News

We are pleased to announce that Renée Fortin joined the Yamana Gold team in February 2022 as accounting analyst.

Renée is known for her rigorous standards and work quality as well as a winning smile.

Welcome to the team, Renée!

We wish to remind you that if you have questions or comments about the Wasamac underground mining project, here’s how to reach us:

By phone: 1-833-510-0330

By email: wasamac@yamana.com

Via our online platform: www.consultationswasamac.com

The purpose of this ninth meeting of the Task Force was to continue to develop an updated version of the Property Value Maintenance Program (PVMP) and see to its integration into a broader agreement aimed at harmonious coexistence with the neighbourhood. At the previous meeting, Yamana had agreed to add additional terms to the PVMP in order to provide a framework for the voluntary acquisition, at replacement value, of properties located in the area identified by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as potentially subject to significant anticipated impacts. Certified appraisers were on hand to describe the methods for assessing value, also known as owner's value, as well as the circumstances in which it usually applies. As this value is generally used in expropriation situations, several adaptations will be required to transpose its useful aspects into a program of acquisition by mutual agreement based on homeowners’ freedom of choice and without the objective of acquisition of all of the target properties. The appraisers will be helpful resources when the Task Force finalizes the updated PVMP+ proposal.

In a preamble to the meeting, Yamana shared news and project updates with the group:

• Renovations to the community relations office will be finished soon, though the team will continue to telework as long as health restrictions are in force.
• After that, it will be possible to make an appointment at the community relations office with Geneviève Thériault, newly hired as coordinator of communications and community relations on the team with Marc-André Lavergne.
• We have hired several new people recently and more hires are to come.
• A new timetable was presented for the environmental assessment currently underway in order to continue optimizing the project and studying alternative solutions. Yamana plans to table it by the year’s end.
• Online consultations on public uses of the land continue until the end of February at wasamac-consultations.com.

Next up was a presentation of the annual review exercise, which is meant to evaluate satisfaction with the Task Force’s accomplishments over the last year and with the facilitation work. Answers to this questionnaire will also be used to develop a work plan for 2022. The meeting closed with a brief look at incoming reports; only one such was made and quickly resolved since the last meeting.

Yamana Gold Community Relations Office Opens in Évain

We had a great time and many fascinating encounters at the opening of the Community Relations Office. On Thursday, March 24, between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., our team had the pleasure of:

• hosting 50 partners;
• chatting with 100 people from the community;
• enjoying the laughter of over 350 children playing in the inflatable games and other activities.

From left to right, Brenda Brooks (Executive Assistant, Yamana Gold), Marc-André Lavergne (Director, Community and External Affairs, Yamana Gold), Benoît Lessard (Vice-President of the Rouyn-Noranda Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and Geneviève Tétreault (Communications and Community Relations Coordinator, Yamana Gold)

The Community Relations office, a space dedicated to welcoming the public and families, will become a hub for sharing information about the Project and gathering feedback. By providing this venue for meetings and discussions between the local population and our teams, we are continuing our involvement in the Évain neighbourhood and reiterating the importance of community relations we are developing there

The offices, located at 14 rue d'Évain, Rouyn-Noranda, are open to the public from Tuesday to Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mondays and Fridays are by appointment only (by phone: 1 833 510-0330; by SMS: 833 510-0330, by email: wasamac@yamana.com)

We are pleased to announce that Geneviève Tétreault is joining the Yamana Gold team as Coordinator Communications and Community Relations.

Geneviève has more than 15 years’ experience in student life communications and organization in various Rouyn-Noranda schools.

Geneviève previously held the position of Communications and International Coordinator at Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue. She coordinated and implemented various communication strategies aimed at promoting the Cégep and recruiting students. She has a university degree in psychology in group intervention from Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

As part of the Wasamac underground mining project, Geneviève will be responsible for coordinating Yamana's various communications and initiatives aimed at stakeholders and the neighbourhood, and helping to identify opportunities for community collaboration and coordinating community activity organization.

Join us in welcoming Geneviève to the team!

We remind you that if you have any questions or comments related to the Wasamac underground mining project, you can contact us by using the following contact information:

By phone: 1-833-510-0330

By email: wasamac@yamana.com

From our online platform: www.consultationswasamac.com

Welcome to the community!

Grand Opening of Yamana Gold's Community Relations Office for the Wasamac Underground Mining Project

Thursday, March 24 from 4 to 8 p.m.

at 14 Évain Street

Come meet us, talk with the directors and community relations team and visit our new office in the heart of the Evain district.

Outdoor inflatable games, a photographer for you and your family, beverages and snacks!

As of March 28, our opening hours will be Tuesday to Thursday from 9 am to 5 pm.

Monday and Friday by appointment only.

We look forward to welcoming you!

The collection of samples aimed at characterizing the sediments planned for the end of February on Lac Hélène as part of the environmental impact study is postponed to springtime, after the melting of the ice on the lake.

Adverse weather conditions did not allow the exercise to be carried out safely, so we decided to postpone it.

As a reminder, the WSP team, the firm responsible for carrying out the environmental impact study, will review existing data on the lake's hydrology by taking surface water samples. They will also conduct a hydrological assessment to establish current conditions as well as predictive simulations to ascertain the potential impacts of the future mine on the lake's water level – a point raised by area residents. At this time, the potential impacts are estimated to be minimal.

This exercise should not create a disturbance in the natural environment or for people living near the lake.

Area residents will be notified once the new dates for the work are known.

Should you have any questions regarding this work, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone at 1 833 510-0330 or via E-mail: wasamac@yamana.com

This eighth meeting of the Task Force focused on continuing efforts to update the Property Value Maintenance Program. The program will eventually evolve into a co-existence framework agreement of several chapters, to be discussed in 2022. For the moment, the group is focused on real estate transactions for neighbouring property owners who wish to move away from the mining project area. Before discussing the main topic, Marc-André Lavergne, Yamana Gold's Director of Community and External Affairs, gave the group some project updates: a review of the December 1 neighbourhood meeting, a presentation of alternatives being studied for the tailings facility and access roads to the main facilities site, and a presentation of the process of government authorizations for a new phase of advanced underground exploration.

The group then resumed discussion of the main topic. Mr. Lavergne reported that his meeting with Yamana's senior management had been conducted in a manner consistent with the announced vision and that the proposed points had all been agreed to in principle. As a result, the PVMP would be effective retroactively to the date of Yamana's purchase of the Wasamac underground mining project and would apply until the site restoration period. Owners would be entitled to an enhanced amount: in addition to the guaranteed market value, normal relocation expenses could be reimbursed and the process would be simplified. Finally, the applicability area would be expanded (and possibly further still, when anticipated impacts have been mapped and known) to include the central part of that zone for residences at risk of high impacts. Homeowners whose properties are situated within the new area could, in the first few years of the project, receive compensation that is closer to replacement value. The applicability area will be more clearly defined when the project impact assessment has been completed.

The January meeting will also include a presentation by a chartered appraiser of the different methods for appraising market and replacement values (value to the homeowner). A briefing on the various Canadian Malartic Mine co-existence programs will also be given to members in early 2022.

Toward the end of the meeting, talk turned to proposals for the company's long-term contributions to the neighbourhood, based on suggestions made in the questionnaire circulated among members prior to the meeting. Also discussed were recognition of volunteer time, follow-up on citizens’ reports, and follow-up on the minutes of the November meeting.

Summary of December 14th Meeting

Though a different topic had been planned, the seventh Task Force meeting revolved around the update of the Property Value Maintenance Program (PVMP) at the request of members. The PVMP sub-working group members wanted to return to the Task Force for further discussion. More permanent changes were also made to the meeting schedule to allow as much time as possible for discussion.

The meeting began with a request for information, as several people mentioned seeing a helicopter do a series of low passes over the neighbourhood that day. Project superintendent Marcel St-Pierre said that this activity had not been sanctioned by Yamana and that he had no other information on the subject.

The meeting provided an opportunity for group discussion of the PVMP and its history, guiding principles, and objectives, Yamana's commitments and neighbourhood expectations. Several members indicated that they consider this a priority topic and that they want to expedite the process of updating the document. Yamana also took the occasion to more formally share with the group its intention to continue discussions of neighbourhood commitments with the aim of grouping them in a co-existence framework agreement. The PVMP would thus be a chapter within that agreement.

The presentation began with Yamana's philosophy of co-existence and its four components: terminate, mitigate, compensate, contribute. This was followed by a reminder that the current PVMP proposal, which originated with Monarch Gold, addressed just one issue – the sale and acquisition of properties with a guarantee of market value for sellers. Yamana's vision for the PVMP is to improve the document to provide a framework that is transparent and equitable for all.

The sub-group had already convened twice to update the program and had discussed several improvements. Presented to all Task Force members, these included elements regard the implementation and termination of the program, its retroactivity, simplification of the process for homeowners, limitations on Yamana's right of first refusal, an increase in refundable expenses, and proposals regarding monitoring and updating the PVMP. Several members asked that replacement value be considered for a homeowner who wishes to move.

As many of these proposals represent significant changes to the terms, conditions, and objectives of the document, it was agreed that Marc-André Lavergne, Yamana's Director of Community and External Affairs, would bring them to the attention of senior management for further discussion at the next meeting. The group’s members also reiterated their desire to discuss opportunities for Yamana's contributions in the immediate vicinity of the project and emphasized the desire to make this topic a priority. Thus, the December 14 meeting, which had come close to being cancelled, went ahead with the agreement that members would resume these discussions.

Summary of November 23^rd Meeting

This 6^th meeting of the task force was devoted to the topic of vibrations. Two WSP resource people were in attendance for a presentation: Jean-François Poulin, the impact assessment manager, and Pierre Groleau, engineer and blasting expert.

Before that, however, the meeting began with a few words from Marc-André Lavergne, Yamana’s director of Community and External Affairs. He gave the group an update on the opening of the community relations office in Évain and mentioned that a second office would soon open in the city centre to accommodate the environment, engineering and geology project teams. He listed new appointments to the Yamana team and added some detail regarding the recent article in Le Citoyen newspaper on the results of the drilling campaign in the Wildcat zone.

Pierre Groleau's main presentation provided a preliminary overview of blasting operations and the resulting vibrations. Planning such operations in an underground mine must consider the objectives of fragmenting the ore for transport to the crusher and diluting it – that is to say, the ratio of gold recovery to barren ore in the extracted ore – while controlling vibrations. An overview of the mining method planned for the project differentiated upcoming blasting to be done for development purposes (e.g., construction of tunnels) and for production purposes (ore recovery). An explanation of the standards and controls provided for by law (Directive 019 pertaining to the mining industry) and their history showed that while permitted limits were once established to protect human structures from the effects of vibrations, they are now determined with a view to limiting the effects felt in the vicinity; as such, specific standards are in place for an underground mine located less than one kilometre from private homes. Mr. Groleau also explained the leading technologies, explosives and detonators, as well as best practices for blasting, monitoring with vibration measurement equipment, and calibration and continuous improvement of the models used to design that equipment.

Following this presentation, the Yamana team explained the company's blasting tests, which would generate field data to improve the models used to forecast vibrations and impacts. Those models can employ empirical data or be adjusted based on field test results. The blasts are smaller than those done in mining, but the study of their vibration patterns in the ground produces data that allow for more accurate adjustment of the models. A discussion by the task force ensued, reiterating the need for information and advance notice, the desire to first discuss the company's commitments to the community, and the relevance and timeliness of a baseline study of properties in the area. In the end, it was decided that the tests would be postponed in order to continue the preparatory work.

The group also discussed follow-ups on incoming reports from the neighbourhood and previewed upcoming topics for discussion and consultation activities involving both the task force and area residents.

Read the full minutes of the meeting here: https://www.wasamac-consultations.com/20630/widgets/83491/documents/97731

As part of the environmental impact assessment, samples aimed at analyzing lake sediments will be taken on Lac Hélène between February 28 and March 3.

The work will involve taking a maximum of eight samples from four different stations – no more than two samples per station – using a vibracorer placed directly on the lake ice.

Figure 1 shows the location of the proposed stations. In the event of a problem, such as inadequate ice conditions at a particular location, the station could be relocated nearby.

Residents of the Évain sector told us that they observed a fluctuation in the water level of Lac Hélène in the past. The crew from WSP, which will carry out the work, will review existing data on the lake's hydrology by taking surface water samples. They will also conduct a hydrological assessment to establish current conditions as well as predictive simulations to ascertain the potential impacts of the future mine on the lake's water level – a point raised by area residents. At this time, the potential impacts are estimated to be minimal.

This exercise should not create a disturbance in the natural environment or for people living near the lake. The work will take place during the day, supervised by our project superintendent. Access to the lake will be by snowmobile via public land on the north shore of the lake.

Should you have any questions regarding this work, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone at 1 833 510-0330 or via E-mail: wasamac@yamana.com