Grant and Exercise of Options and PDMR Dealings

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / May 25, 2022 / Argo Blockchain plc, ('Argo' or 'The Company') a global leader in cryptocurrency mining (LSE:ARB);(NASDAQ:ARBK), announces that:

• between 19 and 23 May 2022, certain directors purchased ordinary shares of £0.001 each in the capital of the Company ('Ordinary Shares') and American Depositary Receipts representing Ordinary Shares ('ADRs');
• on 23 May 2022, Peter Wall and an employee of the Company exercised options ('Options') over a total of 1,595,000 Ordinary Shares;
• on 23 May 2022, the Company granted Options over 500,000 Ordinary Shares to Raghav Chopra, a non-executive director of the Company; and
• on 23 May 2022, the Company granted in aggregate Options over 4,350,000 Ordinary Shares to the Company's staff and employees.

Purchase of Shares/ADRs
Between 19 and 23 May the following directors purchased Ordinary Shares/ADRs:

Exercise of Options
On 23 May 2022, Peter Wall exercised Options over 430,000 Ordinary Shares at an exercise price of £0.070 per Ordinary Share. Currently, Peter Wall has no intentions to sell said Ordinary Shares. In addition, an employee of the Company exercised Options over 1,165,000 Ordinary Shares at an exercise price of £0.070 per Ordinary Share.

As a result of the above Options being exercised, the Company has issued in aggregate 1,595,000 new Ordinary Shares. The aggregate gross proceeds to the Company from this option exercise is £111,650. Application will be made for the new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to the standard segment of the Official List and to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, and admission is expected to occur at 8:00 a.m. on 30 May 2022. The new Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares of the Company.

Grant of Options
On 23 May 2022, the Company granted Options as follows:

• over 500,000 Ordinary Shares to Raghav Chopra, a non-executive director of the Company; and
• over 4,350,000 Ordinary Shares to the Company's staff and employees.

The Options have an exercise price of between £0.490 and £0.506 (as determined in accordance with the rules of the relevant share option plan under which they were granted) and vest as follows: 6/36th of the Options vest on 23 November 2022 and thereafter 1/36th vest monthly such that 100% of the Options vest on 23 May 2025. As Raghav Chopra is a non-executive director of the Company, there are no performance conditions attached to the Options granted to him.

Enlarged Share Capital
Following admission of all of shares arising from the exercise of Options (which is expected to be on 30 May 2022), the total number of Ordinary Shares in issue will be 469,677,335 and the total number of voting rights will therefore be 469,677,335. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

PDMR Notifications

Share Purchases

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them.

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them.

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them.

Exercise of Options

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them.

Grant of Options

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them.

Inside Information and Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains inside information and includes forward-looking statements which reflect the Company's or, as appropriate, the Directors' current views, interpretations, beliefs or expectations with respect to the Company's financial performance, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations. These statements include forward-looking statements both with respect to the Company and the sector and industry in which the Company operates. Statements which include the words 'expects', 'intends', 'plans', 'believes', 'projects', 'anticipates', 'will', 'targets', 'aims', 'may', 'would', 'could', 'continue', 'estimate', 'future', 'opportunity', 'potential' or, in each case, their negatives, and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements address matters that involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause the Company's actual results, prospects and performance to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. In addition, even if the Company's actual results, prospects and performance are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this document, those results may not be indicative of results in subsequent periods. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Subject to any obligations under the Prospectus Regulation Rules, the Market Abuse Regulation, the Listing Rules and the Disclosure and Transparency Rules and except as required by the FCA, the London Stock Exchange, the City Code or applicable law and regulations, the Company undertakes no obligation publicly to update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. For a more complete discussion of factors that could cause our actual results to differ from those described in this announcement, please refer to the filings that Company makes from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, including the section entitled 'Risk Factors' in the Company's Registration Statement on Form F-1.

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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 Nasdaq Global Select Market in the United States under the ticker: ARBK.

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SOURCE: Argo Blockchain PLC