Mr. Greg Smith reports

EQUINOX GOLD REPORTS SECOND QUARTER 2023 FINANCIAL AND OPERATING RESULTS: DELIVERS RECORD PRODUCTION AND REVENUE DURING THE FIRST HALF OF 2023

Equinox Gold Corp. has released its second quarter 2023 summary financial and operating results. The company's unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and related management's discussion and analysis for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023, will be available for download on the company's profile on SEDAR+, on EDGAR and on the company's website. The company will host a conference call and webcast on Aug. 3, 2023, commencing at 4 a.m. PT (7 a.m. ET), to discuss the company's second quarter results and activities under way at the company's projects. Further details are provided at the end of this news release. All financial figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated.

Greg Smith, president and chief executive officer of Equinox Gold, commented: "Following a solid second quarter, Equinox Gold delivered its strongest first half of the year on record, producing 260,408 ounces of gold and generating $506-million of revenue and $128-million of adjusted [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization]. We remain well positioned to achieve 2023 production and cost guidance.

"We also made significant progress at Greenstone during the quarter. The project is 85 per cent complete, on budget and on schedule to pour gold in the first half of 2024, and we look forward to hosting a site tour for analysts and investors in early September. With the initiatives taken earlier in the year to strengthen our balance sheet, we remain fully funded to complete Greenstone construction, ending the quarter with more than $300-million in cash and available credit."

Highlights for the three months ended June 30, 2023

Operational:

• Produced 137,661 ounces of gold;
• Sold 138,094 ounces of gold at an average realized gold price of $1,962 per ounce;
• Total cash costs of $1,361 per oz and all-in sustaining cost of $1,502 per oz (1);
• One fatality during the quarter, as discussed in the Santa Luz and health, safety and environment sections of management's discussion and analysis;
• No lost-time injuries and total recordable injury frequency rate (2) of 1.44 for the quarter (1.15 rolling 12-month average);
• Total significant environmental incident frequency rate (2) of 0.21 for the quarter (0.35 rolling 12-month average).

Earnings:

• Income from mine operations of $30.7-million;
• Net income of $5.4-million or two cents per share (basic);
• Adjusted net loss of $6.3-million or two cent per share (1).

Financial:

• Cash flow from operations before changes in non-cash working capital of $81.2-million ($19.9-million after changes in non-cash working capital);
• Adjusted EBITDA of $70.9-million (1);
• Sustaining expenditures of $12.7-million and non-sustaining expenditures of $105.9-million;
• Cash and cash equivalents (unrestricted) of $174.4-million at June 30, 2023;
• Net debt (1) of $660.6-million at June 30, 2023.

(1) Cash costs per oz sold, AISC per oz sold, adjusted net income, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted earnings per share ("EPS") and net debt are non-international financial reporting standard measures.

(2) Total recordable injury frequency rate and significant environmental incident frequency rate are both reported per million hours worked. Total recordable injury frequency rate is the total number of injuries excluding those requiring simple first aid treatment.

Corporate:

• In April, 2023, entered into gold collar contracts with an average put strike price of $1,950 per ounce and an average call strike price of $2,250 per ounce, for 3,050 ounces per month beginning April, 2023, through to March, 2024;
• Further to the gold sale prepay transactions entered into during first quarter 2023, entered into an additional gold sale prepay transaction on June 23, 2023, with an existing lender whereby the company received an upfront cash prepayment of $9.9-million in exchange for delivering to the lender 263.5 ounces of gold per month from October, 2024, through July, 2026, for a total of 5,797 ounces:
  • Concurrent with execution of the gold sale prepay transaction in June, 2023, entered into financial swap agreements that fix the gold price relating to the $9.9-million prepayment at $2,109 per ounce.

Construction, development and exploration:

• Advanced Greenstone construction with the following achieved to June 30, 2023:
  • More than four million hours worked with no lost-time injuries;
  • Project was 82 per cent complete, on budget and on track to pour gold in first half 2024;
  • Spent $92-million (Equinox's 60-per-cent share) during the quarter with total spend (100-per-cent basis) of $937-million project to date (76 per cent of the approved budget).

Responsible mining:

• In May, 2023, published the annual environmental, social and governance report, summarizing the company's 2022 ESG performance and 2023 targets.

Recent developments:

• On July 28, 2023, published the company's inaugural water stewardship report in alignment with the water reporting practices recommended by the International Council on Mining and Metals;
• On Aug. 1, 2023, published an update on Greenstone progress;
• On Aug. 1, 2023, drew $127.0-million on the company's revolving credit facility.

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2023, the company sold 15-per-cent- and 9-per-cent-more gold ounces compared with the three and six months ended June 30, 2022. The increase in gold sales was primarily due to the contribution of production from Santa Luz, which achieved commercial production at the end of third quarter 2022, and higher production at Aurizona, RDM and Los Filos, offset partially by lower production at Mesquite and the impact of the sale of Mercedes in April, 2022. At both Aurizona and RDM, the higher production was primarily due to higher grades and mill throughput. At Los Filos, the higher gold production was primarily due to higher ore tonnes mined, offset partially by lower gold recovery as solution management issues and some ore with a higher copper content impacted production. The lower production at Mesquite was primarily due to fewer tonnes mined and stacked compared with the comparative periods of 2022, driven by mine sequencing.

Cash cost per oz sold and AISC per oz sold were 8 per cent and 9 per cent lower in Q2 2023 compared with Q2 2022, respectively, driven by 15-per-cent-higher gold sales. Costs were also lower relative to guidance due to certain factors, including sustaining capital spend that was anticipated in the quarter but has been deferred into the second half of 2023, as well as the costs of key consumables having peaked in recent quarters and trending below levels used for guidance.

In Q2 2023, income from mine operations was $30.7-million (Q2 2022: $17.0-million) and for the six months ended June 30, 2023, was $45.2-million (six months ended June 30, 2022: $45.5-million). The higher income from mine operations in Q2 2023 compared with Q2 2022 was mainly the result of higher income from mine operations at Los Filos and Aurizona, which was primarily due to higher production and higher realized gold price per ounce, offset partially by lower income from mine operations at Mesquite, which was primarily due to lower gold production as the mine was mostly moving waste in first quarter 2023, which impacted the ore tonnes under leach in Q2 2023. The lower income from mine operations for the six months ended June 30, 2023, compared with Q2 2022 was primarily due to lower income from mine operations at Mesquite, driven by lower production, and the impact of the sale of Mercedes in April, 2022, offset partially by higher income from mine operations at Los Filos, Aurizona and Fazenda.

Net income for Q2 2023 was $5.4-million (Q2 2022: net loss of $78.7-million), and net income for the six months ended June 30, 2023, was $22.8-million (six months ended June 30, 2022: net loss of $98.5-million). The higher net income in Q2 2023 compared with Q2 2022 was mainly due to higher income from mine operations, a tax recovery of $800,000 (Q2 2022: tax expense of $29.5-million) and other income of $2.6-million for Q2 2023 as compared with other expense of $32.7-million for Q2 2022. Other income for Q2 2023 includes a $22.8-million gain on change in fair value of foreign exchange contracts, offset partially by $13.4-million in expected credit loss and write-offs. Other expense for Q2 2022 includes a $39.6-million loss on change in fair value of share purchase warrants.

The higher net income for the six months ended June 30, 2023, compared with the same period in 2022 was mainly due to a tax recovery of $10.4-million (six months ended June 30, 2022: tax expense of $33.2-million) and other income of $34.4-million compared with other expense of $51.7-million for the six months ended June 30, 2022. Other income for the six months ended June 30, 2023, includes a $41.3-million gain on change in fair value of foreign exchange contracts and a $34.5-million gain on sale of the company's partial interest and reclassification of investment in i-80 Gold, offset partially by $13.3-million in expected credit loss and write-offs. Other expense for the six months ended June 30, 2022, includes a $58.2-million loss on change in fair value of share purchase warrants, offset partially by a $12.9-million gain on change in fair value of foreign exchange contracts.

In Q2 2023, adjusted EBITDA was $70.9-million (Q2 2022: $24.0-million) and for the six months ended June 30, 2023, was $127.9-million (six months ended June 30, 2022: $66.9-million). In Q2 2023, adjusted net loss was $6.3-million (Q2 2022: adjusted net loss of $47.9-million) and for the six months ended June 30, 2023, was $9.3-million (six months ended June 30, 2022: adjusted net loss of $72.3-million). The increase in adjusted EBITDA and decrease in adjusted net loss in Q2 2023 were primarily due to higher income from mine operations, in addition to a $12.2-million realized loss on gold contracts in Q2 2022, compared with nil realized gain on gold contracts in Q2 2023. The increase in adjusted EBITDA and decrease in adjusted net loss for the six months ended June 30, 2023, were primarily due to a $14.5-million realized gain on foreign exchange contracts for the six months ended June 30, 2023, and a $24.4-million realized loss on gold contracts for the six months ended June 30, 2022.

Sustaining and non-sustaining expenditures totalled $12.7-million and $105.9-million, respectively, for the three months ended June 30, 2023. Sustaining and non-sustaining expenditures are broken down by mine site in management's discussion and analysis.

Additional information regarding the company's financial and operating results is available in the company's Q2 2023 financial statements and accompanying MD&A for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023, which will be available for download on the company's website, on SEDAR+ and on EDGAR.

Conference call and webcast

Equinox will host a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2023, commencing at 4 a.m. PT (7 a.m. ET), to discuss the second quarter results and activities under way at the company. All participants will have the opportunity to ask questions of Equinox's chief executive officer and executive team. The webcast will be archived on Equinox's website until Feb. 3, 2024.

Conference call

Toll-free in United States and Canada:  1-800-319-4610

International callers:  1-604-638-5340

Webcast:  at the Equinox website

About Equinox Gold Corp.

Equinox is a growth-focused Canadian mining company with seven operating gold mines, construction under way at a new project, and a path to achieve more than one million ounces of annual gold production from a pipeline of development and expansion projects. Equinox's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the NYSE American under the trading symbol EQX.

Technical information

Doug Reddy, MSc, PGeo, chief operating officer, is a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 for Equinox, and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this document.

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