Hudbay enters a new golden age with startup of gold mill at Snow Lake

By Peter Kukielski, CEO and President of Hudbay Minerals

Hudbay reached a major milestone in Snow Lake this summer, ushering in what we are hopeful will be a new golden age for Hudbay in the region and for the province of Manitoba. After securing funding in May 2020 and completing over a year of work during a pandemic, in June 2021 Hudbay completed the refurbishment of our New Britannia mill, which will process ore from our Lalor mine. Commissioning and startup activities occurred in July and thanks to the resilience and dedication of our Manitoba staff, Hudbay’s first gold pour was achieved in mid-August, ahead of original schedule.

With Hudbay’s 777 mine in Flin Flon slated to close next June, the startup at New Britannia marks the start of Hudbay’s transition to make Lalor a primary gold operation in the province. During the first full six years of New Britannia's operation, annual gold production in Snow Lake is expected to increase to over 180,000 ounces.

At the time of writing, New Britannia is the only facility producing gold in Manitoba. We are committed to Manitoba and after 90 years of operations, we are proud to be

leading the way for gold mining in the province. Hudbay believes in leaving the areas in which we operate better than we found them and Snow Lake is no exception. We look forward to building a deeper relationship with the community, supporting employment in the region and contributing to the local economy.

Although our newly refurbished mill in Snow Lake will greatly increase our gold production next year, Hudbay is first and foremost a copper company and in 2022, an estimated 60 per cent of our revenue will still come from the red metal. In Snow Lake, we are building a brand-new copper flotation facility – the only one in Canada composed entirely of Jameson Cells (Mk. IV)- and are on track for commissioning and ramp-up before the end of this year. Our copper facility, once up and running, will only further enhance copper and gold recoveries at the New Britannia mill. Although New Britannia is complete and operational, we have no intention of standing still in Snow Lake. Exploring is at the root of who we are as a company, and we are excited to continue to discover and develop in the area. After our successful 2021 winter drill program in the Chisel Basin, this summer we worked to identify gold and base metal targets and conducted a follow-up drill program on a new target immediately north of Lalor. We have high hopes for the results of the drill program, which we will share as part of our annual mineral reserve and resource estimate in March 2022.

Once full ramp-up has been achieved at Lalor and based on current reserves, our mine at Snow Lake is expected to produce copper and gold for the next 17 years. However, with our proven track record of continuously adding reserves to our mines in Manitoba, we have no doubt we will be operating for many more years to come in the province. 6

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