SSR Mining Inc.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to SSR Mining's first quarter 2023 conference call. This call is being recorded. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I'd like to turn the call over to Alex Hunchak from SSR Mining. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator, and hello, everyone. Thank you for joining SSR Mining's first quarter 2023 conference call, during which we will provide an update on our business and a review of our financial performance. Our first quarter 2023 consolidated financial statements have been presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These financial statements have been filed on EDVAR, CEAR, ASX, and are also available on our website. To accompany our call, there is an online webcast, and you will find information to access the webcast in our news release relating to this call. Please note that all figures discussed during the call are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated. Today's discussion will include forward-looking statements, so please read the disclosures in the relevant documents. Joining us on the call today are Rod Antle, President and CEO, and Allison White, CFO. Now I will turn the call over to Rod for his opening remarks.

Great. Thanks, Alex. And hello to you all, and thanks for joining us. We in 2023 focused on execution and operational delivery. and the first quarter results are well aligned to our expectations. We're on track for all our guidance targets and expect improving production and costs in the coming quarters to drive strong free cash flow for the remainder of the year. The first quarter began with the release of our updated three-year guidance, where we reiterated our expectations to deliver annual production of 700,000 ounces through 2025. a level we expect to maintain over the remainder of the decade without significant capital requirements. We are progressing a number of key work programs to support that longer-term production target, including pre-production activities at Chakmak Tepe Extension, where first production remains on track for 2023, as well as investment in four new haul trucks to support the waste-dripping activities at Red Dot. In addition, we continue to showcase our exploration portfolio with the release of some very impressive near-mine results from Puna, which have the potential to drive mineral reserve growth at the mine, in turn providing further support to our longer-term 700,000-ounce production platform. We have a number of key catalysts planned this year. This includes first production from Chacmatepe Extension, The technical report updates at Marigold and Chirpler to showcase their upside and additional exploration results from the other targets we have. We continue our robust capital returns program in the quarter, and given our positive outlook for the remainder of the year, as well as our robust balance sheet with almost $900 million in total liquidity, we expect to remain active on the shared buyback program. We have a proud history as explorers, mine builders and operators, and our solid first quarter results have us on track to deliver our guidance targets as we have done over the nine consecutive years before 2022. With forthcoming positive catalysts across the business, we remain excited for the year ahead. I'm just going to move on to slide four with ESG. On 14th of April, we published our fifth annual ESG and sustainability report, marking another step in SSR mining's continued effort to operate responsibly and sustainably while maximising the benefits to all our stakeholders. ESG is, and has long been, a core value and focus for the company as it firmly underpins our success. We continue to prioritise the health and safety of our employees and business partners and have recently implemented a focus and formal leadership in the field initiative to drive engagement and improve safety performance across the company. Another key focus last year was the development of the global water strategy to help ensure we manage water as a vital resource for our operations in communities. We're now implementing water management plans for each one of the assets and are also continuing our efforts on integrated mine closure plans to ensure we leave a positive and lasting legacy for the communities in which we operate. Additional key initiatives this year will include continued development of an action plan on our journey towards net zero, including evaluating options to incorporate renewable energy and decarbonisation technologies in our operating platform. As we have done previously, we'll work hard to advance our ESG initiatives and look forward to sharing continued updates on that journey throughout the remainder of the year. So let's move on to slide number five. As I mentioned, we released the three-year guidance, which reiterated our expectations for a stable production platform of at least 700,000 ounces. With a robust exploration platform and a number of growth initiatives already underway, we continue to expect that we can deliver the baseline production level through the remainder of the decade. Later this year, we will release updated technical reports with the maiden mineral reserves from Churplus C2 expansion project, as well as an updated life and mine plan that incorporates new ounces from Marigold's new millennium target. In CB in Poona, recent exploration releases have highlighted the successes of near-mine drilling activities that provides the opportunity to build reserves and extend mine lives at each one of the assets. We will aim to showcase these opportunities in 2024. In short, while the production platform outlined on the slide is largely centred on the mineral reserves only, we see a number of opportunities to build on these existing reserves through the technical report update starting at the end of this year. The purpose of the updated technical reports is to capture positive upside with respect to both production and value from within the portfolio. Let's move on to number six. Slide number six. On top of our reputation as operators, we have a proven history of project delivery and value accruing M&A. Our approach to M&A remains unchanged. We continue to actively consider and evaluate opportunities to add value to our business through transactions that fit our strategy of low capital intensity growth in core jurisdictions and that complement our focus on free cash flow. We successfully delivered on two of these deals in 2022, building our ownership in in-mine assets at Churpa and CV, two jurisdictions where we feel we truly have an advantage. I'm going to turn over to slide number seven and hand the presentation to Alison.