SEMAFO: Cash Flow from Operating Activities before Changes in non-Cash Working Capital of $74 Million

Bantou Resource Goal of 2.5 - 3.0 Million Ounces by End of 2020

MONTREAL, Aug. 6, 2019 /CNW/ - SEMAFO Inc. (TSX: SMF) (OMX: SMF) is pleased to announce another solid quarter of operations, development and exploration activities for the three-month period ended June 30, 2019. All amounts are in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

Highlights

• Consolidated gold production of 99,800 ounces
• Cash flow from operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital¹ of $74.3 million or $0.22 per share¹
• Net income attributable to shareholders of $15.7 million or $0.05 per share
• Acquisition of Savary Gold closed April 30, 2019
• Discovery of new Bantou Nord Zone, 1.5km northeast of Bantou Zone
• Three rigs drilling at Bantou with resource goal of 2.5 - 3.0M ounces by end of 2020
• Balance sheet remains conservative with net cash and 100% exposure to upside in gold price

Benoit Desormeaux, President and Chief Executive Officer of SEMAFO, states: "We had a strong second quarter where our operations performed well and with the discovery of the Bantou Nord Zone, our resource goal of 2.5 - 3.0M ounces by end of 2020 for Bantou and Karankasso is well within reach. Our two investor days in the quarter highlighted a team that has been working together at SEMAFO for over 15 years, and we saw the benefits of this in our results. After quarter-end, a pit wall failure occurred at Mana. While we are disappointed that this will affect our 2019 production and results, we are pleased to note that no-one was injured and that the ounces have only been deferred to 2020."

Our 2019 Boungou guidance remains unchanged. Operations are tracking according to plan and in line with annual targets. In the first quarter, we noted that the all-in sustaining cost (AISC) for Boungou was slightly above the top end of the 2019 AISC guidance range. We further noted that this was expected and that over the remainder of the year, the AISC will track back into the 2019 annual guidance range.  In the second quarter, we see that the strip ratio decreased (as per the mine plan) with a corresponding reduction in AISC.

Mana Revised Guidance

A pit wall failure occurred in early August in the northern part of the Wona pit where there is no active mining. No-one was injured, and no equipment was damaged.

Currently, we are mining in the southern part of Wona pit. However, under the 2019 mine plan, some 45,000 ounces were expected from the northern portion of the pit between late August and year-end. To mine securely and regain access to ore in Wona North, we will have to push back the pit wall and mine approximately 6 million tonnes of waste material. As a result, mining of ore in the northern part of the pit will be deferred until the first quarter of 2020. These 6 million tonnes were part of the life of mine plan in 2021 and therefore do not represent additional tonnes or cost.

After evaluating multiple scenarios to compensate for the ore from Wona North in 2019, we established that there would be insufficient ore to feed the mill for approximately ten weeks. We now expect to suspend the processing of ore at Mana between mid-August and end of October.

The mining plan for the Siou pit remains unchanged: Development of Siou open pit is ongoing with ore expected in the fourth quarter; and development of Siou underground is proceeding on time and on budget.

We estimate the impact at Mana to be approximately 40,000 – 50,000 ounces of lower production than originally contemplated. Therefore, annual guidance at Mana has been revised to 130,000 – 140,000 from the original 170,000 – 190,000 ounces. There is no change to our Mana all-in sustaining cost (AISC) guidance. During the shutdown, mining costs of approximately $22 million for Siou and Wona will be capitalized in development and there will be a non-recurring charge of approximately $7 million mostly representing fixed costs for the period.

Siou Underground Continues on Time, on Budget

Underground development at Siou continued to advance well with 4,400 meters completed at end of July. The pace of development continues in line with our goal of reaching full production in the first quarter of 2020. At quarter-end, development continued on budget, with $31.2 million of the total $51.7 million budget incurred. Further grade control drilling in the quarter remained consistent with the block model.

Exploration & Development

Bantou

Exploration in the second quarter continued to focus on Bantou where a total of 190 RC holes (29,899 meters) and 17 core holes (3,307 meters) was completed. On June 3, we announced the discovery of a significant new gold zone called Bantou Nord. The Bantou Nord Zone is located 1.5 kilometers northeast of the Bantou Zone, which hosts an inferred resource estimate of 361,000 oz at 5.35 g/t Au.

The 2019 Bantou exploration budget was originally set at $3 million and involved one drill rig. Given Bantou's prospectivity and exploration success to date, its 2019 budget was increased to $11 million. The updated exploration program includes three rigs: i) one dedicated to follow-up drilling at the new Bantou Nord discovery; ii) a second testing the Bantou Zone along the plunge of the mineralization; and iii) a third one exploring grassroots targets over the entire property including follow-up drilling on the Bantou Proximal Zone located immediately west of the Bantou Zone.

Bantou Nord Zone

Following the June 3 discovery, the Bantou Nord drill program consisted of north-south lines almost perpendicular to the original discovery lines. The objective was to confirm the disseminated nature of the mineralization in addition to provide a better understanding of the geometry of the deposit. Results to date confirm the disseminated nature with grades and widths similar to those previously reported (see Table 1 with multiple intersections of +/- 100-meter lengths with grades ranging from 1.0 g/t Au to 1.4 g/t Au). In addition, the drilling appears in line with the original interpreted surface area of mineralization of 300 meters by 250 meters.

Table 1 - Q2 Select Drill Results from Bantou Nord Zone

Bantou Zone

At the Bantou Zone, high grade intersections were obtained along the moderate north plunge as interpreted by the block model (Table 2). Following completion of the programs, a revised resource estimate will be completed for the Bantou and Bantou Nord Zones that will be included in the year-end resource statement.

Table 2 - Q2 Select Drill Results from Bantou Zone

Bantou Proximal Zone and Regional Targets

As shown in Table 3, Bantou Proximal Zone continues to return excellent results that will be followed up in the fourth quarter.  In addition, the exploration drill returned interesting intersections at two new areas, called Peni and Sikongo. Peni is located 6 kilometers north-northeast of Bantou Nord, with Sikongo located 12 kilometers directly north of Bantou Nord. Further drilling has been scheduled in the second half of the year.

Table 3 - Q2 Select Drill Results from Bantou Proximal Zone and Regional Targets

Karankasso

Since closing the Savary Gold Corporation (''Savary Gold'') acquisition on April 30, the Karankasso database has been merged with the Bantou database. During the quarter, the transition with the Savary Gold team continued in an orderly fashion with everyone working together towards the common goal of maximizing the potential of the combined 1,250 km² district-scale property. In the third quarter, we will provide an updated budget and exploration plan.

Boungou

A total of 1,333 holes (13,361 meters) of auger drilling was completed north of the Boungou Mine in the second quarter in order to evaluate exploration targets in close proximity to the plant. No RC drilling was conducted during the quarter. Drilling is expected to resume after the rainy season.

Mana

During the quarter, a total of 96 holes (12,822 meters) was completed at Mana to test potential satellite targets proximal to existing deposits, including 4,519 meters at the Pompoi target east of Yaramoko Mine. The drilling program at Pompoi is approximately half-complete with no significant findings to date. Significant intersections were obtained on two satellite targets. The first is located six kilometers north of the Siou deposit, and the second is located five kilometers south of the Fofina deposit (see Table 4 below). Among these, hole MRC19-5206, which was drilled down dip of the zone, helped to confirm the orientation. Following detailed interpretation, an additional drill program will be completed with the aim of identifying a near-surface deposit.

Table 4 - Q2 Select Drilling Results at Mana Satellite Targets

Geologic Review at Mana

At the end of the second quarter, we hired a geological consulting firm to carry out an external review at Mana. Analysis and compilation are expected to be completed by year-end and to generate new targets for 2020 within trucking distance to the plant.

Nabanga

As planned, no drilling was done at Nabanga in the second quarter. Work on the preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") continues and is scheduled for release in the third quarter.

Korhogo

In the quarter, 600 holes of auger drilling (10,835 meters) and 1,306 meters of trenching were completed on the Korhogo property in Cote d'Ivoire. Two trenches in the northern part of the permit returned values of up to 6.10 g/t Au over 2 meters and 1.13 g/t Au over 3 meters. The program is expected to be completed before year-end.

Board of Directors Appointment

SEMAFO is pleased to announce the appointment of Daniel Buron to its Board of Directors, effective August 5, 2019. Mr. Buron joined the Audit Committee and the Human Resources and Corporate Governance Committee.

Mr. Buron has served as Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Domtar Corporation and Domtar Inc. since 2004 and previously held other senior finance positions within Domtar. Before joining Domtar in 1999, he held various finance positions with a leading firm in the commercialization and development of IT applications, solutions and tools as well as with a major international accounting firm.

Holder of a bachelor of commerce degree from Université Laval, Mr. Buron has 30 years of experience in finance.  He is a member of the Quebec Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) Order and a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors. He currently sits on the board of the McGill University Health Center Foundation.

Second Quarter Conference Call

A conference call will be held tomorrow, August 7, 2019 at 10:00 EDT, to discuss the second quarter results. Interested parties are invited to call the following telephone numbers to participate in the call. A live audio webcast of the conference call will be accessible for a period of 90 days through SEMAFO's website at www.semafo.com.

Tel. local & overseas: +1 (514) 225 7341
Tel. North America: 1 (888) 390 0605
Webcast: www.semafo.com
Replay overseas: +1 (416) 764 8677
Replay N. America: 1 (888) 390 0541
Replay pass code: 921499#
Expiration: September 7, 2019

About SEMAFO

SEMAFO is a Canadian-based intermediate gold producer with over twenty years' experience building and operating mines in West Africa. The Corporation operates two mines, the Boungou and Mana Mines in Burkina Faso. SEMAFO is committed to building value through responsible mining of its quality assets and leveraging its development pipeline.

CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of present or historical facts are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions and accordingly, actual results and future events could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. You are hence cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include words or expressions such as "goal", "by end of 2020",, "within reach",, "deferred to", "deliver", "long-term", "guidance", "targets", "will", "on time, on budget", "objective", "scheduled", "expect", "aim", "generate", "committed", "building", "leveraging" and other similar words or expressions. Factors that could cause future results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements include the ability to  (i) achieve the resource goal of 2.5 - 3.0M ounces at Bantou by 2020, (ii) deliver long term shareholder value, (iii) meet our 2019 revised guidance, (iv) resume the processing of ore at Mana at the end of October, (v) deliver the Siou Underground on-time and on-budget, (vi) achieve full production from Siou Underground in the first quarter of 2020, (vii) provide an updated budget and exploration plan for Karankasso in the third quarter, (viii) identify a near-surface deposit at Mana and generate new targets for 2020 within trucking distance to the plant, (ix) complete the Nabanga PEA by the third quarter,  the ability to increase reserves and resources, the ability to execute on our strategic focus, fluctuation in the price of currencies, gold or operating costs, mining industry risks, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral reserves and resources, delays, political and social stability in Africa (including our ability to maintain or renew licenses and permits) and other risks described in SEMAFO's documents filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. You can find further information with respect to these and other risks in SEMAFO's 2018 Annual MD&A, as updated in SEMAFO's 2019 First and Second Quarter MD&As, and other filings made with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com. These documents are also available on our website at www.semafo.com. SEMAFO disclaims any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.

SEMAFO
John Jentz
Vice-President, Corporate Development & Investor Relations
Email: John.Jentz@semafo.com

Ruth Hanna
Analyst, Investor Relations
Email: Ruth.Hanna@semafo.com

Tel. local & overseas: +1 (514) 744 4408
North America Toll-Free: 1 (888) 744 4408
Website: http://www.semafo.com