News Release

CEO’s Letter to Shareholders

March 20, 2020

Dear Shareholders,

I hope you and your loved ones are staying healthy during this unprecedented time of global disruption and distress.  We each have our part to play in ensuring the COVID-19 pandemic stabilizes and recedes and we can return to what now somehow seems a simpler time.

At all times, the health and safety of our people is our foremost concern, as it is for all of our peers in the mining industry. We will adapt and expand our expertise in health and safety to manage the current situation.

Our Platosa and Miguel Auza operations in Mexico are not remote and are well serviced by public infrastructure. Platosa is just north of the City of Torreón, Coahuila, which has several high quality hospitals.  We are in regular contact with local health authorities and continue to monitor global trends for best practice and adjust accordingly. Excellon has been part of the Mining Association of Canada for some years now, and recently joined the Mining Safety Round Table; we are learning and contributing to evolving best practice in this fluid situation.

At our Platosa and Miguel Auza operations, our priority is to improve knowledge of the pandemic so that everyone can personally take the steps necessary to ensure their health and the health of the broader community. We have been providing updates for weeks and our daily safety meetings lead with discussions on ensuring proper hygiene and measures to prevent the spread of infection.  In local communities, we are communicating best practices to ensure broader adoption by leveraging social media. The Mexican government is now taking aggressive steps to limit the spread and part of our role in the local community is to ensure the message gets amplified.

More directly, we have restricted site access to essential personnel and essential suppliers. We are conducting health screening at the gate and have provided our security and health personnel with additional protective measures. We have increased the frequency of workplace cleaning and disinfection, including transport vehicles, and have also increased the number of hand sanitizer stations across the work sites. We have implemented social distancing by doubling the number of buses transporting employees to site, significantly modifying food provision services and increasing office space for administration staff, as well as preparing to adjust our existing work-from-home policies as conditions dictate. Although we have had no suspected or actual cases of COVID-19 amongst our staff, workers or in the local communities of Bermejillo and Miguel Auza, we are preparing contingency plans in the event that one of our people does exhibit symptoms.

All of our executive and staff in Toronto are working remotely, but fully available by email and phone. We have suspended all business travel and have mandated that any employees returning from international travel undertake 14 days of self-isolation, in accordance with Canadian government recommendations.

The longer-term livelihoods of our employees, the economies of our local communities and the investment of our shareholders is also important during this period. We are ensuring that we have access to critical supplies to support ongoing operations. Thus far, we have not experienced any impact on day-to-day mining and processing operations. We aim to be stronger on the other side of this challenge by doing the right thing for all of our stakeholders. Even now, we see opportunities to grow and create wealth when the economy inevitably rebounds.

I welcome shareholders to connect with me via email or LinkedIn to set up a call or Zoom chat at any time convenient, whether for a business update or just a check-in.  You can reach me at bcahill@excellonresources.com or by messaging me at www.linkedin.com/in/brendancahill. I’ll also continue to reach out directly to as many of you as I can.    

We are all most personally concerned for the health and well-being of our families and loved ones as this challenge crosses all borders. Through becoming better global citizens, we will ultimately protect those most dear to us. We each have an essential role to play. We wish each of you all the best – be smart, be safe and stay healthy.

Sincerely,

Brendan Cahill
President and Chief Executive Officer
Excellon Resources Inc.