Iamgold Corporation Ordinary Shares

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the I Am Gold third quarter 2024 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, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star then zero. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Graham Jennings, VP Investor Relations and Corporate Communications for IAM Gold. Please go ahead, Mr. Jennings.

Thank you, operator, and welcome everyone to our conference call today. Joining us on the call are Bruno Adams, President and Chief Executive Officer, Martin Tannouson, Chief Financial Officer, Bruno Lemelin, Chief Operating Officer, Tim Bradburn, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, and Doreena Quinn, Senior Vice President People. We are joining today from IAMGOLD's Toronto office, which is located on Treaty 13 territory on the traditional lands of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Chippewa, Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. At IAMGOLD, we believe respecting and upholding Indigenous rights is founded upon relationships that foster trust, transparency, and mutual respect. Please note that our remarks on this call will include forward-looking statements and refer to non-IFRS measures. We encourage you to refer to the cautionary statements and disclosures on non-IFRS measures included in the presentation and the reconciliations of these measures in our most recent ND&A, each under the heading Non-GAAP Financial Measures. With respect to the technical information to be discussed, please refer to the information in the presentation in the heading Qualified Person and Technical Information. The slides referenced on this call can be viewed on our website. I'll now turn the call over to our President and CEO, Bruno Abt.

Thank you, Graham, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. The third quarter was another exciting quarter for Ion Gold, as our operations performed well, demonstrating safe, stable production and strong cash flow growth. Gold production year-to-date for the company totals 490,000 gold ounces, driven by the strong year-to-date performance at Isacane and the turnaround of Westwood. both assets which are poised to achieve the near the upper end of the production guidance estimate. Cody Gold, meanwhile, is taking significant strides as the mine continues to ramp up and achieve multiple milestones in the quarter, including reaching commercial productions on August 2nd, demonstrating the capability to operate at or above gameplay throughput levels, completing key maintenance to improve the availability of the plant and achieving its first quarter of a positive free cash flow production. Kotter remains on track towards our goals of the mine achieving 90% NEM plate throughput exiting the year. With 2025 just around the corner, a surprising seven weeks away, IAM Gold is rapidly moving closer to our goal of becoming a leading modern Canadian gold producer with a strong balance sheet and assets that are poised to generate significant value for our stakeholders, partners and investors, further enhanced by the backdrop of today's gold price market. By the middle of the next year, we anticipate we will have our gold prepayment facility behind us. COTI will be nearing nameplate production, and Issaqan and Westwood will be capable of generating near-records cash flows. This will conceptually position IMGO uniquely among the mid-tier space, with significant cash flow generation and some very valuable near-term growth to uncover at COTI GO. Looking at a highlight from the quarter, starting with health and safety. which is a fundamental pillar of IMGO's visions of zero harm and our commitment to people and the places in which we operate. In the third quarter, our total recordable injury frequency rate was 0.46, an improvement from the prior quarter led once again by a SACANI team who achieved triple zero for safety incident in September. a testament to the professionalism and commitment to a safety culture by our people in Burkina Faso. In the third quarter, IAMGOLD produced 173,000 attributable gold ounces from our three of its operations, well above the 109,000 ounces achieved in the same period last year. This year-over-year production growth was driven by continued stable operation at Isakane the successful turnaround at Westwood and the ramp up of Cote. On a cost basis, IMGO reported third quarter cash costs and all in sustaining costs of $1,165 per ounce and $1,756 per ounce respectively. While costs were lower than the prior year period, the cost increase quarter over quarter was in line with expectation and our guidance as we will discuss in a moment. Sustaining capital expenditure increased in the third quarter to $84.7 million, up from $50.4 million the year prior, as CODI achieved commercial production in August, which allowed for the relocation of capital expenditure related to operation to sustaining for the month. Looking at our targets for the year. IMGOL reiterated its guidance estimates in the third quarter. As you will recall, last quarter, the company increased its production guidance and lowered the cost guidance targets, following a very strong first half performance from our Sakane and Westwood mine. Sakane and Westwood are well positioned to achieve the upper end of their production guidance ranges this year, with combined production year-to-date of 428,000 ounces versus guidance Guidance of 495,000 to 540,000 ounces. The 2024 cost guidance for a SACAN and Westwood combined is unchanged and is expected to be on the low end of the range of $1,175 to $1,275 for cash costs per ounce sold and $1,700 to $1,825 for ASIC per ounce sold. Costs are expected to be higher in the fourth quarter at Isakane, as Isakane is expected to report a lower head grade from an increased production of stockpile material in the mill, and Westwood conduct a scheduled maintenance plan shutdown in the quarter, both in line with our expectations. On a macro level, inflationary pressures have continued to ease, though key input, including labor, remains elevated. as well pricing for certain consumable, including cyanide and grinding media, are in line with the leveled experience in 2023. With that, I will pass the call over to our CFO to walk us through our financial results and position.