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or Name
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Jaguar Mining Inc (3)
Symbol JAG
Shares Issued 72,350,197
Close 2020-10-09 C$ 8.15
Market Cap C$ 589,654,106
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Jaguar Mining produces 24,093 oz Au in Q3

2020-10-13 06:33 ET - News Release

Mr. Vern Baker reports

JAGUAR MINING REPORTS STRONG THIRD QUARTER PRODUCTION WITH 24,093 GOLD OUNCES

Jaguar Mining Inc. has released interim gold production results for the third quarter of 2020. The company is pleased to announce that it continues to show consistent quarter-over-quarter operational improvement at the Pilar gold mine and Turmalina gold mine located in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Financial results for Q3 2020 will be reported and filed on SEDAR on or before Nov. 10, 2020. All figures are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise expressed.

Vern Baker, chief executive officer, commented: "We continue to see steady progress toward our goal of sustainable production of 25,000 ounces a quarter. Pilar has demonstrated strong performance with its second consecutive quarter with over 13,000 ounces of gold produced. Turmalina made a step forward in its quarterly production with 10,300 gold ounces produced, its highest production quarter in three years. Over all, gold production increased 25 per cent in the third quarter compared to the same quarter in 2019 and steadily increased 3.0 per cent compared to the second quarter production of 23,483 ounces, demonstrating an impressive sixth consecutive quarter of increased production. We believe Jaguar is making steady strides to build the foundation of a strong company. Our quarterly production of 24,093 gold ounces combined with 2,701 development metres and 18,054 metrees of diamond drilling demonstrate a strong company performance on all key production aspects of our plan. I personally would like to thank all our team members for their continued commitment to Jaguar."

Q3 2020 operating highlights:

  • Consolidated gold production increased 25 per cent with 24,093 ounces compared with 19,324 ounces in Q3 2019, demonstrating the sixth consecutive quarter of increase in sustainable production. Grade also increased to 4.40 grams per tonne compared with 3.30 g/t in Q3 2019.
  • Pilar gold production increased 24 per cent and set a new production record with 13,724 ounces compared with 11,044 ounces in Q3 2019.
  • Turmalina gold production increased 25 per cent with 10,370 ounces, compared with 8,280 ounces in Q3 2019.
  • Total development metres increased 7 per cent to 2,701 metres compared with 2,527 metres in Q3 2019. Primary development metres increased 36 per cent to 2,068 metres compared with 1,516 metres in Q3 2019. Secondary development metres decreased 37 per cent to 633 metres compared with 1,011 metres in Q3 2019.
  • Total definition, infill and exploration drilling increased 130 per cent to 18,054 metres compared with 7,841 metres in Q3 2019. The additional drilling is expected to allow Jaguar to continue expanding mineral resources in 2020.
  • Strong treasury position as of Sept. 30, 2020, with cash of $39-million compared with cash of $30-million on June 30, 2020, demonstrating significant generation of free cash flow:
    • During the quarter, the company also paid a dividend of $4.4-million, purchased $500,000 of shares through the normal course issuer bid program and paid down bank debt of $600,000.

Mr. Baker continued: "As well as showing strong production numbers, our team has also begun investing strategically in our future. Both the exploration team and our project development team began the next phase of growth at Jaguar. The exploration team has started surface diamond drilling to begin testing some of our many targets developed in and around our mining operations over the past few years. Drilling was done on our Faina deposit (on the Turmalina property) to provide metallurgical samples to help our project team with planning. Drilling was initiated on our zonal basal exploration target, also near Turmalina, where we were on our eighth hole by the end of the quarter. Drilling was also initiated on the Pilarzinho property, near the Pilar mine, and the third hole was in progress at month end. Project development team efforts have begun by focusing on formerly active properties that we hold and that have known gold occurrences on them. We also concluded an agreement for a JV with Iamgold on an additional group of properties in the Iron Quadrangle. The team has begun evaluating all available information on these properties, and started a drone operated geophysical survey over some very promising areas of the JV properties."

Mr. Baker also commented on the current issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the company's CV-19 action plan, which was initiated on March 14, 2020: "During the third quarter we had an increase in the number of CV-19 cases, but our people were able to adapt and adjust to minimize the impact. The majority of the cases occurred in August and were predominantly at the Turmalina mine. In total, across the company (including third party employees) just under 3 per cent had been confirmed with CV-19. As of Sept. 30, 2020, all our people who had been confirmed with the virus had completed quarantine periods and returned to work. We continue to monitor our CV-19 action plan, which includes our first wave of relaxation of restrictions in October, 2020. The first step is to allow employees to move between sites. This will provide additional flexibility and strengthen support for our operating teams."

Risks and mitigating factors

Jaguar is maintaining its social licences to operate in all sites throughout Brazil and continues to deliver on its ethical and collaborative partnerships with employees, suppliers, local communities and unions. During this COVID-19 pandemic, the company has formulated a formal COVID-19 action plan, which has been adopted company wide. The action plan is committed to sustainability while implementing increased health and safety initiatives with all stakeholders, emphasizing the protection of employees and their employment.

COVID-19 remains the largest question mark for all companies. At any time, state and federal government mandates may change and any mandate that would result in the shutdown of operations will affect the company's production. As well, the pandemic may impact the availability of the company's work force or supplies. Jaguar is not able to predict the consequences of the pandemic over the next several months and hence is unable to project the impact on production at the current time.

Qualified persons

Scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Jonathan Victor Hill, BSc (honours) (economic geology -- UCT), FAUSIMM, senior expert adviser, geology and exploration, to the Jaguar Mining management committee, who is also an employee of Jaguar Mining, and is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

The Iron Quadrangle

The Iron Quadrangle has been an area of mineral exploration dating back to the 17th century. The discovery in 1699 to 1701 of gold contaminated with iron and platinum group metals in the southeastern corner of the Iron Quadrangle gave rise to the name of the town Ouro Preto. The Iron Quadrangle contains world-class multimillion-ounce gold deposits such as Morro Velho, Cuiaba and Sao Bento. Jaguar holds a prospective land position in the Iron Quadrangle of over 35,000 hectares plus over 27,000 hectares under JV with Iamgold.

About Jaguar Mining Inc.

Jaguar Mining is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development and exploration company operating in Brazil with two gold mining complexes and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims covering an area of approximately 64,000 hectares. The company's principal operating assets are located in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina gold mine complex and Caete mining complex (Pilar mine and Caete plant). The company also owns the Paciencia gold mine complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. The Roca Grande mine has been on care and maintenance since April, 2018. Additional information is available on the company's website.

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