South Manganese Investment Limited announced delay in Publication of the 2022 Annual Results. DELAY IN PUBLICATION OF THE 2022 ANNUAL RESULTS: Pursuant to Rule 13.49(1) of the Listing Rules, the Company is required to publish an announcement in relation to its preliminary results in respect of the financial year ended 31 December 2022 (the "2022 Annual Results") not later than three months after the end of the financial year of the Company, i.e. on or before 31 March 2023. Under Rule 13.49(2) of the Listing Rules, the preliminary announcement in relation to the 2022 Annual Results shall be based on the Company's financial statements for the financial year ended 31 December 2022 which shall have been agreed with the auditor.

The board of directors of the Company informed the shareholders and potential investors of the Company that, during the course of the audit process, the Board and the audit committee of the Company (the "Audit Committee") has received a letter (the "Letter") from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the auditor of the Company (the "Auditor") on 28 March 2023, regarding Auditor's suggestions concerning the Company's Ghana manganese ore trading business that, among others: (1) the Audit Committee is responsible for the formation of an independent investigation committee; (2) the independent investigation committee shall appoint an independent third-party investigative agency to assist its investigation (the "Investigation") on, among others, (a) the unusualness noted from the confirmations returned by a supplier (the "Supplier") and a customer (the "Customer"); (b) to provide further supporting documents to substantiate the trade with the Supplier and the Customer; and (c) the commercial basis of the prepayment amounted to approximately RMB 540 million as at 31 December 2022 made to the Supplier.