29Metals Limited

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the 29 Metals Limited September Quarter Report. All participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, you will need to press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mike Sleferski, Group Manager, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you Betsy. Good morning ladies and gentlemen. My name is Mike Sleperski. Welcome to 29 Metals September quarter 2022 production report conference call. The call is being recorded and will be available for replay by the 29 Metals website and also the Open Briefing website. 29 Metals Managing Director and CEO Peter Altman will commence the discussion before handing to Chief Operating Officer Ed Cooney, who will lead you through the operating performance. Ed will pass to our CFO, Peter Herbert, to discuss financial performance and then pass on to Group Geology Manager Mark Van Heerden. Mark will then hand back to Peter, who will facilitate Q&A. So I'll now hand over to Peter to commence discussion.

Thanks, Peter. Thanks Mike and thanks for the introduction and welcome everybody and thank you for joining us this morning. Mike's already done the introductions. I would like to start by reflecting on the two tragic fatalities at West Australia mines last week and also the passing of one of the Australian mining industry's most well known and respected figures, Peter Bradford. A sad week for the mining industry and for all of us. In terms of 29 metals specific safety performance, a very pleasing quarter with our TRIFA, reducing meaningfully and what is not shown in the quarterly data points is the focus by our site teams on leading indicators, such as hazard identification and leadership interactions. They have been doing a great job. COVID impacts have been relatively minor, whilst overall absenteeism, still an impact, has reduced significantly during the quarter. Whilst labour pressures still persist across the industry, especially in some specific technical discipline areas, we've largely held our own. Our mining contractor, Burncut, has successfully recruited and trained additional personnel. An area of ongoing focus for us is a recruitment of women in all areas of the business. Gender diversity is a key driver in our recruitment and retention activities. Talking about Burncut, we were very pleased to sign a new five-year contract with Burncut for Golden Grove, commencing on 1st of October, just gone. Burncat has been a good partner to work with, and the new contract is effectively on the same terms as a prior arrangement with additional joint commitments in the sustainability and ESG space to be realized over the term of the contract. Overall production across the business has been pleasing, meeting or exceeding all of our planned metrics. Both copper and zinc production at 12,300 tons and 12,500 tons respectively were the best quarterly production numbers for this year. Copper production from Capricorn copper at almost 7,700 tons was a very strong quarter with good milk tons grade and recovery. Golden Grove copper production at 4,600 tons was a solid outcome, and zinc at 12,500 tons indicates an increasing zinc production profile, which should grow in the fourth quarter as previously advised to the market. The group's copper equivalent production for the quarter at 19,800 tons is the best quarter so far this year and the second best quarter in the past seven quarters. Ed will discuss production outcomes in more detail. Commodity prices have largely remained stable through the quarter with copper between approximately $3.40 a pound US to $3.60 a pound US. Notwithstanding commentators predicting a softening in prices for 2023, 29 Metals has a longer-term bullish outlook supported by the inevitable demand requirements for copper to support the decarbonization thematic. Nonetheless, our focus in any price environment is on delivering production and controlling costs. And in relation to costs, whilst absolute costs are higher quarter on quarter, this is largely related to higher activity with some higher input costs such as diesel. For some commodity inputs, we are seeing cost increase momentum decreasing and indeed reducing for some inputs. Group C1 and AISC unit costs decreased quarter on quarter despite higher absolute costs as a result of higher production outcomes. We continue to commit expenditure to sustainability projects for the long-term operational security and growth of the business. As noted earlier, labor pressures persist across the industry, although with the review of remuneration, attraction, and retention strategies in the first half of the year, our turnover rates have plateaued, and we have been successful in recruiting some of the more challenging technical roles. In relation to my prior comment regarding investing for the future, A number of key projects have been advanced in the September quarter, including the Paceville plant at Golden Grove is now delivering paste to an underground stope at Goston Hill. Optimization of this facility continues and we are pleased with the performance to date. The chilling plant and booster fans at Goston Hill remain on track for delivery by the end of the year, which will further enhance operating conditions at the Xantho extended ore body. The latest TSF extension at Golden Grove was almost complete by quarter end. And the Cervantes and Gossan Valley studies were completed during the quarter, and we are now undergoing final review in preparation for a market update in the near future. Exploration results reported during the quarter across all three 29 Metals assets was very encouraging. Further drilling results at Cervantes continues to support the potential for this ore body, and we are now advancing an infill drilling program. At Capricorn, the at-depth drilling at Esperanza South demonstrated at least sustained grades at greater widths, reconfirming the thesis of potential increased tons per vertical meter as we advanced deeper at ESS Esperanza South. At Redhill, the remaining results from the exploration program earlier in the year were released and demonstrated extensions to vein systems and some very encouraging copper and gold results from the rock and chip samples collected. In terms of financial outcomes, Peter Herbert will discuss in greater detail, but a couple of highlights. Strong revenue of close to $200 million despite the reduction in commodity prices quarter on quarter. First debt repayment made, and copper hedges now fully closed off from early October. And of course, the payment of our first dividend during the quarter, which should have hit bank accounts sometime in the last few days. I'll now hand over to Ed Cooney, the COO, Chief Operating Officer on production activities at the two operating mines. Ed will then hand over to Peter Herbert to talk about financial and commercial outcomes. And finally, Mark Van Heerden will discuss some of the exploration outcomes. So over to you, please, Ed.