Core Natural Resources, Inc.

Good morning and thank you very much for your patience. Today we've had a few technical difficulties with the dial-in phone number for today's event. The issue is transpired on the end of Cision, the provider, and we would like to give you phone numbers to dial in today if you do not choose to just listen through today's webcast. Those phone numbers, updated phone numbers, are 1-800-860-2442. Again, that's 800-860-2442. And alternate number is 412-858-4600. Thank you very much for your patience once again. And we want to welcome you to CORE Natural Resources, Inc., fourth quarter 2024 earnings conference call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. And should you need assistance, once you dial in, you may do so by pressing star, then zero for the summons the operator. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question at that time, you may press star then 1 on your touchtone phone. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Dex Sloan, Senior Vice President, Strategy. Please proceed.

Good morning from Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. Before we begin, let me remind you that certain statements made during this call, including statements relating to our expected future business and financial performance, may be considered forward-looking statements according to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. These uncertainties, which are described in more detail in the annual and quarterly reports that we file with the SEC, may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required by law. I'd also like to remind you that you can find a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures that we plan to discuss this morning at the end of our press release, a copy of which we have posted in the Investors section of our website at corenaturalresources.com. Also participating on this morning's call will be Paul Lang, our CEO, Mitesh Thakkar, our president and CFO, and Bob Braithwaite, our senior vice president of marketing and sales. After some formal remarks from Paul and Mitesh, the four of us will be happy to take questions. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Paul. Paul?

Thanks, Dick, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to the inaugural earnings call for Core Natural Resources. It's an exciting time for the team, and we're happy you could join us. I'm pleased to report that CORE is off to an exceptionally strong start across a wide range of key operating and financial priorities. In the five weeks since the completion of the merger, the CORE team has made tremendous progress in integrating the combined operating, marketing, and logistics portfolio into a cohesive, high-performing unit, a unit, I might add, that we view as unmatched in the global coal landscape. adopted a robust capital return framework heavily weighted towards share repurchases, announced board authorization for $1 billion in share repurchases in support of that framework, taken steps just in the first few weeks to lock in approximately one-third of indicated synergies at the midpoint of guidance, and resumed development work with continuous miners at Lear South nearly two months earlier than originally indicated. Now let's delve a little further into the capital return framework, which is designed to reward shareholders for their strong, ongoing support, and which the board views as central tenant of the company's long-term value proposition. The centerpiece of this framework is to target the return of 75% of free cash flow to shareholders, with the vast majority of that cash directed towards share repurchases, complemented by a small sustaining quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share. We expect such purchases to be highly value-creating at current valuations. As for the small dividend, the Board believes this component will ensure that the widest range of potential investors can participate in the core story, including those who require a dividend. In a strong show of confidence, the Board has authorized a total of $1 billion in share repurchases in support of this new framework. I'd now like to spend a few moments on the core team's strong progress right out of the gate in the area of synergy capture. As you might imagine, delivering on the synergy potential of the merger ranks among our highest priorities in the early stages of the integration process. In just a few weeks' time, the team has already executed strategies that are expected to yield synergy-driven value creation of more than $40 million. As a reminder, We're projecting to capture between $110 and $140 million per year in total savings. But Tesh will spend more time on the composition of these early wins, but let me assure you that we plan to remain sharply focused on delivering the previously advertised value in the most expeditious manner possible. At the same time, let me reiterate that we believe there is more synergistic value to be created beyond the initially advertised numbers, via the sharing of best practices as just one example. And the teams plan to pursue such incremental opportunities with an equivalent level of intensity as we move forward. Now let's turn to the status of Lear South. As you're aware, the Lear South mine experienced a combustion event right around the time of the merger completion. Although disappointing, the most important aspect of this event was the fact that the Lear South team in close collaboration with federal and state regulatory officials, prioritized the safety of the workforce in every step they took. On behalf of the board, the entire senior management team, I commend everyone involved for their actions. Once employee safety was assured, the Lear South team moved quickly to the next objective, protecting the long-term viability of the mine. Here, too, the team did a tremendous job, taking steps to ensure that the issue remained isolated to a small previously mined area that was 300 to 500 feet behind the long wall face. The success of the operations team's efforts is evident in the currently projected timeline for the resumption of mining activities. On Monday, the Lear South team, again in close collaboration with federal and state regulators, safely reentered the mine and resumed development work with continuous miners. As you will recall, we had indicated this step could take as long as three months, so accomplishing this milestone in just over a month was clearly a significant step forward in this journey. As for the timing of resuming longwall production, it is standard industry protocol to keep the area where the combustion occurred sealed and inert for a period of time. Even with this waiting period, however, and given the team's successful efforts to seal the affected area, we still fully expect to resume long-wall mining by mid-year. It's also important to note that the team has assessed, via the deployment of infrared cameras and other remote monitoring activities, that the mine's long-wall equipment was largely unaffected by the event. Before handing the call to Batesh, I'd like to now spend a few moments on global coal market dynamics. As indicated, pricing is currently soft in each of our main market segments. which is to say global metallurgical and high calorific value thermal coals. In fact, both API2 and high vol A pricing are near three-year lows. Importantly, however, that softness in the high CV thermal market is counterbalanced by CORE's already strong committed and priced position, which Mitesh will discuss in more detail shortly. Moreover, the U.S. domestic thermal market, a key secondary outlet for CORE, has tightened somewhat in recent weeks in wake of extremely cold temperatures. We estimate that generator stockpiles in the east are approaching target levels and, in select instances, have fallen into the critical zone, particularly at some merchant plants. This recent drawdown is creating opportunities for spot market sales and should translate into a stronger contract season as the year progresses. Even in the Midwest, which is the primary market for our Powder River Basin segment, and where stockpiles have perhaps been the most bloated, generators are cycling train sets more rapidly, which has led to healthier shipment levels early in the year. As for coking coal markets, we believe that, despite the current weakness, the long-term market dynamics remain compelling. New blast furnace capacity continues to come online in Southeast Asia. Indian imports of seaborne coking coal were up an estimated 5% in 2024, and Chinese imports of seaborne coking coal increased 17 million tons in 2024, which acted to counterbalance the higher Chinese steel exports. The most significant reason for optimism, however, continues to be the supply side of the equation. Agri-production in three primary supply countries for high-quality seaborne coking coal Australia, the United States, and Canada remains around 40 million tons lower in 2024 than at peak levels a decade ago, despite historically strong pricing across most of that timeframe. We expect such supply constraints, which are the function of both underinvestment and degradation and depletion of global reserve base, to support an increasingly positive supply-demand balance over time. Moreover, currently depressed pricing levels are beginning to take a toll on smaller and higher-cost metallurgical producers, which should also precipitate a more constructive market environment down the road. Looking ahead, we're more confident than ever that Core's two world-class complementary operating segments, metallurgical coal and high-calorific thermal coal, create a unique and compelling opportunity for value creation and cash generation in the decades ahead. With its skilled workforce, strategic asset base, low-cost mining operations, expansive logistics network, tremendous synergy potential, and industry-leading sustainability practices, Core is exceptionally well-equipped to capitalize on what we view as highly constructive and durable market environment for our products. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Mitesh for some additional detail on our financial outlook, ongoing progress on synergies, and continued efforts to optimize the value of our high-quality products. Mitesh?