Ero Copper says Caraiba produced 46,371 tonnes of copper in concentrate in 2022

The Xavantina Operations achieved record production of 42,669 ounces of gold for 2022, above the high-end of guidance of 39,000 to 42,000 ounces. Commenting on the production results and 2023 guidance, David Strang, CEO, said, "Our operations delivered on our elevated expectations for the fourth quarter and full-year, buoyed by strong copper and gold grades across our operations. Recent efforts to incorporate Project Honeypot into Caraiba’s life-of-mine production plan, which was announced in November 2022, allowed us to demonstrably improve our fourth quarter copper grade profile and production results, contributing to record copper production for 2022. At our Xavantina Operations, we achieved both record quarterly and full-year production results with increases in gold production driven by higher processed tonnes and grades. For 2023, we are expecting another solid year of operational performance and the continued execution of our growth projects, including the construction of the Tucuma Project, the construction of the new external shaft at the Pilar Mine and the completion of our mill expansion at the Caraiba Operations. Our primary objective on the exploration side of our portfolio this year is to make significant advances in our ongoing nickel exploration program, which we hope will lead to several additional discoveries this year. Our guidance for 2023 reflects several benefits from the integration of Project Honeypot, which includes allowing the delivery date of our new external shaft to be deferred by approximately nine months without impact to the Caraiba Operations’ expected production volumes. Despite significant inflationary headwinds, the decision to defer project handover has allowed us to maintain capital expenditure guidance for 2023 in-line with prior estimates. This visibility on the majority of our capital expenditure outlay to project completion, combined with our recently executed hedge program, has positioned our Company for another great year."