Iamgold Corporation Ordinary Shares

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the IAMGOLD Second Quarter 2020 Operating and Financial Results conference call and webcast. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, simply press Start and 1 on your telephone keypad. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on their telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Indi Gopinatham, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications for IAM Gold. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much, Claudia, and welcome everyone to the IAM Gold second quarter conference call for 2020. Joining me today on the call are Gordon Stothert, President and Chief Executive Officer of Carol Banducci, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Bruno Lamelin, Senior Vice President, Operations and Projects, Craig McDougall, Senior Vice President, Exploration, and Jeffrey Snow, Senior Vice President, Business Development and General Counsel. Our remarks on this call will include forward-looking statements. Please refer to the cautionary language regarding forward-looking statements in our disclosure documents and be advised that the same cautionary language applies to our remarks during the call. With respect to the technical information to be discussed, please refer to the Technical Information and Qualified Persons slide. The slides referenced on this call can be viewed on our website. I will now turn the call over to our President and CEO, Gordon Southers.

Well, thank you, Indy, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. So last night, we issued solid operating results for the second quarter of 2020, demonstrating strong operating cash flows on increased margins, and further improvement to our already strong balance sheet. Subsequent to the quarter, we announced our decision to go forward with the construction of COTE, a transformational growth project. And, like all of you, we've been adapting to our new normal with COVID-19, changing the way we work and, for some, where we work. We will provide an update on our activities with respect to COVID-19 in a minute. Finally, we are providing updated guidance for the year, taking into account the suspension of operations at Roosevelt and the resumption of capital sustaining expenditures. Before I move on to the next slide, I wanted to note here that last night we also announced the retirement of two key members of our executive leadership team. After 13 years with the company, Carol Banducci has advised us of her intention to retire from IAMGOLD on March 31st, 2021. Carol has steadfastly seen the company through a bull market, a bear market, and several transitions. Her disciplined approach to financial management is the reason we have the balance sheet we have today. And her success in building an outstanding finance and accounting team has positioned the company exceptionally well today for both challenges and opportunities. I certainly wish her all the best in retirement and look forward to our continued work together over the next several months. In addition, Jeff Snow will be retiring from the company effective August 31st, 2020. Jeff has had a storied 39-year career at the intersection of law and mining, and we will miss his wise counsel and wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement. These are both big changes for the company and certainly personally. I've certainly enjoyed working with Carol since I came to I Am Gold 12 years ago. And we've gone through a lot of battles together, and she's been a great teammate. I started working with Jeff, I think, in the early 90s at Miranda head office in Toronto. And I count him certainly amongst my friends and certainly a valued colleague. So the second quarter was really about learning to live in a time of COVID-19. At the end of the first quarter, we proactively implemented a multifaceted response, including screening, physical distancing, and personal protective equipment and accessional personnel policies. In the second quarter, we were able to re-change shifts at Essex Inn, following the lifting of the local administrative quarantine. Westwood came back online in mid-April following a placement in care and maintenance, in accordance with provincial directives. And as you know, we experienced COVID-19 cases at the Roosevelt site, as we saw outbreaks in the region, notably Brazil. Fortunately, the cases at Roosevelt are now largely resolved. We continue to work to enhance protocols and further expand the camp facilities to support social distancing, as is the case at Roosevelt. One of the more unique approaches is at ASICAN, where we've been using drones equipped with loudspeakers to raise awareness of the coronavirus and our protocols to help ensure compliance. And of course, we have also considered COVID-19 protocols in planning our construction activities for COGTE. From a community engagement perspective, I'd like to share a couple of stories. In May, the female employees of EFECAN made a symbolic in-kind donation to the vulnerable communities surrounding Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. 2 million West African francs, approximately Canadian $4,700. This contribution was the result of a fundraiser they initiated at the mine. The donation was made through the Association Femmes En Marche, F-E-M, and included 50 bags of rice, 50 cans of oil, sugar, and soap for 50 households in the Ouagadougou region. In Suriname, entrepreneurs from the community of Marshall Creek located near the mine site have been engaged to supply 1,000 non-medical mouth caps or masks for Roosevelt. This follows on a 2019 community initiative led by the Community Relations Department to help develop marketable skills and experience. I Am Gold is committed to achieving high standards in environmental, social and governance practices. which reflect our long-held zero-harm vision. I Am Gold donations to local communities in response to the global COVID-19 crisis include cleaning equipment and supplies, hand-washing stands and hand-sanitizing gel for the communities, medical protection equipment, including masks, gloves, et cetera, as well as life support equipment, such as ventilators and hospital beds. As we know, this equipment is essential in the fight against COVID-19 and is in very short supply in all countries and especially in developing nations. IAMGOLD and our employees across the globe are proud to highlight, through these donations, our true and lasting partnerships with the governments, as well as our deep commitment to these countries and their populations. Following the suspension of operations at Roosevelt, we reviewed our 2020 guidance. As a result of this view, We've lowered our 2020 guidance for Roosevelt to the range of 210 to 230,000 ounces. This change shifts attributable guidance for the company down to the range of 645 to 700,000 ounces for 2020. With this change to attributable reduction, we have adjusted cost guidance as follows. Cost of sales between 900 and $1,030 per ounce sold. Total cash costs of 940,000 to $980 per ounce produced and all in sustaining costs of between $1,195 and $1,245 per ounce sold. I would note here that all in sustaining costs in the third quarter this year are expected to be higher than the second quarter due to the resumption of sustaining capital programs with similar production levels. In addition, costs are expected to be higher in the third quarter as compared to the second quarter due to additional COVID-19 related expenditures. Our outlook for capital expenditures has also been adjusted. At Essacan, a reduction of non-sustaining capital to $65 million from an original $80 million due to lower level of capitalized stripping and timing of spends. At Roosevelt, a decrease of $10 million in sustaining capital, which reflects the delay caused by the suspension, as well as a $15 million decrease in non-sustaining capital due to the delay of capitalized stripping work, again due to the suspension. At Westwood, an adjustment in non-sustaining capital to $18 million from $15 million on additional development work. At Rokote, our development capital expenditures for 2020 are $77 million, increased from $45 million earlier and reflecting early works on construction. At BOTO, planned expenditures in 2020 remain the same, $25 million. In total, these adjustments comprise a net decrease of $10 million in sustaining capital and a net increase of $5 million in non-sustaining capital. Total capital spend in 2020 is planned at $340 million, a net decrease of $5 million. While our 2021 guidance remains unchanged, we note that this continues to be under review given the current global uncertainty with respect to the spread of COVID-19 and the effect it may have on the company's operations. Following the major significant catalyst, which was our decision to proceed with Cotate Construction, in addition to the recent filing of an NI 43-101 report for Westwood, along with reaffirmed production guidance originally released in 2019, We see the following catalysts for the balance of 2020. At Roosevelt, we resumed long hauling Saramaca ore and worked to complete the road. We expect to be at the target run rate for Saramaca later in the year. The mill optimization project at Essex End aimed at increasing throughput by about 10% is ongoing and we hope to get that online towards the end of the year or in early 2021. We continue to de-risk Bodo with investment in local infrastructure. And in exploration, we are working on further resource delineation at various projects, including Nelligan, the Rouen project, and the recently acquired Fayol property in Quebec, Gosselin at Côté, and the new Carita discovery in Guinea. 2021, we expect to see Westwood continue to expand production with supplemental feed from the Grand Duke open pit. We also see Roosevelt production ramping up with Saramaca online for the full year. and for an optimized effecan mill to demonstrate increased throughput. In addition, the COTE work plan is focused on major earthworks while we continue to de-risk Bodo. And on that note, I will now pass it on over to Carol to review our financial results. Carol, I think you're on mute.