IRC : FIRST QUARTER TRADING UPDATE FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED 31 MARCH 2020 28% YEAR-ON-YEAR GROWTH IN PRODUCTION VOLUME

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement. The information set out below in this announcement is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for shares in the Company.

(Incorporated in Hong Kong with limited liability)

(Stock code: 1029)

FIRST QUARTER TRADING UPDATE

FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED 31 MARCH 2020

28% YEAR-ON-YEAR GROWTH IN PRODUCTION VOLUME

CONFERENCE CALL

A conference call will be held today at 16h00 Hong Kong time to discuss the first quarter trading update. The number is [phone] and the passcode is 6331023#. Presentation slides to accompany the call are available at www.ircgroup. com.hk. A replay call will be available from 24 April 2020 at http://www.ircgroup.com.hk/en/ir_presentations.php

Thursday, 23 April 2020: The Board of Directors of IRC Limited ("IRC" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group") is pleased to provide the First Quarter Trading Update for the three months ended 31 March 2020.

HIGHLIGHTS - 1Q2020

K&S

• 28.2% increase in production and 25.8% increase in sales year-on-year,
• Average production rate of 85.5% in 1Q2020 (4Q2019: 83.6%)
• Effective mitigating measures taken, while resolving the remaining bottlenecks of the Drying Unit
• Current production and shipment rates of c.94% and c.101% respectively

Kuranakh

• Care and maintenance process satisfactory
• In administration, but available for re-opening

Corporate & Industry

• Russian Rouble depreciated, reducing IRC's cost level
• Stable 65% iron ore price and an increased price premium over 62% iron ore price
• Impact of COVID-19 not as yet significant

- 1 -

FIRST QUARTER TRADING UPDATE FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED 31 MARCH 2020

	1Q2020	1Q2019		Change	4Q2019		Change
Iron Ore concentrate
- Production (tonnes)	670,477	522,875	+28.2%	664,620	+0.9%
- Sales (tonnes)	663,440	527,365	+25.8%	623,335	+6.4%

During 1Q2020, K&S operated at 85.5% of its designed capacity to produce 670,477 tonnes of 65% iron ore concentrate, 28.2% higher than the same period last year. Sales volume increased by 25.8% year-on-year to 663,440 tonnes, despite logistic issues of the Russian railway, which were resolved swiftly; and continuing capacity issues of the Drying Unit, which are now rectified.

The market iron ore price remained stable during 1Q2020 with the 65% Fe averaging US$103 per tonne, US$5 per tonne higher than 4Q2019. The significant devaluation of Rouble in March 2020 benefitted the Group's cost of operations.

The outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus, the COVID-19, was first reported in China and is spreading through various countries, including Russia. Although land border crossing points between Russia and China were temporarily closed for passengers and cargo trucks, Grodekovo-Suifenhe rail border crossing, which K&S uses for its shipments to the Chinese customers, has been so far unaffected. To date, there has been no material impact on IRC's operations from the COVID-19 virus. The Group has taken the necessary measures to support the prevention of COVID-19 at its operations and will continue to monitor closely the situation. The Company will keep the market informed should there be any material changes in the risk profile of IRC as the COVID-19 outbreak evolves.

Commenting on the performance of the first quarter, Yury Makarov, Chief Executive Officer of IRC said, "Despite the negative impact of the COVID-19novel coronavirus on the global economy, 1Q2020 was a good quarter to IRC, taking advantage of the strong iron ore market price, the weak Rouble, and the solid production rate at K&S. I am also pleased that the K&S site team managed to devise effective mitigating measures to deal with the capacity issues of the Drying Unit, allowing the plant to produce at high capacity in the cold weather.

Since its outbreak in January 2020 and its subsequent spread to countries outside China, the COVID-19 has greatly diminished the world economy as well as putting human lives at risk. The health and safety of our employees and their families have always been our over-riding priority and we have implemented a wide range of measures to reduce the risks to our workforce and to minimize the chance of production interruption. We hope that the spread of the coronavirus will be brought under control soon, and that the impact of this on the economy will recede. The current containment of the virus in China is a positive sign for the mining sector, with China being the world's major commodity consumer."

MARKETING, SALES AND PRICES

Iron Ore

In the first quarter of 2020, K&S produced 670,477 tonnes of iron ore concentrate, an increase of 28.2% and 0.9% respectively over 1Q2019 and 4Q2019. With higher production volume, sales increased accordingly. 663,440 tonnes of iron ore concentrate were sold in 1Q2020, representing an increase of 25.8% and 6.4% over 1Q2019 and 4Q2019 respectively.

There were no sales of iron ore concentrate from Kuranakh since the mine has been moved to care and maintenance and is in administration.

- 2 -

Benchmark 65% Fe: (Jan 2016 - April 2020) Performance

High Grade Iron Ore Price Steadily Increases

Price per tonne

$150.00
$130.00	c.USD99
USD99	(21 April 2020)

(31 Mar. 2020)

$110.00

$90.00

$70.00

$50.00

USD45

(4 Jan 2016)

$30.00
Jan-16	Jul-16	Jan-17	Jul-17	Jan-18	Jul-18	Jan-19	Jul-19	Jan-20

Iron Ore 65% Fe

* Source: Platts (as of 21 April 2020)

While the market prices of most of the other commodities fell in 1Q2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, iron ore price performed well. During the quarter, the price of 65% Fe Platts hovered between US$95 and US$109 per tonne and averaged US$103 per tonne, US$5 per tonne higher than the average price in 4Q2019. According to the media, national closures and restrictions on activities to control the COVID-19 pandemic could reduce the supply of iron ore in the seaborne market. Besides, following the decrease in the level of iron ore stockpiles at the Chinese ports in the last quarter, the stockpiles level further reduced to 116.9 million tonnes at the end of March, a decrease of 6.6% compared to the beginning of the year. The iron ore price is also supported by the Chinese government moving to restart the economy after the impact from COVID-19 gradually subsides.

The price spread between high-grade and low-grade iron ores continues to widen. At the end of the first quarter of 2020, the price spread between 65% and 62% of the Platts indices increased to US$15 per tonne, compared to US$12 per tonne at the end of the last quarter. The current price of 65% Fe is c.US$100 per tonne and the forward price curves suggest that the price premium would increase further.

The selling price of K&S's product was determined with reference to the international Platts spot price of iron ore concentrate. It is a market practice that discounts are offered to customers. While the aforesaid price growth is beneficial to K&S, the customers of K&S are also negotiating for greater discounts. The achieved selling price of K&S in the first quarter of 2020 is not published in this trading update for commercial reasons.

- 3 -

65% Fe Price More Resilient

Greater Price Premium Over 62% Fe Expected

Historical and Forecast: 65% Fe VS 62% Fe

US$/MT

US$/MT

Historical	Forecast	120
120
Mar, 2020
Avg. US$15.00	April 2020
July, 2018	Est. Premium
Avg. US$27.48			US$15.47	Dec, 2021
				Est. Premium 80
				US$17.51

80

40

40

0

Jun-17

Aug-17

Feb-18

Apr-18

Jun-18

Aug-18

Feb-19

Apr-19

Jun-19

Aug-19

Feb-20

Apr-20

Jun-20

Aug-20

Feb-21

Apr-21

Jun-21

Aug-21

Oct-17

Dec-17

Oct-18

Dec-18

Oct-19

Dec-19

Oct-20

Dec-20

Oct-21

Dec-21

Premium: 65% Fe VS 62% Fe

Pla 65% Fe Index/ SGX MB 65% Fe Index Futures

Pla 62% Fe Index/ SGX TSI 62% Fe Index Futures

* Source: Bloomberg (as of 21 April 2020)

Iron Ore Hedging

As announced previously, IRC has entered into certain hedging contracts to hedge against adverse changes in the iron ore price. Most of IRC's hedging contracts have matured and have been settled in 2019. The rest were entered into at higher pricing levels to provide better price protection, and should give rise to lower level of hedging losses in 2020, if any, despite the current stable iron ore price environment.

At present, IRC has decided not to engage in further iron ore hedging while the market remains in backwardation.

Ilmenite

As Kuranakh has been moved to care and maintenance and in administration, there were no sales of ilmenite product during the quarter.

Foreign Exchange Movements and Hedging

During the first two months of 2020, Russian Rouble remained weak but stable with an average rate of RUB63 to the US dollar. In early March 2020, following the collapse of crude oil price, the currency rapidly depreciated to about RUB80 to the US dollar. According to the media, the devaluation of Rouble, which fell to its lowest level in more than four years, was mainly due to oil prices falling, following the breakdown of the Russia-Saudi Arabia pact to limit oil production. Falling oil prices put the Rouble under pressure, as Russia relies relatively heavily on energy exports for a large portion of its budget. Rouble closed the quarter at RUB78 to the dollar. Despite the recent agreement by the major oil producers to cut output, Rouble currently remains at a weak level of about RUB74.

The weakness in Russian Rouble has a positive impact on the Group's operating margins, as the operating costs of the Group are mainly denominated in Russian Rouble and revenue are mainly denominated in US Dollar. IRC has taken the opportunity to lock-in the current weak Rouble exchange rate by hedging about one quarter of the Group's expected rouble expenditure in 2020 from April onwards using zero-cost collars with puts' strike varying in mid-70s and calls strike in the low-90s, to provide protection against the appreciation of the currency. The Group may consider entering into further foreign exchange hedging contracts if deemed appropriate. It should be noted that the hedging is not speculative in nature and is for risk management purposes.

- 4 -

USD/RUB Currency Chart (from July 2013 to April 2020)

Depreciation of Rouble improves K&S's operating margin

85RUB78

USD/RUB

75

65

55

45

35

RUB33

(1 July 2013)

25

(31 March 2020) c.RUB77

(21 April 2020)

Jul-13

Oct-13

Jan-14

Apr-14

Jul-14

Oct-14

Jan-15

Apr-15

Jul-15

Oct-15

Jan-16

Apr-16

Jul-16

Oct-16

Jan-17

Apr-17

Jul-17

Oct-17

Jan-18

Apr-18

Jul-18

Oct-18

Jan-19

Apr-19

Jul-19

Oct-19

Jan-20

Apr-20

• Source: Bloomberg (as of 21 April 2020)

OPERATIONS

K&S (100% owned)

The K&S Mine is located in the Jewish Autonomous Region (EAO) of the Russian Far East. The operation is 4 kilometres from the town of Izvestkovaya, through which the Trans-Siberian Railway passes. It is also on a federal highway 130 km away from the regional capital Birobidzhan and 300 kilometres from Khabarovsk, the principal city of the Russian Far East.

K&S Production

K&S's operations continue to gain momentum, with the project achieving an average production rate of 85.5% in 1Q2020, 2% higher than 4Q2019. K&S achieved this satisfactory performance despite logistic issues with the Russian railway, which were beyond IRC's control and were being resolved swiftly. Production in the quarter was also affected by capacity issues of the Drying Unit. The Drying Unit is an essential part of the K&S production process as it removes excessive moisture from the iron ore concentrate to prevent the product from freezing in cold weather conditions, allowing all-year-round production. Due to certain technical issues, the Drying Unit capacity rate was limited and it affected the shipment volume of K&S. Thanks to the expertise and experience of the K&S site team, effective mitigating measures have been taken. The Drying Unit is no longer needed in the production process starting from the month of April, allowing the K&S site team to work on its bottlenecks in summer.

COVID-19

The health and safety of IRC's employees remains paramount. K&S has set up an emergency response office to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and has taken the necessary organisational and administrative measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. A contingency plan at K&S, including quarantine arrangement, medical screening, travel restriction and reduction of face-to-face interaction, is in place. While the production at K&S will continue uninterrupted, employees from head office and administrative staff are encouraged to work from home.

- 5 -

At this point in time, there have not been any cases of an employee at K&S testing positive to COVID-19. To date, there has been no material impact on IRC's operations from the virus. The Group has taken the necessary measures to support the prevention of the COVID-19 at its operations and will continue to monitor closely the situation.

Mining

The mining contractors of K&S continue to supply the necessary feedstock to support the increasing production scale of K&S. During 1Q2020, a total of 2,734,100 tonnes (4Q2019: 2,460,300 tonnes) of ore were mined, 95,780 metres (4Q2019: 79,992 metres) were drilled and 2,466,255 cubic metres (4Q2019: 1,982,650 cubic metres) were blasted. 2,300,400 tonnes (4Q2019: 2,151,900 tonnes) of ore were fed to the primary processing plant and 1,525,880 tonnes (4Q2019: 1,440,630 tonnes) of pre- concentrate were produced. 670,477 tonnes of iron ore concentrate were produced and 663,440 tonnes were sold, representing an increase of 0.9% and 6.4%, respectively over the last quarter.

Production and Marketing
K&S	1Q2020	4Q2019	Changes
Production (tonnes)	670,477	664,620	+0.9%
Sales (tonnes)	663,440	623,335	+6.4%

Update of Estimated Unit Cash Cost

Cost control is an important element in improving profitability. Aided by the recent Rouble devaluation, IRC will continue to apply stringent cost control measures. It is expected that further saving on transportation cost could be achieved when the Amur River Bridge is in use.

As K&S has not yet reached full production capacity, the cash cost per tonne in 1Q2020 has not yet reached an optimal level and therefore the figure may not truly represent the level of the operating cost at the time when the mine has fully ramped up. The relevant cash cost information for the first half year of 2020 will be analysed and disclosed in the 2020 interim results announcement.

Impact on U.S. Sanctions Against Russia

IRC is listed in Hong Kong Stock Exchange with operational mines in Russia Far East. Most of the Group's suppliers and customers are based in China and Russia. As such, K&S has not been subject to any direct negative impact from the sanctions against Russia.

KURANAKH (100% owned)

Kuranakh is located in the north-east Tynda District of the Amur Region of the Russian Far East and comprises both the original Saikta open pit and the later established Kuranakh open pit processing facilities and an onsite railway spur connecting to the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railways.

In Care and Maintenance and Administration

Kuranakh is currently in administration but the plant is available for re-opening if the markets permit the investment decision. During the quarter, there was no production or sales.

SLAG REPROCESSING PROJECT (46% owned)

Having successfully sourced feedstock from China, IRC's slag reprocessing project, a joint venture with Jianlong Steel, has recommenced operation and this diversifies the product mix of the Company. The joint venture was moved to care and maintenance in 2017 as the operation of this slag reprocessing plant was suspended, due to a lack of feedstock. Currently, contribution from the joint venture is not material.

- 6 -

CORPORATE AND INDUSTRY UPDATE

Group's Cashflow Position and Gazprombank Facility

IRC completed the drawdown of the Gazprombank facility in 2019 and the loan proceeds were applied in accordance with the intended use of proceeds. The Gazprombank facility is secured by charges over the assets of K&S and is guaranteed by Petropavlovsk. The repayment schedule is more closely aligned with the production plans of K&S and should improve the cash flow position of IRC. During the first quarter of 2020, c.US$9.8 million was paid to Gazprombank as principal repayment and interest in accordance with the repayment schedule.

As at 31 March 2020, the unaudited cash and deposit balances of the Group was c.US$12.8 million and the total debt outstanding was c.US$219.4 million.

Amur/Heilongjiang River Bridge

The project to build a railway bridge across the Amur River border between Russia and China was first launched by IRC in 2006. The project was sold to Russian and Chinese development funds in November 2014. In early June 2016, the regional government of the Jewish Autonomous Region announced that the Russian part of the Amur River Bridge would commence construction. A contractor agreement has been signed which stipulates the terms and timing of the construction of the Russian part of the Amur River Bridge.

The authorities of China's Heilongjiang province has confirmed that the last steel beam of the Russian-Chinese railway bridge over Amur River, which is known as Heilongjiang in China, has been installed. This means that Russia has fully completed its engineer work on its side of the railway bridge. With China having completed the construction of its part in October 2018, the main span of the railway bridge has been connected. As reported by Russian local media in December 2019, the Russian official has assured that the construction of the railway bridge will be finished by the end of 2020. The railway bridge is expected to enhance the region's economic development by providing a more efficient transportation alternative on top of the existing ferries and railway routes.

K&S Mine is situated approximately 240 kilometres from the bridge site and IRC's nearest customer within China is approximately 180 kilometres away from the railway bridge. Thus, IRC will benefit from the project with reduced transportation distance and shipment time. The railway bridge can not only save the transportation cost of K&S by up to US$5 per tonne for shipment to the Chinese customers but can also alleviate any railway congestion of the region. Shipping time to customers in China will be reduced from 3-5 days to 1-3 days.

• Figures in this announcement may not add up due to rounding. All tonnes of the Group unless specify refer to wet metric tonnes. All dollars refer to United States Dollar unless otherwise stated.
  Production volumes disclosed in this announcement are determined net of the excessive moisture content within the products, as shipped to the customers, and comparative figures are adjusted accordingly to conform with the current period's presentation. Production rate of K&S is calculated based on an annual production capacity of c.3,155 thousand wet metric tonne, and achieved capacities for past periods are re-calculated as a percentage of this amount, where applicable, for comparison purposes.

By Order of the Board

IRC Limited

Yury Makarov

Chief Executive Officer

Hong Kong, People's Republic of China

Thursday, 23 April 2020

As at the date of this announcement, the Executive Director of the Company is Mr Yury Makarov. The Non-Executive Directors are Mr Peter Hambro and Mr Danila Kotlyarov. The Independent Non-Executive Directors are Mr Daniel Bradshaw, Mr Chuang-Fei Li, Mr Jonathan Martin Smith, Mr Raymond Kar Tung Woo and Mr Martin Davison.

IRC Limited

6H, 9 Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong Telephone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Website: www.ircgroup.com.hk

For further information, please visit www.ircgroup.com.hk or contact:

Kent Lo

Manager - Communications & Investor Relations

Telephone: [phone]

Mobile: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

- 7 -