Q1-2024 net income of $4.3 million

Quarterly EBITDA¹ of $13.6 million – free cash flow to equity¹ of $7.3 million

Current copper prices substantially above Q1-2024 average

Quarterly dividend of Cdn$0.03 per share declared, representing a 7.7% yield³

Amerigo Resources Ltd. (TSX: ARG) (OTCQX: ARREF) is pleased to announce financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2024. Dollar amounts in this news release are in U.S. dollars unless indicated otherwise.

Amerigo’s Q1-2024 financial results included net income of $4.3 million, earnings per share of $0.03, EBITDA¹ of $13.6 million and free cash flow to equity¹ of $7.3 million. In Q1-2024, Amerigo returned $3.7 million to shareholders².

“We are pleased to report a strong operational first quarter, with production trending over guidance and excellent cost management at MVC. During the first quarter, our average copper price was $3.95 per pound, and we generated free cash flow to equity of $7.3 million. Since the end of the quarter, copper prices have substantially appreciated, confirming our long-standing view on the strength of copper supply and demand fundamentals,” said Aurora Davidson, Amerigo’s President and CEO.

“Amerigo’s Capital Return Policy has the tools to return surplus cash to shareholders in a timely manner. As stated last quarter, we are growing cash balances to our desired target level. This cash rebuild is accelerating under current copper prices, where the latest spot copper prices exceed our Q1-2024 provisional price by $0.50 per pound. With respect to our first quarter results, Amerigo’s Board of Directors declared another quarterly dividend of Cdn$0.03 per share,” she added.

On May 6, 2024, Amerigo’s Board of Directors declared its eleventh consecutive quarterly dividend. The dividend will be in the amount of Cdn$0.03 per share, payable on June 20, 2024, to shareholders of record as of May 30, 2024⁴. Amerigo designates the entire amount of this taxable dividend to be an “eligible dividend” for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada), as amended from time to time. Based on Amerigo’s March 31, 2024, share closing price of Cdn$1.55, this represents an annual dividend yield of 7.7%³.

This news release should be read with Amerigo’s interim consolidated financial statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis for Q1-2024, available on the Company’s website at www.amerigoresources.com and on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca.

Highlights and Significant Items

• In Q1-2024, operations from Minera Valle Central, the Company’s 100% owned operation near Rancagua, Chile, outperformed copper production and cash cost¹ guidance by 2% and 9%, respectively. Copper production in Q1-2024 was 16.0 million pounds (Q1-2023: 16.5 M lbs), including 8.5 M lbs from fresh tailings (Q1-2023: 10.1 M lbs) and 7.5 M lbs from Cauquenes historical tailings (Q1-2023: 6.4 M lbs). Molybdenum production in Q1-2024 and Q1-2023 was 0.3 million pounds.

• Both copper and molybdenum prices were lower in Q1-2024 compared to Q1-2023, which had a negative impact on Q1-2024 revenue. The Company’s Q1-2024 average copper price was $3.95 per pound (“/lb”) compared to $4.02/lb in Q1-2023, and the Company’s molybdenum price was $19.67/lb in Q1-2024, compared to $31.73/lb in Q1-2023.

• Net income during Q1-2024 was $4.3 million (Q1-2023: $9.1 million) due to lower copper and molybdenum revenue and lower unrealized foreign exchange gains, offset by lower tolling and production costs and lower taxes.

• EPS during Q1-2024 was $0.03 (Cdn$0.03), compared to $0.05 (Cdn$0.07) in Q1-2023.

• The Company generated operating cash flow before changes in non-cash working capital¹ of $10.2 million in Q1-2024 (Q1-2023: $13.2 million). Quarterly net operating cash flow was $4.5 million (Q1-2023: $18.2 million). Free cash flow to equity¹ was $7.3 million in Q1-2024 (Q1-2023: $8.6 million), given significantly lower capital expenditures (“Capex”) in Q1-2024.

• Q1-2024 cash cost¹ was $1.96/lb (Q1-2023: $1.91/lb), including $0.07/lb paid to MVC’s supervisors as the signing bonus of a 3-year collective labour agreement. Normalized cash cost¹, excluding the effect of the signing bonus, was $1.89/lb.

• The Company’s financial performance is sensitive to changes in copper prices. MVC’s Q1-2024 provisional copper price was $3.97/lb. The final prices for January, February, and March 2024 sales will be the average London Metal Exchange (“LME”) prices for April ($4.30/lb), May, and June 2024, respectively. A 10% increase or decrease from the $3.97/lb provisional price used on March 31, 2024, would result in a $6.3 million change in revenue in Q2-2024 regarding Q1-2024 production⁵.

• In Q1-2024, Amerigo returned $3.7 million to shareholders through Amerigo’s regular quarterly dividend of Cdn$0.03 per share (Q1-2023: $3.6 million). In Q1-2023, $1.9 million was used to repurchase 1.6 million common shares through a Normal Course Issuer Bid.

• On March 31, 2024, the Company held cash and cash equivalents of $13.8 million (December 31, 2023: $16.2 million), restricted cash of $6.2 million (December 31, 2023: $6.3 million), and its working capital deficiency was $4.2 million, down from a working capital deficiency of $12.3 million on December 31, 2023.

• On May 6, 2024, two production optimization Capex projects were approved to be initiated in 2024. The Capex for these projects is expected to be $2.3 million, resulting in an annualized increase of around 345 tonnes or 760,000 lbs of copper when completed.

About Amerigo and Minera Valle Central

Amerigo Resources Ltd. is an innovative copper producer with a long-term relationship with Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile, the world’s largest copper producer.

Amerigo produces copper concentrate, and molybdenum concentrate as a by-product at the MVC operation in Chile by processing fresh and historic tailings from Codelco’s El Teniente mine, the world’s largest underground copper mine.

¹   Non-IFRS Measures
This news release includes five non-IFRS measures: (i) EBITDA, (ii) operating cash flow before changes in non-cash working capital, (iii) free cash flow to equity, (iv) free cash flow and (v) cash cost.

These non-IFRS performance measures are included in this news release because they provide key performance measures used by management to monitor operating performance, assess corporate performance, and plan and assess the overall effectiveness and efficiency of Amerigo’s operations. These performance measures are not standardized financial measures under International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS Accounting Standards”), and, therefore, amounts presented may not be comparable to similar financial measures disclosed by other companies. These performance measures should not be considered in isolation as a substitute for performance measures in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards.

• EBITDA refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and administration and is calculated by adding depreciation expense to the Company’s gross profit.

• Operating cash flow before changes in non-cash working capital is calculated by adding back the decrease or subtracting the increase in changes in non-cash working capital to or from cash provided by operating activities.

(iii) Free cash flow to equity refers to operating cash flow before changes in non-cash working capital, less capital expenditures plus new debt issued less debt and lease repayments. FCFE represents the amount of cash generated by the Company in a reporting period that can be used to pay for the following:

1. potential distributions to the Company’s shareholders and
   b) any additional taxes triggered by the repatriation of funds from Chile to Canada to fund these distributions.

Free cash flow  refers to FCFE plus repayments of borrowings and lease repayments.

• Cash cost is a performance measure commonly used in the mining industry that is not defined under IFRS. Cash cost is the aggregate of smelting and refining charges, tolling/production costs net of inventory adjustments and administration costs, net of by-product credits. Cash cost per pound produced is based on pounds of copper produced and is calculated by dividing cash cost by the number of pounds of copper produced.

²   Capital returned to shareholders

The table below summarizes the capital returned to shareholders since Amerigo’s Capital Return Strategy was implemented in October 2021.

³   Dividend yield

The disclosed annual yield of 7.7% is based on four quarterly dividends of Cdn$0.03 per share each, divided over Amerigo’s March 31, 2024 closing share price of Cdn$1.55.

⁴   Dividend dates

A dividend of Cdn$0.03 per share will be paid on June 20, 2024, to shareholders of record as of May 30, 2024. Given the change to a “T+1 settlement cycle” effective May 27, 2024, the ex-dividend date will also be May 30, 2024. Shareholders purchasing Amerigo shares on the ex-dividend date or after will not receive this dividend, as it will be paid to selling shareholders. Shareholders purchasing Amerigo shares before the ex-dividend date will receive the dividend.

⁵   MVC’s copper price

MVC’s copper price is the average notional copper price for the period before smelting and refining, DET notional copper royalties, transportation costs and excluding settlement adjustments to prior period sales.

MVC’s pricing terms are based on the average LME copper price of the third month following the delivery of copper concentrates produced under the DET tolling agreement (“M+3”). This means that when final copper prices are not yet known, they are provisionally marked to market at the end of each month based on the progression of the LME-published average monthly M and M+3 prices. Provisional prices are adjusted monthly using this consistent methodology until they are settled.

Q4-2023 copper deliveries were marked-to-market on December 31, 2023 at $3.83/lb and were settled in Q1-2024 as follows:

• October 2023 sales settled at the January 2024 LME average price of $3.78/lb
• November 2023 sales settled at the February 2024 LME average price of $3.77/lb
• December 2023 sales settled at the March 2024 LME average price of $3.93/lb

Q1-2024 copper deliveries were marked to market on March 31, 2024, at $3.97/lb and will be settled at the LME average prices for April ($4.30/lb), May, and June 2024.