Serabi Gold plc ("Serabi" or the "Company") ((AIM: SRB, TSX:SBI, OTCQX:SRBIF), the Brazilian focused gold mining and development company, is pleased to announce the Company's production results and operating highlights for Q1-2026 (all financial amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated).
Q1-2026 OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
Quarterly gold production of 12,042 ounces, a 20% increase from Q1-2025.
Cash as of 31 March 2025 of $64.4 million vs $49.2 million as of 31 December 2025.
Company now debt free; repaid $5.3 million to Itaú Bank in Brazil during the quarter.
Commenced installation of a 4th ball mill at Palito Complex, expected to be operational by Q4-2026 and will increase annual processing throughput to 330ktpa in 2027.
Installation costs estimated at $5.0 million, financeable entirely from the Company's cash balance.
Addresses plant capacity challenges at Palito Complex and permits the Company to immediately process lower grade stockpiles.
Assessment of the impact of restarting São Chico on the mine plan is underway.
Following 12 months of ore sorting success, the Company is transitioning from selective open stoping to mechanised sublevel stoping at Coringa.
Coringa currently operates under a 3-year GUIA license which expires on January 29, 2027.
Discussions are ongoing with the Agência Nacional de Mineração ("ANM"), regarding the extension of the current GUIA.
For the full mining license ("LI") at Coringa, the Company requires a change of land use approval from the Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária ("INCRA") as well as the approval of the Estudo de Componente Indígena ("ECI") from FUNAI, which are both progressing well.
Health & Safety update:
External group to conduct an audit of the health and safety process.
Recruitment of an additional 7 health and safety personnel including a health and safety manager and 6 additional safety technicians.
Recruitment of an additional 4 mining supervisors and a mine manager.
Mike Hodgson, CEO of Serabi, commented:
"We delivered an excellent first quarter, with over 12,000 ounces of gold produced and a positive cash balance of over $64 million increasing the cash position by $15 million. We are now debt free having repaid the $5.3 million debt facility to Itaú Bank in Brazil during the quarter.
Both mines have performed well. The ore sorter was instrumental in achieving our record annual production in 2025, and this along with favourable geological continuity of the Coringa veins has allowed us to transition from selective open stoping to the more mechanized sublevel open stoping method, providing many benefits to cost, output and safety. Mechanization of Coringa should be complete by Q3-2026.
As stated in our fourth quarter operational update for 2025, with ore sorting ongoing at both sites, the operation remains plant constrained. With gold prices at record highs and viable stockpiles on hand, plant capacity constraints have become more pressing than ever. The company is installing one of the dormant ball mills previously destined for Coringa at Palito to increase plant throughout. We plan to have this fourth mill operational by the fourth quarter of this year, in turn increasing our plant capacity to 330ktpa.
This decision to increase plant capacity is strategically timely. Whilst we anticipate positive news on Coringa permitting as well as mechanization of that mine, both of which will increase ROM output, we also have abundant lower grade stockpiles, which today cannot be processed due to plant constraints, but are viable. One such ore source is at the São Chico satellite operation, where operations were suspended in 2023. This suspension was not through exhaustion of the resource, but due to economics. With higher grade plant feed coming from Coringa and Palito, the Palito Complex plant simply did not have capacity to receive what was marginal ore from São Chico at the time. Furthermore, ore sorting has never been successful at São Chico. As São Chico ore, both surface stock and underground ore, is viable today, the Company is now assessing the possibility to re-habilitate the upper levels at São Chico and commence some modest production once again.
Receipt of the LI in Coringa is advancing. For the LI to be issued by SEMAS, the state environmental agency, two approvals are pending. The first approval is an authorisation for ‘change of land use' which is issued from the land registry body, INCRA. The second approval is from FUNAI, who need to approve the Indigenous Study (ECI). Serabi submitted the change of land use in final form this year and is in its final stages at the federal level, with approval expected to be received in the first half of 2026. The approval of the ECI is also advancing as I am pleased to report numerous positive consultations between Serabi and the indigenous community. FUNAI has presented the ECI to the indigenous community. Once a compensation study is agreed, the ECI can then be approved.
In 2025, we completed 38,400 metres of brownfield drilling at the Palito and Coringa sites. Drilling focused on step-out and step-down drilling of known zones, as well as new discoveries such as the Serra Sul and Fofão zones in Coringa and the Piauí zone at Palito. The target of reaching at least 1.5 million ounces of resources by 2026-year end remains on track. Activity has been limited during Q1-2026, as we are in the rainy season and surface drill crews only returned late January. An exploration update on our 2026 brownfield drilling programme will be provided in Q2-2026. The focus has been to conclude geological interpretation of all mineralized zones at Palito and Coringa in preparation for updated mineral resource updates, which will be issued imminently.
Whilst all this news is very positive, we suffered two tragic fatalities in January, both underground. The first mine-related and the second a traffic-related incident. It stunned the company after such a positive improvement in Health and Safety performance in 2025. We have doubled down on our efforts to do our utmost to ensure this will not happen again. Firstly, we have hired additional 7 health and safety personnel including a health and safety manager and 6 additional safety technicians. We have also engaged an external group to conduct an audit of the health and safety process.
We continue to take advantage of the economic tailwinds that prevail at this moment in time and the production profile for the year will see each quarter sequentially increasing production, as we anticipate another record year of production in 2026, with production guidance at 53,000 ounces to 57,000 ounces."
OPERATIONAL RESULTS
SUMMARY PRODUCTION STATISTICS FOR 2026 AND 2025
Q1
YTD
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Fiscal
2026
2026
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
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