Iamgold Corporation Ordinary Shares

Thank you for standing by. This is your conference operator. Welcome to the IAMGOLD third quarter 2025 operating and financial results conference call and webcast. As a reminder, all participants are in the listen-only mode, and the conference call 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, you may signal an operator by pressing star then zero. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Graham Jennings, Vice President of Investor Relations 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 Renaud Adams, President and Chief Executive Officer, Martin Taneuson, Chief Financial Officer, Bruno Lemelin, Chief Operating Officer, Annie Tortilla-Lagasse, Chief Legal and Strategy Officer, and Dorena Quinn, Chief People Officer. We are calling 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, Kootenai, Shawnee, 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 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 under 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, Renaud Adams.

Thank you, Graham, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. This is an exciting time for IAMGOLD with another quarter of production led by strong performance at Cote Gold in the Sacana Mines, helping to fuel record cash flow generations for the company. The current strong gold market has been very well-timed for IAMGOLD, coinciding with the advancement of our assets, allowing the company to advance our strategic plans ahead of schedule. We are proud of this transformation and also to introduce today our new logo and refreshment, which we believe reflect who we are today. We are extremely proud of our roots and history, but now our name stands for Innovative Accountable Mining. IM Gold is a modern gold mining company that is proudly Canadian with strong cash flow and significant long-term growth opportunities ahead. We mine with a mining redefined purpose in mind, putting safety, responsibility, and people first. We hold ourselves accountable and embrace change and drive innovations at every level, from slaughter systems and technology to better ways of working. There are many highlights to discuss for INGO today, from operations, financials achievement, and an improved share buyback program, which remains subject to TSX approval. We will also discuss our forward-looking plans, including the expansion scenario for Cote d'Ivoire, which is expected to demonstrate significant upside to the current mine plan at Cote. Finally, we will cover the recent announcement of acquisitions to consolidate the Chibougamou-Chapelle region in Quebec to create an elegant complex. These transactions further position IOMGOL as a leading modern Canadian-focused multi-asset gold mining company. I am proud of our team's achievement and remain confident in our ability to deliver enduring values for investors and partners while maintaining a steadfast commitment to safety and accountability. Turning to the quarter, and we're now on slide five. As I am told, the safety of our people and communities remains our top priority. In the third quarter, our total recordable injury rate was 0.56. a 15% improvement year-over-year on a 12-month rolling average and comparing well with our industry peers. We are focused on advancing our critical risk management program, including an important integration of contractor into the IMGOL way of safety management with the goal to reduce high potential incidents. Looking at operation on an attributable basis, IMGOL produced 190,000 ounces of gold in the third quarter. The quarterly performance was led by strong results at Cote, which produced a record 106,000 ounces on a 100% basis, followed by an improved quarter-over-quarter attributable production at Isakami, as the mine saw a great bounce back while mining deeper into phase seven of the pit. Year-to-date, IMGO has reported 524,000 ounces of attributable production. As we will walk through in a moment, Production is expected to be the highest in the fourth quarter, positioning the company well to achieve our guidance target of 735,000 to 825,000 ounces of gold this year. On a cost basis, IM Gold reported third quarter cash costs of $1,588 an ounce and an all-in sustaining cost of $1,956 an ounce. Costs remain higher. year-to-date as a record gold prices directly and translate into higher royalty compounds with the new royalty regime in Burkina Faso, as well as higher unit costs at Cote from an increased proportion of supplementary contracted crushing to stabilize operations during our first full shutdown and until the second gold crusher is installed in the fourth quarter. Cash costs and all in sustaining costs for the year are expected to be at the top end of the guidance range, though we expect to see a strong end to the year with higher expected cash flow in the fourth quarter on the improved productions and higher margins. With that, I will pass the call over to our CFO to walk us through our financial highlights. Martin?

Thank you, Renato, and good morning, everyone. It was indeed an important quarter for IAMGOLD as we were able to use the strong financial results to take significant steps towards our goal of delivering the company and advancing our plans to reward shareholders. Mindset free cash flow was $292.5 million in the third quarter, a record achieved of IAMGOLD's high production levels following the ramp up of COTEX, increasing the company's exposure to the gold price during a record high gold price environment. The record mine site free cash flow improved our financial position and the company's net debt was reduced by $210.7 million to $813.2 million at the end of the third quarter. I am gold at $314.3 million in cash and cash equivalents and approximately $391.9 million available on the credit facility, resulting in total liquidity at the end of the third quarter of approximately $707.2 million. As we noted last quarter, ISACAN declared a significant dividend in June of approximately $855 million, representing all of the undistributed profits of ISACAN up to and including the 2024 financial year. IAMGOLD's 85% portion of the dividend, net of taxes, was approximately $680 million and is expected to be paid over the next 12 months through a revised framework that enables payments to be made at any time of the year, based on the cash generated in excess of working capital requirements by ISACAN. At September 30th, $118 million of Armgold's consolidated cash and cash equivalents was held by ISACAN in Burkina Faso, which was used to pay Armgold a dividend of $98 million in early October. The remaining portion of the company's dividend receivable was converted into a shareholder account with the first payment against the shareholder account of $56 million also received in October. The company expects to receive monthly payments going forward. These funds were used to make additional payments of $170 million against the company's second lien notes, with $130 million of the original $400 million remaining outstanding on the 4th of November. Holistically, when we consider our liquidity outlook under a high gold price environment, We are in a fortunate position to continue to repay debt and commence in the not too distant future on another of our strategic initiatives, which is to reward our shareholders. Accordingly, subsequent to quarter end, our board of directors approved the share buyback program to be put in place through an NCIB program allowing for the purchase of up to approximately 10% of IMGOL's outstanding common shares. All common shares purchased under the NCIB will be either cancelled or placed under trust to satisfy future obligations under the company's share incentive plan. IAMGOLD will file a notice of intention to implement the NCIB with the TSX and which is subject to TSX approval. Following the approval, IAMGOLD will be allowed to purchase these common shares over a 12-month period in the open market. This initiative reflects management confidence in the company's long-term value and its commitment to disciplined capital allocation. The actual number of common shares that may be purchased, if any, and the timing of such purchases will be determined by the company based on a number of factors, including the company's financial performance, the availability of cash flows, and the consideration of other uses of cash, including capital investment opportunities and debt reduction. Turning to our financial results, revenues from continuing operations started at $706.7 million from sales of 203,000 ounces on a 100% basis at a record average realized price of $3,492 per ounce. Cost of sales, excluding depreciation, was $324.2 million. An adjusted EBITDA was a record 359.5 million compared to 221.7 million in the third quarter last year. At the bottom line, the adjusted earnings per share in the third quarter was 30 cents. Looking at the cash flow waterfall on the left side of Site 7, we can see the year-to-date impact on our operating cash flow of the Gulf FIFA deliveries, which we completed in June. as well as the impact of the second lean term payment and the dividend payment to the government of Burkina Faso following the SACAM 7 declaration. On a mine site free cash flow basis, IAMGOLD generated $292.3 million in the third quarter, including $135.6 million from COTA and $150.5 million from SACAM, driven by high revenues due to the high realized gold price partially offset by a higher production cost. And with that, I will pass the call to Bruno Lehmann, our Chief Operations Officer, to discuss our operating results. Bruno?

Thank you, Martin. Starting with Cote Gold, it was a strong quarter with Cote reaching new milestones while maintaining stable performance as a processing plant. Notably, the plant underwent its first full shutdown in August, which was executed successfully I'm very proud of our team at Cote. It's important to remember that it's still the first full year of operation at the mine, with main plate troopers achieved at the end of Q2. Our teams are learning every day how to better position Cote for success, including the refinement of the mine plan, of the maintenance schedule, and identifying efficiency to drive continuous improvement. Now, looking at the third quarter, Cote produced 106,000 ounces on a 100-person basis, which is a record quarter of production for the mine. Mining activity totaled 11.5 million tons in the quarter, with 3.8 million ore tons mined equating to a strip ratio of 2 to 1. The average grade mined was 0.96 gram per ton in line with the plan, and demonstrating good reconciliation with our reserve and grade control model. Looking ahead, mining activities will continue to work on extending the to support efficient bulk mining and also in preparation for the future expansion of . On processing, net throughput totaled 3 million pounds in the quarter, averaging near nameplate in July and September. The first annual maintenance shutdown in August was successful With the comprehensive maintenance cycle completed and including the replacement of the high-pressure grinding roll tires, the lining of the ball mill, changes to the primary crusher outer shell, and additional maintenance work on the electrical infrastructure. Head grades average 1.18 gram per ton with feed material comprised of a combination of ferric feed ore and stock pile. Mill recoveries average 94% in the quarter, which continues to be above design rates. Turning to cost, a major driver of cost this year has been associated with a temporary aggregate crusher, which is being contracted to support the processing plant. The plant was built with a single secondary cone crusher as part of the crushing circuit, and through day-to-day operation, we learned that this is a bottleneck. This has been addressed with the addition of a second comb crusher to sustainably achieve the main plate throughput rates and provide redundancy during shutdowns. We accelerated the push to achieve main plate to mid-year from our original target of Q4, in part because we found a way to maximize throughput and offset the bottlenecks by incorporating an additional system using a contractor aggregate plan. Moving ahead, main plate by five to six months allows for maximizing tons milled today versus waiting for the second cone crusher to provide the additional flexibility. This may account for an extra $4 per ton milled, yet brings the opportunity to monetize tons already mined to the end of the year. In the third quarter, the aggregate crusher crosses a higher proportion of ore due to the shutdown in August. The use of the aggregate crusher is expected to be reduced following the installation of the secondary cone crusher in 2004 and eventually eliminated. Looking at mining costs, the average $4.51 per ton in the third quarter. Mining costs are higher than planned due to higher tire wear and were also impacted by the operation of the aggregate crusher and the feed system. The aggregate crusher requires the utilization of mining equipment to feed it, including haul trucks and a shovel, resulting in higher amounts of re-handling that is accounted to mine. These costs will decrease into 2026 as further operational improvements are made, then the elimination of the contracted aggregate plant. Mining unit costs also increase in the quarter, averaging $22 per ton mill, The temporary aggregate crusher system has a direct impact on our cross-attainment cost as it is more costly to operate. And in the third quarter, we rely on it more due to the August shutdown. Overall, we estimate around $6 per ton was associated with the cost of the aggregate crusher in the third quarter. Maintenance costs to repair the HPGR tire and wear components accounted for $1.87 per ton during the quarter. Unit costs are expected to decline over the course of 2026, following the installation of the additional comb crusher in the fourth quarter of this year. Looking ahead, we remain confident in our Cote Gold production guidance of 360 to 400,000 gold ounces on a 100-person basis, which is essentially a doubling of production from last year. As noted here, we expect cash costs to exceed the top end of our updated guidance range of $1,100 to $1,200 per ounce sold, primarily due to a combination of higher world fees impacted by a significant increase in gold price, an increase in the expected usage of the supplementary crushing during the year to support the mill fee, and the extension of certain parts and supplies that were previously expected to be capitalized. Taken together, Cote is performing very well from operation of this site less than 20 months after pouring its first goal. We are looking forward to seeing the impact of the installation of the second stone crusher in Q4 on availability and throughput paving the way for future expansion options. Which leads us to what is the most exciting slide, the advancement of the Cote Garden Supertest Scenario. As we had discussed previously, we are working towards announcing in 2026 an updated mine plan that envision the Cote operating at the higher throughput, targeting a significantly larger ore base from both Cote and Gosling. The first step is reading out the super tips of Cote and Gosling to provide the resource foundation for the mine plan. Our drills are busy at work with over 50,000 meters drilled so far this year with the goal to infill and upgrade Gosling and bring the bulk of the innovation there into measured and indicated. Past currently designed, Cote has a mining capacity to average an annual ore mining rate of 50,000 ton per day versus our current main state processing rate of 36,000 ton per day. As part of the 2026 technical report, we will look to find the right balance between an increased processing rate with mining rates targeting the combined coating . In this scenario, we anticipate a mine plan that prioritizes the extension of the plant, which could be implemented years before other major that would be part of the scenario, including capacity extension and . The updated mine plan and technical report is expected to be completed by the end of next year. And in the interim, we will continue to focus on optimizing quality, reducing our cost profile, and capturing low-end opportunities for operational improvement and capacity expansion. Turning to Quebec, in the third quarter, Westwood produced 23,000 ounces bringing the year-to-date production to 76,000 ounces, tracking below the bottom end of the guidance range of 125,000 to 140,000 ounces. The third quarter at Westwoods had similar results as prior quarters this year, as mining activities underground operated through lower-grade stoves, encountering areas of challenging ground conditions resulting in higher than expected dilution and lower mining recovery. The teams are implementing nucleation measures that include changes in blasting techniques and refinement of design and sequencing. We are already seeing improvements from these efforts in October, with the average rate so far this month from averaging over nine grams per ton in the month. The added another quarter of decent oil volume with a reported of 315,000 tons mined. Open pit activities from Grand Vic are currently being evaluated for an extension and extension of the pit. The outline scenario would push the pit into phase four, which would allow for mining until 2027. Their throughput in the third quarter was 250,000 tons, which was below the average throughput rate over the first quarter. due to a 14-day shutdown of the plant in July for the replacement of a critical gear in the grinding circuit, resulting in plant availability in the body of 25% versus 90% in the same prior year period. We expect to see mill throughput return to near 90% availability in the port water. As a result of the low availability and lower time mills, we saw an increase in living unit costs in the quarter. Likewise, mining costs also remained elevated due to an increase in the number of stoves prepared underground to set up the mine for the remainder of the year, combined with an increase in mining costs, labor costs, and exclusive and power consumption. Together, cash costs were $1,924 an ounce in the quarter. Looking at this year, as noted, Westwood production is expected to be below the bottom end of the range of 124,147 ounces. Accordingly, and despite unit cost improvement expected in the fourth quarter, annual average cash flows are expected above the guided range of $1,275 to $1,375 per ounce, and ASIC is expected to be above the range of $1,800 to $1,900 per ounce. The turnaround in October is expected to be sustainable as we continue to refine scope design in the varying underground conditions of Westwood. Despite the challenges in the first nine months of this year, I'm very proud of the team there as they have demonstrated their innovative and accountable mindset to operation, safety, and environmental care. Turning to SACAM, it was a strong quarter for the mine with production of 108,000 gold dumps on a 100-person basis, or 92,000 ounces based on our 85-person interest. Production rebounded on higher grades as mining activities were deeper into phase seven. Mining activity totaled 8.7 million tons with four tons mine of 3.2 million tons equating to a strip ratio of 1.71. Total tons mined was lower than prior periods as the mining fleet did not operate at full capacity in August due to a fuel shortage in the country. The situation improved in September and the mining fleet was able to operate at capacity to end the quarter and into October. Milk throughput was 3.1 million tons at the average head rate of 1.18 grams per ton. The transition to the higher-grade benches in Phase 7 was initially expected earlier in the year, but was realized in the third quarter. Grades have continued to reconcile positively to the reserve model in October, positioning the mine for a strong fourth quarter. On a cost basis, SACAN reported cash costs of $1,737 per ounce. an ASIC at $1,914 an ounce in the quarter, an improvement on the prior quarter. Despite the production improvement, costs remained elevated in the quarter. Over the same period last year, royalty costs have increased 61% on the per ounce basis due to the strong gold market and the new royalty decree. Royalties accounted for $283 an ounce in the first quarter. Additional drivers include a higher proportion of mining costs being spent, as well as higher maintenance activity and an increase in consumable costs, including diesel and grinding media. With the equivalent labor, contractor and facility costs also increase due to the appreciation of the local currency, which is tied to the yield. Looking ahead, we estimate that TETACAN will be at the midpoint of the 100-person basis estimate. of 400 to 440,000 ounces, which equates to the lower end of the attributable production guidance target based on 85% of 360 to 400,000 ounces. Production is expected to be higher in the first quarter due to the higher grade as the mining sequence moves in the primary zone of phase seven. At the higher of the guidance target of $1,600 to $1,700 per ounce sold, the is expected to be $1,850 to $1,950 per ounce sold. Looking beyond next year, we are initiating conversations with the government on the mining lease renewal when ours expires in 2028. While the cost of operations in-country has risen, Essekan continues to be a world-class mine and an important member of the Burkina Faso community. The mine has over 2 million ounces in reserves and is positioned to generate significant pre-cash flows moving forward. With that, I will pass it back to Renaud to discuss our latest exciting news coming from Shibugamo, Chappé. Renaud?

Thank you, Renaud. I really want to take a moment here to talk about our news from the two weeks ago when IMGOL announced the proposed acquisitions of Martin Superior and Orbit Mines for total consideration of approximately 267 million in shares of IMGOL and approximately 13 million in cash. The strategic rationale for these transactions are clear when you look at this map here. Our goal was to consolidate IAM Gold's land position and gold resources in the Chibuga-Moshepeh district, where IAM Gold's Nelligan and Monster Lake assets are located, creating the next great Canadian mining camp. Our Nelligan deposit has 3.1 million ounces indicated, and another 5.2 million ounces have been purged, with rapid growth from minimal drilling in recent years. Nelligan is a large-scale open-pit style of deposit with average grades around 0.95 grams a ton. Monster Lake, located approximately 15 kilometers north of Nelligan, is a high-grade underground style project. Prior to the acquisition announcement, we were looking at putting out economics on Nelligan and Monster Lake, envisioning a project that would take most of the ore feed from Nelligan with a high-grade kicker from Monster Lake. The potential additions of Philibert may result in a revised timeline of technical study and proposed mining scenario. Northern Superior's primary asset, Philibert, is an open pit-style deposit located 8 kilometers northeast of Nelligan. Philibert has estimated mineral resources of approximately 2 million ounces at an average of 1.1 grams a go, making it, at this time, smaller, yet higher grade than Nelligan. In the consolidated scenario, in a conceptual multi-pit and underground complex mine plan, we envision Philibert as having the potential to be the initial deposit due to the higher-grade infrastructure advantage, providing important synergies versus the standalone Nelligan. This year, we have drilled over 16,000 meters at Nelligan and over 17,000 meters at Monster Lake. with both projects having seen the programs upside and continued success at the drill pit. Upon completion of the transaction, we look forward next year to putting together a comprehensive program at Bellaberg to expand and expand mineralization, as we look to bring all these assets together. As of today, the combination of Nelligan and Monster Lake with Norton Superior's assets and Norbex property which are now referred as the Melligan Mining Complex, will rank as the fourth largest pre-production gold camp in Canada, with estimated mineral resources of over 3.8 million ounces indicated and 8.7 million ounces inferred. The closing of this proposed transactions remains subject to shareholder votes from both Northern Superior and Orsback shareholders, as well as other customary closing conditions for transactions of that nature. Together, this asset has a bright future, and we look forward to welcoming the Northern Superior and Norvex shareholders to the IAMGO team. It will be an exciting year for us, with significant value growth supports in the day ahead and many catalysts, starting with the upside scenario for Codigo, but also including the advancement of the Nelligan mining complex as well as the valuable contribution of Westwood in this account. So, thank you for your support. With that, I would like to pass the call back to the operator for the Q&A. Operator?

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To join the question queue, you may press R then 1 on the telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys And to answer your question, please press star, then two. We will pause for a moment as callers join the queue. And the first question will come from Satish Kothinathan with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Satish Kothinathan, Bank of America. Yeah, hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Congrats on a strong quarter in addition to initiate shared buybacks. My first question is on Kote Gold. So, once the secondary crusher is installed, can you give us a sense of, like, what the anticipated cost improvements could be? Maybe talk about how you see the exit rate of cost as you exit 2025.

Yeah, it's an excellent question. As we mentioned, we appreciate, you know, the very high record free cash flow at Cote and everywhere. But, you know, that doesn't take away our focus on cost. We made a conscious choice in the Q2 to maintain the aggregate plan functioning, maximizing throughput, maximizing grade by allowing, you know, more rehandling and maximizing grade and productions in free cash flow if it has worked just perfectly. Now, as you've mentioned, moving forward. So, as Bruno mentioned and as Nell or Martin both, there's about $6 a ton right from the start on the per ton of ore by using and operating the irrigate plant. And we think that with the second crusher, we'll be capable to generate our own stockpile internally. So, that's one of the focus. So, right from the start down the road, and I'm not saying that's going to be a walk in a park in the one quarter. But on the milling side, definitely our objective remains to stabilize eventually down the road towards the $12. We appreciate that there are, you know, other assets maybe that could do slightly better. But for us at $12, we believe with the kind of design and configurations, that's probably achievable. There will be some transitions, of course. Q1, probably a transition, and as we enter Q2. On the mining side, yes, we appreciate, you know, again, there is rehandling has been a big component of it. Could we stabilize in the short term more towards the 350? So, we're working on our plan as we speak, but we believe that the big component here is to being capable to operate without the aggregate plan, which will have a big effect. There's other aspect we need to improve. You know, we need to improve significantly tire consumptions, the life on it. There's probably room to improve, you know, significantly, 50, 60% of consumption. So, all that will have an impact on it. Our objective remain down the road to be as close as the $3 per ton mine. I know there's been inflations all over the place, and everyone is facing the same. But this is an objective. Not going to be there at the start of the year, but as we advance in a year, three and 12 remains our strategic target. And that's the rest become pure math, you know. You mine at the reserve grade as we're doing. You try to uplift your grade, you know, as you separate a lower grade. And with the 400,000 ounces plus and with a better unit cost, and a very low strip ratio at Cote. We definitely see this asset performing amongst the best, you know, leading on the cost side. That's what we see. Bruno, you want to add anything?

That's exactly right, Bruno. The mining cost will have better performance once we stop using the aggregate crusher, reducing much more . There's also many projects in terms of performance as we drive vertically in the pit with less fractured terrain. So, we expect improvement quarter after quarter.

Okay. Thanks for the follow-up.

Sorry? No, no. That's what we could say at this stage as we complete our plan for next year.

Yeah, thank you. That's helpful. Maybe one follow-up on the share buybacks. So understand that you will begin share repurchases after you've paid on the $130 million in debt. But is there, like, a minimum target in mind, maybe tied to a certain percentage of free cash flow that we should look at in terms of the potential for buybacks going forward?

Good morning, Satish. So once we have the program in plan by the end of the year, it gives us that flexibility to start allocating capital to the different parts of the business. And we're kind of looking at it in thirds. We would look at internal growth and opportunities, as well as we still want to repay the amount drawn on a credit facility, $250 million. And then the third part is buying back shares. We don't have to do this sequentially. We can do all of this at the same time. So we're kind of breaking it down in two-thirds, and starting next year, we'll look at the cash being generated and then do it that way. So that's kind of as close as percentage, I guess, a third that we can give at this point.

Okay. Thank you. That's it.

The next question will come from Tanya Jakusnik with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Great. Good morning, everybody. Congrats on, you know, the balance sheet. I really was impressed on your getting your net debt to keep it down so low versus Q2. Sorry, there's four calls going on at the same time, so I've missed a lot of yours. I just want a clarification, if I could. Slide 11. You have a new technical report in mind planned to be released in the second half of 25. I thought that was coming in the second half of 26. Has that been moved forward?

No. If there was any mention to 25, that would be a typo or a mistake, Tanya. But no, we remain with disclosure of our next Cote d'Ivoire expansions late 26.

Okay. All right. Sorry about that.

And thank you for . We'll fix it. Thank you.

No, no. I joined when you talked about Westwood, and so it was a slide before, and I noticed that, and I said, oh, my God, they've moved it. I wasn't aware of it. Okay. No worries. And just maybe still on Cote, if I could, you talked about bringing the processing costs down to that $12, the mining costs down to $3. We had talked on the previous conference call that you thought you would get there by mid-2026. Should it be fair to say that we're still looking for that second half of 26 where we should see these costs get into that range? Is that a fair assumption?

Well, there is one thing that we don't control, and it's some external factors. So, let's start with that, you know, like if there's an inflation. So, I'm looking at our peers. I'm looking at what we could eventually do, and this is our objective. I think the parking, the aggregate plan, you would start, you know, like transitioning in Q1 and starting in Q2. You must see the effect of much less rehandling, more direct feed, you know, to final destinations. A little bit of RAM. We're going to continue to re-handle around the HGO and if your mind, if your grade is lower for a period of time, you would, you know, you would swap and then NGO. But yes, starting Q2, this is where we start seeing effect of it and continue to work very hard towards, you know, achieving the lowest. We need to control our consumption, mostly around, of course, mentioned tires and rehandling and so forth. I think we're competitive when it comes to the procurement and so forth. So, it's really on consumptions and better control of our maintenance. We believe that the HPGR should be running better to allowing to feed it, you know, at the smaller size and so forth and increases life. It's not just like a one-ticket type of item, but the big impact would start with the parking. And the cost will be what it would be in the sense that, you know, we cannot control some external factor. But what we can control, this is our intention in 26 to get it done.

Okay. So, I should be sort of mid-26 that we should hopefully be there.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

And can I just come back? I wanted to – one more technical, if I could. Just on your reserves and resources, I'm asking all companies, what are you thinking about in terms of pricing as you get your mine plans in place and start thinking about your pit shells and so forth? What pricing assumptions are you looking at for year-end 2025 and 2026? And sort of inflation –

The most important aspects are the reserve, and as we're re-looking at Cote and so forth, you know, we're very comfortable, you know, to remain at the 1700 or so for reserve at Cote, and we're going to, we'll look at as well what the industry is aligning and so forth, so there is no real rush there. is a longer, short-term life of mine, so there's ability here to increase a bit and maximize cash flow down there. But typically, for our main asset, like Cote, we're not saying more than $1,700 at this stage for the year-end exercise. And we're also testing the long-term resource deposit, like the Nelligan and so forth. You know, we'll be testing at probably up to $2,500 as a resource exercise. But we'll be disciplined. We're not intended to use the full gold price in the short term and like to see how the industry eventually, of course, we're going to pick the price for the quality study and so forth. But it is not our intention to transform our asset in low grade using the full gold price. Okay.

Thank you for that. And if I can ask a financial question, I just, you know, I saw your debt target, your net debt to EBITDA down to 0.74. And I think I heard that we still have another 250 million in 2026 that we want to reduce our debt by. So I'm just wondering, one, is that correct? I should think about another 250 for 2026. Do we have a net debt to EBITDA target you're comfortable with so that I can and a minimum cash balance on the balance sheet so I can then sort of look at my share buyback.

Good morning, Tonya. Good morning. So that is correct. We have $250 million in the credit facility, and we would like to pay that down in 2026. But we also have 130 million left on our second team that we plan to do this year. So that then leads us to next year, we think 200 to 250 million is a good minimum cash balance for our company. Over time, as I mentioned earlier, we will probably build that up as a third of the capital allocation would go to that. But that's kind of the main benchmarks, 200 to 250 minimum cash, and then pay down that 250. So from a net day to EBITDA ratio, that would bring us down to 0.5 or maybe even less. We are comfortable with one and lower, but we also understand it's a very high gold price environment, so we don't put all of our targets for net day to EBITDA using a high gold price. So we kind of Looking at it, what would it be at lower gold prices as well? So we don't want it to be much harder than one in a lower gold price environment.

Okay, that's great. And if I could squeeze in an exploration question, I would really like to talk a little bit about the Nelligan camp. And maybe, Renaud, I'm keen to – you said there are synergies of that entire camp. It's never going to be called the Nelligan camp once this is done. Can you talk about, like, is it going to be – are you envisioning, like, one central mill camp? to sort of, you know, treat all of these ores? Like, how are you envisioning this camp?

Well, I had the pleasure to be leading the Rosebell Gold Mines at the very early days of IMGOL following the creation, you know, the takeover of Cambiar. And at the very early days when I rejoined this company, I was looking at this cam. There was like a kind of an obvious type of lookalike, if you will. And I'm sure you're very familiar as well with the Rosebell concept back in time where we started with two and eventually had six mining areas and so forth. I like that one even further. So because of the high grade underground component as well, that comes up like So the kind of the close this for us, and we've operated this place for many years, so we have a pretty good understanding and mining experience. But think of it as a bit of a kind of a Rose Bell concept back in time, definitely a center processing facilities, kind of, you know, gravity center and fed and hopefully multiple, mining sources that eventually comes and go as you advance in time. So, that's the closest example I could take. I could think of.

And one tailings facility or should I think that is that as well?

Sorry. Yeah, no, definitely. Yeah, yeah, one tailing, but again, with the new concept and minimizing footprints and the importance of protecting, you know, and minimizing environmental footprint, I could see over time a kind of a use as well of depleted pits to be incorporated in the scenario of how you minimize for tailings purpose. So early stage, but this is our concept here. So, the priority will be Filiberto Nelligan's monster lake and eventually, hopefully, you know, as we continue to drill, maybe incorporating more areas.

Look forward to hearing more about it next year.

Thank you. Again, if you have a question, please press star then 1. Our next question will come from Anita Stoney with CIBC World Markets. Please go ahead.

Hi, thanks for taking my question. Similar position to Tanya with the number of competing conference calls, so I apologize if I missed anything. But I just wanted to follow up on Tanya's questions around costs going into next year. I guess I was just trying to understand if, you know, as we look at co-pay and sort of pushed towards higher tonnage costs, you know, what are the things that you're thinking about? Like, what are the inflationary factors that you're placing on the mining cost front? And where do you see some offsets in terms of maybe pushing higher times?

You were breaking up a bit. I'm sorry. We're maybe on the mining. Yeah.

No, go ahead.

Yeah.

Well, if we got your questions on the inflationary aspects on the cost and so forth, yes, we did see some, you know, pressure. But it's more around we don't see necessarily, you know, like on the pressure on the procurement side. And, Martin, you can add to this. I think it's really around the product to these and creating, moving more towards bulk mining, as Bruno said, as we open the pit even further and creating more faces, minimizing the movement of equipment during blast. This is all productivity. This is all like same equipment, more movement, less rehandling, and the tire, and improving on drilling, blasting. This is like the most important aspect of 26. that would probably get us, you know, to a significant improvement. There is no reason for Cote, you know, to lag his peers when it comes to the best mining we could do. But we've been very restricted. We haven't allowed the group to really mine within, you know, the perfect setting and force a lot of rehandling and so forth. So we need to be patient here and give a chance to the winner here to run the race. Bruno?

And like just to give you an example, at the mill site in maintenance, we've done like a numerous iteration to try to find the right liners for secondary paint crushers, like more than one. Probably five, six, five different types of liners were tested out. Very glad to see that we have one that is performing very well that's going to double the lifetime of these liners. So we expect improved productivity, improved production, and lower cost on the basis. But when you start an operation like the size of Cote, you need to do some . You need to have an iterative process on summary. You have to find the best parts that will figure your cost out, and that's what we do. It takes some time, but we know where we have to work on.

Okay, thank you, Vlad. I know these operations take some time to ramp up, and you've done a good job.

Yeah, exactly, and you've mentioned that, Anita, more than once, and this is the thing, and maybe we sound like we've you know, not direct to the question, but the reality being is from the commissioning, you're building, you know, of the 23 to the full commissioning in 24, and you're looking at this year, our first year was to really eliminate any red flags, you know, remaining and so forth. 90% recovery at the mill, perfect reconciliations, mining at the mining grade, proven our concept of minimizing on segregations and make it more like work. And as you could see, three-quarter in a row where you actually being capable to uplift at the mill. So, those are all like significant milestones for us at the very early days. To say that we entered 26 and that what we want is an average for four years of the 36 with a full focus on the cost, And you turn back and you look at what this group has achieved to date, and now the mission is on the cost, and we're going to have the same focus and the same discipline and, you know, and attacking this. I have all reason to believe that we're going to do like great, great, great improvement on this. And that would be the first time really where we're going to be focusing on it. The next logical step for us after focusing this year on throughput and pre-cash flow analysis and so forth. So, I have all reasons to believe, Anita, that you're going to see great things coming out of COATIC as we make it our priority next year.

Yeah, so that, you know, from most of the operations that are doing well, year three is definitely, you know, the optimization year, not just year three for year 2026. Absolutely. Can I just ask just one more question in terms of, sorry, grades. The grades that you're mining, the milk plant feed has been above the mined grade, right, because you have created it from the same stockpile previously, but now the grades are sort of in the 0.9 range. level this quarter, and what should we be expecting, like what the grade profile looks like going into next year? Is it going to be more along reserve grade, or will we still have a couple of quarters of no feedback?

I'll pass it.

I'll pass it to Bruno. Good morning. We have already, like, a good inventory of high grade at the end of Q3. But the question is, if we mine at 0.96, like, how long are we going to be able to mill at a grade above that? We're currently looking at our 2026 budget and the intent is still to mine higher proportion of ore that will have a grade above the average grade. So, the goal for Cote is to be averaging the mining at average grade But the first three years is going to be a little bit above that. So, we're talking about 1.1, 1.2, which will give us like a good fast forward 400,000 go-downs per annum. So, and while we are increasing capacity , the grade will be reduced, but still protecting that 4,450 level.

Yeah, if I may just add something to it, it has a lot to do as well with the volume you mine, correct? So, like, to look at this here, how do you move from 0.96 mine to uplifting above 1.1 at the mill has a lot to do with not super segregation, at least remove the lower grade glass from your inventory and just talk about the long term. So that practice could continue a little bit down the road. So I'm confident that by mining, the reserve rate will be capable to continue to uplift along the line of what we're seeing.

Okay. Thank you for taking my question.

Okay. The next question will come from Muhabit Tadib with National Bank Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Thanks for taking my questions. And apologies, I missed the start of the conference call due to conflicts there. But on the grade front, but maybe at Westwood, you know, given the challenging ground conditions, I think you've seen improvement in October in terms of the underground grade there. How should we think about Q4 and maybe next year, 2026, as we think about the Westwood grades and the mining rate there? Thank you.

Go ahead, Bruno.

Good morning, Mohammed. So the the plan or if I can explain what's was on the east side of areas of it's less challenging ground conditions, but it's lower graded on the central zone and western zone. It's the ability to give better grades, but with more challenging ground conditions. So what, when you started facing those, those challenging ground conditions, we just shifted our strategy and resequenced the production of minecums toward the east side. So, that's the reason why you see the lower grade since the beginning of this year. Since then, we have readjusted the way that we do our blasting patterns, gridding patterns, to take into account these ground conditions. I'm very pleased to say that we've been very successful in October in those zones, and the average grade that we collected was above 99%. And right now, what we have is we have an inventory of almost one month and a half in front of us that are accessible. The algorithm that we have developed over the past few years is working very fine, but we just need to refine it further at the scope level so we can expect safely and profitably each stove that we have in the . So we just have to make some adjustments. So for the Q4, we expect a very strong Q4, and for 2026, it's going to be a balancing act between how much soap we're going to be scheduling in the east side and the central zone in . So it's a risk-adjusted type of planning. And again, Westwood is a mine that needs to deliver 10,000 ounce a month to be on X. So very, very confident about the rest of the year, and 2026 goes very well.

Yeah. If I may just add to this, and thank you, Bruno, for this. To be very frank, you know, like, the mine, like, we did extremely well in 24, rehabilitated all the zone. There's maybe some aspect of it that maybe we tried to run a little bit before walking, but the plan is, like, I really have all the confidence that, you know, it's pure engineering, and we're already seeing quite a bit of turnaround and back on our feet. But the way we look at the mine is, like, we'll be absolutely happy, you know, as Renaud says, you know, an average of 10,000 a month, a mine capable to operate sub-2000, bringing, like, significant free cash flow and longevity. So that's how we think of these mines for the next two, three years. The future could be very exciting, depending of what happens and uncovering all the resources to the east and so forth. So more to come on that one. But for the time being, when I look at the next two, three years, we'll be absolutely happy with the mine, predictable, capable to deliver its 10,000 a month, sub-2,000. With that, we'll be very happy, and it would do very well for us. Thanks a lot, Bruno and Renaud, for that.

That's very helpful. And if I could maybe shift to Essekane, I think you noted, again, maybe you already commented on this, but you noted that you had in August a fuel shortage in the country. As you're looking at, you know, your operations now, we've heard kind of neighboring countries having issues and know that some of the Ivory Coast energy being provided into Burkina may have had some challenges there as well. But Are you seeing any impact from fuel pressures at operation as it can currently or what is the latest that you can provide on us on that front? Thank you.

So Mohamed, we are not using the same route as Maddie does. So we have a very specific supply routes for fuel. So that's for one. The second thing is that we have, more than 48 days of inventory . So, it gives us enough time to rearrange our logistics should we have like . We have enough to maintain the operations uninterrupted. So, it requires good logistic efforts, and we have continuous support from the government, allowing us to bring the convoys of tools at sites at the appropriate time. But the main strategy was to make sure that we have enough fuel depot at the second, so we can extend a long period of time without supplies arriving to a second. So, in a sense, we're not using the same roads. We don't see the same type of pressures as Mali and so far. The other strategy that we have is increased inventory upside.

Great to hear. Thanks, Bruno. And a final question maybe on the complex and greater consolidation of the complex there. What should we look at in terms of, you know, next key steps for this complex? I know that you're advancing, you know, an exploration campaign there with potential resource update in early 2026. But how could we look at this beyond what are the next key steps for the zone? Thank you.

So just quickly on that, so expect us, you know, like focusing on resource growth in 26, you know, the incorporations of the filibur. So we need to answer one question that is really key. How big could that filibur be, and how does it fit in a mine plant, right? So this is the very, very key focus of 26, increased drilling program. We'll be aggressive but smart about, you know, proven record, you know, from the team. I'm not concerned at all there. And I think we could do a very good use of money deployed there. But that's the very short term. And as I mentioned, you know, we were hoping of maybe putting some sort of a study in 26. But I think it's worthwhile, you know, like getting great answers, you know, from objective, you know, with almost 12 million already. So we could only shoot for the 15, 20 million camp. And this is what we're going to be doing. We're going to drill, drill, drill, and hopefully having a very good update, resource update to Lake 26. Having said that, Nelligan and Munster Lake will be somewhat, you know, updated at year end with the drilling of 25 in it. But look at it as resource grows the next year or two, and then we'll start putting study out there. And anything we could advance and start putting in place will do it. but we have a high, high level of confidence that this is going to be a mining camp. Renaud, do you want to add anything to this?

Well, thanks a lot for that answer, Renaud, and congrats on a great financial performance. Thank you. Thanks.

This concludes the question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Graham Jennings for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much, operator. And as always, thank you, everyone, for joining. If you have any questions, please reach out to Manohar and myself. Thank you all. Be safe. Have a great day.

This brings to a close today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for your participation, and have a pleasant day.