Forward-looking Statements
This presentation contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation and may include future-oriented financial information. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements or information generally identified by the use of the words “expects”, “will”, “underway”, “targeted”, “planned”, “objective”, “expected”, “potential”, “continue”, “estimated”, “would”, “subject to” and similar expressions and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “should”, “will be taken” or “be achieved”, or the negative connotation of such terms, are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. These include statements regarding Equinox Gold’s intent, or the beliefs or current expectations of the officers and directors of Equinox Gold. Forward-looking statements or information in this presentation relate to, among other things: future outlook and anticipated events, such as the Company’s ability to achieve the 2020 production and cost estimates at its properties, the funding available to the Company, the timing and likelihood of project development, construction and expansion, the timing and amount of expected future production, the costs of future production, construction and expenditures, budgets and allocation of budgets, access, drilling and permitting, processing of higher grade ore, timing and completion of feasibility studies, feasibility estimates and trade-off studies, timing and completion of updated reserve and resource estimates, the value of AISC per gold oz, the Company’s plans and protocols with regard to managing potential impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company’s strategy to help keep its workforce and local communities safe, the Company’s business continuity protocols and the potential impact on operations related to COVID-19, the Company’s ability to maintain activities and productivity at its operating mines, the Company’s ability to successfully resume operations at mines at which operations may be restricted or temporarily suspended, and the Company’s ability to advance its development and expansion projects and achieve its growth objectives. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The Company has based these forward-looking statements and information on the Company’s current expectations and projections about future events and these assumptions include: tonnage of ore to be mined and processed; ore grades and recoveries; prices for gold remaining as estimated; the assets operating in accordance with current expectations; construction at Castle Mountain being completed and performed in accordance with current expectations; currency exchange rates remaining as estimated; capital, decommissioning and reclamation estimates; the Company’s mineral reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions on which they are based; prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services; and the Company’s ability to comply with permit requirements and all environmental, health and safety laws. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained in this presentation. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information contained in this presentation and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: fluctuations in gold prices; fluctuations in prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services; fluctuations in currency markets; operational risks and hazards inherent with the business of mining (including environmental accidents and hazards, industrial accidents, equipment breakdown, usual or unexpected geological or structural formations, cave-ins, flooding and severe weather); inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance to cover these risks and hazards; employee relations; relationships with, and claims by, local communities and indigenous populations; the Company’s ability to obtain all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in a timely manner; changes in laws, regulations and government practices, including environmental, export and import laws and regulations; legal restrictions relating to mining; risks relating to expropriation, increased competition in the mining industry; and those factors identified in the Company’s year-end MD&A. Forward-looking statements and information are designed to help readers understand management’s views as of that time with respect to future events and speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation and do not intend to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to any forward-looking statement or information contained or incorporated by reference to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements and information. If the Company updates any one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements and information in this presentation are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
Technical Information
The technical information in this document has been approved and verified by Adriaan (Attie) Roux, Pr.Sci.Nat., Equinox Gold’s COO; Doug Reddy, P.Geo, Equinox Gold’s EVP Technical Services; and Scott Heffernan, MSc, P.Geo. Equinox Gold’s EVP Exploration, who are the Qualified Persons under National Instrument 43-101 for Equinox Gold. All technical information related to Equinox Gold’s properties and the Company’s mineral reserves and resources is available on Equinox Gold’s website at www.equinoxgold.com, on EDGAR at www.sec.gov and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
All-in-Sustaining Costs (AISC)
AISC per gold oz sold is a non-IFRS measure based on guidance announced by the World Gold Council (“WGC”) in September 2013 and updated in November 2018. The WGC is not a regulatory body and does not have the authority to develop accounting standards or disclosure requirements. The WGC has worked with its member companies to develop a measure that expands on IFRS measures and non-IFRS measures to provide visibility into the economics of a gold mining Company. Current IFRS measures used in the gold industry, such as operating expenses, do not capture all of the expenditures incurred to discover, develop and sustain gold production. The Company believes the AISC measure provides further transparency into costs associated with producing gold and will assist analysts, investors and other stakeholders of the Company in assessing its operating performance, its ability to generate free cash flow from current operations and its overall value. Combined AISC does not include corporate G&A.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors Concerning Estimates of Reserves and Resources
These estimates have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. The terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" are defined in NI 43-101 and recognized by Canadian securities laws but are not defined terms under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") Guide 7 ("SEC Guide 7") or recognized under U.S. securities laws. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be upgraded to mineral reserves. "Inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource" will ever by upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of "inferred mineral resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists or is economically or legally mineable. In addition, the definitions of “Proven Mineral Reserves” and “Probable Mineral Reserves” under CIM standards differ in certain respects from the standards of the SEC. Accordingly, these mineral reserve and resource estimates and related information may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder, including SEC Guide 7.
Numbers may not add due to rounding. All dollar amounts in USD unless otherwise noted.
