Leasing/Hosting/Mining Agreements

Press Release

05 November 2020

                                                                                Argo Blockchain PLC

('Argo' or 'The Company') 

Argo, the leading cryptocurrency miner based in the UK (LSE:ARB), is pleased to announce it has successfully expanded the Company's mining capacity while simultaneously improving the Company's mining margins through lower hosting costs and generating an additional stream of revenue. Argo is pleased to have formed a solid relationship with Core Scientific as the Company's newest hosting partner and with Celsius Network as its financing partner. 

Leasing Agreement

Argo has entered into an equipment lease with Celsius Network for 4,500 Bitmain Antminer S19 and S19 pro miners for a term of 24 months. Celsius Network is an innovative and fast-growing cryptocurrency lending platform which currently has over US$1.8 billion worth of assets under management.   

Argo's lease, which spreads the new equipment cost over 24 monthly lease payments, allows Argo to add capacity, upgrade its mining technology and achieve economies of scale while fully retiring the capitalized cost of the miners over the term of the lease. The mining machines are valued at over US$10m.

The new mining hardware is expected to be fully operational by February 2021 and will add approximately 430 petahash to the Company's installed computing power as well as consuming approximately 15 megawatts ("MW") of electricity.

Hosting Agreement

Argo is also pleased to announce the machines will be hosted by Core Scientific which will provide physical hosting and access to electrical power for these newly leased machines at Core's existing facilities in the United States.  Core Scientific is the largest digital asset mining infrastructure provider in North America and the partnership enables Argo to gain access to extremely competitive rates on hosting and power. 

Mining Agreement

In addition to the purchase of machines to be leased to Argo, the Company has partnered with a third party which has purchased a new fleet of 4,378 miners to mine for its own account. These units will be delivered in February and March 2021. Argo and the third party have entered into a managed cryptocurrency mining services agreement whereby Argo will be managing the mining operations of these machines. This managed cryptocurrency mining services agreement will have an initial term of 24-months, and Argo will receive a monthly fee for these services.

Peter Wall, Chief Executive of Argo, said: "We are delighted to partner with Celsius and Core Scientific as we pursue our growth plans. These agreements allow us to secure very competitive terms on both new mining equipment and hosting costs. Argo continues to successfully expand its mining capacity while simultaneously improving mining margins and is in a strong position to benefit from the amelioration in market conditions."

Alex Mashinksy, CEO of Celsius, said: "We are excited to provide the financial backing and equipment to enable Argo to help secure the Bitcoin network. Mining is an important part of how Bitcoin maintains its store of value and Celsius is happy to support one of the best operators in the industry to scale their capacity with community provided funds."

Kevin Turner, CEO of Core Scientific, said: "At Core Scientific, we have witnessed a significant shift in the digital asset mining industry as miners move towards North America. Our strategic alliance with Argo, a UK based miner, is further testament to North America's ability to provide a geopolitically and regulatory stable environment with robust energy infrastructure."

For further information please contact:

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.

argoblockchain.com

See Argo's largest facility in Quebec:

https://youtu.be/LDWWaZ75Zbk

https://www.corescientific.com/

https://celsius.network/