Mr. Chris Batalha reports

ARTEMIS GOLD EXECUTES CREDIT APPROVED TERM SHEET AND MANDATE FOR $360 MILLION PROJECT DEBT FINANCING TO DEVELOP BLACKWATER

Following a competitive selection process, Artemis Gold Inc. has received and executed a credit-approved mandate letter and term sheet from Macquarie Bank Ltd. and National Bank of Canada to arrange a $360-million project loan facility (PLF) to finance a significant component of the estimated construction costs of the company's Blackwater gold project in central British Columbia. Subject to final credit approval and final due diligence, Macquarie and National Bank would agree to each underwrite 50 per cent of the PLF.

Macquarie is part of Macquarie Group, a diversified financial group in 31 markets providing clients with asset management and finance, banking, advisory, and risk and capital solutions across debt, equity and commodities, and a recognized global leader in the provision of mining project finance. National Bank, together with its subsidiaries, forms one of Canada's leading integrated financial groups with $344-billion in assets as of Jan. 31, 2021. It has more than 26,000 employees in knowledge-intensive positions and has been recognized numerous times as a top employer and for its commitment to diversity. Its securities are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Highlights of the PLF

Key terms of the PLF include the following:

• Facility amount -- $360-million, plus up to $25-million for capitalized interest prior to project completion;
• Interest -- interest rate being the Canadian dealer offered rate, or CDOR, plus a margin of 4.25 per cent preproject completion, reducing to 3.75 per cent postcompletion;
• Fees -- customary upfront and standby fees for a facility of this nature;
• Repayment and maturity -- Principal and capitalized interest will be repayable in quarterly instalments over six years commencing one year following achievement of commercial production, with a repayment holiday during years four and five of production while the company expects to undertake its expansion of the project from phase 1 to phase 2. The PLF can be prepaid at any time without penalty;
• Liquidity -- minimum required proceeds of $10-million, debt service reserve of principal and interest owing in the upcoming quarter;
• Hedging -- A defined amount of hedging is expected to be put in place in advance of the signing of a definitive credit agreement pending certain conditions being met, covering approximately 10 per cent to 14 per cent of total recovered gold production from the project during the tenure of the PLF, in order to limit the company's exposure to reductions in the gold price and in support of project economics.

The provision of the PLF will be subject to final credit approval, completion of final due diligence, the completion of the company's definitive feasibility study in respect of the project, project finance documentation and other typical conditions precedent for a financing of this nature. The company is targeting the execution of a definitive credit agreement by the end of Q3 2021.

Notwithstanding the above arrangement with Macquarie and National Bank, the company continues to consider all financing options, including non-bank construction financing proposals, in the interests of minimizing shareholder dilution and cost of capital.

Steven Dean, chairman and chief executive officer, commented: "Artemis management is pleased to have reached agreement to again work together with two world-class lenders in Macquarie and National Bank on a project loan facility, adding to the list of completed milestones for the development of the Blackwater project.

"Obtaining terms that are approved by the respective credit committees prior to final permitting, and the definitive feasibility study (due midyear), speaks to the robust and attractive economics of a staged development of the Blackwater project, as well as the quality of the technical body of work that has been undertaken over the last nine years. Artemis continues to focus on minimizing equity dilution by pursuing low-cost, conservative structured capital, balanced by a disciplined risk management approach to the development of the project.

"The company is looking forward to continuing to work with Macquarie and National Bank to finalize due diligence and a definitive credit agreement in parallel with the execution of fixed-price [engineering, procurement and construction] contracts, and securing final major permits in order to ultimately break ground on construction on schedule in Q2 2022."

Further updates will be provided in due course.

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