Argo Blockchain PLC Announces January 2022 Operational Update

During the month of January, Argo mined 172 Bitcoin or Bitcoin Equivalent (together, BTC) compared to 214 BTC in December 2021. This reduction during January is primarily due to an increase in network difficulty.

Based on daily foreign exchange rates and cryptocurrency prices during the month, mining revenue in January amounted to £5.26 million [$7.10 million*] (December 2021: £7.82 million [$10.55 million*]).

Argo generated this income at a Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalent Mining Margin of approximately 74% for the month of January (December 2021: 83%).

At the end of January, the Company owned 2,748 Bitcoin of which 262 were BTC equivalents.

Peter Wall, Chief Executive of Argo and interim Chairman, said: "As our mining operations continue to develop and the completion date of Helios, our new mining facility, approaches, this month we have laid the foundations for executing our growth strategy for 2022 and achieving the objectives we have set for the Company in the year ahead".

Non-IFRS Measures

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalent Mining Margin is a financial measure not defined by IFRS. We believe Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalent Mining Margin has limitations as an analytical tool. In particular, Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalent Mining Margin excludes the depreciation of mining equipment and so does not reflect the full cost of our mining operations, and it also excludes the effects of fluctuations in the value of digital currencies and realized losses on the sale of digital assets, which affect our IFRS gross profit. This measure should not be considered as an alternative to gross margin determined in accordance with IFRS, or other IFRS measures. This measure is not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. As a result, you should not consider this measure in isolation from, or as a substitute analysis for, our gross margin as determined in accordance with IFRS.

The following table shows a reconciliation of gross margin to Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalent Mining Margin, the most directly comparable IFRS measure, for the months of December 2021 and January 2022.

(1) Due to unfavourable changes in fair value of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalents in December 2021 and January 2022 there was a loss on change in fair value of digital currencies.

(2) The cryptocurrency management fees include the settlement amount with Celsius and as such are higher than normal in December 2021.