Hecla Mining Company

Thank you for standing by. My name is Kate and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Q4 2024 Hekla Mining Company Earnings Conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star 1 again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Anvita Patel, VP, Investor Relations and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

Good morning, Kate, and thank you all for joining us for HETLA's fourth quarter 2024 results conference calls. I'm Anvita Patel, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer. And our earnings release that was issued yesterday, along with our today's presentation, are available on our website. On this call today, we have Rob Krichmarov, President and Chief Executive Officer, Russell Lawler, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Carlos Aguar, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Kurt Allen, Vice President of Exploration, and Matt Blattman, Vice President of Technical Services. At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, We will all be available to answer questions. Any forward-looking statements made today by the management team come under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and involve risks, as shown on slide two, in our earnings release and in our 10-K and 10-Q filings with the SEC. These and other risks could cause results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Non-GAAP measures cited in this call and related slides are reconciled in the slides or the news release. I want to remind you, if you would like to have a call with management, you can do so by using the link under the section Virtual Investor Event in our earnings release that was issued yesterday. I'll now pass the call to Rob.

Thank you, Anvita, and good morning, everyone. You know, when I joined HECLA about three months ago, I began an intensive review of our operations and strategy. I've now visited all but one of our mines. Actually, a winter storm delayed my trip to Keno Hill, which I'll visit in the next couple of weeks. And throughout these visits and my extensive engagement with employees and stakeholders, I've developed a clearer vision for Heckler's future and some of the opportunities that are available to us. I guess what initially drew me to Heckler was its extraordinary legacy, 134 years as a leader in the silver industry with high-quality long-life mines in premier jurisdictions. Now, having seen our operations firsthand, I'm even more convinced of the company's potential. Our high-quality long-life mines in premier jurisdictions provide an exceptional foundation, and I have to say the calibre of our management team has really impressed me. Our operating portfolio stands on three key pillars. Our cornerstone operations, Greens Creek and Lucky Friday, continue to deliver strong performance and robust cash flow. Keen O'Hill represents our primary growth opportunity, although its ramp-up has been more challenging than I had initially thought. However, we have a clear strategy for achieving sustained profitable production there, but it will require time and strategic investment. At Casa Berardi, we've recognised that the mine hasn't yet realised the potential envisaged during its acquisition. So while it has future potential, its capital requirements and management bandwidth consumption have really led me to direct our team to evaluate all strategic alternatives to maximise shareholder value from this asset. Looking ahead, focusing on four key strategic pillars, and they're all underpinned by our commitment to ESG leadership. First, we're committed to achieving operational excellence through relentless improvement, through implementing standard operating systems across all of the sites, investing in automation and advanced analytics, driving continuous improvement in cost control, and building real-time decision-making capabilities. Second, we're optimizing our portfolio to maximize value. We've begun this with our strategic review of Casa Berardi, and we're evaluating an extensive portfolio of exploration assets, and investments to unlock value. So while organic growth at Keno Hill remains our primary focus, we're developing a strategic and disciplined M&A framework that leverages our core competencies to create substantial value. Third, we're intensifying our focus on financial discipline and shareholder returns. We're implementing a rigorous capital allocation framework centered on free cash flow generation and return on investment metrics. with clear hurdle rates. This disciplined approach should strengthen our balance sheet and build financial flexibility and deliver consistent returns to our shareholders. Fourth, our strategic focus on silver production in the US and Canada continues to deliver exceptional value. With the largest silver reserve base in North America and operations concentrated in tier one jurisdictions, we're strongly positioned to meet growing demand from green technology and renewable energy sectors. Our expanding footprint in these stable regions, combined with our industry-leading cost structure, gives Heckler unmatched advantages in capturing new opportunities. And while providing investors unparalleled security of assets, I think this distinctive market position really sets Heckler apart and warrants a premium valuation, particularly in today's complex and dynamic global environment. Of course... These pillars is our unwavering commitment to ESG leadership in the mining industry and our success depends on responsible environmental stewardship, strong community partnerships and deepening relationships with First Nations and in fact all stakeholders. So let me highlight our achievements in 2024, which is detailed on slide four. We delivered strong operational performance, meeting our consolidated silver production and cost guidance while exceeding our gold production targets. Our strategic exploration program successfully maintained our silver reserve position, the second highest in the company's history, with particularly strong results at Keno Hill, where reserves increased by 17%. We achieved record revenues in 2024, driven by higher metal prices and solid contributions from all four operating mines. Most notably, our cornerstone assets, Greens Creek and Lucky Friday, generated $228 million in free cash flow. And I think this robust performance enabled us to advance strategic investments in Keno Hills development while implementing targeted improvements at Casa Berardi. And Russell will walk through the financial details in a moment. We've also evolved our approach to shareholder returns. After careful consideration, we're maintaining our base annual dividend of one and a half cents while supporting key priorities, and that's investing in organic growth, strengthening our balance sheet, and delivering reliable and sustainable shareholder returns. I'll now hand the call over to Russell for a detailed financial review.