Octavio Alvídrez, Chief Executive Officer, said

"We are reporting a solid first quarter's production, in line with expectations. We have taken proactive steps to manage the impact of the Mexico labour reforms, and though we continue to see some covid-related absenteeism at our mine sites, this declined during the quarter and we are currently seeing a limited covid impact. Like other industry sectors, the labour market remains very tight, and we have also seen some delays to equipment deliveries given the global supply constraints. That said, we remain committed to delivering on our targets for the year, completing the labour reform process, ramping up new Juanicipio production rapidly once connection to the electricity grid is enabled by mid-2022, capitalising on the considerable opportunities presented by our highly prospective exploration programme, while never losing focus on our people, their well-being and their safety. Our full year guidance is unchanged."

HIGHLIGHTS
Silver
Quarterly attributable silver production of 13.3 moz (including Silverstream), up 2.8% vs. 4Q21 mainly driven by a higher contribution of ore from Juanicipio and a higher volume of ore processed and ore grade at Fresnillo, partly offset by the anticipated lower volume of ore processed at Saucito.

Quarterly attributable silver production increased 5.1% vs. 1Q21 primarily due to a higher contribution of ore from Juanicipio, offset by the anticipated lower volume of ore processed at Saucito.

Gold
Quarterly attributable gold production of 149.8 koz, flat vs. 4Q21 mainly due to a lower volume of ore processed at Noche Buena and to a lesser extent, a lower volume of ore processed at Saucito and San Julian Veins, mitigated by a higher ore grade and recovery rate at Herradura.

Quarterly attributable gold production decreased 34.4% vs. 1Q21 primarily due to an expected lower volume of ore processed and ore grade at Herradura.

Silver Equivalent Basis[1]

Attributable silver equivalent ounces of 25.3 moz in 1Q22 (1Q21: 30.9 moz).

OPERATING ENVIRONMENT

As previously reported, the labour reform in Mexico which restricts subcontracting of labour came into effect from 1st September 2021 resulting in the requirement to internalise a high proportion of our contractor workforce. The actions we announced to address this short term challenge will continue, including recruitment campaigns, training and investment in new equipment. These initiatives are on-going and have been effective, and we expect to complete the staffing process in the Fresnillo District, San Julián and Ciénega in the third quarter of this year, while our open pit mines, which saw a lesser impact, are now fully staffed. However, challenges remain: in common with other industry sectors, the labour market remains very tight, with considerable competition for talent. We are also experiencing some delays to new equipment deliveries due to global supply bottlenecks.

COVID-19 UPDATE
As reported in 4Q21, a fourth wave of Covid-19 reached Mexico. We began to see the impact of this increase in terms of staff absenteeism due mainly to self-isolation at the end of last year and this accelerated throughout January and into February. Covid-related absenteeism has since dropped off in March. Though we remain alert to any future waves and have the protocols in place to manage this, we are currently seeing limited impact of the pandemic on our operations.

By-Products
• Quarterly attributable by-product lead production increased 3.4% vs. 4Q21 due to a higher contribution of development ore from Juanicipio, partially offset by a lower ore grade at San Julián DOB.

• Quarterly attributable by-product zinc production increased 3.6% vs. 4Q21 due to a higher contribution of development ore from Juanicipio and a higher ore grade and recovery rate at Saucito, offset by a lower ore grade at Fresnillo.

• Quarterly attributable by-product lead and zinc production decreased 20.2% and 8.3% vs. 1Q21 respectively, driven primarily by lower ore grades and decreased volumes of ore processed at Saucito.


Attributable 1Q22 4Q21 % Change 1Q21 % Change
Silver (koz) 12,528 12,230 2.4 11,839 5.8
Silverstream (koz) 748 684 9.4 796 (6.0)

Total Silver (koz) 13,276 12,914 2.8 12,635 5.1
Gold (oz) 149,792 150,313 (0.3) 228,193 (34.4)
Lead (t) 12,244 11,837 3.4 15,340 (20.2)
Zinc (t) 23,726 22,899 3.6 25,881 (8.3)

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
The construction of the Juanicipio plant was delivered on schedule during 4Q21. We remain focused on complying with the requirements from the state-owned electricity company and the energy regulator to complete the tie-in to the national power grid, expected in mid-2022.

Once the required permits have been granted, we expect to ramp up operations to 85%-90% capacity by the end of the year.

SAFETY PERFORMANCE

The safety and wellbeing of our people is our priority. Despite the sustained improvement in total and lost time injury frequency rates, we deeply regret to report a fatal incident in early 2022, as disclosed in our Preliminary announcement. The tragic loss of our colleague is unacceptable. We are firmly committed to eliminating all injuries, and especially fatalities. To this end, we have reviewed the progress of the High Potential Incident and Critical Risk Control programme. The Company is sharing the lessons learnt following every accident or high potential incident with our employees and contractors across all our operations. Management and the workforce are collaborating to identify, design, implement and verify on-site the critical controls to prevent fatal and serious injuries. We reviewed the approach and effectiveness of the "I Care, We Care" programme in fostering leadership, accountability, safety culture, risk-based management and engineering systems and lessons learnt.


2022 OUTLOOK
2022 guidance remains unchanged. Attributable silver production is expected to be in the range of 50.5 to 56.5 moz (including Silverstream) while attributable gold production is expected to be in the range of 600 to 650 koz.

For further information, please visit our website www.fresnilloplc.com or contact:

FRESNILLO PLC

London Office

Gabriela Mayor, Head of Investor Relations

Patrick Chambers