ANNUAL INFORMATION FORM

FOR THE YEAR ENDED
DECEMBER 31, 2019

Dated:  February 19, 2020

401 Bay Street, Suite 3200
Toronto, ON  M5H 2Y4

Table of Contents

List of Charts and Tables

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors Regarding Disclosure of Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource Estimates

The disclosure in this Annual Information Form has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws contained in SEC Industry Guide 7.  Disclosure, including scientific or technical information, has been made in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators ("CSA") that establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. As a result, information contained in this Annual Information Form containing descriptions of our mineral properties or estimates of mineral reserves or mineral resources is not comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies in reports filed with the SEC in accordance with SEC Industry Guide 7. For example, the terms "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources", "inferred mineral resources", "proven mineral reserves" and "probable mineral reserves" are used in this Annual Information Form to comply with the reporting standards in Canada.  While those terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, SEC Industry Guide 7 does not currently recognize them. A U.S. company reporting pursuant to SEC Industry Guide 7 generally may only disclose estimates of proven and probable mineral reserves, and may not disclose estimates of any classification of mineral resources. In addition, definitions of proven and probable mineral reserves used in NI 43-101 differ from the definitions in SEC Industry Guide 7. Under SEC Industry Guide 7, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. In addition, disclosure of "contained ounces" is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations, whereas SEC Industry Guide 7 generally only permits U.S. companies to report mineralization that does not constitute reserves as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures.  Any estimate of mineral reserves or mineral resources has a great amount of uncertainty as to its existence, and great uncertainty as to its economic and legal feasibility with estimates of mineral resources have a greater degree of uncertainty.  Further, in accordance with Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources cannot form the basis of pre-feasibility or feasibility studies or other economic studies, except that they may form the basis of preliminary economic assessments, which are sometime referred to as scoping studies, subject to compliance with certain disclosure requirements under NI 43-101. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources or inferred mineral resources will ever be upgraded to a mineral reserve or that all or any part of measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources or inferred mineral resources is economically or legally mineable or will ever be mined. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure on technical terminology under the heading "Technical Information" in the Glossary below.

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Annual Information Form contains certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, respectively. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. All statements, other than statements which are reporting results as well as statements of historical fact set forth or incorporated herein by reference, are forward-looking statements that may involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors; many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding strategic plans, future production, cost estimates and anticipated financial results; potential mineralization and evaluation and evolution of mineral reserves and mineral resources (including, but not limited to, potential for further increases at the Essakane, Rosebel and Westwood mines) and expected mine life; expected exploration results, future work programs, capital expenditures and objectives, evolution and economic performance of development projects (including, but not limited to, the Côté Gold project, the Saramacca project and the Boto project) and exploration budgets and targets; construction and production targets and timetables, as well as the anticipated timing of grants of permits and governmental incentives; expected continuity of a favourable gold market; contractual commitments, royalty payments, litigation matters and measures for mitigating financial and operational risks; anticipated liabilities regarding site closure and employee benefits; continuous availability of required manpower; the integration or expansion of operations, technologies and personnel of acquired operations and properties; and, more generally, continuous access to capital markets; and the Company's global outlook and that of each of its mines. These statements relate to analysis and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

Statements concerning actual mineral reserves and mineral resources estimates are also deemed to constitute forward-looking statements to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered if the relevant project or property is developed and, in the case of mineral reserves, such statements reflect the conclusion based on certain assumptions that the mineral deposit can be economically exploited.

Forward-looking statements, which involve assumptions and describe the Company's future plans, strategies and expectations, are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan", "project", "budget", "forecast", "schedule", "guidance", "outlook", "potential", "seek", "targets", "strategy" or "superior" or the negative of certain of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The following are some, but not all, of the important factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements: hazards normally encountered in the mining business including unusual or unexpected geological formations, rock bursts, cave-ins, seismic events, floods, the inability to achieve designed processing plant throughputs or metallurgical recoveries and other conditions; delays and repair costs resulting from equipment failure; changes to and differing interpretations of mining tax regimes in foreign jurisdictions; the market prices of gold and other minerals produced; past market events and conditions and the deterioration of general economic indicators; the ability of the Company to replace mineral reserves depleted by production; overestimation/underestimation of mineral reserve and mineral resource calculations; fluctuations in exchange rates of currencies; failure to obtain and renew financing as and when required to fund exploration, development and continuing operations; defaults under the Company's credit facility or senior notes due to a violation of covenants contained therein; the ability to deliver gold as required under forward gold sale arrangements; the rights of counterparties to terminate forward gold sale arrangements in certain circumstances, the inability to participate in any gold price increase above the cap in any collar transaction entered into in conjunction with a forward gold sale arrangement; failure to obtain financing to meet capital expenditure plans; risks associated with being a multinational company; differences between the assumption of fair value estimates with respect to the carrying amount of mineral interests and actual fair values; inherent risks related to the use of derivative instruments (including, but not limited to, for hedging purposes to stabilize input costs) accuracy of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; uncertainties in the validity of mining interests and the ability to acquire new properties and recruit and retain skilled and experienced employees; various risks and hazards beyond the Company's control, many of which are not economically insurable; risks and hazards inherent to the mining industry, most of which are beyond the Company's control; market prices and availability of commodities used by the Company in its operations; lack of infrastructure and other risks related to the geographical areas in which the Company carries out its operations; labour disruptions, including those that may result from negotiations with collective labour agreements, and other disruptions caused by mining accidents; health risks associated with the mining work force in West Africa, Canada and Suriname; disruptions created by surrounding communities; need to comply with the extensive laws and regulations governing the environment, health and safety at the Company's mining and processing operations and at the locations of its exploration activities; risks normally associated with any conduct of business in foreign countries (including, but not limited to, varying degrees of political and economic risk) which may include the possibility for political unrest, foreign military intervention, acts of war, terrorism, sabotage and civil disturbances; ability to obtain and renew the required licenses and permits from various governmental authorities in order to exploit the Company's properties; risks and expenses related to reclamation costs and related liabilities; continuously evolving legislation, such as the mining legislation in West Africa, Canada and Suriname, which may have unknown and negative impacts on operations; risks normally associated with the conduct of joint ventures; inability to control standards of non-controlled assets; risk and unknown costs of litigation; undetected failures in internal controls over financial reporting; risks related to making acquisitions, including the integration of operations; risks related to the construction, development and start-up of the Côté Gold project, the Saramacca project and the Boto project or other projects and potential further expansion activities at the Essakane, Rosebel and Westwood mines; dependence on key personnel; and other related matters.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, intentions, estimates or forecasts, there may be other factors that could cause results to differ from what is anticipated, estimated or intended. Those factors are described or referred to below, under the heading "Risk Factors" in this Annual Information Form. Market and commodity price volatility and uncertainty in credit markets stemming, in part, from events in financial and credit markets as well as from geo-political risks around the world, continue to cause volatility and uncertainty to the price of gold. These on-going events could impact forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Information Form in an unpredictable and possibly detrimental manner. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Glossary

Mining Terms and Frequently Used Abbreviations

AA: atomic absorption.

AISC: all-in sustaining cost.

Base Case: base case mine plan.

Bond Ball Mill Work Index: is a measure of the resistance of the material to grinding in a ball mill. It can be used to determine the grinding power required for a given throughput of material under ball mill grinding conditions. It is a locked cycle test conducted in closed circuit with a laboratory screen.

Burkina Faso Mining Law: 2015 Mining Code No.3 036-2015/CNT, dated June 26, 2015 of Burkina Faso.

BXDR: diorite breccia.

By-product: a secondary metal or mineral product recovered in the milling process.

Carbon-in-leach ("CIL") process: a process used to recover dissolved gold inside a cyanide leach circuit.  Coarse activated carbon particles are introduced in the leaching circuit and are moved counter-current to the slurry, absorbing dissolved gold in solution as they pass through the circuit.  Loaded carbon is removed from the slurry by screening.  Gold is recovered from the loaded carbon by stripping in a caustic cyanide solution followed by electrolysis.  CIL is a process similar to CIP (carbon-in-pulp) except that the gold leaching and the gold absorption are done simultaneously in the same stage compared with CIP where the gold absorption stage follows the gold leaching stage.

Carbon-in-pulp ("CIP") process: a process used to recover dissolved gold from a cyanide leach slurry.  Coarse activated carbon particles are moved counter-current to the slurry, absorbing gold as they pass through the circuit.  Loaded carbon is removed from the slurry by screening.  Gold is recovered from the loaded carbon by stripping in a caustic cyanide solution followed by electrolysis.

CEAA: Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

Cg: graphitic carbon.

Concentrate: a product containing the valuable metal and from which most of the waste material in the ore has been eliminated.

Contained ounces: ounces in the mineralized rock without reduction due to mining loss or processing loss.

COS: change-of-support.

CRM: Certified Reference Material.

Cut-off grade: the lowest grade of mineralized material considered economic; used in the estimation of Mineral Reserves in a given deposit.

DCF: discounted cash flow.

DD: diamond drilling or diamond drill.

Depletion: the decrease in quantity of Mineral Reserves in a deposit or property resulting from extraction or production.

DIA: diabase dykes.

Dilution: an estimate of the amount of waste or low-grade mineralized rock which will be mined with the ore as part of normal mining practices in extracting an ore body.

DR: diorite.

EA:  Environmental Assessment

EDA: exploratory data analysis.

EDA Envelope: the ExtBX unit.

EER: Environmental Effects Review.

EIA:  Environmental Impact Assessment

EW: electrowinning.

EMS: environmental management system.

ENDM: Ontario Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines.

EPCM: engineering, procurement and construction management.

ESIA: Environmental and Social Impact Assessment.

ESMP: Environmental and Social Management Program.

Ext BX: Extended Breccia.

FA: fire assay.

FA-gravimetric: gravimetric fire assay.

FELs: front-end loaders.

FLT: fault zone.

FS:  Feasibility Study.

FWP: fresh water pond.

g/t Ag: gram of silver per tonne.

g/t Au: gram of gold per tonne.

Grade: the relative quantity or percentage of metal or mineral content.

GMD: Geological and Mining Service of Suriname (Geologisch Mijnbouwkundige Dienst van Suriname)

GRG: gravity recoverable gold.

HDBX: hydrothermal breccia.

HERCO: Hermitian correction.

HPGR: high pressure grinding roll.

HQ: industry standard drilling core size with a diameter of 63.5 mm.

ICP: inductively-coupled plasma.

ILR: intensive leach process.

IRR: internal rate of return.

ISO 14001: a standard established by the International Organization for Standardization setting forth the guidelines for an EMS.

ISO 9001: a standard established by the International Organization for Standardization setting forth the guidelines for a quality management system.

Leach/heap leach: a process to dissolve minerals or metals out of ore with chemicals. Heap leaching gold involves the percolation of a cyanide solution through crushed ore heaped on an impervious pad or base.

LG algorithm: Lerchs-Grossmann algorithm.

LHD:  load haul dump.

LOM: "Life of Mine".

MARC: maintenance and repair contract.

MDDELCC: Québec Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, and Climatic Changes.

MECP: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

MLAS: Ontario Mining Land Administration System.

MOECC: Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

MTY: million tonnes per year.

MW: megawatts.

MWp:  megawatt peak power. A measuring unit for the maximum output of a photovoltaic power plant.

Mineral Reserves: Mineral Reserves are divided into two categories; Proven Mineral Reserves and Probable Mineral Reserves, which are more particularly defined herein under "Technical Information".

Mineral Resources: Mineral Resources are divided into three categories; Measured Mineral Resources, Indicated Mineral Resources and Inferred Mineral Resources, which are more particularly defined herein under "Technical Information".

MRA: mine rock area.

NCF: net cash flow.

NN: nearest-neighbour.

NQ: industry standard drilling core size with a diameter of 47.6 mm.

NPV: net present value.

OIT: operator interference terminal.

Ounce: refers to one troy ounce, which is equal to 31.1035 grams.

OVB: overburden.

PAL: pulverize and leach.

PEA:  Preliminary Economic Assessment.

PFS: Pre-Feasibility Study.

PLC: programmable logic controller.

PPA:  Power purchase agreement.

PQ: industry standard drilling core size with a diameter of 85.0 mm.

QA/QC: quality-assurance/quality control.

Qualified person (or "QP"): an individual who is an engineer or geoscientist with a university degree, or equivalent accreditation, in an area of geosciences, or engineering, relating to mineral exploration or mining who has at least five years of experience in mineral exploration, mine development or operation, or mineral project assessment, or any combination of these, that is relevant to his or her professional degree or area of practice, and who has experience relevant to the subject matter of the mineral project or technical report, and who is in good standing with a professional association, as more fully referenced in NI 43-101.

RAB: rotary air blast.

RC: reversed circulation (drilling).

Recovery: the proportion of valuable material obtained during mining or processing.  Generally expressed as a percentage of the material recovered compared to the total material present.

Restoration or Reclamation: operation consisting of restoring or rehabilitating a mining site to a satisfactory and stable environmental condition following the cessation of mining and processing activities.

ROE: Right of Exploration for Minerals.

RQD: rock quality designation.

SAG: semi-autogenous grinding.

SCADA: supervisory control and data acquisition.

SMC: SAG mill comminution.

SG: specific gravity.

SRM: standard reference materials.

SSAG: single stage semi-autogenous mill.

SSP: Sadiola Sulphide Project.

Stripping: in mining, the process of removing overburden or waste rock to expose ore.

Tailings: the material that remains after metals or minerals considered economic have been removed from ore during milling.

Tailings pond or Tailings Storage Facility (or, "TSF"): a containment area used to deposit tailings from milling.

TMF: tailings management facility.

TON: tonalite.

Tonne:  by common convention refers to one Metric ton, equivalent to 1,000 kilograms.

TSM:  Towards Sustainable Mining

Financial Terms

2016 Credit Facility:  means the refinanced, secured revolving credit facility of $250 million with $100 million of committed and $150 million of uncommitted capital. The facility was entered into by the Company and a syndicate of financial institutions led by the National Bank of Canada and Deutsche Bank on February 1, 2016.

2017 Credit Facility:  means the amended, 2016 Credit Facility.  The amending agreement included, amongst other things, an increase in committed credit under the 2016 Credit Facility to an amount equal to $250 million, extending the maturity date to March 31, 2022 and maintaining the $100 million "accordion" feature. The 2017 Credit Facility was entered into by the Company and a syndicate of financial institutions led by the National Bank of Canada and Deutsche Bank on December 14, 2017. The Company subsequently amended the 2017 Credit Facility by way of a first amending agreement between the Company, a syndicate of lenders, and National Bank of Canada as agent of the syndicate of lenders on November 15, 2018. The amending agreement increased the amount of credit under the 2017 Credit Facility to an amount equal to $500 million, extended the maturity date to January 31, 2023, maintained the $100 million "accordion" feature, increased lease financing capacity to $250 million, provide for a gold pre-pay arrangement for no more than 225,000 ounces of gold, eliminated the tangible net worth financial covenant, and revised certain covenants of the Company and its subsidiaries.

2017 Senior Notes: means the senior notes bearing interest at a rate of seven per cent per annum which mature on April 15, 2025 and which were issued by the Company on March 16, 2017 in an aggregate principal amount of $400 million.

Common Shares: means common shares in the capital of the Company.

CSA: the Canadian Securities Administrators.

First Preference Shares: means first preference shares in the capital of the Company.

Gold Pre-Pay Arrangement: means a forward gold sale arrangement with financial institutions whereby the Company will receive a pre-payment of US $170 million in December 2019 in exchange for delivering 150,000 ounces of gold in 2022. A floor price of US $1,300 per ounce and a cap price of US $1,500 per ounce were set. This arrangement was supported by a syndicate of banks including Citibank N.A. and National Bank of Canada.

Hedge: a risk management technique used to manage commodity price, interest rate, foreign currency exchange or other exposures arising from regular business transactions.

Hedging: a transaction that matures in the future, made to protect the price of a commodity as revenue or cost, protect the foreign exchange rate and secure cash flows.

IFRS: International Financial Reporting Standards.

Margin: money or securities deposited with a broker as security against possible negative price fluctuations.

NSR: net smelter returns.

NYSE: the New York Stock Exchange.

Royalty: cash payment or physical payment (in-kind) generally expressed as a percentage of NSR or mine production.

SEC:  the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Second Preference Shares: means second preference shares in the capital of the Company.

Spot price: the current price of a metal for immediate delivery.

TSX: the Toronto Stock Exchange.

VAT: value added tax

Volatility: propensity for variability.  A market or share is volatile when it records rapid variations.

Technical Information

For the Sadiola mine, refer to the definitions of the JORC Code (defined below) under the heading "Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" below.

Canadian Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves

Unless otherwise indicated, in this Annual Information Form, the following terms have the meanings set forth below.  Reference is made to the "Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors Regarding Disclosure of Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource Estimates" at the beginning of this Annual Information Form.

Mineral Reserves

Mineral Reserves are sub-divided in order of decreasing geological confidence into Proven Mineral Reserves and Probable Mineral Reserves. A Proven Mineral Reserve has a higher level of confidence than a Probable Mineral Reserve.

A Mineral Reserve is the economically mineable part of a Measured Mineral Resource or Indicated Mineral Resource demonstrated by at least a preliminary feasibility study. This study must include adequate information on mining, processing, metallurgical, economic, and other relevant factors that demonstrate, at the time of reporting, that economic extraction can be justified. A Mineral Reserve includes diluting materials and allowances for losses that may occur when the material is mined.

Proven Mineral Reserve

A Proven Mineral Reserve is the economically mineable part of a Measured Mineral Resource demonstrated by at least a preliminary feasibility study. This study must include adequate information on mining, processing, metallurgical, economic, and other relevant factors that demonstrate, at the time of reporting, that economic extraction is justified.

Probable Mineral Reserve

A Probable Mineral Reserve is the economically mineable part of an Indicated Mineral Resource and, in some circumstances, a Measured Mineral Resource, demonstrated by at least a preliminary feasibility study. This study must include adequate information on mining, processing, metallurgical, economic, and other relevant factors that demonstrate, at the time of reporting, that economic extraction can be justified.

Mineral Resources

Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of decreasing geological confidence, into measured, indicated and inferred categories. A Measured Mineral Resource has a higher level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource. An Indicated Mineral Resource has a higher level of confidence than an Inferred Mineral Resource but has a lower level of confidence than a Measured Mineral Resource.

A Mineral Resource is a concentration or occurrence of natural, solid, inorganic material or natural, solid, fossilized, organic material including base and precious metals, coal and industrial minerals in or on the Earth's crust in such form and quantity and of such a grade or quality that it has reasonable prospects for economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge.

Measured Mineral Resource

A Measured Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape and physical characteristics are so well established that they can be estimated with confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate application of technical and economic parameters to support production planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. The estimate is based on detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes that are spaced closely enough to confirm both geological and grade continuity.

Indicated Mineral Resource

An Indicated Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade or quality, densities, shape and physical characteristics can be estimated with a level of confidence sufficient to allow the appropriate application of technical and economic parameters to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. The estimate is based on detailed and reliable exploration and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes that are spaced closely enough for geological and grade continuity to be reasonably assumed.

Inferred Mineral Resource

An Inferred Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade or quality can be estimated on the basis of geological evidence and limited sampling and reasonably assumed, but not verified, geological and grade continuity. The estimate is based on limited information and sampling gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes.

Metallurgical Recovery, Mining Dilution, Mining Losses and Cut-off Grade

In calculating Mineral Reserves, cut-off grades are established using the Company's long-term metal or mineral prices, foreign exchange assumptions, metallurgical recovery, mining dilution, mining losses and estimated production costs over the life of the related operation. For an underground operation, a cut-off grade is calculated for each mining method, as production costs vary from one method to another. For a surface operation, production costs are determined for each block included in the block model of the relevant operation.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves

The estimates of Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources for the Sadiola mine, as set out in this Annual Information Form, have been estimated in accordance with the Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves prepared by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Minerals Council of Australia (the "JORC Code").  NI 43-101 provides that companies may make disclosures using the reserve and resource categories of the JORC Code subject to the satisfaction of certain requirements.

The definitions of Ore Reserves (under the JORC Code) are as follows:

Ore Reserve (under the JORC Code) is the economically mineable part of a Measured Mineral Resource or Indicated Mineral Resource. It includes diluting materials and allowances for losses which may occur when the material is mined.  Appropriate assessments, which may include feasibility studies, have been carried out, and include consideration of, and modification by, realistically assumed mining, metallurgical, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors. These assessments demonstrate, at the time of reporting, that extraction could reasonably be justified. Ore Reserves are subdivided in order of decreasing confidence into proved Ore Reserves and Probable Ore Reserves.

Proved Ore Reserve (under the JORC Code) is the economically mineable part of a Measured Mineral Resource. It includes diluting materials and allowances for losses which may occur when the material is mined.  Appropriate assessments, which may include feasibility studies, have been carried out, and include consideration of, and modification by, realistically assumed mining, metallurgical, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors. These assessments demonstrate, at the time of reporting, that extraction could reasonably be justified.

Probable Ore Reserve (under the JORC Code) is the economically mineable part of an Indicated Mineral Resource, and in some circumstances, Measured Mineral Resource.  It includes diluting materials and allowances for losses which may occur when the material is mined. Appropriate assessments, which may include feasibility studies, have been carried out, and include consideration of, and modification by, realistically assumed mining, metallurgical, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors. These assessments demonstrate at the time of reporting that extraction could reasonably be justified.

The definitions of Mineral Resources under the JORC Code are as follows:

Mineral Resource is a concentration or occurrence of material of intrinsic economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge. Mineral Resources are subdivided, in order of decreasing geological confidence, into measured, indicated and inferred categories.

Measured Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical characteristics, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a high level of confidence. It is based on detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes. The locations are spaced closely enough to confirm geological and/or grade continuity.

Indicated Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical characteristics, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a reasonable level of confidence. It is based on exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes. The locations are too widely or inappropriately spaced to confirm geological and/or grade continuity but are spaced closely enough for continuity to be assumed.

Inferred Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a low level of confidence. It is inferred from geological evidence and is assumed, but not verified, geological and/or grade continuity. It is based on information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes which may be limited or of uncertain quality and reliability.

Mineral Resources, which are not Ore Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability.

The foregoing definitions of Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources as set forth in the JORC Code have been reconciled to the definitions in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (the "CIM Standards") adopted under NI 43-101. If Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources for the Sadiola mine were estimated in accordance with the definitions in the CIM Standards, there would be no substantive differences in the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates for this mine as set forth herein.

Symbols Used

Item I

Item I Name and Incorporation

The Company was incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act with the name "IAMGOLD International African Mining Gold Corporation" by articles of incorporation effective March 27, 1990.  By articles of amendment effective June 23, 1995, the outstanding common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") were consolidated on a one for 4.45 basis.  By articles of amendment effective July 19, 1995, the authorized capital of the Company was increased by the creation of an unlimited number of First Preference Shares, issuable in series, and an unlimited number of Second Preference Shares, issuable in series, and the "private company" restrictions were deleted.  By articles of amendment effective June 27, 1997, the name of the Company was changed to "IAMGOLD Corporation".  By articles of amalgamation effective April 11, 2000, the Company amalgamated with its then wholly-owned subsidiary, 3740781 Canada Ltd. (formerly 635931 Alberta Ltd.).  By articles of amalgamation effective January 1, 2004, the Company amalgamated with its then wholly-owned subsidiary, Repadre Capital Corporation. Effective March 22, 2006, the Company completed a business combination transaction with Gallery Gold Limited and effective November 8, 2006, the Company acquired Cambior Inc. ("Cambior") by amalgamating a wholly-owned subsidiary, IAMGOLD-Québec Management Inc. ("IMG-QC"), with Cambior pursuant to the terms of a court-sanctioned arrangement ("Cambior Arrangement").  By articles of amalgamation effective January 1, 2011, the Company amalgamated with its then wholly-owned subsidiary, IAMGOLD Burkina Faso Inc.  By articles of amalgamation effective March 1, 2011, the Company amalgamated with its then wholly-owned subsidiary, IMG-QC. Further to a plan of arrangement, the Company completed the acquisition, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, of Trelawney Mining and Exploration Inc. ("Trelawney") on June 21, 2012. By articles of amalgamation effective June 1, 2016, the Company amalgamated with its then wholly-owned subsidiaries, 2324010 Ontario Inc., Trelawney and Trelawney Augen Acquisition Corp ("TAAC").

The registered and principal office of the Company is located at 401 Bay Street, Suite 3200, PO Box 153, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 2Y4. The Company's telephone number is (416) 360-4710 and its website address is www.iamgold.com.

Item II General Development of the Business

1. Three-Year History

IAMGOLD is engaged primarily in the exploration for, and the development and production of, Mineral Resource properties throughout the world. Through its holdings, IAMGOLD has interests in various operations and exploration and development properties.

The following chart illustrates certain subsidiaries of IAMGOLD, together with the jurisdiction of incorporation of each such subsidiary and the percentage of voting securities beneficially owned or over which control or direction is exercised by IAMGOLD, and the material mineral projects of IAMGOLD held through such subsidiaries and the percentage of ownership interest that the relevant subsidiary of IAMGOLD has in such material mineral projects.

IAMGOLD's Corporate Structure

On August 31, 2016, the Company announced that it signed an agreement with the Republic of Suriname to acquire an interest in the Saramacca property with the intent of defining a NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource within the next 24 months from such date (the "Saramacca Purchase Agreement"). The Saramacca property, also known as Anomaly M, is located in the Republic of Suriname approximately 30 kilometres southwest of the Rosebel mill and immediately southeast of the Sarafina property optioned to IAMGOLD. The terms of the Saramacca Purchase Agreement include an initial payment of $200,000, which would enable immediate access to the property for the Rosebel mine's exploration team as well as access to data from previous exploration activity at Saramacca to conduct a due diligence review of the property. On December 19, 2016, the Saramacca property was transferred to the Rosebel mine in exchange for a payment of $10 million to a corporation controlled by the Republic of Suriname.  IAMGOLD also agreed to issue an aggregate of 3,125,000 Common Shares in equal installments to a corporation controlled by the Republic of Suriname on each of the following three anniversaries of the Saramacca property transfer date. On November 27, 2017, the Company issued the first tranche of the 3,125,000 contingently issuable Common Shares to the Government of Suriname and retained the right to explore the Saramacca property. The equity issuance amounted to 1,042,000 Common Shares. Adjustments to the purchase price will be calculated depending on the success of the drill program carried out by the Rosebel mine over the first 24 months from August 31, 2016, but will be capped at $10 million. On December 11, 2018, the Company paid the Government of Suriname approximately $5 million, which the Government of Suriname accepted instead of a second issuance of 1,042,000 million Common Shares on the second anniversary of the transfer date of the Saramacca property. On November 29, 2019, the Company issued the third and final tranche of 1,042,000 Common Shares to the Government of Suriname.

On January 26, 2017, the Company announced the positive results of a PEA for the Côté Gold project. The Company also received approval of the project's provincial environmental assessment from the Provincial Minister of the Environment and Climate Change on January 25, 2017, which follows the positive decision on the federal environmental assessment issued by the Federal Minister of the Environment and Climate Change in April 2016. Positive decisions on the federal and provincial environmental assessments for the project enable the Company to initiate applications on permits to support development following the completion of a PFS.

On February 7, 2017, the Company announced the amendment of the 2016 Credit Facility, adding $80 million of additional commitments resulting in total commitments under the 2016 Credit Facility of $250 million, with similar terms and conditions. With this amendment, the Company's banking syndicate was joined by Royal Bank of Canada, The Toronto-Dominion Bank and Export Development Canada.

On February 13, 2017, the Company provided an update from its initial exploration program at the Saramacca project in Suriname. The Company reported final assay results from the 2016 drilling program comprised of approximately 14,600 metres from 67 DD holes and 4,500 metres from 37 RC holes.

On March 3, 2017, the Company announced the commencement of an offering of 2017 Senior Notes for an estimated aggregate amount of $500 million. The intended use of proceeds of the offering was to fund the redemption of outstanding 2012 Senior Notes. On March 16, 2017, the Company completed the offering of 2017 Senior Notes for aggregate proceeds of $400 million. On April 3, 2017, the Company announced that it used the gross proceeds from the offering together with cash on hand to redeem the $489 million of outstanding 2012 Senior Notes.

On March 6, 2017, the Company signed a power purchase agreement ("PPA") among IAMGOLD Essakane SA, EREN Renewable Energy SA, AREN ENERGY (PTY) Ltd. and Essakane Solar SAS to begin the development of a 15 MWp solar power plant in 2017 for the Company's Essakane mine in Burkina Faso.  The agreement is for an initial period of 15 years and stipulates that Essakane Solar SAS, a local entity created by the solar power plant developers, will operate the solar power plant that sells energy to the Essakane mine.

On March 28, 2017, the Company provided an update from its 2017 infill drilling program at the Saramacca project in Suriname, reporting assay results from the initial 29 DD holes totaling 6,008 metres. On May 15, 2017, the Company announced the completion of its 2017 infill drilling program at the Saramacca project, with 113 DD holes totaling approximately 19,600 metres. On June 16, 2017, the Company provided the remaining assay results of its 2017 infill drilling program at the Saramacca project. On September 5, 2017, the Company announced its first Mineral Resource estimate in accordance with the CIM Standards for the Saramacca project. The Mineral Resource estimate comprises 14.4 million tonnes of Indicated Mineral Resources averaging 2.20 grams of gold per tonne for 1,022,000 ounces and 13.6 million tonnes of Inferred Mineral Resources averaging 1.18 grams of gold per tonne for 518,000 ounces.

On May 10, 2017, the Company held its annual meeting of shareholders in which all the directors listed as nominees in the management information circular dated March 30, 2017 were elected to the board of directors of the Company.

On May 11, 2017, the Company provided an update on the ongoing exploration program at its Monster Lake joint venture project, reporting assay results from the first 11 drill holes totaling just over 5,100 metres from a total of 24 DD holes totaling 10,657 metres. On July 6, 2017, the Company provided the remaining assay results from the winter 2017 drilling program completed at its Monster Lake joint venture project. On November 1, 2017, the Company announced assay results from the summer 2017 drilling program completed at Monster Lake, reporting results from three drill holes totaling 1,836 metres.

On May 31, 2017, the Company announced additional drilling results from the Boto project. The Company reported assay results from the remaining 22 DD holes, totaling 2,842 metres, completed at the Malikoundi deposit and Malikoundi North extension.

On June 5, 2017, the Company announced positive results from a PFS for the Côté Gold project. The results outlined an economically viable project and confirmed the development concept set out in the PEA, with Proven Mineral Reserves and Probable Mineral Reserves of 5.9 million ounces of gold.  The Company also announced that it had entered into a definitive investment agreement with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. ("SMM"), and SMM Gold Cote Inc. ("SMM Cote"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SMM (collectively with SMM, "Sumitomo"), pursuant to which the Company and Sumitomo formed a joint venture and Sumitomo acquired a 30 per cent undivided participating interest in the Company's ownership interest in the Côté Gold project for an aggregate $195 million. Of such amount, $100 million was paid upon closing and the remaining $95 million is payable on the earliest of: (i) 18 months following closing; (ii) the date of public filing of a FS with respect to the Côté Gold project; and (iii) the date of closing of any sale by SMM Cote of its participating interest in the Côté Gold project, as permitted by a joint venture agreement that was entered into between the Company and SMM Cote upon closing of the transaction. The remaining $95 million was paid to the Company by SMM on November 26, 2018. The Company will remain the operator of the Côté Gold project during development as well as once it is in operation. The Company announced the closing of the transaction on June 20, 2017.

On July 26, 2017, the Company announced an updated Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimate for its Rosebel mine. Total estimated attributable Proven Mineral Reserves and Probable Mineral Reserves for the Rosebel mine increased by 80 per cent to 3.5 million ounces at the end of June 2017 from 2.0 million ounces of gold at the end of 2016.

On August 14, 2017, the Company announced its acquisition of 27,777,777 common shares of TomaGold Corporation ("TomaGold") for an aggregate purchase price of $2,500,000, representing approximately 19.98 per cent of the outstanding common shares of TomaGold.

On September 5, 2017, the Company filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report supporting the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource update for the Rosebel mine.

On October 17, 2017, the Company filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report supporting its initial Mineral Resource estimate for the Saramacca project.

On November 16, 2017, the Company provided an update from its ongoing Phase II 2017 drilling program at the Saramacca project. The Company has commenced a 22,000-metre DD program at the Saramacca project and reported on assay results from 37 drill holes totaling 9,553 metres.

On January 24, 2018, the Company announced that it had signed an agreement with the Government of Suriname whereby it has been granted the exploration rights to the Brokolonko property. The property is located approximately 30 kilometres from the Rosebel mill just northwest of the previously acquired Saramacca property and the Sarafina property optioned to the Company. The Company had not acquired Brokolonko from a third party, but has instead secured the rights to exploration directly from the Government of Suriname.

On February 12, 2018, the Company announced its 2017 year-end Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource statement.

On February 12, 2018, the Company announced the positive results from a PFS for the Boto project. The results, which outline an economically viable project, justified the commencement of a FS to further optimize the Boto project development design and improve project economics. On February 21, 2018, the Company filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report on the PFS for the Boto project. On October 22, 2018, the Company announced positive results from a FS for the Boto project.

On February 28, 2018, the Company reported further high-grade intersections from infill and expansion drilling at the Saramacca project.

On March 14, 2018, the Company announced that it had filed a preliminary short form base shelf prospectus with the securities regulators in each province and territory in Canada (except Québec), and a corresponding registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. On April 3, 2018, the Company announced that it had obtained receipt for the final short form base shelf prospectus (the "Base Shelf Prospectus"). The Base Shelf Prospectus allows the Company to make offerings of Common Shares, First Preference Shares, Second Preference Shares, debt securities, warrants, subscription receipts or any combination thereof of up to US $1 billion during the 25 months following the date of the final receipt in the United States and Canada, except for the Province of Québec, in order to fund on-going operations and/or capital requirements, reduce the level of indebtedness outstanding from time to time, fund capital programs, fund potential future acquisitions and for general corporate purposes.

On March 21, 2018, the Company provided an update on its holding in Tolima Gold Inc., and announced that on November 1, 2017 it sold 3,456,000 common shares of Tolima Gold Inc. at a price of $0.005 per share for total cash consideration of $17,280. As a result of this disposition, the Company's holdings decreased to less than 10 per cent of the issued and outstanding common shares of Tolima Gold Inc.

On March 28, 2018, the Company reported the initial Mineral Resource estimate for the Monster Lake project in Québec, Canada. On May 10, 2018, the Company filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report on the initial Mineral Resource estimate for the Monster Lake project. An amended report (with no technical changes) was filed on May 18, 2018. On June 14, 2018, the Company announced assay results from the 2018 winter drilling program completed at the Monster Lake project.

On April 3, 2018, the Company reported the Inferred Mineral Resource estimate for the Eastern Borosi project in Nicaragua. On May 14, 2018, the Company filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report for the new Inferred Mineral Resource estimate for the Eastern Borosi project.

On April 25, 2018, the Company announced that it has joined partners including Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., Wheaton Precious Metals Corp., Goldcorp Inc. and Sprott Inc., in a strategic private placement with Tradewind Markets, Inc., a financial technology company that uses blockchain to increase the speed of and streamline digital gold trading.

On June 5, 2018, the Company announced a 39 per cent increase in Mineral Reserves at the Essakane mine based on a heap launch PFS and higher grade intercepts, increasing estimated future average annual production to 480,000 ounces. On July 19, 2018, the Company filed the Essakane Report (defined below).

On September 11, 2018, the Company announced first assay results from the ongoing 2018 drilling program completed at its Nelligan joint venture project in Québec. On November 15, the Company provided a further update from its 2018 drilling program completed at its Nelligan joint venture project.

On September 23, 2018, the Company announced an updated Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimate for the Rosebel mine, which includes a Mineral Reserve from the Saramacca project, located approximately 25 kilometres from the Rosebel mill.

On October 18, 2018, the Company provided results from the 2018 drilling program at the Diakha deposit on its wholly owned Siribaya Project in Western Mali.

On November 1, 2018, the Company announced positive results from a feasibility study for the Côté Gold project. On November 26, 2018, the Company filed the Côté Gold Report (defined below).

On November 5, 2018, the Company filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report supporting the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource update for the Rosebel mine.

On November 8, 2018, the Company provided an update from its ongoing 2018 exploration drilling program along the Saramacca - Brokolonko trend, located 25 kilometres southwest of the Rosebel mine.

On November 13, 2018, the Company announced that a number of unionized employees commenced a work stoppage at the Rosebel mine. On November 15, 2018, the Company announced that the work stoppage had ended and that normal operations at the Rosebel mine would resume.

On November 15, 2018, the Company announced that it had amended its 2017 Credit Facility with a first amending agreement dated November 15, 2018, which increased the credit under the 2017 Credit Facility to $500 million from $250 million, with an option to increase commitments by $100 million and extended the term to January 31, 2023.

On December 12, 2018, the Company announces an initial Mineral Resource estimate for the Gossey satellite deposit located approximately 15 kilometres northwest of the Essakane mine.

On January 10, 2019, the Company providing a further update from its 2018 drilling program completed at its Nelligan joint venture project. The Company reported assay results from the remaining nine DD holes totaling 4,487 metres completed as part of the 2018 drilling program.

On January 15, 2019, the Company announced that it had entered into a forward gold sale arrangement with financial institutions whereby the Company will receive a prepayment amount of $170 million in exchange for delivering 150,000 ounces of gold in 2022.

On January 21, 2019, the Company filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report supporting its initial Mineral Resource estimate for the Gossey satellite deposit.

On January 28, 2019, the Company announced that it had deferred a decision to proceed with the construction of the Côté Gold project as the Company has decided to wait for improved, and sustainable, market conditions in order to proceed with the construction.

On January 30, 2019, the Company announced an updated Mineral Resource estimate on the Diakha - Siribaya project, located in Mali.

On February 14, 2019, the Company together with AngloGold Ashanti Limited, entered into an agreement with the Government of Mali for the sale of the joint venture partners' combined 80 per cent indirect interest in the Yatela mine for $1. The sale is subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions and a one-time payment of estimated rehabilitation, closure and social program costs.

On February 19, 2019, the Company filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report supporting its updated Mineral Resource estimate on the Diakha - Siribaya project, located in Mali.

On February 19, 2019, the Company announced its 2018 year-end Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource statement.

On March 19, 2019, the Company announced that the workforce at its Westwood Gold mine is being reduced by 32 per cent.  The decision results from both planned reductions due to the stage of mine development as well as realignment reductions due to the previously disclosed production guidance. The workforce reduction is intended as a stabilizing cost control measure.

On March 26, 2019, the Company announced results from the ongoing exploration drilling program on the Côté Gold project of which has led to the discovery of intrusive-hosted mineralization referred to as the Gosselin Zone.  In addition, the Company also reported assay results from a drill core re-logging and sampling program of historical drill holes located along a potential south-west extension of this discovery, referred to as the Young-Shannon Zone.

On May 7, 2019, the Company held its annual meeting of shareholders in which all the directors listed as nominees in the management information circular dated March 26, 2019 were elected to the board of directors of the Company.

On May 23, 2019, the Company announced initial results from its 2019 winter DD program completed at the Rouyn project optioned from Yorbeau Resources Inc. ("Yorbeau").  The Company reported assay results from 10 DD holes, totalling 2,257 metres. Further results were pending from the remaining 38 holes and will be reported once received, validated and compiled.

On May 30, 2019, the Company announced initial results from its 2019 DD program completed at its Nelligan joint Venture project with Vanstar Mining Resources Inc. ("Vanstar").  The Company reported assay results for 22 DD drill holes totalling 6,970 metres completed as part of the 2019 drill program. Results are pending from 28 drill holes and will be reported once received, validated and compiled.

On June 12, 2019, the Company announced additional results from its 2019 winter DD drilling program completed at the Rouyn project with Yorbeau.  The Company reported assay results from an additional 21 DD holes totalling 6,181 metres.  Results are pending from the remaining 17 drill holes which will be reported once received, validated and compiled.

On July 23, 2019, the Company announced assay results from the 2019 winter drilling program completed at its Monster Lake joint venture project with TomaGold.  The Company reported assay results from 16 drill holes totalling 5,270 metres completed as part of the 2019 exploration program.

On July 30, 2019, the Company announced assay results from its 2019 DD program at the previously announced Gosselin Zone.  During the 2019 drilling program, 14 NQ-sized DD holes were completed for a total of 4,848 metres drilled. Thirteen holes were completed from platforms established on the lake ice of Three Ducks Lake and one hole was land-based, drilled from a peninsula extending into the west central part of Three Ducks Lake. One hole was abandoned and re-collared due to drill hole deviation.

On July 13, 2019, the Company provided the remaining assay results from its 2019 DD program completed on the Lac Gamble Zone at the Rouyn project optioned from Yorbeau. The Company reported assay results from the remaining 17 DD holes, totaling 4,946 metres.  Three drill holes were abandoned due to excessive deviation and re-collared.

On August 1, 2019, the Company, reported an incident involving local police and unauthorized artisanal miners within the Rosebel concession which resulted in the death of an unauthorized miner. Rosebel's Emergency Response Team was immediately activated and the appropriate government authorities notified. An investigation into the incident, which also resulted in some equipment damage, has been initiated. To ensure the security of workers, the Company temporarily suspended mining activities while the mill continues to operate. On August 26, the Company announced that in coordination with the Government of Suriname and local stakeholders, mining restarted in the northern pits of the Rosebel mine with work also resuming on the Saramacca road construction and on September 23, 2019, the Company announced that mining in the southern pits of Mayo and Royal Hill at the Rosebel mine also resumed with a full ramp out expected in approximately 30 days and mine development activities at Saramacca had also resumed. On October 3, 2019, the Company confirmed ramp-up of mining operations at the southern pits of Mayo and Royal Hill at the Rosebel mine.

On August 7, 2019, the Company announced results from an exploration drilling program completed on the Saramacca Project. The Company reported assay results from fifteen DD holes totaling 9,843 metres completed to test the main fault corridor as part of its 2018-2019 exploration drilling program to evaluate the underground resource potential of the Saramacca deposit. The Company also highlighted assay results from seven DD holes totaling 2,233 metres which were completed as part of previous drilling campaigns to support various technical studies related to the Saramacca development and twelve DD and RC drill holes totaling 2,061 metres which intersected near surface mineralization on a secondary mineralized corridor to the northwest along strike of the Saramacca deposit of which this area is being considered as a potential location for a portal for underground access.

On August 13, 2019, the Company announced the remaining assay results from its 2019 delineation DD program completed at its Nelligan project. The Company reported assay results from the remaining 28 DD drill holes totaling 10,558 metres completed.

On October 3, 2019, the Company announced assay results on its wholly owned Karita project in North-Eastern Guinea. The Company reported assay results from 16 RC drill holes totaling 1,839 metres completed as part of its 2019 exploration program.

On October 22, 2019, the Company announced the initial Mineral Resource estimate on its Nelligan Project. The estimate was completed in accordance with CIM definition standards.

On October 28, 2019, the Company entered into a subscription agreement with INV Metals Inc. ("INV Metals"), in connection to a private placement, pursuant to which the Company indirectly, through a wholly owned subsidiary, acquired 13,889,880 common shares of INV Metals, from treasury, at a price of C$0.40 per INV Metals share, for gross proceeds of C$5,555,952.

On October 31, 2019, the Company announced that delivery of the first ore from the Saramacca open pit was made to the mill at its Rosebel mine.

On November 6, 2019, the Company announced positive results from its Feasibility Study for the Carbon-in-Leach and Heap Leach Project at its Essakane operations.  The results support an increase in current hard rock carbon-in-leach ("CIL") plan capacity and outlines an economically viable Heap Leach facility at the end of CIL operations.

On December 4, 2019, the Company filed a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report supporting its initial Mineral Resource estimate for the Nelligan Project.

On December 11, 2019, the Company exercised its option to increase its undivided interest in the Nelligan Project by a further 24 per cent to now hold an aggregate undivided interest of 75 per cent in the property.

On December 12, 2019, the Company provided updated production guidance for its underground Westwood Gold Mine.

On December 23, 2019, the Company announced that together with the Company's joint venture partner, AngloGold Ashanti Limited ("AGA"), has entered into an agreement ("Agreement") to sell its collective interests in Société d'Exploitation des Mines d'Or de Sadiola S.A. ("SEMOS") to Allied Gold Corp.  The Company and AGA each hold a 41 per cent interest in SEMOS with the remaining 18 per cent interest held by the Government of Mali.  Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company and AGA will sell their collective interests in SEMOS to Allied Gold Corp for a cash consideration of US$105 million payable as follows: (i) $50 million ($25 million each to the Company and AGA) upon fulfilment or waiver of all conditions precedent and closing of the transaction ("Closing"); (ii) up to a further $5 million ($2.5 million each to the Company and AGA), payable eight days after the Closing, to the extent that the cash balance of SEMOS at Closing is greater than the agreed amount; (iii) $25 million ($12.5 million to each of the Company and AGA) upon the production of the first 250,000 ounces from the Sadiola Sulphides Project ("SSP"); and (iv) $25 million ($12.5 million each to the Company and AGA) upon production of a further 250,000 ounces from the SSP.

On January 13, 2020, the Company announced that the Government of the Republic of Senegal has approved the mining permit application for the Boto project for an initial period of 20 years, principally under the provisions of Senegal's 2003 mining code. The receipt of the mining permit positions the project for a development decision and eventual production.

On January 16, 2020, the Company announced that CEO Stephen J.J. Letwin has announced his intention to retire following a successful decade at the helm of the Company.  It was also announced that P. Gordon Stothart, President and COO, will succeed Mr. Letwin in the role of President and Chief Executive Officer and will join the Board of Directors, effective March 1, 2020.

On January 16, 2020, the Company announced preliminary operating results for 2019, as well as guidance for 2020 and 2021.

On February 5, 2020, the Company announced an updated Mineral Resource estimate and filed a supporting NI 43-101 Technical Report for its 100 per cent owned Pitangui Project, located approximately 110 kilometres northwest of the city of Belo Horizonte, in Minas Gerais State, Brazil.

On February 12, 2020, the Company announced the filing of an NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Carbon-in-Leach and Heap Leach Project Feasibility Study for the Essakane mine in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

On February 14, 2020, the Company announced the filing of an NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Optimization Study for the Boto Gold project, Senegal, West Africa.

On February 18, 2020, the Company announced its 2019 year-end Mineral Reserve and Resource statement.

2. Other Disclosure Relating to Ontario Securities Commission Requirements for Companies Operating in Emerging Markets

Controls Relating to Corporate Structure Risk

IAMGOLD has implemented a system of corporate governance, internal controls over financial reporting, and disclosure controls and procedures that apply at all levels of the Company and its subsidiaries.  These systems are overseen by the Company's board of directors, and implemented by the Company's senior management.  The relevant features of these systems include:

(a) IAMGOLD's Control Over Subsidiaries.  IAMGOLD's corporate structure has been designed to ensure that the Company controls, or has a measure of direct oversight over the operations of its subsidiaries.  A substantial number of IAMGOLD's subsidiaries are either wholly-owned or controlled to a large extent by the Company.  Accordingly, the Company directly controls the appointments of either all of the directors or such number of directors reflecting the Company's proportional ownership interest of its subsidiaries.  The directors of IAMGOLD's subsidiaries are ultimately accountable to IAMGOLD as the shareholder appointing him or her, and IAMGOLD's board of directors and senior management.  As well, the annual budget, capital investment and exploration program in respect of the Company's mineral properties are established by the Company.

Further, signing officers for subsidiary foreign bank accounts are either employees of IAMGOLD or employees of the subsidiaries.  In accordance with the Company's internal policies, all subsidiaries must notify the Company's corporate treasury department of any changes in their local bank accounts including requests for changes to authority over the subsidiaries' foreign bank accounts.  Monetary limits are established internally by the Company as well as with the respective banking institution.  Annually, authorizations over bank accounts are reviewed and revised as necessary.  Changes are communicated to the banking institution by the Company and the applicable subsidiary to ensure appropriate individuals are identified as having authority over the bank accounts.

(b) Strategic Direction.  IAMGOLD's board of directors is responsible for the overall stewardship of the Company and, as such, supervises the management of the business and affairs of the Company.  More specifically, the board is responsible for reviewing the strategic business plans and corporate objectives, and approving acquisitions, dispositions, investments, capital expenditures and other transactions and matters that are material to the Company including those of its material subsidiaries.

(c) Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.  The Company prepares its consolidated financial statements and Management Discussion & Analysis ("MD&A") on a quarterly and annual basis, using IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, which require financial information and disclosures from its subsidiaries.  The Company implements internal controls over the preparation of its financial statements and other financial disclosures to provide reasonable assurance that its financial reporting is reliable and that the quarterly and annual financial statements and MD&A are being prepared in accordance with IFRS and relevant securities laws.  These internal controls include the following:

(i) The Company has established a quarterly reporting package relating to its subsidiaries that standardizes the information required from the subsidiaries in order to complete the consolidated financial statements and MD&A.  Management of the Company has direct access to relevant financial management of its subsidiaries in order to verify and clarify all information required.

(ii) All public documents and statements relating to the Company and its subsidiaries containing material information (including financial information) are reviewed by senior management, particularly, a Disclosure Committee, including the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer and internal legal counsel before such material information is disclosed, to make sure that all material information has been considered by management of the Company and properly disclosed.

(iii) As more fully described in paragraph (e), the Company's Audit Committee obtains confirmation from the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer as to the matters addressed in the quarterly and annual certifications required under National Instrument 52-109 - Certification of Disclosure in the Company's Annual and Interim Filings ("NI 52-109").

(iv) The Company's Audit Committee reviews and approves the Company's quarterly and annual financial statements and MD&A and recommends to the Company's board of directors for the board's approval of the Company's quarterly and annual financial statements and MD&A, and any other financial information requiring board approval, prior to their publication or release.

(v) The Company's Audit Committee assesses and evaluates the adequacy of the procedures in place for the review of the Company's public disclosure of financial information extracted or derived from the Company's financial statements by way of reports from management and its internal and external auditor.

(vi) Although not specifically a management control, the Company engages its external auditor to perform reviews of the Company's quarterly financial statements and an audit of the annual consolidated financial statements.

(d) Disclosure Controls and Procedures.  The responsibilities of the Company's Audit Committee include oversight of the Company's internal control systems including those systems to identify, monitor and mitigate business risks as well as compliance with legal, ethical and regulatory requirements.

(e) CEO and CFO Certifications.  In order for the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer to be in a position to attest to the matters addressed in the quarterly and annual certifications required by NI 52-109, the Company has developed internal procedures and responsibilities throughout the organization for its regular periodic and special situation reporting in order to provide assurances that information that may constitute material information will reach the appropriate individuals who review public documents and statements relating to the Company and its subsidiaries containing material information, is prepared with input from the responsible officers and employees, and is available for review by the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer in a timely manner.

These systems of corporate governance, internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that, among other things, the Company has access to all material information about its subsidiaries.

Procedures of the Board of Directors of the Company

Fund Transfers from the Company's Subsidiaries to IAMGOLD

Funds are transferred by the Company's subsidiaries to the Company by way of wire transfer and/or cheque pursuant to a variety of methods which include the following: collection of monthly management fees; chargeback of costs undertaken on behalf of the subsidiaries via intercompany invoices by the Company; repayment of loans related to project funding; and dividend declaration/payment by the subsidiaries.  The method of transfer is dependent on the funding arrangement established between the Company and the subsidiary.  In some cases, loan agreements are established with corresponding terms and conditions.  In other cases, dividends are declared and paid based on the profitability and available liquidity of the applicable subsidiary.  Where regulatory conditions exist in the form of exchange controls, authority to return capital is obtained in advance of the funding of the subsidiary, from the appropriate government ministry by the Company and the applicable subsidiary.

Removal of Directors of Subsidiaries

Pursuant to joint venture agreements governing the operation of its Malian operations, the Company has the right at any time to appoint or remove directors of its Malian subsidiaries and has an effective veto over decisions concerning its Malian subsidiaries.

In respect of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, subject to applicable local corporate laws and the respective constating documents of each of the Company's wholly-owned subsidiaries, the Company may remove directors of these subsidiaries from office either by way of a resolution duly passed by the Company at a shareholders' meeting or by way of a written resolution.

Records Management of the Company's Subsidiaries

The original minute books, corporate seal and corporate records of each of the Company's subsidiaries are kept at each subsidiary's respective registered office.  The Company maintains at its head office a duplicate set of such corporate records for all of its subsidiaries.

3. Risk Factors

The Company is subject to various organization and strategic, compliance, financial and operational risks arising from factors within or outside of its control. Any individual or simultaneous occurrence could materially adversely affect the Company's results from operations, cash flow, asset valuations, as well as other reputational and compliance aspects of the business, and could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements relating to the Company.

The Company's business activities are exposed to significant inherent risks related to the nature of mining operations, exploration and development activities, arising from factors within or outside of its control. The ability to identify and effectively manage these risks is a key component of the Company's business strategy and is supported by an organizational risk management culture and a global enterprise risk management ("ERM") program.

An important component of the ERM approach is to ensure key risks which are evolving or emerging are appropriately identified, managed, and incorporated into existing ERM monitoring and reporting processes.

There is an increasing level of general expectation relating to risk mitigation efforts on Environment, Social and Governance ("ESG") issues by mining companies. This has led to increased scrutiny of mining operations, review of laws aimed at environmental protection, and delays in the issuance of required permits and licenses for development and operation activities. The Company as a member of the World Gold Council and the Canadian Mining Association is committed to responsible mining initiatives and principles towards social, economic and environmental performance that is aligned with the evolving priorities of the communities where the Company operates.

This section describes the risks and uncertainties that may have an adverse effect on the Company's business, operations and financial results.

Organization & Strategic Risks

Strategic plans

The Company maintains a dynamic strategic planning process that involves the development of strategic plans that include defining long term objectives and execution strategies designed to achieve those objectives. These plans are regularly reviewed and updated as current or prospective external and internal conditions change. The strategic plans are based upon certain assumptions around key variables that can directly impact the validity of the strategy and the achievement of planned results.

Given that unforeseen changes in conditions can occur at any time resulting in the underlying assumptions becoming invalid, there can be no assurance that the Company's strategic planning process will be completely effective in developing a strategic plan that addresses changing conditions and could result in a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and/or results of operations. Additionally, due internal and/or external factors, the Company may not have sufficient capital resources, organizational skills and knowledge, systems and/or processes in place to be able to execute its strategic plans in a timely or efficient manner.

Over the past year, management has been re‐evaluating Company's strategic options on what delivers the best value for the shareholders including prioritization and sequencing development of its growth projects that may be contrary to market expectations and/or sentiment.

Acquisitions and divestitures

The Company may pursue the acquisition or disposition of producing, development or advanced or early stage exploration properties and companies. Any acquisition or disposition that the Company may choose to complete may be of a significant size, may change the scale of the Company's business and operations and may expose the Company or increase its exposure to new or existing geographic, political, operational, financial and geological risks. Dispositions of assets may result in a reduction of the Company's consolidated Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources.

Political and legal risks

The Company continues to be targeted to raise government revenue, particularly as governments struggle with deficits and concerns over the effects of depressed economies. Many governments are continually assessing the fiscal terms of the economic rent to exploit resources in their countries.

The Company conducts mining, development and exploration activities in various regions of the world, including North and South America and West Africa, and such operations are exposed to various levels of global and country-specific political, legal, economic, and other risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties vary from country to country and include, but are not limited to, expropriation and nationalization; renegotiation or nullification of existing concessions, conventions, licenses, permits and contracts; changes to the local mining regime and/or other regulations impacting the mining sector; high rates of inflation; restrictions on foreign exchange and repatriation; extreme fluctuations in currency exchange rates; access to debt; requirements for employment of local staff or contractors; contributions to infrastructure and social support systems.

Operations in Burkina Faso, Mali and Suriname are governed by mineral agreements with local governments that establish the terms and conditions under which the Company's affairs are conducted. These agreements are subject to international arbitration and cover a number of items, including the duration and renewal terms of exploration permits and mining licenses/operating permits; supply and repayment of funds for capital investments; the right to export production; distribution of dividends; shareholder rights and obligations for the Company, joint venture partners, and the government in respect of their ownership; labour matters; the right to hold funds in foreign bank accounts and in foreign currencies; taxation rates; and the right to repatriate capital and profits.

It is difficult to predict the future political, social and economic direction of the countries in which the Company operates, and the impact that government decisions may have on its business. While the governments of most of the countries in which the Company operates have modernized or are in the process of modernizing their mining regimes and are generally considered by the Company to be mining friendly, no assurances can be provided that this will continue in the future.

Changes in the political and economic regulations, including changes to existing mining codes, taxation, royalties, trade tariffs, duties, currency exchange rates, gold sales, environmental protection, labour relations, price controls, repatriation of income, and return of capital, could significantly affect the domestic regulations around ownership of assets, foreign investments, mining explorations and development, with potential adverse impact on the Company's financial performance and condition, cash flows and growth prospects. In addition, the unstable political and economic environment in Suriname and Burkina Faso may lead to protests and potential destabilization of the country, especially in the light of the upcoming elections during the current year in both countries.

The potential for fraud and corruption by suppliers or personnel or government officials which may implicate the Company, compliance with applicable anti-corruption laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Canadian Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, by virtue of the Company operating in jurisdictions that may be vulnerable to the possibility of bribery, collusion, kickbacks, theft, improper commissions, facilitation payments, conflicts of interest and related party transactions and the Company's possible failure to identify, manage and mitigate instances of fraud, corruption, or violations of its code of conduct and applicable regulatory requirements.

Other risks include increased disclosure requirements, such as the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act ("ESTMA"); currency fluctuations; restrictions on the ability of local operating companies to sell gold offshore for U.S. dollars, and on the ability of such companies to hold U.S. dollars or other foreign currencies in offshore bank accounts; import and export regulations, including restrictions on the export of gold or on the import, for further gold processing, of by-products from the gold extraction process having residual gold content; limitations on the repatriation of earnings or on the Company's ability to assist in minimizing its expatriate workforce's exposure to double taxation in both the home and host jurisdictions; and increased financing costs.

Litigation

The Company is subject to litigation arising in the normal course of business and may be involved in legal disputes or matters with other parties, including governments and their agencies, regulators and members of the Company's own workforce, which may result in litigation. The causes of potential litigation cannot be known and may arise from, among other things, business activities, including the export of carbon fines to enable the further extraction of gold, employment matters, including compensation issues, environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, tax matters, volatility in the Company's stock price, failure to comply with disclosure obligations or the presence of illegal miners or labour disruptions at its mine sites.

Regulatory and government agencies may initiate investigations relating to the enforcement of applicable laws or regulations, including in respect of any alleged errors in the measurement and documentation of any quantities of carbon fines exported for processing. Such matters may raise difficult and complicated factual and legal issues and may be subject to uncertainties and complexities, such as triggering additional allegations of wrongdoing under related laws or regulations, for example, customs and exchange control regulations, based on the same facts being initially investigated. The timing of the final resolutions to such matters is uncertain and the Company may incur expenses in defending them and the possible outcomes or resolutions could include adverse judgements, orders or settlements or require the Company to implement corrective measures any of which could require substantial payments and adversely affect its reputation.

In the event of a dispute or matter involving the foreign operations of the Company, the Company may be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of foreign courts or agencies or may not be successful in subjecting foreign persons to the jurisdiction of courts in Canada. The Company's ability to enforce its rights or its potential exposure to the enforcement in Canada or locally of judgments or decisions from foreign courts or agencies could have an adverse effect on its cash flows, earnings, results of operations and financial condition.

Uncertainties in the interpretation and application of laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which the Company operates may affect the Company's ability to comply with such laws and regulations, which may increase the risks with respect to the Company's operations. The courts in West Africa and South America may offer less certainty as to the judicial outcome or a more protracted judicial process than is the case in more established economies. Businesses can become involved in lengthy court cases over simple issues when rulings are not clearly defined, and the poor drafting of laws and excessive delays in the legal process for resolving issues or disputes compound such problems. Accordingly, the Company could face risks such as: (i) effective legal redress in the courts of West Africa being more difficult to obtain, whether in respect of a breach of law or regulation, or in a contract or an ownership dispute, (ii) a higher degree of discretion on the part of governmental authorities and therefore less certainty, (iii) the lack of judicial or administrative guidance on interpreting applicable rules and regulations, (iv) inconsistencies or conflicts between and within various laws, regulations, decrees, orders and resolutions, or (v) relative inexperience of the judiciary and courts in such matters. Enforcement of laws in these countries may depend on and be subject to the interpretation placed upon such laws by the relevant local authority, and such authority may adopt an interpretation of an aspect of local law which differs from the advice that has been given to the Company by local lawyers or even previously by the relevant local authority itself. Furthermore, there is limited relevant case law providing guidance on how courts would interpret such laws and the application of such laws to the Company's contracts, joint ventures, licenses, license applications or other arrangements. Thus, there can be no assurance that contracts, joint ventures, licenses, license applications or other legal arrangements will not be adversely affected by the actions of government authorities and the enforcement of such arrangements.

The Office of the Attorney General of Burkina Faso commenced proceedings against IAMGOLD Essakane S.A., which owns the Essakane mine, and certain of its employees relating to its practice of exporting carbon fines containing gold and silver from Burkina Faso to a third-party facility in Canada for processing and eventual sale. Upon the sale of the gold and silver extracted from the carbon fines, IAMGOLD Essakane S.A. has paid (and will pay in respect to the 2018 shipment when released) the same royalty as applicable under the Burkina Faso Mining Code to other gold and silver produced by Essakane. The proceedings are in respect of a number of alleged offences by IAMGOLD Essakane S.A. and certain of its employees from 2015 through 2018, and include allegations of misrepresenting the presence of government officials at the time of packaging and weighing, misrepresenting the amounts of gold and silver contained in the carbon fines to be exported by using false moisture rates and non-compliant weighing equipment, and failing to comply with customs and exchange control regulations. The Company completed an internal review and, at this stage, other than in respect of certain notification and other regulatory violations, the Company believes it will be in a position to vigorously defend the various allegations. Moreover, to the extent that any of its estimates in terms of weight, moisture levels or gold and silver contained in such carbon fines may have been inaccurate, the estimates were made in good faith and the total royalty amounts paid to the Government of Burkina Faso in respect of the gold and silver contained in the relevant shipments and processed for IAMGOLD Essakane S.A. at the third-party facility were nevertheless correct as they were based on the final estimations of gold and silver contained in the carbon fines received by the third-party facility.

Land title

The Company has investigated its rights to explore and exploit all of its material properties, and to the best of its knowledge, those rights are in good standing. However, no assurance can be given that such rights will not be revoked or significantly altered to its detriment. The validity of exploration, development and mining interests and the underlying mineral claims, mining claims, mining leases, tenements and other forms of land and mineral tenure held by the Company, which fundamentally constitute the Company's property holdings, can be uncertain and may be contested and the Company's properties are subject to various encumbrances, including royalties. The loss of any such exploration, development, mining or property interests, individually or in the aggregate, could have a material adverse effect on the Company, which could cause a significant decline in the trading price of the Common Shares.

The acquisition of an interest in mineral properties is a very detailed and time consuming process, and the Company's interest in its properties may be affected by prior unregistered encumbrances, agreements or transfers, or undetected defects.

There is no guarantee that title to any of the Company's properties will not be challenged or impaired. Third parties may have valid claims on underlying portions of the Company's interests, including prior unregistered liens, agreements, transfers or claims, including land claims by indigenous groups. A successful challenge to the Company's interests in its properties could result in the Company being unable to operate on its properties as anticipated or being unable to enforce its rights with respect to its properties, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company.

Failure by the Company to meet its payment and other obligations pursuant to laws governing its mineral claims, mining claims, mining leases, tenements and other forms of land and mineral tenure could result in the loss of its material property interests which could have a material adverse effect on the Company and which could cause a significant decline in the trading price of the Company's stock price.

Mine closure and rehabilitation risks

The Company may consider putting operation(s) on temporary care and maintenance whereby the Company would cease production, but keep the site in a condition to possibly reopen it at a later date, if decided as such. Temporary or permanent mine closure could occur due to different unfavourable market conditions, decline in revenue, or unplanned catastrophic events, such as the underground seismic activity at Westwood, pit slope failure, tailings breach, etc. Ultimately, closure will eventually occur at all mines due to depletion of the resource.

In certain countries in which the Company has operations, it is required to submit, for government approval, a reclamation plan for each of its mining sites that establishes the Company's obligation to reclaim property after minerals have been mined from the site. In some jurisdictions, bonds, letters of credit or other forms of financial assurances are required as security for these reclamation activities. The Company may incur significant costs in connection with these reclamation activities, which may materially exceed the provisions the Company has made for such reclamation activities. In addition, the unknown nature of possible, future additional regulatory requirements and the potential for additional reclamation activities create further uncertainties related to future reclamation costs, which may have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition, liquidity or results of operations.

Closure plans and site rehabilitation plans may be incomplete, inaccurately estimated, and/or not fully documented, with potential significant impact on the closure costs.

Non-controlled assets

Some of the Company's assets are controlled and managed by other companies or joint venture partners.  Some of the Company's partners may have divergent business objectives and/or practices which may impact business and financial results. Management of the Company's joint venture assets may not comply with the Company's management and operating standards, controls and procedures (including with respect to health, safety and the environment). Failure to adopt equivalent standards, controls and procedures at these assets or improper management or ineffective policies, procedures or controls could not only adversely affect the value of the related non-managed assets and operations but could also lead to higher costs and reduced production and adversely impact the Company's results and reputation and future access to new assets.

The Sadiola mine has a limited number of options to continue operations as oxide ore is being depleted, which may lead to an early closure of the mine or put the operation on temporary care and maintenance. An agreement with the Government of Mali, on terms for investment in the Sadiola Sulphide Project ("SSP"), must be reached in order to prevent the operation from entering a phase of suspended exploitation (care and maintenance), once processing of the ore stockpiles is complete. Processing of the ore stockpiles which was expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019 has been extended to the end of the first quarter of 2020.

In December 2019, the Company, together with the joint venture partner, AngloGold Ashanti ("AGA"), entered into an agreement to sell the collective interests of its 82 per cent in the Sadiola Sulphide Project ("SSP") to Allied Gold Corp ("Allied Gold"). AGA and IAMGOLD each hold a 41 per cent interest in SEMOS with the remaining 18 per cent interest held by the Government of Mali. This transaction is subject to the fulfilment, or waiver, of a number of conditions precedent, including the receipt of certain approvals and releases from the Government of Mali, and, in the case of AGA, the approval of the South African Reserve Bank. It is anticipated that all conditions precedent will be fulfilled or waived by the end of April 2020, however there is a risk of an uncertain outcome and/or additional conditions required for the successful completion of the agreement.

Joint ventures

The Company operates and develops certain of its properties and projects through joint ventures and is subject to the risks normally associated with the conduct of joint ventures.

Risks relating to joint ventures include reduced ability to exert control over strategic, tactical and operational decisions made in respect of such properties; limited ability to sell all or parts of the project; disagreements with partners on when and how to develop mining projects and how to operate mines efficiently; inability of partners to meet their obligations to the joint venture or third parties; and litigation between partners regarding joint venture matters. Any failure of such joint venture partners to meet their obligations to the Company or to third parties, or any disputes with respect to the parties' respective rights and obligations, could have a material adverse effect on the joint ventures or their respective properties, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition and/or results of operations.

Insurance and uninsured risks

Where economically feasible and based on availability of coverage, a number of operational, financial and political risks are transferred to insurance companies. The availability of such insurance is dependent on the Company's past insurance losses and records and general market conditions.

Available insurance does not cover all of the potential risks associated with a mining company's operations. The Company may also be unable to maintain insurance to cover insurable risks at economically feasible premiums, insurance coverage may not be available in the future or may not be adequate to cover any resulting loss, and the ability to claim under existing policies may be contested.

Moreover, insurance against risks such as the validity and ownership of unpatented mining claims and mill sites and environmental pollution or other hazards as a result of exploration and production is not generally available to the Company or to other companies in the mining industry on acceptable terms. As a result, the Company might become subject to liability for environmental damage or other hazards for which it is completely or partially uninsured or for which it elects not to insure because of premium costs or other reasons.

Losses from a number of unfavourable events that have occurred in 2019 have caused the Company to incur significant costs during the year and impacted the annual production plan. Additional unexpected risk that may materialize during 2020 could have a material adverse effect upon its financial condition and results of operations.

Force majeure

The Company's business is subject to a number of risks and hazards generally, including, without limitation, adverse environmental conditions and hazards, unavailability of materials and equipment, adverse property ownership claims, unusual or unexpected geological conditions, ground or slope failures, pit wall failures, rock bursts, rock falls, landslides, cave-ins, deterioration of the surrounding ground, dam failures, floods, fire, seismic activity, earthquakes, unanticipated site conditions, changes in the regulatory environment, industrial accidents, including those involving personal injuries and/or fatalities, labour force disruptions or disputes, gold bullion losses due to natural disasters or theft and other natural or human-provoked incidents that could affect the mining of ore and the Company's mining operations and development projects, most of which are beyond the Company's control, and many of which are not economically insurable.

In addition, the Company has encountered other natural phenomena such as underground seismic activity at the Westwood mine, severe weather conditions which include considerable rainfall at the Rosebel and Sadiola mines or drought, water shortages or sand storms at the Essakane mine. These risks and hazards could result in damage to, or destruction of, mineral properties or production facilities, personal injury or death, environmental damage to the Company's properties or the properties of others, delays in mining, monetary losses and possible legal liability. As a result, production could fall below historic or estimated levels and the Company may incur significant costs or experience significant delays that could have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial performance, liquidity and results of operations.

Shareholder dilution

The adequacy of the Company's capital structure is vital to its long term financial health. An inadequate capital structure may result in the Company having to accept external capital at higher prices or costs or hinder the Company's ability to raise future funds. As such, the Company assesses the capital structure on an ongoing basis and adjusts it as necessary after taking into consideration the Company's strategic plan, market and forecasted gold prices, the mining industry, general economic conditions, and associated risks. In order to maintain or adjust its capital structure, the Company may adjust its capital spending, issue new Common Shares, purchase Common Shares for cancellation pursuant to normal course issuer bids, issue new debt, repay or refinance existing debt, and/or amend or renew its credit facility.

The constating documents of the Company allow it to issue, among other things, an unlimited number of Common Shares for such consideration and on such terms and conditions as may be established by the board of directors of the Company, in many cases, without the approval of shareholders. The Company cannot predict the size of future issues of Common Shares or the issue of securities convertible into Common Shares or the effect, if any, that future issues and sales of the Common Shares will have on the market price of its Common Shares. Any transaction involving the issue of previously authorized but unissued Common Shares or securities convertible into Common Shares would result in dilution, possibly substantial, to present and prospective holders of Common Shares.

Shareholder activism

In the recent years, publicly-traded companies in the mining industry have been increasingly subject to demands from activist shareholders advocating for changes to corporate governance practices, such as executive compensation practices, social issues, or for certain corporate actions or reorganizations. Should an activist shareholder engage with the Company, it could cause disruption to its strategy, operations and leadership organization, resulting in a material unfavourable impact on the financial performance and longer term value creation strategy of the Company.

In addition, responding to challenges from activist shareholders, such as proxy contests, media campaigns or other activities, could be costly and time consuming and could have an adverse effect on the Company reputation and divert the attention and resources of the management and Board, which could have an adverse effect on the business and results of operations.

Volatility of the Company's securities

The Common Shares of the Company are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") and the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"). The price of the Common Shares has been and may continue to be subject to large fluctuations which may result in losses to investors. The price of the Common Shares is highly affected by short-term changes in the price of gold, in the Company's financial condition and results of operations and by global economic conditions and, generally, the market's perception of the Company's value, whether or not reflective of the intrinsic value of the Company or its future prospects. The Company's share price may also be negatively impacted by the investor's perception of an appropriate strategy for the Company that may not necessarily coincide with the strategy adopted by management as being in the best interests of the Company, including the Company's execution of its strategic plans or its inability to execute and achieve its announced strategy. The Company has a concentration of earnings and cash flow generated from a single commodity and the outlook for the gold price is uncertain. This may impair the Company's reputation and ability to raise capital. Given the current volatility in the gold price and the market's changing perception of the Company's value, the Company cannot predict their impact on its market capitalization. As a result of any of these factors, the market price of the Company's Common Shares at any given point in time may not accurately reflect their long-term value.

Competitors

Significant and increasing competition exists for mineral acquisition opportunities throughout the world, particularly for opportunities in jurisdictions considered politically safer. This may increase the risk of higher costs when acquiring suitable claims, properties and assets or of even making such acquisitions on terms acceptable to the Company. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to compete successfully with its competitors in acquiring such properties and assets. The Company's inability to acquire such interests could have an adverse impact on its future cash flows, earnings, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, even if the Company does acquire such interests, the resulting business arrangements may not ultimately prove beneficial to its business.

Industry concentration

The profitability of the Company is highly dependent on the overall condition and results of the mining industry as a whole, and gold mining industry in particular. Adverse conditions that affect the entire industry may also have a negative impact on the Company's ability to attain its strategic goals.

Acquisition target

The current trend of consolidation within the gold mining industry, combined with the Company's current valuation, makes the Company an opportunistic acquisition target. Growing pressure from investors to consolidate the industry has also contributed to this risk.

Compliance Risks

Legislative changes

The Company's mining, processing, development and mineral exploration activities are subject to various laws regulating prospecting, development, production, labour, health and safety, the environment, land titles and claims of indigenous people, mining practices, taxation, water use and other matters. Any changes to existing laws and regulations or the manner in which they are enforced could have a material adverse impact on the Company's financial condition and/or results of operations. The Company participates in a number of industry associations to monitor changing legislation and quantify the impact of the changes in legislation and seeks to maintain a good dialogue with governmental authorities in that respect. However, the Company is unable to predict what legislation or revisions may be proposed that might affect its business or when any such proposals, if enacted, might become effective. Such changes, however, could require increased capital and operating expenditures or result in reduced revenues and could prevent, delay or prohibit certain operations of the Company.

In addition, changes to laws regarding mining royalties or taxes, or other elements of a country's fiscal regime, including the introduction of new taxes pertaining to water use and local community development, may adversely affect the Company's results of operation and financial condition. The tax regimes in certain countries in which the Company operates may be subject to differing interpretations and the Company's interpretation of taxation law, as applied to its transactions and activities, may not coincide with that of tax authorities in a given jurisdiction. As a result, certain transactions may be challenged by tax authorities and the Company's operations may be assessed, which could result in significant additional taxes, penalties and interest. In addition, in certain jurisdictions, the Company may be required to pay refundable VAT on certain purchases and there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to collect all, or any, of the amount of VAT refunds which are owed to the Company.

Public company obligations

As a publicly traded company, listed on senior stock exchanges in Canada and the United States, the Company is subject to numerous laws, including, without limitation, corporate, securities and environmental laws, compliance with which is both very time consuming and costly. The failure to comply with any of these laws, individually or in the aggregate, could have a material adverse effect on the Company, which could cause a significant decline in the Company's stock price. The number of laws with which the Company and its local operations must comply within a number of continents and jurisdictions increases the risks of non-compliance.

Furthermore, laws applicable to the Company constantly change and the Company's continued compliance with changing requirements is both very time consuming and costly. Adding to the significant costs of compliance with laws is the Company's desire to meet a high standard of corporate governance. The Company's continued efforts to comply with numerous changing laws and adhere to a high standard of corporate governance have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.

Anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws and regulations

The Company's operations are governed by, and involve interactions with, various levels of government in numerous countries, the Company is required to comply with anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Canadian Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, by virtue of the Company operating in jurisdictions that may be vulnerable to the possibility of bribery, collusion, kickbacks, theft, improper commissions, facilitation payments, conflicts of interest and related party transactions.

There has been a general increase in the frequency of enforcement and the severity of penalties under such laws, resulting in greater scrutiny and punishment to companies convicted of violating anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws. If the Company is subject to an enforcement action or is found to be in violation of such laws, this may result in significant penalties, fines and/or sanctions imposed on the Company which could result in a material adverse effect on the Company's reputation, financial performance and results of operations. If the Company chooses to operate in additional foreign jurisdictions in the future it may become subject to additional anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws in such jurisdictions.

Inadequate controls over financial reporting

The Company assessed and tested, for its 2019 fiscal year, its internal control procedures in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ("SOX"). SOX requires an annual assessment by management of the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting and an attestation report by the Company's independent auditors addressing the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. The Company's failure to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of SOX on an ongoing and timely basis could result in the loss of investor confidence in the reliability of its financial statements, which in turn could harm the Company's business and negatively impact the trading price of its Common Shares or market value of its other securities. In addition, any failure to implement required new or improved control(s), or difficulties encountered in their implementation could harm the Company's operating results or cause it to fail to meet its reporting obligations.

No evaluation can provide complete assurance that the Company's internal control over financial reporting will detect or uncover all failures of persons within the Company to disclose material information required to be reported. Accordingly, the Company's management does not expect that its internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. In addition, the challenges involved in implementing appropriate internal control over financial reporting will increase and will require that the Company continue to improve its internal control over financial reporting.

Taxes and tax audits

The Company is subject to various taxes, including VAT in several jurisdictions that is recovered in the normal course of business, and adverse changes to the taxation laws of such jurisdictions could have a material impact on our profitability. Complex local legislation and compliance obligations that vary widely by jurisdiction add to the complexity of receiving claims and increase the risk of disagreement with local governments about their validity or timely receipt of credits and refunds.

To provide a reasonable measure of protection against unforeseen changes to tax laws that apply to mining projects, stability agreements are in place with the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Suriname.

The Company is subject to routine tax audits by various tax authorities. Tax audits may result in additional tax, interest and penalties, which would negatively affect the Company's financial condition and operating results. Changes in tax rules and regulations or in the interpretation of tax rules and regulations by the courts or the tax authorities may also have a substantial negative impact on the Company's business.

The Company's interpretations of the stability agreement and the tax laws may not be the same as those of the regulatory authorities. Consequently, challenges to the Company's interpretations of the stability agreement and the tax laws by regulatory authorities, in addition to changes to tax laws, could result in significant additional taxes, penalties and interest.

The Company periodically issues flow-through shares in respect of development and exploration expenditures. To be effective, such flow-through share issuances must comply with Canadian legislated tax requirements within specified time frames. In the event that the Company fails to comply with such legislated requirements, the Company may be subject to tax penalties and also may be obligated to compensate the purchasers of such flow-through shares for foregone tax benefits related to those shares.

Permitting

The operations, exploration and development projects of the Company require licenses and permits from various governmental authorities to exploit and expand its properties, and the process for obtaining and renewing licenses and permits from governmental authorities often takes an extended period of time and is subject to numerous delays, costs and uncertainties. Any unexpected delays or costs or failure to obtain such licenses or permits associated with the permitting process could delay or prevent the development of the Côté Gold, Boto or other development project or impede the operation of the mines, which could adversely impact the Company's operations, profitability and financial results.

The licenses and permits described above are subject to change in various circumstances. Failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations may result in injunctions, fines, suspensions or revocation of permits and licenses, and other penalties. There can be no assurance that the Company has been or will be at all times in compliance with all such laws and regulations and with its licenses and permits or that the Company has all required licenses and permits in connection with its operations. The Company may be unable, on a timely basis, to obtain, renew or maintain in the future all necessary licenses and permits that may be required to explore and develop its properties, maintain the operation of mining facilities and properties under exploration or development or to maintain continued operations that economically justify the cost.

The Company's ability to obtain and maintain required permits and approvals and to successfully operate in particular communities may be adversely impacted by real or perceived detrimental events associated with the Company's activities or those of other resource companies affecting the environment, human health and safety of the surrounding communities. Delays in obtaining or failure to obtain, renew, or retain government permits and approvals may adversely affect the Company's operations, including its ability to explore or develop properties, commence production or continue operations.

Financial Risks

Gold price fluctuations

The Company's revenues depend in part on the market gold prices for mine production from the Company's producing properties. Gold prices fluctuate widely and are affected by numerous factors beyond the Company's control including central bank lending, sales and purchases of gold, producer hedging activities, expectations of inflation, the level of demand for gold as an investment, speculative trading, the relative exchange rate of the U.S. dollar with other major currencies, interest rates, global and regional demand, political and economic conditions and uncertainties, industrial and jewellery demand, production costs in major gold producing regions and worldwide production levels. The aggregate effect of these factors is impossible to predict with accuracy. Fluctuations in gold prices may materially and adversely affect the Company's financial performance or results of operations and may result in adjustments to Mineral Reserve estimates and LOM plans. Insufficient preparedness for substantial gold price volatility may result in significant impact on the production profile and adverse financial performance. 

Insufficient financing

The Company may need to secure additional capital through loans or other forms of capital, to fund future construction of mining facilities for projects such as the Côté Gold project in Canada, Boto project in Senegal, rehabilitation of the Westwood mine after the recent seismic event, and/or completion of the development of the Saramacca project in Suriname. The Company may also require funds for exploration and development of the Company's properties, such as Diakha-Siribaya, Karita, Pitangui, Nelligan, Monster Lake, and Eastern Borosi, and continuing exploration projects that may require substantial capital expenditures. In addition, a portion of the Company's activities may be directed to the search and exploration for new mineral deposits and their development.

The availability of the capital is subject to general economic conditions and lender and investor interest in the Company and its projects. The Company may be required to seek a continuation of the current financial arrangements with its lenders and/or seek additional financing to maintain its capital expenditures at planned levels. Financing may not be available when needed or, if available, may not be available on terms acceptable to the Company or the Company may be unable to find a partner for financing. Failure to obtain any financing necessary for the Company's capital expenditure plans may result in a delay or indefinite postponement of exploration, development or production on any or all of the Company's properties. In addition, there can be no certainty that the Company may be able to renew or replace its current credit facility or debt financing on similar or favourable terms to the Company prior to, or upon, its maturity.

Indebtedness and restrictive covenants of the Company's debt instruments

The Company's level of indebtedness could adversely affect the Company, including making it more difficult to satisfy obligations with respect to the 2017 Senior Notes and other debt; limiting the ability of the Company to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, or other general corporate requirements; requiring the Company to divest assets; requiring a substantial portion of cash flows to be dedicated to debt service payments instead of other purposes, thereby reducing the amount of cash flows available for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, and other general corporate purposes; increasing the vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions; exposing the Company to the risk of increased interest rates as borrowings under the 2017 Credit Facility are at variable rates of interest; limiting the flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in the industry in which the Company competes; placing the Company at a disadvantage compared to other, less leveraged competitors who may be able to take advantage of opportunities that the Company's indebtedness would prevent it from pursuing; and increasing the cost of borrowing. Additionally, the indenture governing the 2017 Senior Notes and the 2017 Credit Facility agreement contain restrictive covenants that limit the Company's ability to engage in activities that may be in its long-term best interest. 

In addition, the amount of the Company's debt/leverage may exceed its ability to service or repay the 2017 Senior Notes. The Company expects to obtain the funds to pay its expenses and to pay the principal and interest on its debt by utilizing cash flow from operations. The Company's ability to make scheduled payments on the 2017 Senior Notes also depends on its financial condition and operating performance, which are subject to prevailing economic and competitive conditions beyond its control, including fluctuations in the gold price. Sustained falling gold prices may result in the deterioration of free cash flow generation. The Company cannot be certain that its future cash flow from operations will be sufficient to allow it to pay principal and interest on its debt and meet other obligations, including under the 2017 Senior Notes. There is a possibility that the Company may need to access the 2017 Credit Facility to provide the required funding to repay the 2017 Senior Notes.

Credit facility defaults

The 2017 Credit Facility and 2018 Amendment, places certain limits on the Company, such as, on the Company's ability to incur additional indebtedness, enter into derivative transactions, make investments in a business, carry on business unrelated to mining, dispose of the Company's material assets or, in certain circumstances, pay dividends. Further, the 2017 Credit Facility requires the Company to maintain specified financial ratios and meet financial condition covenants. Events beyond the Company's control, including changes in general economic and business conditions, may affect the Company's ability to satisfy these covenants, which could result in a default under the 2017 Credit Facility. As at February 17, 2020, approximately $0.4 million, in the form of letters of credit, were drawn against the 2017 Credit Facility. Depending on its cash position and cash requirements, the Company may draw on the 2017 Credit Facility to fund, among other things, part of the capital expenditures required in connection with its current development projects. If an event of default under the 2017 Credit Facility occurs, the Company would be unable to draw down further on the 2017 Credit Facility and the lenders could elect to declare all principal amounts outstanding thereunder at such time, together with accrued interest, to be immediately due. An event of default under the 2017 Credit Facility may also give rise to an event of default under existing and future debt/financing agreements and, in such event, the Company may not have sufficient funds to repay amounts owing under such agreements. Such a default may allow the creditors to accelerate repayment of the related debt/financing and may result in the acceleration of any other debt/financing containing a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision which applies. In addition, an event of default under the Credit Facility would permit the lenders thereunder to terminate all commitments to extend further credit under that facility. Furthermore, if the Company were unable to repay any amounts due and payable under the 2017 Credit Facility, those lenders could proceed against the security securing such indebtedness. In the event the Company's lenders or noteholders accelerate the repayment of the Company's borrowings, the Company may not have sufficient assets to repay that indebtedness. Creditors could enforce or foreclose against the collateral securing its obligations and the Company could be forced into bankruptcy, receivership or liquidation.

As a result of these restrictions, the Company may be:

• limited in how it conducts its business;

• unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to operate during general economic or business downturns; or

• unable to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities

These restrictions may affect the Company's ability to grow in accordance with its strategy.

Interest rates

The Company's financial results are affected by movements in interest rates. Interest payments under the 2017 Credit Facility and the 2018 Amendment are subject to fluctuation based on changes to specified interest rates. A copy of the credit agreement in connection with the 2017 Credit Facility and the 2018 Amendment are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Credit rating downgrade

The Company and the 2017 Senior Notes have non-investment grade ratings, and any rating assigned could be lowered or withdrawn entirely by a rating agency if, in that rating agency's judgment, future circumstances relating to the basis of the rating, such as adverse changes, so warrant.

Any future lowering of the Company's ratings likely would make it more difficult or more expensive for the Company to obtain additional debt financing.

Capital allocation

From time to time, the Company may have limited financial resources available for investment because of insufficient internally generated funds and/or inaccessibility to capital markets. Accordingly, the Company must make choices amongst investment opportunities which it must rank by attractiveness and risk. There can be no assurances that such investment decisions will yield the intended returns and could limit future growth, profitability and liquidity.

Project risks

The ability of the Company to sustain or increase its present levels of gold production is dependent in part on the success of its projects. Significant projects contemplated for the next years include the Côté Gold project, Boto project, Saramacca project and Essakane CIL Debottlenecking project. However, some or all of these projects may not proceed and other projects may arise. Also, the Company may choose to prioritize certain projects contrary to the market expectations and/or sentiment.

Risks and unknowns inherent in all projects include, but are not limited to, the accuracy of Mineral Reserve estimates; metallurgical recoveries; geotechnical and other technical assumptions; capital and operating costs of such projects; the future prices of the relevant minerals; and scoping of major projects including delays, aggressive schedules and unplanned events and conditions. The significant capital expenditures and long time period required to develop new mines or other projects are considerable and changes in costs and market conditions or unplanned events or construction schedules can affect project economics. Actual costs and economic returns may differ materially from the Company's estimates or the Company could fail or be delayed in obtaining the governmental approvals necessary for execution of a project, in which case, the project may not proceed either on its original timing or at all. The Company may be unable to develop projects that demonstrate attractive economic feasibility at low gold prices.

The number of projects in the future may outweigh the Company's capital, financial and staffing capacity restricting the ability to concurrently execute multiple projects and adversely affecting the potential timing of when those projects can be put into production. The inability to execute adequate governance over developmental projects can also have a major negative impact on project development activities.

Cost containment

The Company's ongoing cost containment efforts may not achieve the intended objectives because of internal or external factors which, individually or combined, could cause declining margins. The Company's production and cost estimates depend on many factors outside the Company's control and may vary from actual production and costs, which could have an adverse impact on the Company's financial results.

Actual production and costs may vary from estimates for a variety of reasons, including actual ore mined varying from estimates of grade, tonnage, dilution and metallurgical and other characteristics; revisions to mine plans; risks and hazards associated with mining; natural phenomena, such as inclement weather conditions and seismic events, and unexpected labour shortages or strikes. Costs of production may also be affected by a variety of factors such as productivity rates, changing strip ratios, ore grade metallurgy, labour costs, the cost of supplies and services, general inflationary pressures and currency exchange rates.

Further, the Company's revenues are affected by the volatility in gold price. The combined effect of a sustained volatility in the gold price with any failure to contain operating costs such as labour, energy, fuel, other consumables and increasing rock hardness, or any increase in royalties and taxation, would negatively impact the Company's earnings and cash flow. Additionally, certain cost containment / reduction initiatives may not be sustainable over a longer period of time and the Company may face the risk of having to pursue other measures to achieve margin protection and efficiency improvements. In addition, in an increased gold price environment, it may be advantageous to mine and produce higher cost gold because of the expanded margin potential.

Failure to achieve production or cost estimates or material increases in costs could have an adverse impact on the Company's future cash flows, profitability, results of operations and financial condition.

Consumables

The profitability of the Company's business is affected by the market prices and availability or shortages of commodities which are consumed or otherwise used in connection with the Company's operations and projects, such as diesel fuel and heavy fuel oil at the Essakane, Rosebel and Sadiola mines; electricity at the Rosebel and Westwood mines; and steel, concrete, grinding media, equipment spare parts, explosives and cyanide at all operations. Prices of such commodities also can be subject to volatile price movements, which can be material and can occur over short periods of time, and are affected by factors that are beyond the Company's control. Operations consume significant amounts of energy and are dependent on suppliers or governments to meet these energy needs and to allow declines in oil prices to filter through to the Company. In some cases, no alternative source of energy is available. An increase in the cost, or decrease in the availability, of construction materials such as equipment, steel and concrete may affect the timing and cost of the Company's projects. If the costs of certain commodities consumed or otherwise used in connection with the Company's operations and projects were to increase significantly, and remain at such levels for a sustained period of time, the Company may determine that it is not economically feasible to continue commercial production at some or all of the Company's operations or the development of some or all of the Company's current projects, which could have a material adverse impact on the Company.

Costs at any particular mining location are also subject to variation due to a number of factors, such as changing ore grade, changing metallurgy and revisions to mine plans in response to changes in the estimated physical shape and location of the ore body or due to operational or processing changes. A material increase in costs at any significant location could have a significant effect on the Company's capital expenditures, production schedules, profitability and operating cash flow.

Third-party contactors

It is common industry practice for certain aspects of mining operations, such as drilling and blasting, to be conducted by one or more outside contractors. The Company is subject to a number of risks associated with the use of such contractors, including the following:

a) the Company having reduced control over the aspects of the operations that are the responsibility of a contractor;

b) failure of a contractor to perform under its agreement(s);

c) inability to replace the contractor if either the Company or the contractor terminate their contractual relationship;

d) interruption of operations in the event the contractor ceases operations as a result of a contractual dispute with the Company or as a result of insolvency or other unforeseen events;

e) failure of the contractor to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements; and

f) failure of the contractor to properly manage its workforce resulting in labour unrest, strikes or other employment issues, any of which may have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial conditions and results of operations.

Although the Company always seeks to retain contractors the Company regards as reputable and competent for the scope of work required, the Company cannot exclude the risk that those contractors may breach their contracts with the Company (or any predecessor or partner companies) or that contractors may be negligent or otherwise deficient in performing the services for which they were contracted. This may result in financial liability or penalties to the Company for its inability to recover from those contractors or to remediate errors made by contractors, which are necessary for the optimal performance of the Company's projects.

Use of derivatives

Risks associated with currency and commodity price volatility are regularly managed with the Company's hedging programs. Increases in global fuel prices or the appreciation of the exchange rate for the Canadian dollar, can materially increase operating costs, erode operating margins and project investment returns, and potentially reduce viable Mineral Reserves. Conversely, a significant and sustained decline in world oil prices and/or a depreciation of the exchange rate for the Canadian dollar, may offset other costs and improve returns. While the Company has entered into hedge arrangements to minimize its risk to fluctuating fuel prices and changes to the exchange rate for the Canadian dollar, there are no assurances that such arrangements will be successful.

The Company has also employed derivative financial instruments as part of a forward gold sale arrangement in which the Company will deliver physical gold to counterparties and hedge the price of gold. In addition, the Company may consider employing hedging tools for a portion of its gold production in the future, to protect a portion of its cash flows against decreases in the price of gold. Although hedging activities may protect the Company against a low gold price fluctuations, gold hedging may limit the prices the Company actually realizes and therefore could reduce the Company's revenues in the future.

The use of derivative instruments involves certain inherent risks including:

a) credit risk - the risk of default on amounts owing to the Company by the counterparties with which the Company has entered into such transactions;

b) market liquidity risk - the risk that the Company has entered into a derivative position that cannot be closed out quickly, by either liquidating such derivative instrument or by establishing an offsetting position; and

c) price / valuation risk - the risk that, in respect of certain derivative products, an adverse change in market prices for commodities, currencies, gold or interest rates will result in the Company incurring a realized or unrealized (mark-to-market) loss in respect of such derivative products.

Currency fluctuations

Currency fluctuations may affect the earnings and cash flows from the Company's operations since the revenue is based on the gold market price and is mostly denominated in U.S. dollars, while the costs of the Company are incurred principally in non-U.S. dollars (Canadian dollars, Euros, CFA francs and Surinamese dollars). Appreciation of currencies against the U.S. dollar increases the cost of gold production in U.S. dollar terms and reduce profitability. While CFA francs currently have a fixed exchange rate to the Euro and the currency is currently convertible into Canadian and U.S. dollars, it may not always have a fixed exchange rate which may be changed to a floating rate and the fixed exchange rate may be reset by the governing bodies. 

Cash management in foreign subsidiaries

The Company conducts several of its operations through foreign subsidiaries. From time to time the countries in which the Company operates or has interests have adopted measures to restrict the availability of the local currency or the repatriation of capital across borders. These measures are typically imposed by the local governments and / or central banks during times of economic instability to prevent the removal of capital or the sudden devaluation of local currencies or to maintain in-country foreign currency reserves. In addition, some of these countries imposed supplementary consents or reporting processes before local currency earnings can be converted into U.S. dollars or other currencies and/or such earnings can be repatriated or otherwise transferred outside of the operating jurisdiction. Furthermore, some jurisdictions regulate the amount of earnings that can be maintained by operating entities in off-shore bank accounts and require additional earnings to be held by banks located in the country of operation.

Accordingly, any limitation on the transfer of cash or other assets between the parent corporation and its subsidiaries and foreign entities, control over cash repatriation, as well as requirements by local governments to repatriate gold bullion sales, could restrict the Company's ability to fund its operations effectively and the Company may be required to use other sources of funds for these objectives which may result in increased financing costs. Any such limitations, or the perception that such limitations may exist now or in the future, could have an adverse impact on the Company's valuation, stock price and ability to service or repay its indebtedness.

Asset valuations

At the end of each reporting period, the Company reviews the carrying amount of its property, plant and equipment, exploration and evaluation assets and cash generating units to determine whether there is any indication of impairment or reversal of previously recognized impairment. If such an indicator exists, the Company performs an impairment test.

Management's assumptions and estimates of future cash flows are subject to risks and uncertainties, particularly in market conditions where higher volatility exists, and may be partially or totally outside of the Company's control. Therefore, it is reasonably possible that changes could occur with evolving economic and market conditions, which may affect the fair value of the Company's property, plant and equipment and exploration, evaluation assets and cash generating units resulting in either an impairment charge or reversal of previously recognized impairment. The Company's estimates of future cash flows are based on numerous assumptions, some of which may be subjective, and it is possible that actual future cash flows could be significantly different than those estimated.

If the Company fails to achieve its valuation assumptions or if any of its property, plant and equipment, exploration and evaluation assets or cash generating units have experienced a decline in fair value, an impairment charge may be required to be recorded, causing a reduction in the Company's earnings.

Conversely, if there are observable indicators that any of its property, plant and equipment, exploration and evaluation assets or cash generating units have experienced an increase in fair value, a reversal of a previously recognized impairment may be required to be recorded, causing an increase in the Company's earnings. 

The measurable decrease in the Westwood mine's estimated future cash flows anticipated in the preliminary LOM plan in the fourth quarter of 2019 was considered by the Company to be an indicator of impairment for the Doyon cash generating (CGU).  As a result, an assessment was performed for the Doyon CGU, and it was determined that the carrying amount exceeded its recoverable amount of $117.0 million. This resulted in an impairment charge of $395.0 million being recognized in the consolidated statements of earnings (loss) for the year ended December 31, 2019.

The increase in the Company's short-term and long-term gold price estimates as at December 31, 2019 was considered by the Company to be an indicator of reversal of previously recognized impairment for the Essakane CGU, as the gold price represented a significant change in the key inputs used to determine the CGUs recoverable amount.  As a result, an assessment was performed for the Essakane CGU, and it was determined that the recoverable amount of $774.0 million exceeded its carrying amount.  This resulted in a reversal of the impairment charge recorded in 2013 of $122.0 million being recognized in the consolidated statements of earnings (loss) for the year ended December 31, 2019.

On December 20, 2019, the Company, together with its joint venture partner, AngloGold Ashanti Limited ("AGA"), entered into an agreement to sell their collective interests in Société d'Exploitation des Mines d'Or de Sadiola S.A. ("SEMOS") to Allied Gold Corp. for a cash consideration of $105.0 million; the Company and AGA each hold a 41 per cent interest in SEMOS with the remaining 18 per cent interest held by the Government of Mali.

The Company's anticipated share of the proceeds was less than the carrying amount of the Company's investment in and receivable from SEMOS. This was considered by the Company to be an indicator of impairment for both the SEMOS assets and the Company's investment in and receivable from SEMOS. As a result, an assessment was performed and an impairment loss of $36.3 million, for the Company's share of the impairment recognized by SEMOS for the difference between the fair value less costs of disposal ("FVLCD") of SEMOS' net assets and their carrying value, was recognized in Loss from discontinued operations in the consolidated statements of earnings (loss) for the year ended December 31, 2019.  An impairment loss of $9.4 million, estimated as the difference between the carrying amount of the investment ($38.9 million) and loan receivable ($10.0 million) and the FVLCD, was also recognized in Loss from discontinued operations in the consolidated statements of earnings (loss) for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Management's assumptions and estimates of future cash flows used in the Company's impairment assessments are subject to risk and uncertainties, particularly in market conditions where higher volatility exists, and may be partially or totally outside of the Company's control.  As such, fair values may change.

Operational Risks

Exploration and development activities

The Company internally and/or along with third party specialists conducts Preliminary Economic Assessments (PEAs) on mineral discoveries on greenfield and brownfield projects to evaluate the potential economic viability of the project and to identify any additional work necessary to complete more advanced mining studies. For the advanced project development studies, Pre-Feasibility Studies (PFS) and Feasibility Studies (FS) are conducted to advance and demonstrate the economic viability of a project and to further refine the engineering designs, mine plans, ore body models, infrastructure and environmental requirements, capital and operating costs and financial models.

The results of these PEA, PFS and FS studies represent forward-looking information and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Such information speaks only as of the date of the assessment report, and is based on a number of assumptions which are believed to be valid and reasonable as of that date but which may prove to be incorrect in the future. The PEA is exploratory in nature and may include Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves. A PEA may show a positive financial return and can be used to support a decision to proceed to more advanced mining studies, however, there is no certainty that the results of the PEA may be realized.

While the discovery of a Mineral Resource or mineral deposit may result in substantial rewards, few properties that are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines. The analyses in these studies are based on many factors, including among other things, government regulations relating to prices, taxes and royalty rates, the accuracy of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserve estimates and Mineral Resources included in the mine plan, ore treated in the process plant and metallurgical recoveries, support from the projected infrastructure requirements, gold price assumptions, permitting, social and environmental regime considerations, capital and operating cost estimates and availability of adequate financing. The actual operating results of the development projects may differ materially from those anticipated, and uncertainties related to operations are even greater in the case of development projects. The Company cannot ensure that its current exploration and development programs will result in future profitable commercial mining operations or replacement of current production at existing mining operations with new Mineral Reserves.

Also, substantial expenses may be incurred on exploration projects that are subsequently abandoned due to poor exploration results or the inability to define Mineral Reserves that can be mined economically. It is also not unusual for new mining operations to experience unexpected problems during the start-up phase and to require more capital and time than anticipated.

Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources estimates

The Company's Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources are based on estimates of mineral content and quantity derived from limited information acquired through drilling and other sampling methods, and requires judgmental interpretations of geology, structure, grade distributions and trends, and other factors that may be beyond the Company's control. No assurance can be given that the estimates are accurate or that the indicated level of metal will be produced. Actual mineralization or formations may be different from those predicted. Further, it may take many years from the initial phase of drilling before production is possible, and during that time the economic feasibility of exploiting a discovery may change. SEC Industry Guide 7 does not permit mining companies to disclose estimates other than Mineral Reserves in their filings with the SEC. However, because the Company prepares its Annual Information Form and other continuous disclosure documents, in accordance with Canadian disclosure requirements, it contains Mineral Resource estimates, which are required by NI 43-101. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of the Company's Mineral Resources will be converted into Mineral Reserves.

Market price fluctuations of gold, as well as increased production and capital costs, reduced recovery rates changes in the mine plan or pit design, or other technical, economic, and regulatory factors may render the Company's Proven Mineral Reserves and Probable Mineral Reserves unprofitable to develop or continue to exploit at a particular site or sites for periods of time or may render Mineral Reserves containing relatively lower grade mineralization uneconomic.

The Company's ability to recover estimated Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources can also be affected by such factors as environmental permitting regulations and requirements, weather, environmental factors, unforeseen technical difficulties, unusual or unexpected geological formations and work interruptions. Successful extraction requires safe and efficient mining and processing. Estimated Mineral Reserves may have to be recalculated based on actual production experience. Any of these factors may require the Company to reduce its Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources, which could have a negative impact on the Company's financial results.

There is also no assurance that the Company will achieve indicated levels of gold recovery or obtain the prices for gold production assumed in determining the amount of such Mineral Reserves. Anticipated levels of production may be impacted by numerous factors, including, but not limited to, mining conditions, labour availability and relations, weather, seismic events, civil disturbances and supply shortages.

Any material reductions in estimates of Mineral Reserves and/or Mineral Resources, or the Company's ability to extract those Mineral Resources, could have a material adverse effect on the business and results of operations. A reduction in the Company's estimated Mineral Reserves could require material write-downs in investment in the affected mining property and increased amortization, reclamation and closure charges.

Coarse gold

Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource calculations for the gold operations may be over / under estimated as a result of the presence of coarse gold.

Some of the ore bodies at the Company's gold mines contain coarse gold with particles up to five millimeters in diameter. Attempts have been made to ensure that the grade samples used to determine Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources are representative by using appropriate sample preparation and analytical techniques as part of comprehensive QA/QC programs. Additionally, the grade estimation methods used are designed to reduce and/or limit the impact of localized high grade assays. The actual grade of the deposits could be lower or higher than predicted by the grade models developed.

Geotechnical

Mining, by its very nature, involves the excavation of soils and rocks. The stability of the ground during and after excavation involves a complicated interaction of static and dynamic stresses (including induced stresses such as blasting), gravity, rock strength, rock structures (such as faults, joints, and bedding), groundwater pressures and other geo-mechanical factors. Underground workings, pit slopes, and other excavations may be subject to local or widespread geotechnical failure should the forces acting on the rock mass exceed the strength of that rock mass.

Additionally, excavated ore and waste may be deposited in dumps or stockpiles, or used in the construction of tailings dams and roads or other civil structures, which may be very large. These dumps, stockpiles and dams may also be subject to geotechnical failure due to over-steepening, seismically induced destabilization, water saturation, material degradation, settling, overtopping, foundation failure or other factors.

The Company employs internal geotechnical experts, external consultants and third party reviewers and auditors who use industry-standard engineering data gathering, analyses, techniques and processes to manage the geotechnical risks associated with the design and operation of a mine and the related civil structures. However, due to unforeseen situations and to the complexity of these rock masses and large rock and soil civil structures, geotechnical failures may still occur which could result in the temporary or permanent closure of all or part of a mining operation, injuries to mine personnel or others, and/or damage to mine infrastructure, equipment or facilities, which materially impacts mineral production and/or results in additional costs to recover from such geotechnical failures and the resulting damage.

The Westwood mine in Québec continues to experience seismic events which resulted in the temporary closure of some working areas, followed by extensive geotechnical evaluation and redesign and development of a revised LOM plan. Although extensive efforts are employed by the Company to prevent and anticipate further ground movement, there is no guarantee that another unexpected severe seismic event or strain burst would not reoccur which could impact the development and progression of production due to deep mining, rock strength, variability of the rock mass and regional seismic activity. The Company may also experience a loss of Mineral Reserves or a material increase in costs, if it is necessary to redesign the mine or waste rock dumps as a result of a ground movement. The consequences of a ground movement will depend upon the magnitude, location and timing of any such movement.

Life of mine plans

The LOM estimates for each of the material properties of the Company are based on a number of factors and assumptions and may prove to be incorrect. In addition, LOM plans, by design, may have declining grade profiles and increasing rock hardness over time and mine life could be shortened if the Company increases production, experiences increased production costs or if the price of gold declines significantly. Mineral Reserves at operating sites can be replaced by upgrading existing resources to Mineral Reserves generally by the completion of additional drilling and/or development to improve the estimate confidence and by demonstrating their economic viability, by expanding known deposits, by locating new deposits, or by making acquisitions. Substantial expenditures are required to delineate resources and ultimately establish Proven Mineral Reserves and Probable Mineral Reserves and to construct mining and processing facilities. As a result, there is no assurance that current or future exploration programs will be successful.

There is a risk that depletion of Mineral Reserves will not be offset by resource conversions, expansions, discoveries, or acquisitions. At Rosebel, as the mine gets close to the end of life, unplanned variances in the grades mined and recoveries may be experienced in the future, with impact on the total ounces produced. The Westwood mine, in particular, has a relatively low quantity of Proven Mineral Reserves and Probable Mineral Reserves compared to a relatively large quantity of Inferred Mineral Resources. Due to the nature and depth of the deposit, it will take many years to effectively access various sections of the ore body in order to carry out sufficient drilling to convert Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated Mineral Resources and Measured Mineral Resources and, after economic assessment, into Proven Mineral Reserves and Probable Mineral Reserves.

The current LOM business plan for the Westwood mine assumes that the Inferred Mineral Resources will be converted into Proven Mineral Reserves or Probable Mineral Reserves on an ongoing basis and be mined and processed. For the reasons outlined above, there is a risk that some or all of the Inferred Mineral Resources at the Westwood mine may not be converted to Proven Mineral Reserves or Probable Mineral Reserves to be mined and processed.

Operational Effectiveness

Due to the environment the Company operates in, there is a risk the established production targets may not be met. Factors include difficult ground conditions (rock bursting environment), difficulty retaining experienced and skilled workforce and problems with mine design, defective equipment and improper use of specialized equipment.

Equipment malfunctions

The Company's mines (whether operating or currently on care and maintenance) use expensive, large mining and processing equipment that requires a long time to procure, build and install. The Company's various operations may encounter delays in or losses of production due to the delay in the delivery of equipment, key equipment or component malfunctions or breakdowns, damage to equipment through accident or misuse, including potential complete write-off of damaged units, or delay in the delivery or the lack of availability of spare parts, which may impede maintenance activities on equipment. In addition, equipment may be subject to aging if not replaced, or through inappropriate use or misuse, or improper storage conditions may become obsolete. Any one of these factors, or other factors could adversely impact the Company's operations, profitability and financial results.

Security risks

The Company has operations in foreign countries which may present security risks such as civil unrest, war or terrorism. The Company may be exposed to situations or persons that may pose security threats to personnel and facilities. Loss of life, intellectual property, physical assets and reputation can have a devastating impact on the business and the workforce.

Surrounding communities may affect or threaten the security of the mining operations through the restriction of access of supplies and the workforce to the mine site or the conduct of artisanal and illegal mining at or near the mine sites. Certain of the material properties of the Company may be subject to the rights or asserted rights of various community stakeholders, including aboriginal and indigenous peoples, through legal challenges relating to ownership rights or rights to artisanal mining.

The Company is exposed to artisanal and illegal mining activities in close proximity to its operations that may cause environmental issues and disruptions to its operations and relationships with governments and local communities. Artisanal miners may make use of some or all of the Company's properties. During the year, the Company experienced an incident involving local police and unauthorized artisanal miners within the Rosebel concession resulting in the death of an unauthorized miner. To ensure safety and security of the workforce, mining activities were temporarily suspended which negatively impacted gold production. Existing legislation in Suriname is outdated with respect to the management of illegal miners and this, combined with lax enforcement of the current legislation, has a negative impact on the Company's operations. It is difficult for the Company to control access to concessions due to the size of the Rosebel mine's operations and the geographical characteristics and topography of the site. The Saramacca project may be exposed to similar challenges.  There has been an increase of terrorist incidents and activities around the world, including in the Sahel area in Africa, in which the Company's Essakane mine is located. The conflict between the West African armies and the Islamist insurgents in the area are increasingly disrupting businesses and forcing governments to abandon large swathes of territory. As a consequence, the insurgent raids have spread from Sahel countries such as Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso toward the borders with coastal nations. Jihadist activities in Burkina Faso and Mali present a serious security risk to the Company's Burkinabe and Malian operations and its personnel. In November 2019, an employee transportation convoy of another mining company in Burkina Faso was attacked by terrorists resulting in the death of a number of employees and contractors. A terrorist attack on the Essakane mine's operations could have a detrimental impact on the Company given the significance of the contribution of the mine to the Company's revenues and free cash flow. The Essakane mine's  contribution to the Company's overall 2019 revenue and operating cash flow is expected to be 54 per cent and 48 per cent respectively.

The proximity to the volatile regions increases this threat, in combination with porous borders. In addition, there are artisanal miners operating in the vicinity of the Essakane mine, which also presents challenges for the Company.  The Essakane mine is a visible and valuable target to a terrorist organization due to the presence of a high number of employees and expatriates. These security risks have resulted in increased costs for securing the Essakane mine site and protecting its workers and facilities. The Company has undertaken a number of steps to enhance the safety and security of its personnel and assets. These steps include but are not limited to close coordination with the country's security agencies including the local police and gendarmerie; increasing security measures in the vicinity of the Essakane mine and providing training to employees and contractors.

Information systems security threats and evolving data privacy laws and regulations

The Company is reliant on the continuous and uninterrupted operation of its Information Technology ("IT") systems. User access and security of all sites and corporate IT systems can be critical elements to the operations of the Company. Protection against cyber security incidents, cloud security and security of all of the Company's IT systems are critical to the operations of the Company. Any IT failure pertaining to availability, access or system security could result in disruption for personnel and could adversely affect the reputation, operations or financial performance of the Company.

The Company's IT systems could be compromised by unauthorized parties attempting to extract business sensitive, confidential or personal information, denial of access extortion, corrupting information or disrupting business processes or by inadvertent or intentional actions by the Company's employees or vendors. A cyber security incident resulting in a security breach or a failure to identify a security threat could disrupt business and could result in the loss of business sensitive, confidential or personal information or other assets, as well as litigation, regulatory enforcement, violation of privacy or securities laws and regulations, and remediation costs, which could materially impact the Company's business or reputation.

As the regulatory environment related to information security, data collection and use, and privacy becomes increasingly rigorous, with new and constantly changing requirements applicable to the business, compliance with these requirements could also result in additional costs. The Company could incur substantial costs in complying with various regulations as a result of having to make changes to prior business practices in a manner adverse to the business. Such developments may also require the Company to make system changes and develop new processes, further affecting its compliance costs. In addition, violations of privacy-related regulations can result in significant penalties and reputational harm, which in turn could adversely impact the Company's business and results of operations.

Environmental and health and safety regulations

The Company's mining and processing operations, as well as exploration activities, are subject to extensive laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, those governing the protection and rehabilitation or remediation of the environment, exploration, mine development, production, exports, taxes, labour standards, occupational health, waste disposal, toxic substances, mine and worker safety, relations with neighbouring communities, protection of endangered and other special status species and other matters. The possibility of more stringent laws or more rigorous enforcement of existing laws exists in each of these areas, each of which could have a material adverse effect on the Company's exploration activities, operations and the cost or the viability of a particular project.

Failure to comply with environmental, health or safety legislation may result in the imposition of significant fines and/or penalties, the temporary or permanent suspension of operations or other regulatory sanctions including clean-up costs arising out of contaminated properties, damages, the loss of important permits, or civil suits or criminal charges. Exposure to these liabilities arises not only from the Company's existing operations, but also from operations that have been closed or sold to third parties. There can be no assurance that the Company will at all times be in compliance with all environmental, health and safety regulations or that steps to achieve compliance would not materially adversely affect its business.

Tailings storage facilities

The water collection, treatment and disposal operations at the Company's mines are subject to substantial regulation and involve significant environmental risks. The extraction process for gold and metals produces tailings, which are stored in engineered facilities designed, constructed, operated and closed in conformance with local requirements and best practices.

A major spill or failure of the tailings facilities (including through matters beyond the Company's control such as extreme weather, seismic event, or other incident) may cause damage to the environment and the surrounding communities. Poor design or poor maintenance of the tailings dam structures or improper management of site water may contribute to dam failure or tailings release and could also result in damage or injury. Failure to comply with applicable environmental, health and safety laws and regulations may result in injunctions, fines, suspension or revocation of permits and other penalties. The costs and delays associated with compliance with these laws, regulations and permits could prevent the Company from proceeding with the development of a project or the operation or further development of a mine or increase the costs of development or production and may materially adversely affect the Company's business, results of operations, or financial condition. The Company may also be held responsible for the costs of investigating and addressing contamination (including claims for natural resource damages) or for fines or penalties from governmental authorities relating to contamination issues at current or former sites, either owned directly or by third parties. The Company could also be held liable for claims relating to exposure to hazardous and toxic substances and major spills or failure of the tailing facilities, which could include a breach of a tailings dam. The costs associated with such responsibilities and liabilities may be significant, be higher than estimated and involve a lengthy clean-up. Moreover, in the event that the Company is deemed liable for any damage caused by overflow, the Company's losses or consequences of regulatory action might not be covered by insurance policies. Should the Company be unable to fully fund the cost of remedying such environmental concerns, the Company may be required to suspend operations temporarily or permanently.

Failure of the hydrostatic plug at the Westwood mine

With the closure of the Doyon mine, a hydrostatic plug was built and installed to separate the underground workings of the Doyon and Westwood mines permanently and completely and allow disposal of the Westwood mine tailings in the Doyon pit. It is possible that, over time, the plug might deteriorate or there might be some fracture of the rock mass which may damage the hydrostatic plug and cause it to fail resulting in flooding of the Westwood mine and unwanted discharge and contamination. If such an event were to occur, it may have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition, liquidity or results of operations.

Failure by the Company to meet its payment and other obligations pursuant to laws governing its mineral claims, mining claims, mining leases, tenements and other forms of land and mineral tenure could result in the loss of its material property interests which could have a material adverse effect on the Company and which could cause a significant decline in the trading price of the Common Shares.

Cyanide and hazardous materials management

The Company uses sodium cyanide and other hazardous chemicals in the gold production. The measures taken to prevent and mitigate the potential environmental harm caused by the Company's use of cyanide and other hazardous materials, including corrective action taken to address the detection of cyanide and other metals in the groundwater near the mine, and any additional measures required to address effluent compliance, fines and costs and/or the effluent quality at any location may have a negative impact on the Company's financial condition and/or results of operations.

The Company is exposed to claims alleging injury or illness from exposure to hazardous materials present, used at or released into the environment from its sites. While the Company has implemented extensive health and safety initiatives at the sites and projects to protect the health and safety of the employees, contractors and members of the communities affected by its operations, there is no guarantee that such measures will eliminate the occurrence of accidents or other incidents which may result in personal injuries or damage to property, and in certain instances such occurrences could give rise to regulatory fines and/or civil liability. In addition, a number of countries have started introducing regulations restricting or prohibiting the use of cyanide and other hazardous substances in mineral processing activities.

In addition, the use of open pit mining techniques has come under scrutiny in certain mining jurisdictions, and some governments are reviewing the use of such methods. If legislation restricting or prohibiting the use of cyanide or open pit mining techniques were to be adopted in a region in which the Company operates, there would be a significant adverse impact on its results of operations and financial position.

Biodiversity and conservation management

The decrease in biodiversity is believed to affect the overall health of the environment, and a diverse ecosystem is better able to respond to environmental or climate change events, such as floods, drought, pests and disease. Although, due to the location of the current operations and projects, the Company's activities are not expected to significantly impact the biodiversity around the operating mines and projects. The Company is committed to supporting biodiversity, protecting wildlife from harm, keeping people safe, and returning to normal the natural habitats of the sites disturbed by its operations and projects.

Biodiversity risks are assessed and monitored thorough the mine life cycle, from the environmental impact assessments performed for all major operations before construction, to the reclamation planning and landscape biodiversity restauration, and, while the Company is focusing on conservation and prevention of future loses, it is difficult to assess the long term impact of its operations on the biological diversity and ecosystem within the area of its operations.

Adverse publicity generated by different organizations and/or communities related to perceived and existing negative impact on biodiversity generated by the mining industry in general, or the Company's operations specifically, could have an adverse effect on the Company's reputation and financial condition and may also impact its relationship with the communities / countries in which it operates.

Infrastructure and water access

Certain operations of the Company are carried out in geographical areas both inside and outside Canada which lack adequate infrastructure and are subject to various other risk factors, including the availability of sufficient water supplies, for both the operations and the surrounding communities.

Mining, processing, development and exploration activities depend, to one degree or another, on adequate infrastructure. Reliable roads, bridges, power sources, and water supply are important determinants which affect capital and operating costs. Lack of such infrastructure or unusual or infrequent weather phenomena, sabotage, terrorism, community constraints, government intervention or other interference in the maintenance or provision of such infrastructure could adversely affect the Company's operations, financial condition and/or results of operations.

The Company's failure to obtain needed water permits, the loss of some or all of the Company's water rights for any of its mines or shortages of water due to drought or loss of water permits could require the Company to improve the efficiency of its water usage, increase water recycling and, if and when needed, curtail or close mining production, which could prevent the Company from pursuing expansion opportunities.

Regulatory risks of climate change

Mining is an energy-intensive business, resulting in a significant carbon footprint and the Company acknowledges climate change as an area of risk requiring specific focus. A number of governments and/or governmental bodies have introduced or are contemplating regulatory changes in response to the potential impacts of climate change. The increased regulation, such as of limiting the greenhouse gas emissions and introducing new carbon or water taxes, may adversely affect the Company's operations, and related legislation is becoming more stringent, with an impact on the Company's compliance costs. Canada's federal and provincial legislations impose mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting requirements and the Company's Westwood mine is subject to a cap-and-trade regulation.

Physical risks of climate change

The physical risks of climate change may have an adverse effect on the operations of the Company. Global climate change could exacerbate certain of the threats facing the Company's business, including the frequency and severity of weather-related events, resource shortages, changes in rainfall and storm patterns and intensities, water shortages and changing temperatures, which can (i) disrupt the Company's operations by impacting the availability and cost of materials needed for mining operations or increasing insurance and other operating costs, (ii) damage its infrastructure or properties, and (iii) create financial risk to the Company's business or otherwise have a material adverse effect on its results of operations, financial position or liquidity. Such climate change events or conditions could also have adverse effects on the workforce and on the local communities surrounding the areas where the Company operates, such as an increased risk of food insecurity, water scarcity, civil unrest and the prevalence of disease.

The Company makes efforts to mitigate climate risks by ensuring that extreme weather conditions are included in its emergency response plans. However, there is no assurance that the response will be effective or that the physical risks of climate change will not have an adverse effect on the Company's operations and profitability. These climate change related events may result in substantial costs to respond during the event, to recover from the event and possibly to modify existing or future infrastructure requirements to prevent recurrence.

Innovation

With volatility in the price of gold and the Company's focus on cost reductions and higher efficiencies, the Company has limited funds available for investment in innovation and new technology that could mitigate some of these environmental and health and safety risks, and enhance the ability of the operations and the surrounding communities to be resilient to the effect of climate change. The Company deals with particularly challenging environments both in the underground and open pit operations. While the Company has made progress in leveraging technology such as solar panels for energy at the Rosebel and Essakane mines, and the planned use of electrical mobile equipment for the Côté Gold project, the Company may not be able to keep pace with innovations affecting the mining industry and leverage technology that may further drive investment and growth. 

Occupational health and wellness

Safety performance and workplace occupational health and hygiene are key priorities for the Company. Supporting and encouraging employees to maintain personal health and physical and mental well-being helps create a productive and effective workforce. The Company's occupational health and wellness programs provide tools and resources that promote the wellness of its employees and help manage health risks in the workplace.

Inherent unsafe work conditions including ground instability and ground support deterioration, rock bursts, cave-ins, floods, falls of ground, tailings dam failures, chemical hazards, mineral dust and gases, use of explosives, noise, electricity, faulty equipment, moving equipment (especially heavy equipment), defective electrical wires or the short circuit of equipment, slips and falls, transportation of personnel or insufficient worker training may expose personnel to potentially serious occupational and workplace accidents, could cause injuries and/or potential fatalities while working at, or travelling to or from an operating mine. The Company's employees are also exposed to chemical, biological and physical agents that may result in occupational illnesses, including, but not limited to, Raynaud's disease, exposure to arsenic or respiratory ailments, cancers and hearing loss. In addition, with the development of the underground Westwood mine, personnel are exposed to heat stress due to the increases in temperature at deeper levels which may result in heatstroke and loss of productivity.

Although the Company takes every precaution to strictly follow industrial hygiene and occupational health guidelines, and medical services are in place along with pandemic management protocols, due to the areas where the Company operates, the workforce is exposed to pandemics like malaria and other diseases, such as Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika, Ebola, Coronavirus and other flu like viruses (such as avian and swine). Such pandemics and diseases represent a serious threat to maintaining a skilled workforce in the mining industry and is a major health-care challenge for the Company.

There can be no assurance that the Company's personnel will not be impacted by these pandemic diseases and ultimately see its workforce productivity reduced or incur increased medical costs / insurance premiums as a result of these health risks.

Human rights

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights were endorsed by the UN in 2011 and constitute the global standard of expected business conduct with regards to human rights. They establish that all companies have a responsibility to respect human rights.

The Company acknowledges that the recognition and protection of human rights in line with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (the "VPSHR") are key components of all matters related to security. The Company is committed to ensuring compliance with applicable laws, regulations and industry standards relating to human rights, employment and labour relations in the jurisdictions in which the Company operates, to maintain a positive workplace for its workforce and ethical business relations with its business partners.  The Company may not be able to identify and assess all potential human rights impacts. Any potential human right abuses either internally or externally, through third party business relationships, such as corruption, unequal treatment of ethnic minorities, gender discrimination, use of child labour, land use rights, supply chain sourcing, etc., could have a devastating impact on the Company's reputation, as well as present legal and financial risks arising from failing to respect and/or reinforce human rights.

Responsible sourcing

There is a growing stakeholder expectation that mining companies implement adequate measures for an effective management of the value chain process in a proactive and transparent manner. The Company operates in emerging markets where one of the objectives is to strengthen the value chain through local business development and procurement. The Company is committed to influencing strong ethical, social and environmental performance across its global supply chain process, including diligent screening of its suppliers for ethical and sustainable practices.

The Company continuously focuses on responsible sourcing of raw materials and services globally, with the expectation that its suppliers follow its approach in support of human rights, health and safety, environmental protection, and business ethics. However, at the same time, the Company acknowledges that, in some cases, there is often weak governance in emerging countries, and the Company could incur regulatory compliance costs, reputational damage, or supply chain disruptions from reliance on raw materials and services from regions with human rights or labour abuses or environmental failures, whose sourcing may actually encourage conflicts; or from suppliers associated with obtaining these materials in a way that causes social harm.

While the Company is proactively working on identifying high-risk procurement categories; suppliers; and/or locations that could have an ethical impact on its supply chain, the ability to mitigate these risks associated with raw materials and third party services sourcing will continue to be challenged despite ongoing due diligence efforts.

Attraction and retention of key employees

The Company's ability to effectively manage its corporate, exploration and operations teams depends in large part on the Company's ability to attract, develop and retain the best talent in key roles and as senior leaders within the organization. This may be challenging to sustain and align with its strategic planning objectives of operational excellence for current mines and growth, especially in locations experiencing political or civil unrest and increasing levels of security threat and terrorism. The success of the Company also depends on the technical expertise of its professional employees. The Company faces increased competition for qualified management, professionals, executives and skilled personnel from other companies. There can be no assurance that the Company will continue to be able to compete successfully with its competitors in attracting and retaining senior leaders, qualified management and technical talent with the necessary skills and experience to manage its current needs. The length of time required to recruit key personnel and fill a position may be longer than anticipated.

The increased difficulties to attract, develop and retain capable leaders and key management and technical professionals as well as qualified talent to manage the existing operations and projects effectively could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and/or operational results.

The Company faces an ageing workforce which may impact productivity and operational experience.

The Company is dependent on a relatively small number of key management personnel. Accordingly, the loss of one or more management staff could have an adverse effect on the Company. While the Company has succession plans in place for the board of directors and senior leadership positions including the chief executive officer and other key roles, in the event of a loss of one or more individuals, there may be challenges to replace these personnel in a timely manner internally and/or externally.

Labour disruptions

The Company is dependent on its workforce to extract and process minerals. Relations between the Company and its employees may be impacted by changes in labour relations which may be introduced by, among other things, employee groups, unions and the relevant governmental authorities in whose jurisdictions the Company carries on business. Labour disruptions at any of the Company's material properties could have a material adverse impact on its business, results of operations and financial condition. A number of the Company's employees are represented by labour unions under various collective labour agreements. The Company plans to negotiate a renewal of its collective agreement, upon expiry, with the labour union at the Rosebel mine. In addition, existing or new labour agreements may not prevent a strike or work stoppage at the Company's facilities in the future, and any such strike or work stoppage could have a material adverse effect on the Company's earnings and financial condition and also result from negotiations with respect to new labour agreements that are not successful.

Community relations

Positive and constructive relationships with surrounding communities are critical to ensure the future success of the Company's existing operations, as well as for the construction and development of future development projects. The Company is committed to contributing to the long-term sustainability of local communities.

The inability of the Company to maintain positive relationships with local communities may result in access blockages, equipment or property damage, permitting delays or blockages, increased legal challenges or other disruptive operational issues at any of the operating mines as a result of community actions, actions by artisanal miners, or as a result of actions related to aboriginal or indigenous relationships, which may have a material adverse impact on the Company's reputation, share price and financial condition.

Engagement with indigenous communities in Canada has recently become more contested in the wake of several decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada that have expanded First Nations' rights and consultation requirements within the context of resource development. These decisions have heightened the risks for mining companies in Canada. Many First Nations communities have increased their advocacy with respect to claimed entitlements regarding resource development projects within their traditional territories. The Company is continuing its engagement activity with the Mattagami First Nations and Flying Post First Nations as well as the Métis with respect to its proposed Côté Gold project in Ontario. In Québec, the Company has initiated discussions with the Abitibiwinni First Nations regarding the Westwood mine and will be increasing its engagement with this First Nation community going forward. 

Other Risks

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies and other block-chain-based mediums of exchanges (digital currencies) are becoming more integrated with the global economy and have the potential to become a means of storing wealth outside of conventional financial markets. These digital currencies may offer a compelling alternative to financial instruments exchangeable for government-issued currencies because they are held and traded on a decentralized network of computers, often beyond the control of individual governments or companies. Since gold serves a substantially similar wealth-storing function, the growing acceptance and popularity of cryptocurrencies and other block-chain-based mediums of exchanges may have an adverse effect on the market for gold and put significant downward pressure on gold prices.

Social media and other web-based applications

The Company's reputation can be impacted by the actual or perceived occurrence of any number of events, including, allegations of fraud or improper conduct, environmental non-compliance or damage, or the failure to meet the Company's objectives or guidance. Any of these events could result in negative publicity to the Company, regardless of whether the underlying event is true or not.

Although the Company actively manages efforts on protecting its image and reputation, the Company does not ultimately have direct control over how it is perceived by others. Reputational loss may lead to increased challenges in developing and maintaining government and community relations, decreased investor confidence and act as an impediment to the Company's overall ability to advance its projects, or to access equity or debt financing.

Item III Description of the Business

1. Mining Activities - Canada

In Canada, the Company owns the Westwood mine in Québec and the Côté Gold project, a development project located in Ontario.

1.1 Doyon Division - Westwood Mine

Unless stated otherwise, the information in this section is based upon the technical report (the "Westwood Report") entitled "Westwood Mine NI 43-101 Technical Report" as of December 31, 2016 prepared by Ronald G. Leber, Emilie Williams, Jérôme Girard and Daniel Vallières dated February 16, 2017". Portions of the following information are based on assumptions, qualifications and procedures which are not fully described herein.  Reference should be made to the full text of the Westwood Report which is available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

i) Property Description, Location and Access

The Westwood mine covers an area of two square kilometres (196.2 hectares) in the municipality of Preissac, in Bousquet Township, approximately 40 kilometres east of the town of Rouyn-Noranda, in the province of Québec, Canada. The Westwood mine is located entirely within the limits of the Doyon Division mining property, which covers an area of 28 square kilometres (2,875 hectares).

The Doyon Division mining property and the Westwood mine are held 100 per cent by IAMGOLD. There are no agreements, joint venture partners, or third party obligations attached to the Westwood mine.  All the necessary permits were obtained to build all the required surface infrastructures and the mine is completely located within the surface leases.

The Doyon Division mining property consists of, among others, one mining lease for the Westwood mine.  Three tailing surface leases (P.R. 999780, P.R. 999794 and P.R. 999803) are superimposed over parts of the property.  The titleholder name of all the claims and leases is IAMGOLD Corporation at 100 per cent and all such claims are situated in Bousquet Township.

The property is located on Arthur Doyon Road, four kilometres east from the intersection of Mont-Brun Road and Arthur Doyon Road.  There are presently two routes leading to this intersection:

• From the south, the intersection is accessible via the paved Provincial Road no. 117 which connects Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d'Or, then one kilometre towards the North via the secondary paved road leading to Mont-Brun and Aiguebelle National Park (Mont-Brun Road); and

• From the north, the intersection is accessible via the Mont-Brun Road, which connects to the paved Provincial Road no. 117 and the paved Regional Road no. 101 though the municipalities of Mont Brun, Cléricy and D'Alembert.

A number of roads were developed on the property to access the Westwood shaft site and other infrastructure.

Work requirements per mineral claim vary from $1,000 to $2,500 per two year period in general depending of its size and any excess of work credits may be applied for subsequent renewals.  To accumulate credits on mineral claims, a technical report explaining exploration activities (type, time, location, costs, results, responsible persons and utilized contractors, contractor) must be filed with the Ministère de l'Énergie et des Ressources Naturelles as statutory work. This report should be registered within two years after the expenditures have been incurred.

A key permit was issued in March 2013 by the Québec Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, and Climatic Changes ("MDDELCC"), a depollution attestation. This permit, which is renewable every five years, identifies the environmental conditions that must be met by the Westwood mine when carrying out its activities.

ii) History

Exploration in the area of the Westwood mine dates back to 1910.  Since 1977 ownership changes resulted from privatization, take over or acquisition. In 1980, the Doyon mine was brought into production by Lac Minerals Ltd. ("Lac"), and Cambior subsequently acquired a 50 per cent interest in the Doyon mine. In 1999, Cambior became the sole owner of the Doyon mine when it acquired the remaining interest of Barrick Gold Corporation, which had acquired its interest pursuant to its acquisition of Lac.  The Company acquired Cambior in November 2006.

In 2002, Cambior's exploration team initiated geological compilation work that led to targeting the favourable Bousquet Formation at depth.  A five-year exploration program followed, targeting the favourable Westwood corridor at depth.

The first resource estimation for the Westwood mine/project was performed by the IAMGOLD exploration division based in Val-d'Or, Québec in 2007. This triggered a scoping study in order to evaluate the economic potential of the project.

The first ingot from the Westwood mine was poured on March 27, 2013. The official commercial production of gold at the Westwood mine started in July 2014.

iii) Geological Setting, Mineralization and Deposit Types

The Westwood mine is part of the Doyon-Bousquet-LaRonde ("DBL") mining camp which is located within the Southern Volcanic Zone of the Abitibi subprovince.

The Westwood mine is located within the limits of the Doyon Division mining property which covers the Blake River Group ("BRG") metavolcanic rocks and a part of the metasedimentary Cadillac and Kewagama Groups which are localized respectively to the south and north of the BRG. The Westwood deposit is hosted in a volcano-plutonic sequence composed of felsic hypabyssal volcanic rocks (Zone 2 corridor), mafic to intermediate volcanic rocks (North Corridor) and intermediate to felsic volcanic rocks (Westwood Corridor) marked by a chlorite-biotite-carbonate-garnet-amphibole distal alteration and a pervasive quartz-muscovite-sericite-pyrite proximal alteration.

All lithologies of the DBL mining camp have been affected by a north-south compression event, which resulted in a subvertical to steeply south dipping homoclinal volcanic sequence with an east-west schistosity.  High-strain anastomosing east-west corridors are observed throughout the property, mainly at geological contacts and in intense alteration zones.  Outside of these narrow corridors, primary volcanic textures are typically well preserved.

The Westwood deposit mineralisation consists of gold-sulphide vein-type mineralisation similar to zones 1 and 2 of the former Doyon mine which is located two kilometres west (Zone 2 ore zones) as well as gold-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide type semi-massive to massive sulphide lenses, veins and disseminations (Westwood and North corridors ore zones) similar to the Bousquet 1, Bousquet 2-Dumagami and LaRonde Penna deposits in the eastern part of the mining camp.  All mineralised zones are sub-parallel to parallel to the stratigraphy (sub-vertical to steeply south dipping).

Five deposit styles are recognized in this camp: 1) gold-rich base metal massive sulphide lenses (LaRonde Penna, Bousquet 2-Dumagami and Westwood Corridor), 2) gold-rich vein stockworks and sulphide disseminations (Bousquet 1, North and Westwood corridors, and Ellison); 3) intrusion-related Au-Cu sulphide-rich vein systems (Doyon, Mooshla A, Zone 2), 4) shear-hosted Au-Cu-sulphide-rich veins (Mouska and MicMac) and 5) syn-deformation auriferous quartz-pyrite-tourmaline veins (Mooshla B).

iv) Exploration

Exploration of the Westwood deposit was realized from both surface and sub-surface work since the 1930s.

In 2002, Cambior's exploration team initiated compilation work based mainly on geological models that identified the Bousquet Formation upper member as a favourable target at depth where anomalous alteration patterns had been recognized.  An important surface exploration program on the Doyon property was then initiated in 2002 and was very successful.

An underground exploration program, including 2.6 kilometres of drift development towards the east from the Doyon mine, was initiated in 2004 and ended in 2013. Since the beginning of exploration activities in the Westwood and Warrenmac areas in the 1930s, more than 829,000 metres of exploration, valuation and definition DD contributed to Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimation. A wealth of geological information has been gathered from the exploration and scientific activities and continues to this day.

This data is used for deposit modelling and in the calculation of ore and waste tonnage, grade distribution and Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates. The Westwood deposit block model is updated at least once a year, as new information is obtained from underground development and DD work.

Recent scientific work has confirmed geochemical similarities between the host rocks of the main sulphide lenses at the LaRonde Penna mine and the rocks hosting the Westwood mineralised corridor.  Consequently, there is excellent potential for gold-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralisation to occur on the property.

Exploration activities targeting areas of potential resource expansions that were originally planned have been deferred to a later undetermined date.  No exploration work has been done since September 2013.

v) Drilling

Exploration and DD work began in the 1930s and 1940s in the Westwood areas.

By the fall of 2006, a definition/valuation drilling program was planned to target Zone 2 and North Corridor mineralisation (with a drilling pattern of 40 metre x 40 metre).  By the end of 2007, the underground electrical capacity, on level 084, was increased to support more equipment. Current power installation is sufficient to feed more than 10 drills.

In 2008, nine electric drills (six from underground and three from surface) were running simultaneously most of the time on the project. The valuation drilling program on Zone 2 confirmed the results and the opening of the vein on 084 level showed a better continuity than expected.  Also, a significant intercept was obtained at a depth of 2.5 kilometres. Taking into account the time required and associated costs to drill at these depths, the IAMGOLD board of directors approved a ramp access to the Warrenmac Zone and the exploration shaft sinking to allow drilling at depth.

In 2009, exploration and valuation drilling was carried out with 11 electric drills (eight from underground and three from surface).  Since 2010, drilling in all categories has been exclusively conducted from underground development with seven to 11 electric drills. Underground drilling was performed from levels 036, 060, 084, 104, 132, 140, 156, 180 and 192 and from the Warrenmac ramp. All underground drill holes on the Westwood occurrence were performed by Orbit Garant Drilling until the end of August 2013, by Boreal Drilling from September 2013 to August 2016 and by Machine Roger International from September 2016 onwards.

56,711 metres were drilled in 2019 and 56,000 metres of drilling is planned for 2020. This new data will contribute to an increased understanding of the mine potential and to upgrade Inferred Mineral Resources to the Indicated Mineral Resource and Measured Mineral Resource categories.

The 2019 drilling programs, from new access points, continued to increase the Company's confidence in the mineralised zones in terms of continuity and grades. Good potential exists to find more resources on both sides of the Bousquet fault especially at depth and to the west of the three mineralised corridors (Zone 2, North Corridor and Westwood Corridor).  On the eastern side, new mineralisation contours still require further definition and currently known zones remained open at depth.

The 2019 drilling program is based on valuation and definition work from existing and future drilling access platforms to validate the known structures in three mineralised corridors. No exploration work was done in 2019 and neither is expected in 2020.

vi) Sampling, Analysis and Data Verification

Sample lengths vary from 0.5 to 1.5 metres and average about one metre. All drill holes assay values are grouped into composites of length equal to the mineralised zone width after three dimensional modelling of each length has been completed. Zone width is generally constant and ranges between 2.4 metres and three metres.

Sample lengths were normalized to one metre and based on the log normal graphs, Zone 2 assays were capped to between 50 g/t and 150 g/t per metre and the North Corridor assays were capped to between six g/t and 60g/t per metre dependent on statistical analysis. The Westwood Corridor is mineralised over the entire width of the zone, compared to the previous horizons that consist of centimetre veins. Therefore, the assay grades were capped at 40 g/t Au in the Westwood Corridor, independent of the length of the assays.

Core samples are collected at the drill site and stored in closed wooden core boxes. They are delivered to the core shack facility on surface by the contractor and/or mine personnel where they are received by the mine geology core shack technicians.

The mine site is monitored by close-circuit video cameras and has a security guard posted at all times at the entrance.

All core logging and sampling takes place in the core-shack and drill holes are photographed prior to sampling.

While logging samples, the geologist selects and indicates sample intervals by marking the beginning and end of each sample interval on the core with coloured lines/arrows. The geologist places a sample tag at the end of each sample interval to be assayed for gold and indicates on the tag if assays for silver, copper, lead and zinc and/or a density test is being requested. The tags used for sampling consist of a unique numbered sequence of printed paper tags. The geologist also indicates if the interval should be sawn in half, in case half the core is to be kept for future reference or for acid generation and flotation tests.  The rest of the core is discarded or kept for future reference depending on the density of drilling and the information required.

Following the logging of samples, technicians saw the core in half, if needed, and place half of the core and its sample tag in a plastic sample bag, or the whole core and its sample tag in a plastic sample bag identified with the sample number on the bag as the sample tag. The sample bag is put in a box, listed and then delivered to the laboratory along with a submittal sheet which indicate the type of analysis to be done on each sample.

Since December 1, 2016, assaying of core samples is performed exclusively by the external laboratory ALS Laboratories, located in Val-d'Or, Québec, which is situated 60 kilometres west of the property.

From time to time, samples are sent to Laboratoire Expert Inc. a laboratory located in Rouyn-Noranda, Québec when re-assays are required as per the QA/QC program.

For both laboratories, samples received are then validated against the submittal sheet so that laboratory technicians can verify that no sample is missing. The samples are then registered and stored as soon as possible.

Official written procedures are made available at ALS to ensure the consistency of sample preparation and assaying techniques. All assay results are manually recorded by a laboratory technician in a server database.

Samples are first sorted in numeric order and then placed in large pans and dried in an oven. Cooled samples are then submitted for gold and, when indicated, for base metals analyses.

The samples are first crushed in a jaw crusher to ¼ inch then crushed with a second jaw crusher to 70 per cent passing through 10 mesh. All crushers are cleaned with compressed air between each sample.  Samples are then split in a Jones Divider. The divider is cleaned with compressed air between each sample.

The sample is pulverized to 85 per cent passing 200 mesh (pulp). The pulveriser is cleaned with compressed air between each sample and also with silica between each sample. The first sample of each batch is screened for percentage passing 200 mesh. Results are recorded on a QA/QC worksheet.

All samples are analyzed using the fire assay method.

In addition, the Company has a data verification program in place. Quality control procedures are done at two levels, the internal laboratory quality control procedures and the geological department quality control program in order to maintain the highest possible standard controls.

Both laboratories have their own written quality control procedures that are implemented at the respective laboratory.

The Westwood mine QA/QC program includes the systematic addition of blind samples sent to the laboratories in order to validate their accuracy and precision. The Westwood mine QA/QC program also includes the systematic cross-validation of the primary laboratory results by a second external laboratory.  This is done by submitting a whole batch of reject or pulp duplicates to the primary laboratory and then by submitting the same duplicates to the second laboratory. Blanks are also inserted in order to check for possible contamination.

vii) Mineral Processing and Metallurgical Testing

Metallurgical testing was performed prior to commissioning the Westwood mine. Testing was done on the three mineralized corridors: Zone 2, the North Corridor and the Westwood Corridor. The results were used to confirm the absence of obstacles to the project feasibility, to develop the process flowsheet of the plant and to estimate metallurgical operating parameters and costs.

There has been no additional metallurgical testwork performed on the drill core since then. Following plant start-up, the metallurgical testwork programs have focused on the optimization of plant performance.

viii) Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources

Information on Mineral Resources is provided in Section 4 of Item III below.

In the Westwood Report, a portion of the Indicated Mineral Resources were transferred into Probable Mineral Reserves and a portion of the Measured Mineral Resources were transferred into Proven Mineral Reserves at the end of December 2017. The Mineral Reserve was calculated using economic analyses for each zone according to the costs and parameters further specified in the Westwood Report.  A minimum mining width of 2.4 metres is used. Mining dilution and mining recovery are included in the calculation; dilution values range from 20 per cent to 63 per cent while mining recovery is estimated at 95 per cent. A mill recovery of 93 per cent to 96 per cent is also assumed depending on geological corridor.

The Westwood mine Mineral Reserve as of December 31, 2019, totals 5,269,000 tonnes grading 7.0 g/t Au for 1,184,000 ounces.

Further information on Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources is provided in Section 4 of Item III below.

ix) Mining Operations

Mine operations are scheduled on two 10-hour shifts per day, seven days per week (development and production). Infrastructure currently allows mining to a depth of 2,000 metres, although mineralization continues at depth.

Development is classified as either deferred (infrastructure) development, including ramps, cross-cuts and ore passes, or current development.  Most lateral development is mechanized, with jumbos, rockbolters, scissor-lifts and 3.5 cubic yard load, haul, dump ("LHD") units. Dimensions for waste drifts are generally 4.1 metres high x 3.7 metres wide. Drift dimensions in the ore zone may vary locally according to the dip of the vein and the mining method selected: planned drifts dimensions are 3.8 metres wide x 3.7 metres high for long hole drifts. Trolley drifts have been developed with wheeled long-tom teams: other than Level 840 (originally an exploration drift), dimensions are 3.4 metres high x 3.1 metres wide.

Arched backs are required to assist with stability. Ground support varies significantly by type and orientation of the excavation: typical support may include mechanical rock bolts, resin rebar, friction bolts as well as mesh screen and straps.

Vertical development is mainly related to infrastructure development, including ventilation raises and ore/waste passes.  Dimensions are typically 2.4 metres x 2.4 metres, although the main ventilation raise is six metres in diameter. Raise development is performed by contractors, including IAMRock (internal contractor) for Alimak and conventional raise and J.S. Redpath for raiseboring. Slot openings for long hole stopes are drilled with V-30 heads (0.76 m diameter) on Cubex production drills.

Long hole mining is the primary mining method used in the current mining panel.  Forecasted dilution varies from 20 to 63 per cent according to the local thickness of the ore zone. A dilution database is used to estimate the dilution of similar areas. A dilution rate of 63 per cent is applied to stopes at the minimum mining width.

Long hole stopes are approximately 30 metres high and 13 metres in length. The minimum mining width is 2.4 metres wide. Depending on the thickness of the ore and geomechanical constraints, stope accesses may be either longitudinal, transverse, or hybrid. Sills of 4 metres are developed above and below each mining block (minimum width of 3.1 metres).

Stopes are generally drilled down from the upper level with 4 inch diameter holes. A drill pattern of 1.8 metres x 1.8 metres is planned. In the hole drills with V-30 heads are being used to open the slot raises.  Stopes are being blasted with emulsion explosives and electronic detonators. LHD units (3.5 cubic yards) with remote capability will muck out the stope. Paste backfill is being poured in all stopes.  A cure period of 10 days is required before mining any adjacent stope. Most stopes require cable bolts. A mobile equipment fleet of approximately 200 units is required to support production.

Mining activities in 2019 were affected by increased seismic activity in the fourth quarter of 2018 and were limited to lower grade stopes, resulting in lower head grades than prior year periods.

The Company's outlook for 2020 for the Westwood mine is expected to range between 90,000 and 110,000 ounces of gold as mining and development activities continue to ramp up, incorporating modified mining methods and operational practices developed to promote the safe exploitation of the ore bodies while targeting lower dilution.  During the ramp-up period the mill feed will be supplemented with lower grade surface material from satellite prospects.

The following table indicates operating information for the Westwood mine for the last two years:

At the end of 2019, the Westwood mine employed 568 employees and 128 contractors.

After the Doyon mine ceased production at the end of 2009, the mills at the Doyon mine continued to process ore from the Mouska mine. The collective agreement originally negotiated for employees at the Doyon mine now covers employees at the Westwood mine.  In December 2012, a collective agreement was signed with the workforce retroactively in effect from December 2011 and ran until November 2017. In October 2018, a new collective agreement was signed retroactively to December 2017. The new collective agreement will be in effect for five years until November 2022.

x) Processing and Recovery Operations

Ore from the Westwood mine is processed on site. The original Doyon mill, constructed in the 1970s, was completely refurbished between 2011 and 2013 in order to efficiently treat ore from the Westwood mine.  The existing grinding, leaching, adsorption and stripping circuits were upgraded to replace obsolete equipment.  Cyanide destruction capacity was also increased to treat the generated tailings.

Preliminary assessments for the Westwood mine indicated a potential for economic recovery of the zinc, as well as gold, from the higher-grade zinc ore zones. This potential was not validated by subsequent drilling, and studies failed to justify the additional capital expenditure for the recovery of zinc by flotation.  The operating plan retained includes processing of the higher-grade zinc ore zones by cyanidation only which will not give zinc credits but provide acceptable gold recovery. The mill design will be revised if additional zinc resources are identified. The mill refurbishment completed in early 2013 includes gold cyanidation and tailings cyanide destruction circuit upgrades.

xi) Infrastructure, Permitting and Compliance Activities

The Westwood mine was developed using infrastructure and accesses from the Doyon mine. Due to the close proximity of the two mines, a portion of the Doyon mine infrastructure will be used and maintained for the life of the Westwood mine, while other portions will be restored according to the Doyon mine closure plan.  Infrastructure will thus be concentrated around either the Westwood mine shaft or the former Doyon mill or refurbished for processing at the Westwood mine. Access to regional infrastructure (roads, power, etc.) will remain through the Doyon mine site. The Westwood mine infrastructure includes access roads, potable water supply, fire protection systems, sewage disposal systems, electric supply, natural gas supply and an administrative services building. Development of the project required construction of a waste rock dump and a mine water pond. Environmental infrastructure on the Westwood mine site includes tailings and water management facilities.

Several certificates of authorizations are necessary and must be obtained from the MDDELCC on the quality of the environment, as well as authorizations for ore extraction, ore processing, and tailings management, among other things. A key permit was issued in March 2013 by the MDDELCC being a depollution attestation. This permit, which is renewable every five years, identifies the environmental conditions that must be met by the Westwood mine when carrying out its activities. The depollution attestation compiles all the environmental requirements regarding effluent discharge, noise, waste management, etc., related to the operation of the Westwood mine.

No significant issues are expected regarding the social acceptability of the Westwood mine. As the project infrastructure is located on or near the Doyon mine site, in operation since 1980, the community and social impact will be essentially unchanged.

Information on the estimated amount of restoration and closure costs for the property is provided in Section 5.2 of Item III below.

xii) Capital and Operating Costs

Capital expenditures for the Westwood mine include sustaining capital required for the extraction of the Mineral Reserves only. The sustaining capital refers to the capital required to develop and sustain the mine through to production. Capital expenditures relating to new projects, improvements or expansions are treated on a case by case basis and are excluded from the following summary table of capital and operating cost estimates:

xiii) Taxation

The Company's Canadian operations are subject to a combined federal and provincial statutory income tax rate of approximately 27 per cent. The Company's operations in the Province of Québec are also subject to a mining duty with statutory marginal tax rates ranging from 16 per cent to 28 per cent depending on profit margin.

1.2 Côté Gold Project

Unless stated otherwise, the information in this section is based upon the technical report (the "Côté Gold Report") entitled "Côté Gold Project, Ontario, NI 43-101 Technical Report on Feasibility Study", prepared by Wood Canada Limited ("Wood") and authored by current or former employees of Wood (being Peter Oshust, Antonio Peralta Romero, Dustin Small, Paul O'Hara, Debbie Dyck, Dr. Bing Wang, Paul Baluch, Ray Turenne and Dr. Adam Coulson) as well as by Alan Smith and Marie-France Bugnon of IAMGOLD, and by Karen Besemann, with an effective date of November 1, 2018.  Portions of the following information are based on assumptions, qualifications and procedures which are not fully described herein.  Reference should be made to the full text of the Côté Gold Report which is available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. 

i) Property Description, Location and Access

The Côté Gold project (the "Project") is located in the Porcupine Mining Division, 25 kilometres southwest of Gogama, Ontario and extends approximately 57 kilometres from Esther Township in the west to Garibaldi Township in the east.  It comprises a group of properties assembled through staking and option agreements covering a total area of about 521 square kilometres.  The area that is the subject of the Côté Gold Report is a portion of the overall claim area.

The Project is bisected by Highway 144 and is about 175 kilometres by road north of Sudbury, along Highway 144 and approximately 125 kilometres by road southwest of Timmins via Highways 101 and 144.  Access to the Project area is by a network of logging roads and local bush roads accessed from Highway 144 and from the Sultan Industrial Road which runs east-west along, and below, the southern part of the Project area.

IAMGOLD holds a major tenement package consisting of 3,208 tenures covering an area of about 60,017 ha. The tenure includes patented claims, mining leases, and a series of unpatented cell and boundary claims.  All lease and patent boundaries for the property package have been surveyed.  Boundary and corner posts defined existing claims. 

On April 10, 2018, the ENDM converted Ontario's manual system of ground and paper staking, and maintaining unpatented mining claims to an online system, the MLAS.  All active, unpatented claims were converted from their legally defined location by claim posts on the ground or by township survey to a cell-based provincial grid. 

Following an amalgamation on June 1, 2017, all of IAMGOLD's interests in the groups of properties are now owned by and registered in the name of IAMGOLD Corporation, with the exception of the Ontario 986813 Ltd ("Arimathaea Resources Inc.") property, which is held in the name of Ontario 986813 Ltd ("Ontario 986813"), an IAMGOLD subsidiary. 

On June 20, 2017, IAMGOLD completed a transaction with Sumitomo wherein Sumitomo agreed to acquire a 30 per cent undivided participating joint-venture interest in IAMGOLD's property interests in the property package.  Sumitomo's interest in the property is held by the Sumitomo subsidiary SMM Gold Cote Inc. 

The claims package consists of a number of agreements with third parties; these third parties may retain an interest in some of the properties within the property package either by way of an actual property interest or through royalty interests.  Mineral claims subject to agreements are kept in good standing by IAMGOLD as a requirement of those agreements.  Under provincial requirements IAMGOLD regularly completes assessment work that is filed to renew or extend the claims for as much as five years of validity.

Please see Section 4 of the Côté Gold Report for a detailed description of the terms of any royalties and other agreements to which the project is subject, as well as the tenure and expiration dates of the claims, licenses and other property tenure rights.

There are no known environmental liabilities associated with the project, other than those that may be expected from historical mining activities and limited mine workings.

ii) History

Prospecting and exploration activity in the Project area began in about 1900.  Production records have not been compiled for the early mining efforts. 

Prior to the discovery of the Côté Gold deposit, exploration activities had included geological mapping, outcrop stripping, numerous small-scale core drilling programs, and geophysical surveys.  A number of small-scale shafts and associated development were excavated.

In 2007, Trelawney commenced assembling the large land package.  Trelawney undertook prospecting, till, channel, strip, and grab sampling; airborne geophysical surveys (magnetic, electromagnetic, radiometric); ground geophysical surveys (ground magnetics, very low frequency and induced polarization); core drill programs; bulk sampling programs; metallurgical testwork and mining studies. 

IAMGOLD acquired Trelawney's interests in 2012. Subsequently, IAMGOLD has completed reconnaissance and mapping, outcrop stripping, geochemical surveys (TBA) and geophysical surveys (ground IP, pole-dipole IP/resistivity, and very-low frequency geophysical surveys), resource development DD and additional metallurgical testwork, environmental and baseline surveys, and mining and technical studies, including a PFS in 2017.

iii) Geological Setting, Mineralization and Deposit Types

The Project area is located in the Swayze greenstone belt in the southwestern extension of the Abitibi greenstone belt of the Superior Province.  Igneous lithologies predominate and include both volcanic and plutonic rocks.  Sedimentary rocks occur mainly near the top of the succession. 

The Chester Intrusive Complex ("CIC"), a crudely stratified tonalite-diorite laccolith containing numerous screens and inclusions of mafic volcanic rocks is host to the Côté Gold deposit.  The CIC units formed from a number of pulses of several distinct and evolving dioritic and tonalitic magmas that display complex crosscutting relationships.  The intrusive phases were followed by magmatic-hydrothermal brecciation and the emplacement of several stages of gold-bearing veins.  Subsequently, the deposit was intruded by several types of dyke rocks, and was subjected to deformation, in the form of deformation zones and brittle faulting.

The Côté Gold deposit gold mineralization is centred on breccia bodies of magmatic and hydrothermal origin, but also occurs as veins (sheeted veins and stockworks) and disseminations in tonalitic and dioritic rocks.  Disseminated mineralization in the hydrothermal matrix of the breccia is the most important style of the gold-copper mineralization.  This style consists of disseminated pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, magnetite, gold (often in native form), and molybdenite in the breccia matrix.

Other mineralization styles that have been identified within the Project area include quartz vein and fracture associated, orogenic or structurally-hosted vein occurrences, and syenite intrusion-related gold zones.  The syenite intrusion-related gold zones are considered attractive exploration targets.

The Côté Gold deposit is a new Archean low-grade, high-tonnage gold (± copper) discovery. It is described as a synvolcanic intrusion-related and stockwork disseminated gold deposit.  Deposits of this type are commonly spatially associated with and/or hosted in intrusive rocks.  They include porphyry Cu-Au, syenite-associated disseminated gold and reduced Au-Bi-Te-W intrusion-related deposits, as well as stockwork-disseminated gold.

Certain features of the Côté Gold deposit resemble those characteristic of gold-rich porphyry deposits.  These include:

• Emplacement at shallow (one to two kilometres) crustal levels; frequently associated with coeval volcanic rocks

• Localization by major fault zones, although many deposits show only relatively minor structures in their immediate vicinities

• Hydrothermal breccias, which are commonly associated with the deposits, and consist of early orthomagmatic as well as later phreatic and phreatomagmatic breccias

• Gold which is fine-grained, commonly <20 microns, generally <100 microns, and is closely associated with iron and copper-iron sulphides (pyrite, bornite, chalcopyrite).

iv) Exploration

The Project area is divided into three sectors for exploration purposes: (i) South Swayze West (western area); (ii) Chester (central area); and (iii) South Swayze East (eastern area).

Exploration programs to date have identified the Côté Gold deposit and have evaluated a number of nearby gold showings for their potential to be bulk-mineable gold deposits.  To date, there have been no additional economic gold zones outlined.  There are, however, gold zones situated near the Côté deposit that remain prospective, and active exploration programs will continue to evaluate these targets.

Exploration programs to date have been sufficient to screen many areas for the presence of a Côté-style deposit, with grid line spacing and general traverse spacing of less than 200 metres (some areas less than 100 metre spacing for traverse/grid line density).  Litho-sampling and geological mapping is representative over much of the property land holdings, with some exceptions where glacial till and lacustrine deposits form thick mantels on the bedrock. In areas of thick overburden, IP geophysical surveys and DD has helped screen these overburden-covered areas.

General results and conclusions from ongoing exploration work is summarized below by target area:

• South Swayze West:  Côté-style tonalite and diorite-hosted breccia zones have not been discovered to date.  Exploration for syenite intrusion-hosted or shear-zone hosted gold zones continues.  The presence of Timiskaming-style basin sediments cut by porphyry intrusions and broad structural deformation zones provide a good environment for gold-bearing vein networks.

• Chester Area: West of the Côté Gold deposit, the discovery of gold mineralization in the HAVA deformation zone (with associated breccia) reveals some similar host rocks and alteration styles to the Côté Gold deposit.  East of the Côté Gold deposit, exploration work has revealed the presence of lower gold grades in the A Zone (Gosselin) and B Zone (Young-Shannon). These programs will continue to explore for satellite gold deposits

• South Swayze East: Gold mineralization discovered and investigated to date reveals only narrow and discontinuous shear-zone hosted veins.  The lack of Côté-style mineralization makes this area less favorable for the discovery of a bulk-tonnage gold zone.

v) Drilling

A total of 880 drill holes (327,433 metres) have been completed within the Côté Gold deposit area.  Outside the Côté Gold deposit area, in the period 2009-2019, a total of 395 drill holes for about 108,268 metres have been completed.

Core sizes have included HQ (63.5 millimetre core diameter), NQ (47.6 millimetre), BQ (36.4 millimetre), and BQTW (36 millimetre). Drill programs have included cores drilled for delineation, infill, condemnation, geotechnical and metallurgical purposes. 

Geologists completed core logs, recording details of lithology, alteration, mineralization, and structure.  The core was photographed.  Technicians made meterage marks and logged RQD.  The mineralized and barren core is very competent, except for very local, multiple metre length intervals of blocky core where minor faults are encountered.  Overall, the core recovery for the 2009-2018 programs was approximately 99 per cent.

The collar azimuths for holes from before 2009 were established using front and back site markers located in the field with compass or GPS.  The collars are subsequently re-surveyed post-drilling.  L. Labelle Surveys based in Timmins, Ontario has been responsible for collecting the survey measurements for the Project since 2009. 

IAMGOLD reports a FlexIT SmartTool instrument was used to collect down hole survey measurements for keyindex holes (drill holes used in the Mineral Resource estimate) drilled between 2009 and 2013.  A Reflex EZ-TRAC tool was used to collect down hole survey measurements for holes drilled between 2014 and 2018.

Drilled thicknesses are generally greater than true thicknesses, depending on the dip of the mineralization, and the angle of the drilled hole.

The sampling interval was established by minimum or maximum sampling lengths determined by geological and/or structural criteria.  The minimum sampling length was 50 centimetres, while the maximum was 1.5 metres.  The typical sample length in most of the mineralized zones is one metre. 

IAMGOLD determines the bulk density of samples by the water immersion method.

The primary laboratories used are independent of IAMGOLD and include:

• Accurassay (2011-2015), Timmins, Thunder Bay, (Ontario), accredited to ISO 17025 by the Standards Council of Canada, Scope of Accreditation 434;

• ActLabs (2015-2018), Ancaster, Dryden, Timmins, Thunder Bay (Ontario), accredited to ISO 17025 by the Standards Council of Canada, Scope of Accreditation 266; and

• AGAT (2019), Mississauga (Ontario), accredited to ISO 17025 by the Standards Council of Canada, Scope of Accreditation 665.

At Accurassay, samples were crushed to -8 mesh and pulverized to 90 per cent passing -150 mesh.  Assays were completed using a standard FA and an AA finish.  For samples that returned values of 2-5 g/t Au, another pulp was taken, and fire assayed with an FA-gravimetric finish.  Samples returning values greater than 5 g/t Au were reanalyzed by pulp metallic analysis.  All samples were subject to a 33-element ICP scan.

Initially at ActLabs, samples were crushed to 10 mesh and pulverized to 85 per cent passing 200 mesh.  Assays were completed using a standard FA and an AA finish.  For samples that returned values between 2-5 g/t Au, another pulp was taken and assayed using the FA-gravimetric method.  Samples returning values greater than five g/t Au were reanalyzed by pulp screen metallic analysis.  From 2017 onward, the entire sample had to be crushed to 95 per cent passing 2.8 millimetre screen and a sample split pulverized to 95 per cent passing 100 mesh.  Samples were analyzed using a standard FA with an AA finish.  For samples that returned assay values greater than two g/t, another cut was taken from the original pulp and subjected to FA-gravimetric analysis.  For samples showing visible gold or samples which returned values greater than 20 g/t; a reanalysis using pulp metallic methods had to be undertaken. 

Umpire (check) laboratories were also independent of IAMGOLD and included:

• ActLabs (2012-2014):  accredited to ISO 17025 by the Standards Council of Canada, Scope of Accreditation 266;
• ALS Minerals (ALS) (2015), Val d'Or (Québec), accredited to ISO 17025 by the Standards Council of Canada, Scope of Accreditation 689;
• AGAT (2017-2018), Mississauga (Ontario), accredited to ISO 17025 by the Standards Council of Canada, Scope of Accreditation 665; and
• ActLabs (2019), Ancaster, Dryden, Timmins, Thunder Bay (Ontario), accredited to ISO 17025 by the Standards Council of Canada, Scope of Accreditation 266.

QA/QC insertion included SRMs, blanks and pulp duplicates as a standard procedure.  IAMGOLD inserted control samples after every 12th sample interval.  Over the Project life, about 23 different SRMs and two types of blanks have been used.  The IAMGOLD QA/QC protocol includes the use of blanks inserted in the sample stream at a frequency of approximately one in 24 samples. 

Pre-2017 drill hole data previously stored in a Gems database was moved to acQuire. All new drill hole collars are provided by surveyors and imported into Gems and subsequently transferred to acQuire. All new logging is recorded directly into a Gems database and subsequently transferred to acQuire. All new assay results are imported directly into acQuire. Those assays are subsequently transferred to the Gems database.

Analytical samples are transported by company or laboratory personnel using corporately owned vehicles.  Core boxes and samples are stored in safe, controlled areas.  Chain-of-custody procedures are followed whenever samples are moved between locations, to and from the laboratory, by filling out sample submittal forms.

Drill core is stored at the property in wooden core boxes under open-sided roofed structures, arranged by year.  All rejects and pulps from the laboratory are also stored on site. Pulps are categorized by batch number and are stored inside sea containers. Rejects are stored inside plastic crates under temporary shelter.

vi) Sampling, Analysis and Data Verification

Internal data verification was performed by IAMGOLD staff over the Project history, and included:  exploration data reviews, including exploration information, geological mapping, geological interpretations; drill collar position checks; downhole survey data reviews; examination of drill logging; review of sampling procedures, and assay data checks.  Errors found in the database were reported to the database administrator and material errors were corrected as needed.  Occasional inconsistencies found in the drill logs were addressed.  Inconsistent sampling practices, with some samples crossing obvious contacts or lithological and mineralization limits were noted.

In 2012, staff from Roscoe Postle Associates Inc ("RPA") completed site visits, and reviewed exploration, drilling, logging, and sampling procedures with Trelawney and IAMGOLD personnel.  Witness core samples were collected, which independently confirmed the presence of gold mineralization. RPA also reviewed the available QA/QC data for the Côté Gold deposit.  This included reviews of blank, CRM, pulp reject and check assays.  Approximately 12 per cent of the drill hole assay database was checked by comparing assay certificates to entries in the IAMGOLD database.  Overall, the database was considered to be acceptable to support Mineral Resource estimation.

In December 2014, InnovExplo independently validated the entire assay database against laboratory certificates.

RPA's 2017 reviews included site visits, core reviews and field collar checks.  Database checks included visual drill hole trace inspection and checks for extreme and zero assay values, unsampled or missing intervals, and overlapping intervals, routine database validation checks specific to Geovia GEMS to ensure the integrity of the database records, and comparison of about 5 per cent of the assays from the 2015 drilling campaign against the assay certificates.  RPA concluded that logging, sampling procedures, and data entry comply with industry standards and that the database that was reviewed was acceptable for Mineral Resource estimation.

Wood conducted data verification in 2018.  This program included site visits during which Wood personnel reviewed drilling, sampling, and QA/QC procedures, and inspected outcrops, drill core, core photos, core logs, and QA/QC reports and SG measurement procedures.  Wood personnel reviewed collar, down-hole, and assay data in the database for transcription and other errors.  Blank and CRM data were also evaluated.  In the opinion of the QP, sufficient verification checks have been undertaken on the databases to provide confidence that the current database is reasonably error free and may be used to support Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimation, and mine planning.

vii) Mineral Processing and Metallurgical Testing

Metallurgical laboratories involved with the testwork programs have included: (i) SGS facilities in Lakefield, Ontario; (ii) COREM (a consortium composed of several mining companies and the Government of Québec), in Québec City, Québec; and (ii) the University of British Columbia.

Metallurgical testwork completed since 2009 has included:  comminution (Bond low-impact (crusher), rod mill and ball mill work indexes, Bond abrasion index, SAG, SMC, HPGR, piston press, and Atwal) tests; gravity recoverable gold tests; cyanide leaching (effect of head grade, effect of grind, reagent usage, CIPmodelling, cyanide destruction, solid-liquid separation and barren solution analysis) testwork; development of recovery projections; and review of potential for deleterious elements.

The comminution testwork indicated that the material tested was very competent, and that the mineralization is well-suited to an HPGR circuit. 

The mineralization is free-milling (non-refractory). A portion of the gold liberates during grinding and is amenable to gravity concentration and the response to gravity and leaching is relatively consistent across head grades.  Therefore, the lower-grade gold material is expected to exhibit the same level of metal extraction.  Individual lithologies follow the general trends for grind size sensitivity and cyanide consumption.  However, there is evidence of differences in free gold content.  Silver content is consistently reported under two g/t. The testwork does not report on silver recovery.

Overall gold recovery is estimated at 91.8 per cent for the processing of 36,000 t/d using the proposed flowsheet.

Cyanide and lime consumptions are quite low in comparison to what is typically seen in the industry which reflects the lack of cyanicides and other cyanide consumers.  Lime consumption is also positively impacted by the basic nature of the ore.

Metal dissolution during cyanide leaching was found to be low, and there are no obvious concerns with deleterious elements.

Overall metallurgical test results show that all the variability samples were readily amenable to gravity concentration and cyanide leach.  Samples selected for metallurgical testing were representative of the various types and styles of mineralization within the different zones.  Samples were selected from a range of locations within the deposit zones.  Sufficient samples were taken so that tests were performed on sufficient sample mass.

In 2019, a second HPGR pilot plant circuit test was performed at COREM with Weir Mineral technical expert in order to finalize the sizing of the HPGR equipment. Materiel was sent to Germany in order to finalize the terms of a guarantee of performance for the HPGR tyres life.  Further, two tonnes of HPGR product material was tested in Australia at the Schenck Process laboratory to finalize the selection of screen panels and the efficiency of screening in order to establish the terms for a guarantee of performance for the screening equipment selected.

viii) Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves Estimates

Subsequent to the Côté Gold report, Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. ("RPA") was retained by the Company to update the Wood Mineral Resource estimate based on additional drilling, newly interpreted wireframes, and adjusted classification.  The Mineral Resource estimation and Mineral Resource statement sections below are based on RPA's recent work.  Further information on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves is provided in Section 4 of Item III below.

Mineral Resource Estimation

The drill hole database for the Côté Gold deposit consists of 750 core holes totalling over 310,000 metres drilled by IAMGOLD and Trelawney, between 2009 and 2019.  The assay table has 300,768 samples, with a total length of 294,399 metres of sampled core.  Since the previous 2018 estimate, 5,558 metres were drilled at the project, in 38 core drill holes. The 2019 holes are mostly peripheral to the interpreted mineralized domains. 

IAMGOLD geologists prepared updated lithology, mineralization, and overburden domains incorporating the latest drilling information available. The wireframes were provided as separate dxf files and as a Seequent Leapfrog project. RPA reviewed and adopted the provided wireframes. Subsequently, RPA decided to consider the Fault Domain as a plane and to distribute the volume of the provided Fault Domain in the neighbouring domains. The plane of the fault was redefined by RPA, defined as a break in grade along the fault intercept.  This plane was then used as a boundary for lithology and interpolation domains.

The mineralization, lithology, and fault plane allowed the separation of North and South, constrained (higher grade, more continuous) and unconstrained (lower grade, low continuity) domains, with a further subdivision based on lithology.  RPA created additional surfaces and solids in Leapfrog and GEMS in order to allow finer control for grade interpolation purposes inside the extended breccia domains. Grade trends were identified, investigated, and modelled.

The assays were back-flagged with mineralization and lithology information for descriptive statistics. High grade gold samples were noticed in almost all of the subdomains. In order to reduce the influence of the erratic high grade values, RPA performed a capping analysis and determined capping levels for the various domains using histograms, probability plots, decile analysis, and disintegration analysis. After applying capping to raw data, assay intervals were composited to six metre equal length intervals within each domain, starting at the domain wireframe piercing points. Composites shorter than two metres (one third of the nominal composite length) generated at the end of some intercepts were discarded. Similarly, composites with less than two metres of sampled core, mostly representing overburden and diabase dike intercepts, were discarded prior to estimation.

RPA investigated the relationship between grade, lithology, and alteration information available at Côté. Assay data was flagged according to the updated lithological model and with the 2018 alteration model. Various resulting data groups were compared in an attempt to identify potential homogenous domains and their relationship with local or overall grade trends. The mineralization did not appear to be consistently related to the presence or intensity of alteration, hence RPA decided to focus on the lithology and grade information.  Grade shells were generated with various constraints: isotropic or trended, unconstrained or limited by different lithology or mineralization or lithological domain. The local grade trends and volumes highlighted by three grade shells were used as a guide to define interpolation subdomains inside the Extended Breccia wireframes.  During the trend analysis process, it was noticed that the thinner low angle dikes (mafic, lamprophyre) appear in discrete bands, introducing a local dilution. The behaviour of single dikes and groups of dikes should be investigated and potentially modelled in the future because they trend differently than the mineralization.

The compartmentalization and multiple grade trends in both the North and South areas, and with vertical and horizontal higher grade components, as highlighted by the grade shells, makes variographic analysis challenging and open to interpretation, and any global results that do not consider the local structural subdomains are less reliable. RPA modelled approximative volumes focused around individual grade trends to increase the chances of obtaining better behaved experimental variograms. Two partly overlapping wireframes were modelled for the North area, capturing the better-defined NNE trend and EW trend.  These wireframes were later used to separate the 1101 and 1201 grade interpolation domains.  In the South, one wireframe was modelled in the central part of the Extended Breccia to capture the S-EW trend. The South trend wireframe includes a mix from three interpolation subdomains. RPA notes that for the investigated subdomains, the experimental variogram ranges observed were 90 metres to 150 metres for major and semi-major directions, while minor ranges were generally within 50 metres. RPA modelled the relative nugget effect as 20 per cent. Modelled variograms reached 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the sill at a range of approximately 50 m for the major and semi-major directions.

A block model was set up in GEOVIA GEMS 6.8.1 software. The block model has a block size of 10 metres wide by 10 metres deep by 12 metres high. The block model is rotated 30° (GEMS rotation convention). The block size is appropriate for the intended open pit operation planning and adequate for the drill hole spacing at Côté.

Blocks in the model were flagged initially with lithology and mineralization. The majority rule was used to determine the flagging of a block with respect to modelled wireframes. Blocks outside the modelled lithology wireframes were assumed to be tonalite and flagged accordingly in order to facilitate processing of the block model data in the pit optimization algorithm. For estimation domains, the in-situ blocks (below the overburden) were flagged using the mineralized Extended Breccia North and South wireframes (with higher precedence) and the low grade North and South solids. Barren dike wireframes were not used for the interpolation domains flagging. Four main volumes were separated, the 100 (N) and 200 (S) for low grade and 1000 (N) and 2000 (S) for constrained mineralization. This flagging was assigned to the composites. Blocks in the low grade domain were then flagged with 101 and 202 respectively. The 1000 domain was separated in three subdomains, one reflecting the NNE grade trend (1101), one for the EW trend (1201), and the remaining volume with mixed influence (1001). The 2000 domain was separated in six subdomain reflecting the local grade trends: isotropic for 3202 and 3502, dipping north for 3102 and 3402, dipping vertically for 3302, and dipping south for 3602.  The lithology domains were based on the diorite, diorite breccia, and hydrothermal breccia wireframes.  Blocks were then reflagged as dike where this wireframe represented the majority of a block. The overburden wireframe had the highest precedence for lithology flagging. The lithology flagging, in combination with the area (North or South), were used as the basis to assign the density.

After interpolation and classification, grade and classification were transferred to a final set of attributes. At this stage, blocks from assumed barren lithological domains (dike and overburden) were sterilized. This final set of parameters was used for pit optimization and resource reporting.

The Côté grade block model was interpolated in one pass. The gold grades were estimated using the 6 metres composites and the inverse distance cubed (ID3) interpolation method (anisotropic).  This method helped preserve local grades when using mineralized wireframes with occasional internal dilution and with lower grade intercepts. Additionally, the experimental variograms reach high levels of variance within relatively short distances. Alternative interpolation methods were used for block validation purposes.  A maximum of three or four composites per drill hole was used. The Extended Breccia domains shared the composites for all the subdomains.  Hard boundaries were enforced between low and high grade domains and between the North and South areas.

A total of 2,031 bulk density measurements from core samples were available. A preliminary outlier identification and removal was performed by IAMGOLD, eliminating readings of less than 2.4 g/cm3 and higher than 3.5 g/cm3. The density data was separated by lithology, mineralization, and position with respect to the fault.

RPA performed drill hole spacing tests for Côté using the 2018 data in order to assess the new Wood classification criteria for Measured.  The grade of blocks in the tightly drilled area in the South were estimated repeatedly, each time reducing the number of holes available for estimation. The results obtained using drill hole spacing from actual to 90 metres were up-scaled to quarterly and yearly production volumes.  The average percent difference in grades for blocks 40 BXDR_ext BXDR_out DIO_ext DIO_out HDBX_ext HDBX_out TON_ext TON_out above cut-off grade between volume units was plotted along with the minimum and maximum differences. The results of this test agree with the drill spacing of 44 metres for Measured and 66 metres for Indicated categories; however, this test effectively tests for average grade variations in a fixed volume and does not account for volume variations that would occur if the mineralized volume were to be interpreted separately for each of the drill hole spacing scenarios. Changing the interpretation of the mineralized volume would increase the differences between spacing scenarios. This would most likely result in increasing the spread of the differences and suggests that a tighter drill hole spacing for the Measured Resource classification might be required in the future.

Definitions for resource categories used in this report are consistent with those defined by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Definition standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves dated May 10, 2014 (CIM (2014) definitions as incorporated by reference into NI 43-101. In the CIM classification, a Mineral Resource is defined as "a concentration or occurrence of solid material of economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, grade or quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction". Mineral Resources are classified into Measured, Indicated, and Inferred categories. The classification uses a combination of interpreted geological continuity, expressed by the Extended Breccia wireframe, and drill hole spacing, expressed as average distance between drill holes and distance from the closest hole.

Interpolated blocks within the Extended Breccia wireframes were considered as candidates for classification in the Inferred category and higher, while blocks outside these wireframes were only considered for the Inferred category.  Extended Breccia blocks in areas with up to 44 metres drill hole spacing and within 25 metres from the closest drill hole were classified as Measured. Extended Breccia blocks in areas with drill hole spacing up to 66 metres and within 40 metres from the closest drill hole were classified as Indicated. The remaining interpolated blocks, if located in areas with drill hole spacing up to 110 metres and within 75 metres from the closest drill hole, were classified as Inferred. Average drill hole spacing for the Measured and Indicated categories was based on the average distance of a hole to the nearest five holes. For the Inferred category, the average to the nearest three holes was used, to eliminate artifacts generated by the numerical approach observed at the edges of the drilled area and at depth. A minimal manual cleanup of the scattered blocks from all classes was performed. Additional work on the block classification smoothing should be carried out in the future in order to eliminate the presence of occasional small clusters of blocks of different class generated by the essentially numerical approach used for this estimate. This would mostly result in upgrading a small number of Inferred blocks to Indicated and would have a negligible impact on this interim resource model update.

Metal prices used for reserves are based on consensus, long term forecasts from banks, financial institutions, and other sources. For resources, metal prices used are slightly higher than those for reserves.  The resources were reported at a cut-off grade of 0.3 g/t Au and constrained by an optimized resource shell. Only the blocks inside the resource shell were reported. This is similar to the cut-off value and approach used for the previous estimate.  In order to comply with the CIM (2014) requirement that a Mineral Resources should demonstrate "reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction", RPA prepared preliminary Lerchs-Grossmann pit shells to constrain the resources. The cost and parameters assumed for Côté are the same as those used by Wood in 2018.

The capping levels were established using statistical methods.  In order to understand the overall influence of the capping on the resource estimate, RPA estimated and reported the uncapped resources. The Measured and Indicated metal lost due to capping is 17 per cent for the current estimate.  For the 2018 resource estimate, the metal reduction due to capping was similar.  Metal loss in the 2012 resource estimates was 22 per cent in the NE domain and 14 per cent in the SW domain.  The 2016 resource update stated metal loss of 15 per cent in the NE and 16 per cent in the SW domain.

The additional drilling, mineralization wireframes adjustments, additional density measurements and grade estimation approach introduced minor changes overall.  The largest changes included a firmer application of the classification criteria, resulting in a reduction of the Measured Mineral Resources, and detaching classification from the modelled alteration wireframes, resulting in the addition of significant Inferred Mineral Resources.  Previously the blocks outside the modelled mineralization wireframes were considered for the Inferred classification only if they were situated inside alteration wireframes that were considered favourable hosts for mineralization.

Mineral Resource Statement

RPA completed an interim Mineral Resource update for the Côté Gold Deposit, dated December 19, 2019. The updated model benefited from additional drilling, updated interpreted mineralization wireframes, subdomaining of constrained mineralized volumes based on local grade trends, elimination of the fault domain, and adjustments to classification approach. 

The Mineral Resources include 152.1 Mt with an average grade of 0.97 g/t Au containing 4.72 million ounces (Moz) gold in the Measured category, and 213.4 Mt at an average grade of 0.80 g/t Au containing 5.48 Moz gold in the Indicated category. An additional 189.6 Mt, averaging 0.63 g/t Au and containing 3.82 Moz gold, is reported in the Inferred category. The resources are reported inside an optimized resource shell based on the same economic parameters as those stated in the 2018 FS NI 43-101 Report. The current estimate shows a reduction of 11 per cent of tonnes and ounces in the Measured category, and an increase of 16 per cent for tonnage and 18 per cent for ounces in the Indicated category. Overall, the Measured plus Indicated Mineral Resources have increased by 3 per cent for tonnage and 2 per cent for ounces, and no change in the average grade compared to the 2018 estimate. The Inferred material shows a 68 per cent increase in tonnage and 57 per cent increase in ounces due to inclusion in the reported resources of mineralized blocks outside the alteration wireframes used as a constraint for classification in the previous estimate.

The current estimate compares well with the previous estimate in terms of tonnage, average grade, and metal for the combined Measured and Indicated categories, confirming that Côté is a mature project with stable resource estimates. The differences for individual classes stem from nuances of classification criteria and their application.

Based on the input parameters used for the constraining conceptual resource pit, the marginal cut-off grade is calculated at 0.25 g/t Au, and the breakeven cut-off grade is 0.30 g/t Au with the mining costs included.  RPA has used a 0.3 g/t Au cut-off grade for the Mineral Resource tabulation, as it meets the requirement for reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction, and it supports the assumptions regarding grade continuity at that cut-off. The effective date of the Mineral Resources is December 19, 2019.

Mineral Resources are reported in Section 4 of Item III below using the 2014 CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves.  Mineral Resources reported below are inclusive of those Mineral Resources that were converted into Mineral Reserves.  Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not demonstrate economic viability.

Mineral Reserve Estimation

Wood Canada Limited (Wood) prepared a Mineral Resource estimate with a data cut-off date of June 7, 2018.  Wood used the Mineral Resource estimate to prepare a Mineral Reserve estimate and a Feasibility Study (FS) on the Project. The FS is summarized in a NI 43-101 Technical Report by Wood and IAMGOLD with an effective date of November 1, 2018.

The mine plan is based on the detailed mine design derived from the optimal pit shell produced by applying the LG algorithm.

Wood imported the resource model, containing gold grades, block percentages, material density, slope sectors and rock types, and net smelter return, into the optimization software.  The optimization run was carried out only using Measured Mineral Resources and Indicated Mineral Resources to define the optimal mining limits.

The optimization run included 55 pit shells defined according to different revenue factors, where a revenue factor of one is the base case.  To select the optimal pit shell that defines the ultimate pit limit, Wood conducted a pit-by-pit analysis to evaluate the contribution of each incremental shell to NPV, assuming a processing plant capacity of 36 kt/d and a discount rate of six per cent. 

The Mineral Reserves estimate incorporates considerations of dilution and ore losses on a block basis.  The ore tonnage and average grade were estimated using the partial block percentages within the final pit design. 

Mineral Reserve Statement

The cut-off applied to the Mineral Reserves is variable with a range of 0.33 to 0.37 g/t Au and averages 0.35 g/t Au. The estimate has an effective date of October 1, 2018. Mineral Reserves are reported in Section 4 of Item III below.

ix) Mining Operations

The Base Case is based on a subset of the Proven Mineral Reserves and Probable Mineral Reserves and is used to support the permit application. Geotechnical analyses are based on a combination of site visit inspections by Wood personnel, data processing and compilation of previously completed geomechanical investigations and site-specific resources supplied by IAMGOLD, kinematic analysis, limit equilibrium modelling, and overall slope stability analysis of the main pit walls including review of the hydrogeological conditions. 

The pit has been sub-divided into five main structural domains related to the pit geometry and a major east-west-trending fault.  Bench face angles of 60-75º were recommended.  Bench widths in each sector were widened as necessary, based on the significance of toppling and wedge failures, from a minimum value of 9.5 metres up to 12 metres assuming double benching on the final pit wall.  A 20 metre wide geotechnical berm is recommended for midpoint between inter-ramp spacing greater than 150 metres. 

The Base Case is designed as a truck-shovel operation assuming 220 t autonomous trucks and 34 m³ shovels.  The pit design includes four phases to balance stripping requirements while satisfying the concentrator requirements.  The design parameters include a ramp width of 35 metres, road grades of 10 per cent, bench height of 12 metres, targeted mining width between 90 metres, berm interval of 24 metres, variable slope angles by sector and a minimum mining width of 40 metres. 

The smoothed final pit design contains approximately 203 Mt of mill feed and 492 Mt of waste for a resulting stripping ratio of 2.4:1.  The 203 Mt processed mill feed fits within the capacity of the TMF.

The Base Case production schedule includes the process plant ramp-up schedule. This schedule takes into account the inefficiencies related to start-up of operations, and includes the tonnage processed as well as the associated recoveries, which steadily increase to reach the design capacity after 10 months of operation. The mine will require one year of pre-production before the start of operations in the processing plant. 

Although the mine requires one year of pre-stripping, mining starts two years before production starts to provide material for the TMF construction.  The deposit is planned to be mined in four phases included within the ultimate pit limit.  The schedule was developed in quarters for the pre-production period and for the first five years of production, then in yearly periods.  Following evaluation of different rates, a maximum mining capacity of 62 Mt/a was selected to develop the detailed production schedule and the maximum number of benches mined per year was set at eight in each phase. 

Additional constraints were used to guide the schedule, including feeding lower grades during the first months of the plant ramp-up schedule, the maximum stockpile capacity and reducing the mining capacity in later years to balance the number of truck requirements per period. 

The Base Case LOM is 13 years with stockpile reclaim extending into the sixteenth year.  The amount of re-handled mill feed is 59 Mt, which requires a maximum stockpile capacity of 48 Mt when considering the reclaim.

The MRA will be constructed southeast of the planned open pit to store mine rock from the open pit excavation.  In its ultimate configuration, the MRA will store 350 Mt of mine rock with its final crest elevation at an approximate elevation of 480 metres.  Collection ditches and six runoff collection ponds/sumps will be built at topographical low points around the MRA perimeter to collect runoff and seepage, which will then be pumped to a polishing pond.

The overburden storage, which will be located to the southwest of the pit, will have a storage capacity of approximately 8.2 Mm³.  The ore stockpiles will be located on the northeast side of the pit and have a total storage capacity of 23 Mm³, which is enough to satisfy the maximum stockpiling capacity of approximately 48 Mt required in the production schedule. 

Blasting operations will be contracted to a blasting explosives provider.  Drilling will be required for both ore control and blasting.

Base Case mining operations will use an autonomous truck and drill fleet, supported by a conventional manned loading fleet and a fleet of manned support equipment.  The truck fleet will be diesel-powered with the capacity to mine approximately 60 Mt per year operating on 12 metre benches.  The shovel fleet will be electric powered supported by two large diesel-powered FELs.

The mine will be supported by multiple contractors.  A contractor miner is assumed to mine all overburden within the mine plan and to develop the initial benches in the pre-production period for the autonomous fleet.  A MARC will be in place during pre-production and the first three years of operation.  Blasting will be done by a contract down hole service during the LOM.  A full-service contract tire provider will be used throughout the LOM to supply, repair, and change tires at the mine site.

Equipment requirements are estimated on a quarterly basis during pre-production and the first five years of mining, and annually thereafter.  Equipment sizing and numbers are based on the mine plan, maintenance availability assumptions, and a 24-hour, seven-day week work schedule.

x) Processing and Recovery Operations

The process plant design for the Base Case is conventional and uses conventional equipment.  The process plant will consist of:

• Primary (gyratory) crushing;

• Secondary cone crushing and coarse ore screening;

• Coarse ore stockpile;

• Tertiary HPGR crushing;

• Fine ore screening and storage;

• Two milling stages (ball mill followed by vertical stirred mills);

• Gravity concentration and intensive leaching;

• Pre-leach thickening;

• Whole ore cyanide leaching;

• CIP recovery of precious metals from solution;

• Cyanide destruction;

• Tailings thickening;

• Elution of precious metals from carbon;

• Recovery of precious metals by EW; and

• Smelting to doré.

The plant will have facilities for carbon regeneration, tailings thickening and cyanide destruction.  Plant throughput will be 36,000 tons per day and it is expected that a ramp-up period of 10 months will be required to reach the design throughput.

Tailings water from a reclaim pond will be the primary source of mill water, providing the majority of the process plant requirements, whereas a storm/mine water pond will be a secondary source of process water.  Fresh water will be required for reagent mixing at the process plant which will be pumped from Mesomikenda Lake.

The major reagents required will include flocculant, caustic, cyanide, copper sulphate, sulfur dioxide, anti-scalant, lime, hydrochloric acid and oxygen.  A dedicated, self-contained air service system will be provided.

The plant will require approximately 50.7 MW of power to operate at full capacity.

xi) Infrastructure, Permitting and Compliance Activities

Infrastructure

Infrastructure required to support the Base Case operations will include:  (i) the open pit; (ii) MRA; (iii) stockpiles; (iv) TMF and associated ponds; (v) access and internal roads; (vi) powerlines and power distribution networks; (vii) watercourse realignments, diversion channels, dams and ponds; (viii) a New Lake to replace Côté Lake; (ix) process facilities; (x) accommodation facilities; and (xi) mine support facilities including offices, workshops and warehouses.

Power supply for the Base Case is assumed to be provided via an upgraded existing transmission line operated by Hydro One from Timmins to Shining Tree Junction and a new 44 km-long 115 kV electrical power transmission line from Shining Tree Junction to the Project site.  The calculated electrical load for the Côté Gold site is as follows:

• 61 MW maximum demand load;

• 59 MW average demand load; and

• 98 per cent lagging (inductive) power factor.

This calculated load is based on the current electrical load list, and includes two electric shovels, mine dewatering, all ancillary loads, and a 10 per cent allowance for growth during detailed design.  Hydro One has allocated a total of 72 MW of capacity to the Project.  Emergency back-up power will be available from four diesel standby generators.

The selected route to the plant is the existing Chester Logging Road which has already been upgraded from the Sultan Industrial Road to kilometre 4.62 at the intersection with an existing road to the planned open pit area.  At the corner of the planned TMF site, the existing road continues into the footprint of the TMF, and 4.28 kilometres of new road construction will be required to extend the access to the construction/permanent camp entrance.  This section of road will be constructed as part of the early works and will be used as a primary construction access to the plant site and the camp area.  A mine by-pass road will be constructed to allow the public to access Chester Logging Road north of the TMF without passing through the mine security gate and the mine site proper. 

The Base Case mine development will require three major haul roads, consisting of access to the MRA, the TMF, and the topsoil/overburden stockpile.  In addition, a major intersection is required on the north side of the open pit to tie together the exit from the pit with the pit bypass road, the ramps to the ore stockpiles and the crusher and truck shop ramps.

Environmental Considerations

IAMGOLD received Provincial ministerial approval of the 2015 EA for the Project. The EA states that no significant effects are anticipated after application of the proposed mitigation measures.  Environment Canada stated in May 2016 that the Project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.  The Project presented in the 2018 Feasibility Study has undergone optimizations since the 2015 EA, including:  relocation of the TMF to minimize overprinting of fish-bearing waters; a reduced Project footprint; improved Project economics; a reduced need for watercourse realignments; avoidance of effluent discharges to the Mesomikenda Lake watershed; a smaller open pit; modifications to the process plant; reduction in transmission line voltage; and re-routing of the transmission line.  IAMGOLD is of the opinion that there are no new net effects arising from the 2018 Feasibility Study. On October 19, 2018, the CEAA confirmed that the proposed Project changes are not considered new designated physical activities and therefore a new environmental assessment is not required.

Baseline environmental and social studies have been conducted addressing aspects of:  water; air and noise; soils; geology and geochemistry; hydrology; hydrogeology; surface water quality; water sedimentation; groundwater quality; aquatic resources; wildlife; land use; cultural heritage and paleontological resources; and Aboriginal traditional land use. IAMGOLD has conducted additional baseline studies within the boundaries of the new TMF and topsoil/overburden stockpile, and new transmission line alignment, to infill the physical, biological and human environment characterizations conducted previously. These additional baseline data, together with design information for the site configuration, were used to prepare the EER for the project, for submission to the CEAA and the MECP, thus informing the regulatory agencies of changes or improvements to the EA.  As of November 9, 2018, both the CEAA and MECP concur with the conclusion in the EER report, which demonstrates that the proposed changes to the undertaking result in no new net effects.

Over the proposed Base Case LOM of 16 years, tailings production is approximately 13.1 Mt/a from nominal mill throughput of 36,000 t/d, except in the first year when it will be about 11 Mt due to ramp-up. The TMF will store 203 Mt of tailings over the LOM. Based on the laboratory test results, the tailings are non-acid generating with low potential of metal leaching.

Tailings will be thickened with solids concentration in slurry at 62 per cent and discharged from the TMF perimeter dams, forming an overall beach slope of approximately one per cent. Tailings solids will settle in the TMF with pore water retained in the voids with supernatant water forming a pond.  Based on recent rheology, drained and undrained column settling tests, an overall in-situ dry density of 1.4 to 1.5 t/m³ is expected.

Perimeter embankment dams, raised in stages, will be used for tailings management.  Monitoring instrumentation will be used to monitor dam deformation and dam settlement during both operation and post-closure. 

TMF water will be pumped from the tailings pond/reclaim pond directly to the mill for reuse and hence forms a closed circuit without contact with other water bodies. Collection ditches and ponds will be located at topographical low points around the TMF perimeter to collect runoff and seepage. In the ultimate TMF configuration there will be six collection ponds.  The ponds will lead the seepage to the reclaim pond by gravity (or by pumping in some cases) for recirculation to the process plant. 

Water quality of the process water will be monitored (before and after cyanide destruction) prior to discharge to the TMF.  Water quality will also be monitored at the TMF settling pond, reclaim pond, and in the seepage collection system.  Groundwater quality will be monitored at wells to be installed downgradient of the TMF seepage collection system to confirm that seepage from the TMF is being captured in the seepage collection system.

A watercourse realignment system has been designed to redirect water around the mine facilities to enable excavation and dewatering of the open pit. 

Four pit protection dams will be constructed either within existing lakes, in shallow water, or at currently dry locations along the eastern periphery of Clam Lake.  These dams will protect water from entering the pit area.  Two realignment channels will reroute the existing watercourses that will be overprinted by the open pit. In compensation of the loss of Côté Lake, a new lake will be created southeast of the open pit. 

A polishing pond east dam will be constructed in the Three Duck Lakes (Upper) area to delineate the lake from the polishing pond area.  The Côté Lake dam is required to facilitate early dewatering of Côté Lake and separate the Three Duck Lakes system from Côté Lake.  A storm/mine water pond near the process plant will receive pumped inflows from the pit, the polishing pond when required, and runoff from the process plant site.  Runoff from the ore stockpiles and MRA will report to the polishing pond via perimeter ditches.

Closure of the Côté Gold Project will be governed by the Ontario Mining Act and its associated regulations and codes.  IAMGOLD submitted a closure plan in accordance with the legislative requirements in tandem with the 2018 Feasibility Study.  This plan details measures for temporary suspension, care and maintenance and closure of the Project, including determining financial assurance required to implement the closure plan.

Conventional methods of closure are expected to be employed at the site.  The closure measures for the TMF will be designed to physically stabilize the tailings surface to prevent erosion and dust generation.  The pit will be allowed to flood, and the natural flow of the realigned water bodies will be re-established to the extent practicable.  Revegetation will be carried out using non-invasive native plant species.  Monitoring at appropriate sampling locations, including those established during baseline studies and operations, will be conducted after closure to confirm performance.

ENDM requires financial assurance for implementation of the closure plan.  A closure cost estimate is included in the Base Case operating cost estimate.

Permitting Activities

Most mining projects in Canada are reviewed under one or more environmental assessment processes whereby design choices, environmental impacts and proposed mitigation measures are compared and reviewed to determine how best to proceed through the environmental approvals and permitting stages. Entities involved in the review process normally include government agencies, municipalities, Aboriginal groups, the general public and other interested parties.

Three primary Provincial agencies will be involved with Project approvals/permits:

• Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines;

• Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry; and

• Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Additional agencies that may be involved in permitting include:

• Ontario Energy Board;

• Ministry of Transportation;

• Infrastructure Ontario;

• Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport;

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada;

• Environment and Climate Change Canada;

• Natural Resources Canada;

• Transport Canada; and

• NAV CAN.

Social Considerations

IAMGOLD has actively engaged local and regional communities, as well as other stakeholders, to gain a better understanding of their issues and interests, identify potential partnerships, and build social acceptance for the Project.  Stakeholders involved in Project consultations to date include those with a direct interest in the Project, and those who provided data for the baseline studies. The involvement of stakeholders will continue throughout the various Project stages.  The range of stakeholders is expected to increase and evolve over time, to reflect varying levels of interest and issues.

As part of the Provincial conditions of the environmental assessment approval, IAMGOLD will develop and submit a Community Communication Plan to the responsible Provincial ministry, outlining its plan to communicate with stakeholders through all phases of the Project.

IAMGOLD plans to work with the community of Gogama to collaborate on the development of a socio-economic management and monitoring plan to manage potential socio-economic effects of the Project (both adverse and positive).

An understanding of the Indigenous communities potentially interested in the Project was first developed through advice from the ENDM to Trelawney in a letter dated August 19, 2011, and through advice from the CEAA based on information provided by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (now Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada). IAMGOLD sought further direction from both Provincial and Federal Crown agencies on the potentially-affected communities. 

Based on Federal and Provincial advice and information gathered through engagement activities, IAMGOLD engaged a range of Indigenous groups during the preparation of the EA.  Based on consultation efforts since the start of the Project, and on groups expressing a continued interest, IAMGOLD has continued to engage the identified communities through information sharing (e.g., newsletters, notices, invitations to open houses), and has focused on actively engaging affected communities identified through the EA process.  IAMGOLD signed an Impact Benefit Agreement with Mattagami First Nation and Flying Post First Nation on April 30, 2019.  The Company is continuing its engagement with the Métis Nation of Ontario (Region 3) on the project, including with respect to a potential project agreement.

As part of the Provincial and Federal conditions of approval, IAMGOLD will develop and submit an Indigenous Consultation Plan to the responsible government departments, outlining the Project's plan to consult with identified Indigenous groups throughout all phases of the Project.  There is a requirement that IAMGOLD consult all identified Indigenous groups as part of the development of this plan.

IAMGOLD has committed to work with the communities of Mattagami First Nation and Flying Post First Nation to collaboratively develop a socio-economic management and monitoring plan to manage potential socio-economic effects of the Project (both adverse and positive).

xii) Capital and Operating Costs

Capital Costs

The estimate addresses the Base Case mine, process facilities, ancillary buildings, infrastructure, water management and tailings facilities scope, and includes:

• Direct field costs of executing the Base Case including construction and commissioning of all structures, utilities, and equipment;

• Indirect costs associated with design, construction and commissioning; and

• Provisions for contingency and owner's costs.

The estimate was prepared in accordance with the AACE International Class 3 Estimate with an expected accuracy of +15 per cent / -10 per cent of the final Project cost.

Cost estimates are expressed in third-quarter 2018 US dollars with no allowances for escalation, currency fluctuation or interest during construction.  Costs quoted in Canadian dollars were converted to US dollars at an exchange rate of US$1 = C$1.30.

Capital cost estimates for surface facilities include the construction and installation of all structures, utilities, materials, and equipment as well as all associated indirect and management costs.  The capital cost includes contractor and engineering support to commission the process plant to ensure all systems are operational.  At the point of hand-over of the plant to IAMGOLD's operations group, all operational costs, including ramp-up to full production, are considered as operating costs.  The capital cost estimate is based on a 30-month Project development schedule starting upon closure plan approval.

The construction capital cost, summarized in Table 1 below, for the Base Case is estimated to be $1,236 million, inclusive of allowances for owner's costs and contingency of $27 million and $100 million, respectively.  Additional indirect costs for operational readiness and the other owner's fees totalling $45 million result in a total Base Case initial capital cost of $1,281 million.

Some of the larger capital expenditures are amenable to capital financing. The majority of the initial mining fleet, having an approximate initial capital cost of $142 million, can be financed using capital lease agreements with vendors.  Inclusive of a down-payment of 0-15 per cent of the purchase value paid at placement of order and interest payments incurred during the construction period, capital leases reduce the capital cost by approximately $134 million, resulting in a total construction capital of $1,101 million and a total initial capital cost of $1,147 million net of mining equipment leasing.  The Base Case capital cost taking into account leases of mining equipment is shown in Table 2 below.

Sustaining costs (including capital leases) over the LOM are estimated to total $527 million.

Reclamation and closure costs are estimated at $63 million, net of security bond fees and an allowance for equipment and materials salvage at the end of mine life.

Operating Costs

Mining quantities were derived from first principles and mine-phased planning to achieve the planned production rates. Process operating costs estimates were developed from first principles, metallurgical testwork, IAMGOLD's salary and benefit guidelines and recent vendor quotations, and benchmarked against historical data for similar process plants.  General and administrative costs were developed from first principles and benchmarked against similar projects.  Reclamation and closure costs are estimated based on a detailed closure cost estimate prepared by SLR Consulting Canada Ltd., adjusted to include an allowance for security bond fees and a credit at the end of mine life to account for the estimated salvage value of equipment and materials.

Total operating costs for the Base Case over the LOM are estimated to be $2,947 million. 

Mining and processing costs represent 46 per cent and 44 per cent of this total, respectively.  Average operating costs are estimated at $14.52/t of processed ore.  Operating cost estimates exclude any allowances for contingencies.