Centamin PLC-Q3 2016 Preliminary Production Results

PERTH, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwired - October 04, 2016) - Centamin PLC (LSE: CEY) (TSX: CEE)

Centamin is pleased to announce preliminary production results for the quarter ended 30 September 2016 from its Sukari Gold Mine ("Sukari") in Egypt.

Preliminary total gold production for the quarter was 148,674 ounces, a 6% increase on the previous quarter and a 41% increase on Q3 2015.

Quarterly throughput at the process plant was 2,806kt, a 4% decrease on the previous quarter and in excess of our base case target rate of 11 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa).

Open pit total material movement (ore plus waste) increased 7% on the previous quarter to 16,191kt. Open pit ore production decreased by 14% to 2,936kt at an average mined grade of 1.06g/t. The average head grade to the plant from the open pit was 1.14g/t. The run of mine ore stockpile balance increased by 157kt to 1,169kt at the end of the period.

The underground operation delivered 255kt of ore, in line with the previous quarter, at an average mined grade of 9.0g/t. Productivity remained above our forecast rate of 1 million tonnes per annum at 6g/t. Ore from stoping was 153kt at 8.8g/t and ore from development was 103kt at 9.2g/t.

	Q3 2016 (preliminary)	Q2 2016	Q3 2015
Open Pit - Total Material Movement (kt)	16,191	15,080	14,344
Open Pit - Ore Production (kt)	2,936	3,425	2,204
Underground Ore Production (kt)	255	256	312
Process Plant Throughput (kt)	2,806	2,929	2,673
Process Plant Productivity (tph)	1,437	1,432	1,342
Gold Produced (oz)	148,674	140,306	105,413

Andrew Pardey, CEO of Centamin, commented:

"Centamin delivered another solid quarter from the Sukari operation, bringing year to date total production to 414,249 ounces of gold. Ore throughput rates at the processing operation were stable, consolidating the improvements delivered over previous quarters and remaining above our base case forecast rate of 11Mtpa. The open pit delivered an increase in total material movement and the underground mine continued to deliver both tonnes and grade in excess of our base case forecast. We expect full year 2016 production to be towards the upper end of our guidance range of between 520,000 and 540,000 ounces."