May update, Mining Capacity & DeFi investment

RNS Number : 6491A

Argo Blockchain PLC

03 June 2021

 

Press release

03 June 2021

Argo Blockchain PLC

("Argo" or the "Company")

May Operational Update

Update on Mining Infrastructure

Investment in DeFi Company

Operational Update

Argo Blockchain, a global leader in cryptocurrency mining (LSE: ARB), is pleased to provide the following operational update for May.

During the month of May, Argo mined 166 Bitcoin or Bitcoin Equivalent (together, BTC) compared to 163 BTC in April. This brings the total amount of BTC mined year-to-date to 716 BTC.

Based on daily foreign exchange rates and cryptocurrency prices during the month, mining revenue in May amounted to £5.51 million (April 2021: £6.70 million). Argo generated this income at an average monthly mining margin of approximately 82% for the month of May despite fluctuations in mining difficulty. (April 2021: 85%).

At the end of May, the Company held 1108 Bitcoin or BTC equivalent.

Argo is also pleased to announce that it has executed a Grid Interconnection Agreement with the Wind Energy Transmission of Texas (WETT) and American Electric Power (AEP) for 200 MW at their Helios site in the Panhandle of Texas for its Texas mining facility. The facility is expected to connect to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid in Q1 2022. Argo has also purchased two 90 MVA 345kV transformers from Pennsylvania Transformer Technology, a key part of the electrical infrastructure for the Company's Texas development. The transformers will be manufactured in the United States and are scheduled to be delivered to the site in February 2022. When completed, Argo's Texas mining facility is expected to be one of the largest facilities in the United States.

Update on Mining Infrastructure

The Company also announces an update to its 18 January 2021 announcement relating to the expansion of the Company's mining capacity in Q1 and Q2 2021. As previously announced, Argo purchased machines with a total of 540 petahash (PH) from a leading manufacturer. However, as a result of production delays the order was cancelled and Argo has received a full refund. Due to Argo's long-standing partnership with Core Scientific, a replacement order has been placed with Bitmain (via Core Scientific) of Antminer S19 and S19J machines totalling 530 PH at a competitive price to current market rates. These mining rigs are expected to be delivered and installed in stages, with some machines already operational, and the rest expected to be installed, later than the original order, in September and October 2021.

To meet the balance of the order, Argo has also increased a previous order from a second manufacturer from 70 PH to 80 PH, delivery of which is currently scheduled for July 2021. Combined, the new mining hardware is expected to add approximately 610 PH to Argo's existing operations, bringing the Company's expected total computing power to 1.68 exahash by mid October 2021.

Investment in DeFi Company

As part of the Company's ongoing strategy to build physical and digital cryptocurrency infrastructure, Argo is also pleased to announce it has made an investment of £146,000 (CAD $250,000) in WonderFi Technologies Inc. (formerly DeFi Ventures Inc.), as part of a larger CAD $16.4 million fundraising round by WonderFi. WonderFi is a technology company with a mission to bring decentralised finance to the masses through a suite of products and tools which are built on the core principles of simplicity and education. As part of the investment, Peter Wall has been appointed as an unpaid advisor to WonderFi.

Peter Wall, Chief Executive of Argo said: "May has been a busy month. We have continued to deliver strong revenue and as a result, Argo's Bitcoin holding has now surpassed 1,000 BTC. We are also delighted to have signed the Crypto Climate Accord and to have been involved in the creation of the Bitcoin Mining Council. These initiatives have the potential to enact systemic change within our sector and speed up the rate at which miners switch to renewable energy to power their operations. We are also pleased to announce Argo's strategic investment into WonderFi. Access to this emerging sector needs to be democratised and we believe WonderFi is in an excellent position to achieve this."

This announcement contains inside information.

For further information please contact:

Argo Blockchain
Peter Wall Chief Executive Ian MacLeod Executive Chairman	via Tancredi [phone]
finnCap Ltd
Corporate Finance Jonny Franklin-Adams Tim Harper  Joint Corporate Broker Sunila de Silva	[phone]
Tennyson Securities
Joint Corporate Broker Peter Krens	[phone]
OTC Markets
Jonathan Dickson [e-mail]	[phone] [phone]
Tancredi Intelligent Communication UK & Europe Media Relations
Emma Valgimigli Emma Hodges Salamander Davoudi [e-mail]	[phone] [phone] [phone]

About Argo:

Argo Blockchain plc is a global leader in cryptocurrency mining with one of the largest and most efficient operations powered by clean energy. The Company is headquartered in London, UK and its shares are listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker: ARB and on the OTCQX Best Market in the United States under the ticker: ARBKF.

argoblockchain.com

 

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