Positive Exploration Results Underpinning Strategic Upside At El Penon, Odyssey and Wasamac

TORONTO - Yamana Gold Inc. reported on exploration activities at its El Penon mine, its Odyssey project at Canadian Malartic and its Wasamac project. At El Penon, positive initial drill results have been received from the early stage, developing South Deeps target located under cover and to the south of the El Penon deposit. The South Deeps area has had limited exploratory drilling in previous campaigns which were targeting shallower elevations in relation to the current exploration targets. The Company believes these results have opened up a significant new near-mine area for exploration at El Penon with the potential for adding primary and secondary veins which could ultimately result in the Company leveraging the higher processing capacity of the plant. At Odyssey, infill drill holes at East Gouldie further demonstrate the continuity and robustness of the known mineralization. Step out drilling continues to provide further mineralized intervals expanding on the previously disclosed intercepts 1,300 meters to the east. At Wasamac, infill drill results demonstrate a wide, robust mineralized zone, with exploration, including recent drilling at the newly discovered Wildcat South shear zone, continuing to support the strategic plan for an annual production platform of 200,000 ounces and a mine life of at least fifteen years.

Near-mine exploration success has been a key driver of the Company’s track record of year-over-year mineral reserve replacement. Notably, mineral reserves continue to be replaced despite depletion from the open pit at Canadian Malartic, the Company’s largest mine. While annually replacing mineral reserves, the Company has also substantially grown mineral resources including at Canadian Malartic, where the Odyssey project’s mineral resources are expected to result in future conversion to mineral reserves.

The Company’s exploration success and track record of mineral reserve replacement and mineral resource growth provides a pathway for production growth of approximately 50% to 1,500,000 gold equivalent ounces (GEO) within the ten-year outlook horizon and to meaningfully extend the production platform beyond that timeframe. Further growth beyond this level from the MARA and Suyai projects, in addition to the opportunities currently within the generative exploration portfolio provide additional upside potential to the ten-year outlook.

Exploration drilling initiated in 2021 along multiple widely spaced drill fences south of the core mine area is generating positive results in the newly discovered South Deeps area. This prospective target area represents an important new discovery stage opportunity at El Penon and will be a significant component of the near-mine exploration program in 2022. Recent highlights in exploration drill holes located up to 1.2 kilometers south of the El Penon deposit include the following core length intercepts: 1.55 meters grading 4.26 grams per tonne (“g/t”) of gold and 279.7 g/t of silver (6.66 g/t of gold equivalent over a horizontal mining width of 1.20 meters) in drill hole SDX0622; 2.32 g/t of gold and 69.9 g/t of silver over 2.50 meters (3.25 g/t of gold equivalent over a horizontal mining width of 1.20 meters) and high grade intercept of 15.90 g/t of gold and 415.0 g/t of silver over 0.50 meters (6.25 g/t of gold equivalent over a horizontal mining width of 1.20 meters) in drill hole SDX0617; and 1.57 meters grading 4.30 g/t of gold and 261.0 g/t of silver (7.46 g/t of gold equivalent over 1.20 meter horizontal mining width) in drill hole UED0069. Drilling is ongoing at this developing near-mine target, testing the southward projections along trend of major producing vein structures at depth below cover. In the core mine area, exploration and infill drilling continues to expand on known veins, largely to depth below the rhyolite and below low angle fault offsets, where several of the main structures remain open for further expansion. The previously held paradigm that mineralized en-echelon veins at El Penon likely did not extend south beyond their known extents has been challenged by these latest results, which have proven that the main mineralized structures extend up to at least 1,200 meters south of the core mine area. These results have opened up a significant new area of near-mine potential available for further exploration. The South Deeps program is in the early stages of the exploration process, with current drilling focused on establishing the extent and orientation of potentially mineralized structures, which transect the favorable rhyolite stratigraphy, following which priority will shift to focus on drilling of the best and higher grade veins identified. The Company is encouraged by the initial drilling success the exploration team has generated at the South Deeps target, which could provide additional mineral resources and an opportunity to leverage the existing mining infrastructure and higher processing capacity of the plant.

Exploration drilling continues to expand the East Gouldie mineralization with drill hole RD21-4659, located 600 meters east of the year end 2021 mineral resource envelope, reporting two intervals in the East Gouldie Extension, including the following estimated true width intercepts: 3.64 g/t of gold over 6.46 meters and 2.64 g/t of gold over 7.41 meters. Results also continue to define a second mineralized shear zone, the Titan Zone, located parallel to and approximately 350 meters south of East Gouldie, expanding the mineralized footprint and providing a new, little tested target volume adjacent to East Gouldie. The continuing exploration successes at Odyssey support the longer-term potential for higher annual production than the currently contemplated average annual production of 545,000 ounces (100% basis) from 2029 onward and for extending mine life beyond 2039.

Infill drilling continues to confirm the wide, consistent nature of mineralization along the Wasa shear zone. Highlights from this drilling include the following estimated true width intercepts: WS-21-556 with 3.17 g/t of gold over 14.78 meters; WS-21-539 with 3.41 g/t of gold over 5.02 meters; and WS-21-532 with 2.30 g/t of gold over 16.71 meters. In addition, exploration is continuing to follow up on the new Wildcat South shear zone previously announced. Exploration continues to demonstrate the excellent exploration upside and opportunity to further grow the mineral inventory and support a production platform of 200,000 ounces per year over a mine life of at least 15 years. This would significantly improve the currently approved development plan of an average of 169,000 ounces per year over a mine life of 10 years, thereby meaningfully increasing overall value.