Mr. Patrick Downey reports

OREZONE REPORTS SECOND QUARTER 2023 RESULTS

Orezone Gold Corp. has released its operational and financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023. The consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis are available at the Orezone website and on the company's profile on SEDAR+. The company will host a conference call and webcast on Aug. 10, 2023, commencing at 8 a.m. PDT, to discuss the company's second quarter results. Additional details are provided at the end of this press release. (All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated.)

Patrick Downey, president and chief executive officer, commented: "The Bombore mine delivered another solid quarter of gold production, which allowed the company to reduce its debt by a further $19.1-million, while maintaining a healthy cash balance. During the quarter, the operations team successfully completed several mill maintenance tasks, including a full mill reline with a new liner design that will increase liner life going forward. Processed head grades were lower than modelled in the first half of 2023 as we encountered a greater intensity of historical artisanal depletion in certain near-surface higher-grade ore zones mined. As a result, we now forecast that 2023 gold production will trend towards the low end of our guidance range with a modest increase in [all-in sustaining cost] guidance.

"With our value-enhancing initiatives, we are advancing fieldwork to connect to Burkina Faso's national grid and remain on track to receive grid power before year-end. Once completed, this will significantly reduce our cost for power, which is currently being generated using on-site diesel gensets rented from a third party. In addition, our phase 2 hardrock expansion feasibility study and [life-of-mine] plan update is nearing completion with release of study results planned for the end of September."

Second quarter 2023 highlights

Operational:

• Produced 35,482 gold ounces;
• Sold 33,608 gold oz at an average realized price of $1,970 per oz;
• AISC of $1,109 per gold oz sold;
• Zero lost-time injuries with 1,037,000 personnel hours worked.

Financial:

• Revenue of $66.4-million;
• Earnings from mine operations of $27.5-million;
• Net income and net income per share (basic) attributable to Orezone shareholders of $11.4-million and three cents, respectively;
• Adjusted earnings and adjusted earnings per share (basic) attributable to Orezone shareholders of $11.2-million and three cents, respectively;
• Cash flow from operations before changes in non-cash working capital of $25.2-million ($20.2-million after changes in non-cash working capital);
• Free cash flow of $8.0-million;
• Principal repayment of $19.1-million under the Coris Bank senior debt facility;
• Cash of $32.3-million at June 30, 2023.

The company poured first gold on Sept. 10, 2022, and declared commercial production on Dec. 1, 2022, at its Bombore mine. As a result, comparative figures for the corresponding quarter and year-to-date period in the prior year have not been presented as they are not meaningful as the Bombore mine was under construction during this period. Operating and financial performance in the current quarter has been compared with first quarter 2023 to highlight quarter-over-quarter movements in performance.

2023 guidance update

The company previously issued 2023 gold production guidance of between 140,000 and 155,000 oz with AISC per gold ounce sold in the range of $1,010 to $1,110. The company is forecasting 2023 gold production at the bottom end of its guidance range. Greater-than-anticipated artisanal depletion has been encountered in certain high-grade zones mined to the end of first half 2023, which has resulted in lower-than-modelled ore grades being delivered to the process plant. Significant artisanal workings were encountered in first half 2023, but evidence of artisanal activity has diminished as the company mines toward lower pit benches. As a result, the company expects historical artisanal activity to have less influence on the modelled mined grades in second half 2023. In addition, the mining contractor is currently approximately 10 per cent behind plan in terms of material movement, which has delayed access to areas of higher-grade ore. A second mining contractor, currently on site assisting with the expansion of the tailings storage facility, has been hired on a temporary basis to improve mining volumes and to catch up to plan by the end of 2023.

As planned, the company has processed its last remaining stockpiles of higher-grade ore accumulated during construction in June, 2023, and therefore, gold production in second half 2023 is expected to decline from production levels realized in first half 2023, offsetting the benefits of greater mining volumes and expected lower artisanal depletion.

AISC per ounce sold for 2023 is revised upward to $1,100 to $1,180, up from the previous guidance range of $1,010 to $1,110. The cost increase is driven mainly by the lower forecasted gold production and head grades. Other contributing factors include persistently high local diesel prices, which affect both mining costs and on-site power generation, a stronger XOF currency, and additional government royalties from a higher-than-budgeted realized gold price.

Conference call and webcast

Orezone will host a conference call and audio webcast to discuss second quarter 2023 results on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, at 8 a.m. PDT (11 a.m. EDT).

Webcast

Date:  Thursday, Aug. 10

Time:  8 a.m. Pacific Time (11 a.m. Eastern Time)

Please register for the webcast.

Conference call

Toll-free in United States and Canada:  1-800-715-9871

International callers:  646-307-1963

Event ID:  1179590

Qualified persons

The scientific and technical information in this news release was reviewed and approved by Dr. Pascal Marquis, geo, senior vice-president of exploration, Rob Henderson, PEng, vice-president of technical services, and Patrick Downey, PEng, president and chief executive officer, all of whom are qualified persons as defined under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Orezone Gold Corp.

Orezone (Toronto Stock Exchange: ORE and OTCQX: ORZCF) is a Canadian mining company operating the open-pit Bombore gold mine in Burkina Faso.

Orezone is focusing on mining and processing the phase 1 near-surface free-dig oxides at a planned annual throughput of 5.7 million tonnes. The company believes that Bombore has a significant underlying sulphide resource to support a substantially larger phase 2 expansion. The company has recently completed a resource definition drill program, and plans to issue an updated mineral resource, reserve and life-of-mine plan as part of this phase 2 expansion. It is expected that the pending study will be completed in third quarter 2023 to be followed by a production decision.

Orezone is led by an experienced team focused on social responsibility and sustainability with a proven record in project construction and operations, financings, capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions.

The technical report for the 2019 feasibility study on the Bombore project entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report (Amended) Feasibility Study of the Bombore Gold Project" is available on SEDAR+ under the company's profile.

We seek Safe Harbor.