Core Natural Resources, Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Core Natural Resources, Inc. second quarter earnings call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Tuesday, August 5, 2025. I would now like to turn the conference over to Dex Sloan, Senior Vice President Strategy. Please go ahead.

Good morning from Canonsburg, 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-GAP 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 Investor section of our website at corenaturalresources.com. Also participating on this morning's call will be Paul Lang, our CEO, Mitesh Thakar, our President and CFO, and Bob Braithwaite, our Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales. After some formal remarks from Paul and Mitesh, we'll be happy to take questions. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Paul. Paul?

Thanks, Dick, and good morning, everyone. We're glad you could join us on the call today. I'm pleased to report that, in the quarter just ended, Core again demonstrated its significant cash-generating capabilities, even while navigating a -at-market environment, as well as with the current outage in our Lear South mine. During Q2, the team generated adjusted EBITDA of $144 million and free cash flow of $131 million, increased our merger-related annual synergy target to a range of $150 to $170 million, which is roughly 30% higher at the midpoint than the original guidance, returned $87 million to investors through share buybacks and a quarterly dividend, increased cash and cash equivalents by $25 million and overall liquidity by $90 million, and finally advanced our plan for resuming longwall production at Lear South during Q4. On the operations front, the high-CV thermal segment again set the pace, achieving a significant step up in sales volumes while lowering unit costs markedly. Exclusive of the outage at Lear South, the metallurgical platform also executed well, led by the segment's flagship Lear mine, which achieved a second straight quarterly production record. Finally, the Powder River Basin segment delivered another strong performance as power generators sought to accelerate shipments in advance of the summer season. We remained focused on pursuing operational excellence across the entire operating portfolio and expect ongoing synergy capture to lift our performance further as the year progresses. Now let's shift our attention to the capital return program. As you will recall, we announced a new capital return framework in February, shortly after the merger's completion, which was designed to reward shareholders for their ongoing support and which we consider a central tenant of CORE's long-term value proposition. The centerpiece of this framework is the targeted return to shareholders of around 75% of free cash flow through share repurchases and a sustaining quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share. We kicked off that program in a strong fashion in Q1 with a return to shareholders of $107 million and maintained our momentum in Q2 with a return of an additional $87 million. In total, we've now returned $194 million to shareholders in just the first two quarters as a combined company, despite generally weak market conditions during that period. As a central component of this effort, we've repurchased 2.6 million shares, or 5% of the total shares outstanding as of the program's launch. Supplementing that buyback effort, we've now returned approximately $11 million to stockholders via a small sustaining quarterly dividend. In short, we're putting our excess cash to work opportunistically in today's depressed equity market environment. And, let me stress, we expect the share repurchases to be highly value creating at current valuations. Indeed, that is another key strength of the combined platform, our ability to generate cash across a wide range of market cycles, given our diversified portfolio and strong mix of contract and market exposed volumes. As previously indicated, the board has authorized a total of $1 billion in share repurchases in support of the cap return framework. And, as of the end of Q2, we have roughly $817 million remaining on that authorization. That authorization level, quite obviously, underscores the board's confidence in our near, mid, and long-term outlook. Turning now to the status of Lear South, as you know, in mid-January, the operations team sealed the active longwall panel at that operation to extinguish an isolated combustion event occurring in the mined out area behind the longwall. On June 10th, core personnel and regulatory officials reentered the sealed area of the mine and conducted an evaluation of the equipment and infrastructure. As expected, the major components and systems appeared in good condition from our visual inspection, and we were able to repressurize the longwall shields. Then on June 26th, more than two weeks after reentering the impacted zone, the team found it necessary to seal a smaller affected area due to an increase in carbon monoxide levels. Since that time, we've been collaborating with federal and state officials to develop a plan to recover the longwall equipment and move it to a new area in the same panel that was unaffected by the incident. Given that the area where the fire was located is small and will be relatively easy to keep isolated, we remain confident in Lear South's ability to deliver on its strong potential over the long term. Now, I'd like to spend a few minutes on the global market dynamics, which continue to be highly variable. First, domestic thermal markets appear to be strengthening in the face of rising demand outlook in the advent of summer temperatures. Second, seaborne thermal demand has shown signs of recovery, particularly in Asia, where coal-fired power remains a critical part of the energy mix. Conversely, global coking coal markets remain soft, pressured by sluggish steel production in key regions such as Europe and China, and ongoing de-stocking by mills. Despite these headwinds, we believe we're well positioned to navigate market troughs. Our low-cost, high-quality operations, flexible logistics enable us to shift between domestic and export markets as conditions evolve, preserving margin. But Tesh will discuss how we're seeking to optimize value and build our contract book in this market environment, but let me spend a few minutes on the broader market as well as on the corrective forces we believe are already at work on several fronts. Starting with the metallurgical markets, tariff-related uncertainties continue to weigh on market demand. However, several recent developments, including the recent trade agreements with Japan and the EU, as well as ongoing discussions with other major trading partners, suggest that such uncertainties could begin to abate in the -too-distant future, even as potential secondary tariffs remain at risk. In addition, we believe that major coking coal indices are at levels well below the marginal cost of production. Moreover, we continue to see signs that these pricing levels are beginning to take a toll on supply as high-cost production is starting to exit the market. As evidence of that fact, coking coal exports from the three primary high-quality supply regions, Australia, the United States, and Canada, are down 7 percent in aggregate through May, with more cuts likely. In addition, we expect demand for metallurgical coal to continue its steady upward climb over time as the young economies in Southeast Asia, particularly India, continue to add new blast furnace capacity in support of their ongoing infrastructure build-out. In the thermal arena, domestic power markets are experiencing a second straight year of demand growth after several decades of sideways movement. Underscoring this tightness, the PJM Capacity Market Auction conducted just two weeks ago cleared at a record price for the second straight year. We expect this power demand growth to continue in the quarters ahead, buoyed by increasing energy requirements of AI in data centers. As for the high-CV seaborne thermal markets, both API2 and Newcastle prices have rebounded from their lows, and we continue to believe that certain strategic elements of that market, such as the Indian cement demand, are poised for further recovery, particularly in the post-monsoon season. Specifically, we expect cement demand in India to continue to grow at robust rates throughout the balance of the decade and beyond, and believe core with our energy-dense high-CV thermal products like should be a prime beneficiary. Let me take a moment to express our appreciation to the President and the U.S. Congress for the steps they've taken in recent months to protect and support the U.S. Executive orders aimed at reducing the regulatory burden on America's coal-fired powder plants and preserving the U.S. coal-generating fleet. During the White House ceremony, the President's recognition and inclusion of many of our hourly employees was a poignant example of the past and future contribution of coal miners in meeting the country's energy and industrial needs, a recognition that's been ignored in recent years. In addition to the Executive orders, on July 4th, the President signed into law the One Big Beautiful bill, which included several provisions designed to strengthen the U.S. coal industry and enhance the competitiveness of our products overseas. Of note, the new legislation designates U.S.-produced metallurgical coal as a critical material under Section 45X, through which the company will be eligible for a -a-half percent monetizable tax credit on production-related costs over the next four years. Significantly, the new legislation also lowers the royalty rate on tons produced on federal lands, which in turn will reduce the cash costs and enhance the competitiveness of our Powder River Basin and West Elk operations in future periods. Again, we applaud the President and Congress for their leadership and foresight in taking these historic steps, steps that will help ensure that U.S. coal remains a key element of America's future energy supply, as well as a stabilizing force in both domestic and global energy markets. Let me close by again recognizing the core team for tremendous progress it has made in integrating the combined operating, marketing, and logistics portfolio into a cohesive, high-performing unit, while at the same time unlocking the synergistic value created by the merger. With our world-class minds, logistical network, strong balance sheet, significant cash-generating capabilities, and talented workforce, we believe we're equipped to create shareholder value in a wide range of market environments. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Batesh for greater detail on our Q2 financial results, as well as our outlook for the balance of the year. Batesh?