Antofagasta plc

a CEO of Antofagasta. And here with me, we have our CFO, Mauricio Piz, whom you will know, and also our Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, René Aguilar. So what we plan to do today is to follow the sort of usual format. We're going to provide additional color and comment on our results and our growth plans. And of course, then after the presentation, leave times for questions. So I ask that you look at this cautionary statement as it is important. Okay, so what we plan then is four main areas. We're going to address a number of topics that are closely linked to our purpose, which is developing mining for a better future, which is a purpose that is at the heart of our business model. We focus on a safe and responsible production of copper. We believe that we can create a more sustainable planet while generating value for all our stakeholders. This includes our workforce, our local communities, and our partners, as well as our shareholders all over the world. And successfully operating our long-life assets depends on positive relationship with all of these stakeholders. So this is the plan of topics that we're intending to cover. So I would like to here review our strategy. We have, I think, today announced a strong set of performance results across our portfolio of assets in 2023 with a lot of focus on cost control and strong margins, as you would have seen. We believe, as I've mentioned before, in the responsible production of copper, which enables us to operate safely and sustainably and continue to deliver both shareholder returns and disciplined growth. And as we will discuss in detail today, we feel this is now the right time to advance our growth ambitions with the world needing more and more copper to fuel the energy transition and structural deficits in supply beginning to emerge. So strong financial performance delivering on our results, continuing to commit to strong shareholder returns and positioning us for the next phase of disciplined growth. by sanctioning some of our key projects. Moving on, I think it is important that we take a moment to reflect on our safety performance in 2023, which I think is probably one of our records in terms of positive and favorable performance. As we sort of continue the journey that we've undertaken over the past 10 years, as health and safety is paramount in our industry and for us as a company. Throughout this period, we have taken steps across our business to ensure that our workforce understands the significance of safety with the right culture embedded in our organization. As a result, you can see our safety progress in the chart to the left with our performance relative to the wider mining sector. And on the right, we have highlighted a few important safety metrics, including another year of zero fatalities. We will continue to prioritize safety, recognizing that this is a key to operating a successful business model. In fact, I would say that from our four operations, three of them have completed almost nine years without a fatality. And therefore, that's the sort of performance that we want to continue to see. Now, turning to the numbers, we would like to point a few key highlights. We've announced that our EBITDA increased by 5% over the year. And through cost control, we have maintained our margins in line with last year at close to 50%. We have delivered a lot of the construction of the phase one expansion, which was completed last year. And we have also announced the approval of the Centinela Center concentrator, which will help us to drive the next phase of growth. Thanks to a strong performance and balance sheet, we remain committed to shareholder returns with a proposed final dividend of twenty four point three cents with a full year total equivalent to 50 percent of our earnings, which is in line with our dividend policy. A brief word on the market. I think we saw in 2023 a greater degree of price stability, and especially in the second half, with our average realized copper price rising by 1% to 3.98 cents per pound compared to 2022. We are committed to copper and see fundamental value in its critical role in the energy transition and decarbonization. And with resilient demand coming from an increasing range of sectors and supply side constraints, such as declining copper grades and supply disruptions, we see a material deficit emerging in the medium term. And this is something that we can touch on during the Q&A with more detail. So in terms of our growth projects and portfolio, here you will see a summary of our pipeline with a focus on value-accreated growth opportunities. In Chile, we have large-scale brownfield projects and existing operations like Los Pelambres and Sentinela to longer-dated opportunities such as Cachorro and Encierro, which we've shared with you. In Peru, we have a presence there. We've been exploring in Peru for many years and we are seeking and looking at some exploration targets of our own, but we've also increased our footprint by means of acquiring an interest in Buenaventura, a company with a range of production and exploration assets in a part of the world that we see as highly prospective. So by focusing on copper in the Americas, we offer a range of opportunities to deliver performance and growth from the near term to the longer term. And we seek to grow our business towards our ambition of 900,000 tons per year of copper production. Brief word on Chile. 2023 stands out as a pivotal year because two key debates in the country were settled. On the revised mining royalty, we now have a conclusion to this process. With the new royalty enacted by the President of Chile in August, we now have an opportunity to move forward into a more stable business environment with respect to tax changes. Through this process, we have identified as well areas where we hope to see progress in supporting the business environment in Chile, particularly in inducing the permitting and administrative burden on companies. were continuing to engage as an industry on this topic with the relevant authorities. There was a commitment, in fact, made by the government when the royalty discussion was settled to actually overhaul the permitting system for mining, and that's in progress and under revision in Congress right now. So on the constitutional reform, on the other hand, the vote in December concluded with a rejection of the proposed text, meaning Chile will continue with the constitution that has been in place many decades and with that i will hand over now to mauricio who will take you through the financial review of the year thank you and welcome to everyone joining us today my name is mauricio ortiz and i will take you through our financial performance

2022-2023 was a good year for Antofagasta. We delivered a strong set of numbers and we are moving forward with our growth projects, always with a balance of financial discipline and returns to shareholders. Let's have a look at our main figures in 2023. With the ramp-up of the expansion at Los Pelambres and further optimization of our operations at Sentinella, our copper, moly and gold production increased explaining an 8% revenue increase in comparison with 2022. We were able to translate this higher revenue into a strong set of financial results, increasing our EBITDA by 5% and our underlying net earnings by 21% to 72 cents per share. Increased production and rigorous cost control protected our margins despite the inflationary cost pressures facing by the global mining industry. delivering an 11% increase in our cash flow from operations. Finally, through a strong balance sheet with low levels of net debt to EBITDA, we are able to propose a final dividend today of 24.3 cents per share. The total dividend for the year will therefore be equivalent of 50% of our underlying net earnings, which is in line with our dividend policy and reflects our confidence in our business looking forward. Moving to our production and cash costs, we can see in the top chart that throughput was the primary driver of our production increase to more than 660,000 tons of copper in 2023. This result was delivered through the successful commencement of the water production from the first phase of our desalinization plan at Los Pelambres. On grades, The second largest factor impacted production and costs. We had a decrease at Los Pelambres and Centinela cathodes, which was partially offset by higher grades at Centinela concentrates. Despite the inflationary pressures and lower annual grades during the year, we managed to maintain our net cash cuts flat year on year at 161 cents per pound. This was mainly driven by higher gold and moly production, generating a 70 cents per pound credit for byproducts. And savings were also delivered through our cost and competitiveness program, which I explain in the next slide. With regards to our cost and competitiveness program, we saw excellent results in 2023, with 28 millions due to operating our assets safely above design capacity, and over 100 million of operational efficiencies and contract management initiatives. These are not only savings, but also a platform to promote innovation and continuous improvement throughout our organization. During the year, we reduced our cost base by $0.08 per pound, helping to keep costs in line year on year and partially upsetting the lower grade. On the back of this result as well, the years of accumulated benefit from investment in both innovation and operational efficiencies. We have set an ambitious target for the years ahead, raising this goal to 200 million in 2024. With this, we expect to contribute to keep costs in line year on year. In terms of FTA and margin, we were able to translate the sales volume and realize price increases, completely upsetting the cost movement into a healthy 5% higher EBITDA than in 2022, and keeping our margins in line year on year. E.ON Copper increased gold, moly, and moly production by 18% and 13% respectively, with our revenue streamed with our revenue streams from byproducts being key features of both Sentinella and Los Pelambres. And this, in turn, is a fundamental feature of the robust cash generation from our portfolio, underpinning our capital allocation framework, which is central to all our financial decisions. Now, I would like to spend a few minutes on our capital allocation framework, as these provide clear definitions of how best to balance growth a strong balance sheet and returns to our shareholders throughout the cycle. We start this process by allocating capital to sustain and develop our mines and to pay our shareholder a minimum of 35% of earnings while maintaining a strong balance sheet. Following this, we then review further investment and distributions using a range of factors shown here, including our overall financial position and the macro environment. On the right, you can see how this works in practice. Through our disciplined approach, we have been able to pay attractive returns in excess of our committed dividends, even during periods of growth, whilst keeping our balance sheet strong. Today, we announced a 21% higher underlying attorneys, or 72 cents per share, and the proposed final dividend reflects our disciplined approach, providing right balance between the investment required for our next phase of growth and shareholder returns. Looking at the balance sheet, and as I mentioned earlier, our strong balance sheet underpins our confidence in our business, and we look forward to our future growth plans heading into the next phase. Our net debt to EBITDA ratio is low at 0.38 times. Our assets continue to generate a strong FDA, which drives our ability to invest in our assets and deliver shareholder returns. And finally, ending this section of our financial performance, I would like to highlight the margins of our portfolio of corporate assets and our strong relative position within our peer group of corporate producers. As shown on the left, our portfolio has consistently delivered a VDA margin tracking at the top end of our peer group, having Los Pelambres and Centinela as our cornerstones, which enable us to deliver on our capital allocation framework. Secondly, the chart on the right demonstrates the consistency of our portfolio. Throughout the cycle, we have generated strong operating cash flow. Again, this gives us the confidence to continue to invest in our assets enabling and enhancing the future of Los Pelambres, along with increasing work production out of Sentinella with a second concentrator. This project portfolio and our financial discipline allows us to deliver shareholder returns to investors seeking exposure to copper, the metal for electrification, to enable the energy transition. And with this, and now I'll hand it over to René, who will take us through our work on sustainability. René.

Thank you, Mauricio, and good morning, everyone. In this section in particular, I would like to focus on a number of sustainability issues that support our purpose of developing mining for a better future, and which underpin our results announced today. Moving to the highlights for the year, Ivan has covered safety already, so I will not spend too much time on it, but it's important to emphasize our record performance in 2023. with zero fatalities and further improvements in both leading and landing indicators of safety. This is a result that we are all proud of, and our focus remains on maintaining this performance going forward. I would like to highlight the improvement in gender diversity across the company, which continues to move towards our 30% goal by 2025. And in order to reach that goal, we have successfully implemented and will continue to roll out a number of initiatives. such as a clear recruitment plan to attract women into operational roles and a mentoring program to support promising candidates and vans in their careers at Antofagasta. Another highlight to note is regarding our permit approval at Los Pelambres and Saldívar, which are critical for the future of the business. At Los Pelambres, we received approval on our Environmental Impact Assessment, or EIA, to double our desalination plant capacity to 800 liters per second, The first phase of the initial plan was 400 litres per second, which we have delivered and is having a material impact on our water sourcing and therefore production. By doubling the capacity, we expect to see further material positive impact. At Saldívar, we have now received the DIA permit, which aligns both our water and mining permits and allow us to keep operating until 2025. EIA to extend the mining and environmental permits until 2051 has been submitted and is in the next permitting step to secure operational continuity at Saldívar after 2025. We continue to make progress on decarbonizing our business and have announced a new and ambitious target of reducing scope 1 and 2 emissions. In addition, we have set a scope 3 target for the first time The targets shown here are the culmination of a year's work to determine our decarbonization pathway. First of all, we have set our new scope one and two target, which is a 50% reduction on our absolute emissions by 2035. This incorporates our planned production increase over the period. We have also published our inaugural scope three emissions target of reducing emissions by 10% by 2030. It is worth noting that scope three consider both upstream and downstream activities. For us to reach this goal, we are working with our suppliers, many of which are Chilean businesses, to ensure our goals are understood and 100% aligned. Moving onto water, here we can see a picture of our desalination plant at Los Pelambres, where construction was completed during the year and ramp-up continues as expected. As you can see from the chart on the left, this facility has already had a significant impact on our water sourcing, representing approximately a third of Los Pelambres water withdrawals in 2023, despite only commencing its ramp up during the middle of the year. And finally, looking to the future, the doubling of this facility capacity to 800 liters per second will substantially move us towards our ambition of 90% of water coming from seawater or recirculated water sources. As mentioned previously, we received approval for our EIA late last year for this particular project. On communities, we have well-established programs built in collaboration with local organizations and authorities over many years. In 2023, in particular, we formally assessed 18 of our programs with 100% of these assessments found to be delivering positive impacts on local communities. But we will not stop there. Through these social impact assessments, we are using the feedback we have received to help shape our engagement in 2024. We continue then to adapt and evolve our approach to ensure that we continue to deliver positive impact with local communities. One of the key highlights for 2023 was sponsoring the Pan American and Parapan American Games, a major sporting event in the Americas, and as Chile hosted the Games, a major event for the country. Our involvement in the Games was to showcase our role in Chile as a major employer, copper producer, and contributor to the country's GDP. We provided the copper for all metals, and as you can see in the photo, we put copper in the center of the metal, illustrating that copper is at the heart of Chile and the heart of Antofagasta. Protecting nature and the biodiversity within and around our operation is and always has been a key focus for us. We have teams of scientists and specialists working to protect nature across all our sites. More recently, we have been instrumental on steering recent discussions with ICMM, who just recently issued a commitment to work to deliver positive nature outcomes, announcing a plan for a nature positive roadmap. Shown here is the five-point plan, which we are committed to and which guides our existing biodiversity programs, especially at Los Pelambres, where we protect six times the land footprint of our operations, but also across all our operations. In the north, in the Antofagasta region, where the Atacama Desert is, we operate in a very different environment, with different but no less important flora and fauna, with the ICMS five-point plan applicable to this work as well. Finally, as the world looks for increasing amount of copper to fuel the energy transition, we remain focused on our co-belief that copper should be produced responsibly in a safe and sustainable way. That is central to our purpose. I will now, however, back to Ivan, who will take us through our growth portfolio and innovation.