March 31, 2020 - Corsa Coal Corp. (TSXV: CSO; OTCQX: CRSXF) ("Corsa" or the "Company"), a premium quality metallurgical coal producer, today reported financial results for the three months and full year ended December 31, 2019.  Corsa has filed its audited consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, related management's discussion and analysis and its annual information form under its profile on www.sedar.com.

Unless otherwise noted, all dollar amounts in this news release are expressed in United States dollars and all ton amounts are short tons (2,000 pounds per ton).  Pricing and cost per ton information is expressed on a free-on-board, or FOB, mine site basis, unless otherwise noted.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Highlights

Corsa reported net and comprehensive loss from continuing operations of $8.2 million, or $0.09 per share attributable to shareholders, for the fourth quarter 2019, compared to income of $10.3 million, or $0.09 per share attributable to shareholders, for the fourth quarter 2018. Net and comprehensive loss from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $0.5 million , or $0.03 per share attributable to shareholders compared to income of $5.9 million , or $0.03 per share attributable to shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Corsa's net and comprehensive loss from continuing operations includes two significant non-cash adjustments for the fourth quarter 2019 which are: (1) $3.2 million of accelerated amortization expense as a result of the asset retirement obligation asset for a surface mine where management has determined not to pursue future mining and (2) $1.2 million of expense related to the annual review of the reclamation and water treatment provision that resulted from changes in the underlying assumptions utilized to measure the liability.

Corsa's adjusted EBITDA(1) was $3.5 million and $28.9 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2019 , respectively, compared to $11.3 million and $35.0 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2018 , respectively. Corsa's EBITDA(1) was $2.5 million and $29.4 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2019 , respectively, compared to $14.5 million and $32.8 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2018 , respectively.

Cash production cost per ton sold(1) was $73.87 for the fourth quarter 2019, a decrease of $2.90 per ton, or 4%, as compared to the fourth quarter 2018. Cash production cost per ton sold(1) was $79.38 for the year ended December 31, 2019 , a decrease of $4.23 per ton, or 5%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018 .

Operating cash flows used in continuing operations for the three months ended December 31, 2019 were $2.0 million and cash provided by operating activities of $14.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to $5.6 million and $15.3 million cash provided for the three months and year ended December 31, 2018 , respectively.

Total revenue from continuing operations for the three months and year ended December 31, 2019 were $52.5 million and $230.9 million , respectively, compared to $66.5 million and $265.9 million for the three months and year ended December 31, 2018 , respectively.

Low volatile metallurgical coal sales tons, comprised of "Company Produced" tons and "Value Added Services" purchased coal tons, were 440,086 in the fourth quarter 2019 compared to 372,313 in the fourth quarter 2018 and 1,551,882 for the full year 2019 compared to 1,385,229 for the full year 2018. In the fourth quarter 2019, Corsa sold a total of 68,879 "Sales and Trading" tons, which are treated as pass-through from a profitability perspective, compared to 94,212 tons in the fourth quarter 2018 and 281,471 for the full year 2019 compared to 486,876 for the full year 2018.

Corsa achieved an average realized price per ton of metallurgical coal sold(1) of $86.70 for all metallurgical qualities in the fourth quarter 2019 compared to $116.27 in the fourth quarter 2018 and $103.76 for the full year 2019 compared to $114.50 for the full year 2018. This average realized price for the fourth quarter 2019 is the approximate equivalent of $129 to $134 on an FOB vessel basis.(2) For the fourth quarter 2019, Corsa's sales mix included 31% of sales to domestic customers and 69% of sales to international customers and for the full year 2019 included 30% of sales to domestic customers and 70% of sales to international customers.

In August 2019 , certain wholly-owned subsidiaries of Corsa, as borrowers, entered into a senior secured revolving credit facility with KeyBank National Association for up to $25 million and a lease financing agreement with Key Equipment Finance, as lessor and assignor, and 36th Street Capital Partners, LLC, as assignee, for the sale and leaseback of various coal mining equipment for a funding amount of $12 million . These new facilities replaced the $25 million senior secured term credit facility with Sprott Resource Lending Corp.

In 2019, Corsa recognized income of $3.4 million related to the A-Seam Condemnation Judgement (as defined herein). This income is net of the contingent legal fees associated with the A-Seam Condemnation Judgement and payment was received in December 2019 . This income was partially offset by debt extinguishment expense of $1.2 million as a result of the debt refinancing noted above.

Peter Merritts , Chief Executive Officer of Corsa, commented, "Our mines and plants are producing at a high level.  For the full year 2019, quarterly production records were successively broken in the first quarter, the second quarter and again in the third quarter.  Our strong operational performance continued into the fourth quarter with our cash production costs per ton sold at the lowest levels for the year, decreasing by 5% as compared to the third quarter of 2019.  The reduction in cash production costs per ton sold partially offset the margin erosion caused by the decrease in realized prices.  The continued deterioration of the metallurgical coal market and downward pressure on spot prices resulted in our lowest realized pricing for the year and significantly impacted our profitability for the quarter.

Our emphasis on operational efficiency and cost control is evident in our production costs and we are now fully realizing the benefits of the general and administrative cost reduction activities that were implemented in the second half of 2019.  We will maintain our intense focus on reducing or eliminating any unnecessary costs from the business.

Spot market prices have increased modestly in the first part of 2020 although the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic creates some uncertainty in the global markets.  Our team of dedicated and high-performing miners and professionals has, and will continue to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the market."

2019 Full Year Sales Metrics

Corsa's metallurgical coal sales figures are comprised of three types of sales: (i) selling coal that Corsa produces ("Company Produced"); (ii) selling coal that Corsa purchases and provides value added services (storing, washing, blending, loading) to make the coal saleable ("Valued Added Services"); and (iii) selling coal that Corsa purchases on a clean or finished basis from suppliers outside the Northern Appalachia region ("Sales and Trading").  For the year ended December 31, 2019 , Corsa's sales were broken down into the following categories.

Guidance

On January 30, 2020 , the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" and on March 11, 2020 , declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The current COVID-19 pandemic is significantly impacting the global economy and commodity and financial markets. The full extent and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown, and rapidly evolving. Given the extreme volatility in financial markets and commodity prices, along with uncertainty regarding the impact thereof on the performance of the Company, the Company does not believe it is appropriate to issue full year guidance at this time for fiscal 2020. The Company will continue to evaluate events and circumstances and will provide guidance when appropriate and as information is available.

Coal Pricing Trends and Outlook

Price levels opened the fourth quarter at $147 /metric ton ("mt") delivered-to-the-port based ("FOBT") for spot deliveries of Australian premium low volatile metallurgical coal and closed the quarter and year at $140 /mt.  The quarterly average price for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $140 /mt for Australian premium low volatile metallurgical coal, compared to $161 /mt in the third quarter of 2019, and traded in a range from a high of $152 /mt to a low of $132 /mt.  For the year, prices opened at $211 /mt, averaged $177 /mt, and traded in a range from a high of $216 /mt to a low of $132 /mt.

The World Steel Association reported that global crude steel production rose 3.4% in 2019 versus 2018 with the U.S. up 1.5 %, China up 8.3% and India up 1.8%.  Additionally, 2019 crude steel production from the European Union and Brazil were down 4.9% and 9.0%, respectively.  Regionally, the Middle East grew by 19.2%, Asia , which includes China and India , increased by 5.7%, North America decreased by 0.8% and South America decreased by 8.4%.  Chinese hot-rolled steel coil prices rose approximately 1% over the course of 2019, with U.S. and Northern European prices down 22% and 17%, respectively, in the same time period.

Spot market pricing for metallurgical coal in the first quarter of 2020 primarily traded in the $140 - $150 /mt FOBT range.  Price volatility is expected as the metallurgical coal market responds to changes in both supply and demand across different geographical areas resulting from the workforce restrictions and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Due to the uncertainty of the global business impact of COVID-19 on both metallurgical coal supply and demand, Corsa is suspending the provision of additional commentary regarding expectations for metallurgical coal prices in 2020 at the time of this press release.  Metallurgical coal supply, demand and pricing outlook commentary will be resumed when deemed appropriate by the Company.

Through February 2020 , the World Steel Association reported that global crude steel production rose 1.0% in 2020 versus 2019 with the U.S. up 2.4 %, China up 3.1% and Japan up 1.7%.  Crude steel production from the European Union and Brazil were down 9.1% and 6.4%, respectively.  Regionally, the Middle East grew by 26.2%, Asia , which includes China and India , increased by 2.0%, North America decreased by 1.4% and South America decreased by 6.0%.  The most recent 2020 global steel demand forecast for 2020 was provided by the World Steel Association in October 2019 before the COVID-19 outbreak and therefore do not reflect the impacts on the global steel market.  Global steel demand forecast statistics may be provided as they become available and are reflective of the global business changes.

To read the full results with financial figures included, click here.