Following an extensive review of the St Barbara portfolio, St Barbara has announced its intention to separate the Atlantic Gold Operations in Nova Scotia, Canada from its broader business portfolio, reinforcing its strategic focus on the Simberi Gold Operations in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. The extensive review of the Company’s portfolio determined that the separation of Atlantic will create an opportunity to maximize value for shareholders and support the advancement of both Atlantic and Simberi projects. The separation is expected to attract capital specific to Atlantic and facilitate its development under a Canadian-listed entity with local leadership, allowing for closer engagement with regulators and its key stakeholders. Following this transition, St Barbara will emerge as a dedicated PNG gold producer, with its capital allocation and management priorities directed entirely towards Simberi. However, St Barbara remains committed to advancing the 5.0 Moz Simberi Sulphide Expansion Project, which is expected to extend the mine life beyond a decade and provide substantial economic and social benefits to the area of the project. The Simberi Sulphide Expansion Project has already demonstrated strong potential, and with this renewed focus, St Barbara will accelerate its efforts to unlock further value from this long-life asset. St Barbara’s Managing Director and CEO, Andrew Strelein, stated that the decision to separate Atlantic from St Barbara is underpinned by the opportunity to unlock the full value potential of the Atlantic projects under a Canadian listed company with a local leadership team. “This is to focus on delivering upcoming project milestones and benefit from being closer to regulators and key stakeholders.” “Atlantic is a highly attractive and financially robust project and has the potential to be in production within 12 months from permitting approval.” Mr. Strelein further added that the separation of Atlantic enables St Barbara to focus solely on the Simberi Sulphide Expansion Project. Recent progress at Simberi has underscored its importance in St Barbara’s future. The 10-year-plus mine plan for Simberi covers the mining of multiple open pits to extract both oxide and sulphide ore reserves. “The Sulphide Expansion Project, which will transition the operation from oxide processing to sulphide ore processing, is a key component of this plan.” A major step in securing Simberi’s future was the acceptance of the Mining Lease renewal application by the Mineral Resources Authority for an early renewal. While early renewals are not uncommon, the Company acknowledges the favourable consideration given to its submission, supported by technical documentation and letters of support from key stakeholders. The next step in the renewal process includes Mining Warden hearings, scheduled to take place in Simberi on 8 April 2025. Although not immediately required, the early purchase of an MMD Sizer identified for the Sulphides Expansion crushing duty has now been completed and is being installed. The equipment will provide significant improvements in crushing and grinding of current oxide and transitional ores in the interim until Sulphides use. Additionally, the early purchase and recent arrival of a new excavator and second low hour excavator required for Sulphides Expansion further supports mining activities, ensuring efficient material movement as the operation continues to advance. “A new accommodation facility has been purchased, including additional camp rooms, kitchen/mess and other buildings, and will provide housing for the additional contractors involved in the construction phase.” “Once completed, these rooms will transition to accommodate employees, supporting the project's long-term workforce as operations progress.” St Barbara is actively advancing the project with the goal of achieving first production from Simberi Sulphides in 2027. To support these objectives, St Barbara successfully completed a A$100 million institutional placement in November 2024. “The funds raised are being directed towards critical infrastructure developments, including the procurement and construction of a new larger 5.8MW ball mill circuit, the expansion of the wharf to accommodate concentrate vessels, and the construction of a new Runof-Mine (ROM) pad.” “These investments are essential to ensuring the efficient processing of sulphide ore and enhancing the overall operational capacity of Simberi.”