produce between 4.7 million and 5.1 million kilograms of niobium in 2013 at a margin of between $15 and $17 a kilogram. The operations at Niobec remain strong.

Capital expenditure forecast for 2013

The company previously announced that it was reducing its 2013 capital expenditure forecast due mainly to the delayed approval of the Sadiola sulphide project and the deferral of capital spending for the Niobec expansion. The timing of capital spending related to the Niobec expansion project will be aligned with the advancement of permitting and the outcomes derived from the completion of the feasibility study in the third quarter of 2013.

The company is providing 2013 capital expenditure forecasts by operation upon completing a review of the key variables, including economic assumptions, incorporated in the life-of-mine plans and feasibility studies. As such, the company's 2013 capital spending forecasts for Westwood and Essakane are $100-million and $300-million, respectively. The forecast for Rosebel will be provided upon completion of the feasibility study, expected by the end of the first quarter of 2013, and the Sadiola sulphide project is undergoing a strategy review. The company is forecasting $80-million for capital spending at Niobec in 2013 for mine development, sustaining capital and the expansion feasibility study ($20-million).

Exploration plan for 2013

The company's planned exploration spend for 2013 is $142-million, with approximately 54 per cent earmarked for greenfield exploration, including continuing exploration and feasibility work at the Cote gold project. The modest reduction in the 2013 forecast from that of the previous year is due to reduced exploration activities in West Africa. The company plans to carry out significant resource development programs at its Rosebel, Essakane and Niobec mines, as well as at the Westwood development project, scheduled to begin production at the end of the first quarter 2013.

Upcoming news releases

Iamgold will report its fourth quarter and year-end financial and operating results on Feb. 20, 2013. The release of the company's 2012 mineral reserves and resources statement is expected to be completed in February.

Qualified persons

The mineral resource estimate for the Cote gold project was carried out by Mr. Lavigne, PGeo, associate principal geologist with RPA, an independent qualified person under NI 43-101, including the verification of the data disclosed, and the review and approval of the contents of this release. Marie-France Bugnon, PGeo, general manager, exploration, Canada, for Iamgold, a qualified person under NI 43-101, has supervised the collection of scientific or technical information for the property. Craig MacDougall, PGeo, senior vice-president, exploration, for Iamgold, a qualified person under NI 43-101, has also reviewed and approved the contents relating to the scientific and technical disclosure of this release.

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