TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 9, 2012) - Centamin plc ("Centamin" or "the Company") (TSX:CEE)(News - Market indicators) is pleased to announce its results for the three months to 31 March 2012.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Q1 gold production of 49,071 ounces from the Sukari Gold Mine ("Sukari"), a 9% increase on Q1 2011
  
  
• Cash costs of US$637 per ounce (excluding additional fuel prepayments, see main text)
  
  
• Average gold sales price received of US$1,694 per ounce
  
  
• Underground mine achieved record quarterly material movement of 71,815t
  
  
• Processing plant throughput of 1,020kt, an increase of 38% on Q1 2011 with record monthly mill throughput in January of 415,604t
  
  
• Stage 4 (plant expansion to 10Mtpa) continues to progress well and is on track for commissioning to begin in Q1 2013. Expenditure to date is US$99.3 million
  
  
• With cash and liquid assets of US$175 million as at 31 March 2012, Centamin remains debt-free and unhedged
  
  
• 2012 production guidance of 250,000 ounces maintained, with cash costs of US$550 per ounce at subsidised fuel prices
  
  
• Drilling commenced at Una Deriam, the first of Centamin's four exploration licenses in Ethiopia
  
  

Josef El-Raghy, Chairman of Centamin, said: "The team at Sukari delivered a solid quarter of gold production in line with our guidance and we remain on track to reach our full year production target of 250,000 ounces. With our commitment to a continued capex and exploration programme, the periods ahead will see sustained growth on many fronts in both Egypt and Ethiopia."

Centamin will host a conference call on Wednesday, 09 May at 11am (London, UK time) to update investors and analysts on its results. Participants may join the call by dialling one of the following three numbers, approximately 10 minutes before the start of the call.

A live audio webcast of the call will be available on: http://mediaserve.buchanan.uk.com/2012/centamin090512/registration.asp

A group analyst briefing with be held simultaneously at 11am at the offices of Charles Russell LLP (5 Fleet Place, London, EC4M 7RD).

A second call (Q&A only) will be held for North American analysts and investors at 2pm (London, UK time) / 9am EST. Participants may join the call by dialling one of the following three numbers, approximately 10 minutes before the start of the call.

About Centamin plc

Centamin is a mining company that has been actively exploring in Egypt since 1995. The principal asset of Centamin is its interest in the large scale, low cost Sukari Gold Mine, located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. 2010 was Sukari's maiden year of production, with 150,000 ounces of gold produced. In 2011, production expanded to over 200,000 ounces, with production forecast to increase further in the following years.

The Sukari Gold Mine is the first large-scale modern gold mine in Egypt. Centamin's operating experience in Egypt gives it a significant first-mover advantage in acquiring and developing other gold projects in the prospective Arabian-Nubian Shield.

In 2011 the Group acquired Sheba Exploration Plc and now has interests in four mineral licences in Ethiopia where it is conducting further exploration activities.

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

Overview

Q1 was forecast to be our lowest quarter of production in 2012 and as such represents a solid operational result. Sukari continues to be highly cash generative, with EBITDA of US$60.5m, a 16% increase on the corresponding quarter in 2011, and cash and liquid assets of US$175 million as at 31 March 2012. Centamin remains 100% exposed to the high gold price environment through its unhedged position and the Company is projected to have sufficient funding from its cash flow and cash balance to fund its capex projects, including the Stage 4 expansion.

Our exploration and development strategy in Ethiopia progressed during the quarter, as drilling began at the first of our four exploration licences in northern Ethiopia. The Company also increased its shareholding in Nyota Minerals Ltd ("Nyota") to 14% via participation in Nyota's capital raising in February to continue the development of the Tulu Kapi project in western Ethiopia.

We remain on track to achieve our full year production guidance of 250,000 ounces, which would represent a 25% increase on 2011 production and another step along our path to become a significant mid-tier producer. The full year cash cost guidance remains at US$550 per ounce at subsidised fuel prices and would increase by circa US$150 per ounce in the event that international fuel prices are levied.

Operational Review

Production

Sukari Gold Mine production summary:

Centamin delivered 49,071 ounces of gold production, which is a 9% increase on Q1 2011. Despite the interruptions to operations that occurred during the quarter that were previously announced, gold production was only marginally below expectations. 

Sukari's production profile for the year will see a larger proportion of ounces delivered in Q3 and Q4 due to increasing overall head grade and as such our full year production guidance of 250,000 ounces remains intact.

Centamin will release an optimised 5 year mine plan in May, as discussed in its announcement on 28 March 2012.

Open Pit

The open pit delivered total material movement of over 4.8Mt for the quarter, an increase of 6% on the corresponding quarter in 2011, but down 37% on Q4 2011 due to:

• Disruption from the reported strike activity
• Fewer excavators operating in the open pit for 30 days due to the planned maintenance of 2 of the O&K excavators
• Tight working areas in the bottom of the Stage 1 and Stage 2A pits
• Run of mine ("ROM") loader failure resulting in the use of an excavator on the ROM pad for 14 days

Ore production from the open pit was 1.0Mt at 0.83g/t and the average headgrade of ore fed to the plant was 1.21g/t due to partial depletion of ROM pad stocks. The ROM ore stockpile balance decreased by 499kt to 221kt by the end of the quarter, due to the reduced mining activity in the open pit as a result of the reasons mentioned above. ROM stockpiles are planned to increase to previous levels over Q2 and Q3 as higher mining rates are achieved.

Mining continued in Stage 2 and Stage 2A down to the 1100RL and 1064RL respectively. Pioneering work continued as planned in the Stage 3 pit in preparation for large scale load and haul activities.

Underground Mine

The underground mine achieved a record quarter of material movement (71,815t) and continues to ramp up ore production whilst also maintaining a significant focus on longer term development.

Grades continued to be reasonably high, with a headgrade of 8.11g/t from the underground mine in Q1. The grade was below the annual production guidance range of 10-12g/t as the majority of the stope material for the quarter was mined from the lower grade stockwork stopes, whilst developing access to the higher grade areas. Higher grade material is scheduled for mining in the coming quarters and annual grade guidance of 10-12g/t is maintained. The ratio of stoping ore to development ore mined remained steady this quarter, with 65% of development ore (47kt) and 35% of stoping ore (25kt) in Q1 2012.

A further 624.4 metres of development took place on the 875, 860, 850 and 845 levels to access additional stoping blocks that will be mined during 2012. A total of 1,757.2 metres of Diamond drilling took place during the quarter for both short term stope definition and commencement of deeper drilling from the 895RL to test the depth extensions below the current Amun zone.

Development of the Ptah Decline, which will move towards the north of Sukari deposit and provide access to the high grade Julius zone, began in October 2011 and had advanced 202.2 metres by the quarter end. The Ptah Decline will take underground activity away from the pit shell over the next two years, allowing Centamin to maintain two separate underground production sources once the Amun Decline becomes part of the open pit.

The underground production rate is expected to increase to 300-350,000 tonnes per annum ("tpa") in 2012 at 10-12g/t, principally from the Amun Decline. 

The anticipated capital cost of the Ptah Decline is US$18 million, which will see the decline reach the first ore blocks to be developed below the middle of the hill. It is expected that this initial development work will be complete in late 2012. 

Processing

Whilst disruptions to operations during the quarter resulted in lower overall tonnes treated by the process plant than in Q4, the resultant gold production was underpinned by the plant achieving its highest productivity to date. The plant performed at an annualised rate of 5 million tonnes per annum ("Mtpa") consistently throughout the quarter, with record tonnes per hour ("tph") rates of 656tph for the quarter.

The quarterly throughput in the Sukari processing plant was 1,020kt, 38% higher than the corresponding quarter in 2011 and just 4% lower than Q4 2011.

Plant metallurgical recoveries were 85%, which is a 1% increase on Q4 2011. Recoveries are expected to continue to increase with improvements to plant automation, which ensures we are operating within a tight band of pH control and thus optimising leach conditions on a continual basis. Centamin is also looking to improve its efficiency of carbon management and a short term measure is to replace some of the older fouled carbon with new virgin carbon on a periodic basis, which helps to maintain a higher amount of gold absorbed onto carbon and recovered.

The dump leach operation produced 1,903oz in Q1, a 17% decrease on Q4 2011. 264kt of low grade oxide ore at 0.42g/t was delivered to the pads in preparation for irrigation, bringing the total ore placed on the dump leach to approximately 6.0Mt at 0.51g/t.

Fuel Costs

Cash costs for the quarter totalled US$637/oz. As explained in the announcement on 28 March 2012, Sukari has benefited from the national industry subsidy in Egypt for diesel. As compared with international prices this has a beneficial effect of approximately US$150/oz on the forecast cash costs of US$550/oz for 2012 based on 250,000 ounces of production. The cash cost of US$637 per ounce does not include the cost of purchasing a proportion of our fuel for the quarter at international prices. 

Given the challenging political and fiscal conditions that Egypt is currently experiencing it was necessary during Q1 to advance funds to our fuel supplier Chevron to ensure continuous operations whilst negotiations are ongoing with the Egyptian Government on the path forward for fuel subsidies. These fund advances are prepayments being calculated at the international fuel price approximately 85 cents/litre and at this stage are not expensed, however they represent roughly half of our fuel supply for the quarter. Should these prepayments be expensed, the cash cost for Q1 would increase by US$93 per ounce to US$730 per ounce.

The Company has the support of the Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority in these negotiations and does not believe that an instant move to international fuel prices is a reasonable outcome. The Company will look to recover any funds advanced thus far at this higher rate should negotiations be concluded successfully. Centamin will update shareholders on the conclusion of these negotiations and update full year cash cost guidance if necessary.

Stage 4 Expansion

Construction continues on Stage 4 of the process plant expansion which will expand the Sukari capacity from 5Mtpa to 10Mtpa. 

Main Plant

Detailed engineering is 84% complete and the final issue, evaluation and award of equipment packages is ongoing. Work is continuing in the reclaim, grinding and flotation and the raw water pond earthworks are nearing completion. Engineering design work on the primary crusher is advancing well and a crusher has been sourced and purchased from FL Smidth to expedite crusher delivery to be in line with general project completion. Compressors and blowers are on site and all civil works are completed for the compressor installation.

Power Station

The engineering design and procurement are 100% complete, with equipment beginning to arrive on site. Civil work on engine bays as well as the utility building and exhaust stacks continued. Engines are due to be shipped and are expected to arrive at Safaga port shortly for transportation to site. The current estimated project completion date is Q4 2012.

Sea Water Pipeline

The detailed engineering and issuance of tender packages is continuing. The contractor ENNPI opened the bid process for the installation contract at the end of March and Centamin expects the contract to be awarded at the end of May. Commissioning is expected to begin in Q1 2013.

Tailings Storage Facility

The construction process for the Tailings Storage Facility ("TSF") is 79% complete and the tender process has begun for a contractor to complete the remaining works as the mining machinery is required in other areas. Work continues with suitable waste material from mining operations. The current estimated completion date for the TSF is Q4 2012.

Costing

A breakdown of the major cost areas to date are as follows:

The capital cost of the Stage 4 expansion is expected to be US$287 million (excluding contingency) with expenditure to date of US$99.3 million. Major contributors to the payments made in Q1 were as follows:

The Stage 4 expansion project remains on schedule for commissioning in Q1 2013.

Exploration Update

Sukari Hill

Centamin's resources at Sukari are 13.13Moz Measured & Indicated and 2.3Moz Inferred, which include reserves of 10.1Moz. This quarter a new programme of underground-based resource and exploration Diamond drilling began to target the Sukari orebody at depth. 

The drilling has moved to an underground platform to test the depths of the mineralisation and better define the high grade gold zones. One exploration drill rig has commenced drilling from the underground development drives and the drilling programme will build up to four underground based exploration/resource drill rigs throughout 2012.

We aim to continue adding ounces to Sukari's already significant resource base.

Regional Exploration

Centamin continued to progress the second pillar of its growth strategy in Q1, which is continued exploration on its existing licence area. Drilling commenced at the Kurdeman prospect, which is one of seven other prospects on the 160km² tenement area besides Sukari Hill and the site of historical mining activity. Drilling also continued at the V-Shear prospect and other promising geo-chemical targets, which are being evaluated. All prospects are within easy trucking distance of the Sukari plant.

Further exploration results from the regional prospects are expected throughout 2012.

Growth Beyond Sukari

The third pillar of Centamin's growth strategy is growth beyond Sukari. Centamin has interests in 4 exploration licences in northern Ethiopia and drilling at the first property, Una Deriam, began in Q1. Ethiopia is a geologically prospective terrain that is historically underexplored. There is an emerging gold mining industry and significant artisanal gold mining activities. Through a well-funded and focused exploration effort, Centamin hopes to replicate its success in Egypt in exploring and developing gold assets.

During Q1 the Company commenced Diamond drilling at its Una Deriam property. Previous work on the tenement had outlined a 8km long gold in soil anomaly. Several historical open hole percussion drill holes confirmed the existence of significant sub-surface gold mineralisation with +20 metre intersections.

The acquisition of Sheba was part of the Company's plan to diversify into other countries in the prospective Arabian-Nubian Shield. Centamin intends to continue to grow and diversify its asset base through targeted acquisitions in the region and beyond.

Financial Review

Centamin has a strong and flexible financial position with no debt, no hedging and cash and liquid assets of US$175m at 31 March 2012. Cash and liquid assets is a non-GAAP financial measure and includes cash, gold sales debtors and liquid assets.

Sukari generated revenue of US$87.9 million in Q1, a 2% increase on Q4 2011. Revenue reported comprises proceeds from gold sales and interest revenue received on the Company's available cash and term deposit amounts.

Centamin's cash costs per ounce were higher than in Q4 2011 as a result of lower production and higher costs compared to those reported in Q4 2011. Production was lower by 17% as a result of lower grade ore being fed to the mills, (1.69g/t in Q1 2012 compared to 2.02g/t in Q4 2011) resulting in lower ounces produced (49,071 ounces in Q1 2012 compared to 58,965 ounces in Q4 2011) for relatively the same tonnes milled (circa 1Mt). Cash costs increased by 12%, ($31.3 million in Q1 2012 compared to $27.9 million in Q4 2011). The major contributor to the lower costs in Q4 was the accounting treatment used at year end in which the trial dump leach costs of US$8.8M, previously expensed, were capitalised as an asset to be written down over 2 years as the pad leached the ounces placed upon it.

The Company reported a 16% increase in EBITDA on Q1 2011 and a 10% increase on Q4 2011. Basic Earnings per Share for the quarter was 4.95 cents.

Corporate Update

Participation in Placing

On 03 February 2012 Centamin announced that it had subscribed for 67 million new ordinary shares for a consideration of £4.0 million in a conditional placing announced by Nyota to fund the continued development of their Tulu Kapi project in Ethiopia. The Company had an existing holding of 23 million shares in Nyota and following the placing becoming unconditional in all respects, Centamin's total holding in Nyota increased to 90 million shares, equalling 14.08% of Nyota's enlarged share capital.

Centamin views this investment as being in keeping with its stated objective of exploration and development in the highly prospective Arabian-Nubian Shield.

Board Appointment

On 17 January 2012 Centamin appointed Mr Kevin Tomlinson as a Non-Executive Director. Kevin began his career as a geologist working with various Canadian and Australian-based natural resources companies. More recently, he was Managing Director of Investment Banking at Westwind Partners/Stifel Nicolaus Weisel, a US, Canadian and UK full-service broker, where he advised a number of gold, base metal and nickel companies, including Centamin. Kevin's background in geology and extensive experience in corporate finance will further strengthen the Centamin Board and support our growth strategy.

Chief Executive Officer Appointment Process

During the quarter the Company appointed the recruitment firm Russell Reynolds and Associates to assist in the appointment of a CEO. A further update will be given in due course.

Chief Operating Officer Appointment

The establishment of the position of Chief Operating Officer ("COO") is another important step in the Company's growth. Mr Andrew Pardey has been appointed COO after having been General Manager Operations at Sukari since 2008 and being a major driving force in bringing Sukari online. Andrew holds a BSC in Geology and brings over 25 years experience in the mining and exploration industry, having previously held senior positions both in Australia and overseas with Guinor, Anglogold Ashanti and KCGM. A successor to Andrew in the role of GM Operations has been recruited and will commence his role on site in mid June.

Outlook

Centamin remains focused on progressing all three pillars of our growth strategy. At Sukari, we are committed to delivering on our full year production guidance on 250,000 ounces, a 25% increase in production from 2011. The full year cash cost forecast remains at US$550 per ounce at subsidised fuel prices and in the event that international fuel prices are levied, would increase to approximately US$700 per ounce. Even with these higher costs, Centamin is still projected to be able to fund its 2012 capex projects from Sukari cash flow and we remain a relatively low cost operation. With the ramp up of the construction efforts on the Stage 4 expansion, we are on track to become a significant mid-tier gold producer from the large scale Sukari gold deposit. The regional exploration efforts within the 160km² Sukari tenement continue to look promising and with the commencement of drilling at Una Deriam in Ethiopia our diversification within the highly prospective and underexplored Arabian Nubian Shield is underway. 

Josef El-Raghy, Chairman

09 May 2012

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This document contains "forward-looking information" which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of Centamin plc ('Centamin' or 'the Company'), its subsidiaries (together 'the Group'), affiliated companies,, its projects, the future price of gold, the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the realization of mineral reserve and resource estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, revenues, margins, costs of production, estimates of initial capital, sustaining capital, operating and exploration expenditures, costs and timing of the development of new deposits, costs and timing of future exploration, requirements for additional capital, foreign exchange risks, governmental regulation of mining operations and exploration operations, timing and receipt of approvals, consents and permits under applicable mineral legislation, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, limitations of insurance coverage and regulatory matters. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and a variety of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Centamin, its subsidiaries and affiliated companies to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements may not be appropriate for other purposes than outlined in this document. Such factors include, among others, future price of gold; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the actual results of current exploration and development activities; conclusions of economic evaluations and studies; fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the local currencies in the jurisdictions of the Company's key projects; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; possible variations of ore grade or projected recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes or slow-downs and other risks of the mining industry; climatic conditions; political instability, insurrection or war, civil unrest or armed assault; labour force availability and turnover; delays in obtaining financing or governmental approvals or in the completion of exploration and development activities; as well as those factors referred to in the section entitled "Risks and Uncertainties" section of the Management discussion & analysis. The reader is also cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhausted of the factors that may affect the Company's forward-looking statements.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

COMPETENT PERSONS STATEMENT

Quality Assurance and Control and Qualified Person

The information in the Statement, to which this Competent Persons Statement is attached, that relates to the Open Pit Ore Reserves of the Sukari Gold Mine, is based on information compiled and reviewed by Mr Igor Bojanic, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, a member of the Mineral Industries Consultants Association and is an employee of Runge. Igor Bojanic, signing on behalf of Runge, is a Mining Engineer. He has extensive experience in the mining industry, working for almost 25 years with major mining companies, including gold mining operations, and for consultants. During this time he has either managed or contributed significantly to numerous mining studies related to the estimation, assessment, evaluation and economic extraction of gold in Australia and overseas. He has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity he is undertaking to qualify him as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, a "Qualified Person" as defined in the "National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators" and "CIM Definition Standards For Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves" of December 2005 as prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions of the Canadian Institute of Mining".

The information in this report that relates to ore reserves has been compiled by Mr Andrew Pardey. Mr Pardey is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and is a full time employee of the Company. He has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity he is undertaking, to qualify as a "Competent Person" as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" and is a "Qualified Person" as defined in the "National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators" and "CIM Definition Standards For Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves" of December 2005 as prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions of the Canadian Institute of Mining. Mr Pardey's written consent has been received by the Company for this information to be included in this report in the form and context which it appears.

The information in this report that relates to mineral resources is based on work completed independently by Mr Nicolas Johnson, who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Johnson is a full time employee of Hellman and Schofield Pty Ltd and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a "Competent Person" as defined in the 2004 edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" and is a "Qualified Person" as defined in "National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators". Mr. Johnson's written consent has been received by the Company for this information to be included in this report in the form and context which it appears.

Information in this report which relates to exploration, geology, sampling and drilling is based on information compiled by geologist Mr. Richard Osman who is a full time employee of the Company, and is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy with more than five years' experience in the fields of activity being reported on, and is a 'Competent Person' for this purpose and is a "Qualified Person" as defined in "National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators". His written consent has been received by the Company for this information to be included in this report in the form and context which it appears.

All exploration and resource samples were analysed by Ultra Trace Pty Ltd, Canning Vale, Western Australia. All mine based production samples were analysed by Sukari Assay Laboratory, Egypt.

Refer to the updated Technical Report which was filed in December 2010 for further discussion of the extent to which the estimate of mineral resources/reserves may be materially affected by any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, or other relevant issue.