Kinross Gold Corporation

Good morning. My name is Laura, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Ken Ross Gould Corporation first quarter 2020 results conference call-in webcast. All participants are in listen-only mode 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 then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press the pound key. Thank you. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Tom Elliott, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Development. Mr. Elliott, you may begin your conference.

Thank you. Good morning. With us today, we have Paul Rowlinson, President and CEO, and the Kinross Senior Leadership Team, Andrea Fribero, Paul Tamori, and Jeff Gold. Before we begin, I'd like to bring to your attention the fact that we will be making forward-looking statements during this presentation for a complete discussion of the risks, uncertainties, and assumptions which may lead to actual results and performance being different from estimates contained in our forward-looking information. Please refer to page two of this presentation, our news release dated May 5th, 2020, the MD&A for the period ended March 31st, 2020, and our most recently filed AIF. all of which are available on our website. I'll now turn the call over to Paul.

Thanks, Tom, and thank you all for joining us today. This morning we'll provide an update on how we're managing in the current environment and our quarterly results. First, however, I want to convey that our thoughts are with all those who have been affected by the pandemic. As well, On behalf of our company, I'd like to express our deepest gratitude and respect for all of the frontline workers who continue to put themselves at personal risk during this crisis. Regarding Kinross, we, like many companies, are facing various pandemic-related challenges across our business. However, through a combination of early planning, disciplined adherence to health and safety protocols, and support of host governments, all of our minds remained in operation during the quarter and have not been materially impacted. During the quarter, we did not experience significant business interruptions, and most importantly, our employees were healthy and safe. However, we are taking nothing for granted and have established business continuity and contingency plans to help us manage a wide range of financial and operational scenarios. Throughout this crisis, we have been working closely with our host governments and communities to aid their campaigns to control the spread of COVID. We've committed $5.3 million in support of local efforts to provide medical supplies, equipment, and food aid at our sites around the world. Despite this challenging environment, we have performed well and we are proud of our first quarter results. Our three largest mines, Barakatou, Coupole de Voynoy, and Tassius delivered strong production and cost during the quarter. Of note, Tassius delivered its second consecutive quarter of record production. As is the case with any global portfolio, There were some puts and takes during the quarter, and we did encounter some challenges at our smaller mines. However, the impact to the company as a whole was relatively small. On April 1st, as part of our COVID update, we also provided a look at some preliminary Q1 results, including sales, production, costs, and our balance sheet position. Importantly, our cash flow and balance sheet are well ahead of our initial budget, which assumed $1,200 gold. Strong cash flow, coupled with a precautionary drawdown of our credit facility, resulted in a cash balance of just over $1.1 billion with total available liquidity of $1.9 billion at the end of the quarter. During the quarter, we generated approximately $110 million of free cash flow, and our run rate in April was noticeably stronger than Q1. To elaborate, if gold prices for the remainder of 2020 averaged $1,700 per ounce, we would expect to generate free cash flow in excess of $700 million for the year. The current environment for gold energy, and foreign exchange is good for our business. Notably, the price of gold is at record levels in both the Brazilian real and the Russian ruble. If these currency levels persist, they can have a powerful impact on our cost structure and margins. For example, at Perica II, approximately 60% of our costs are in Brazilian real, which has depreciated by more than 25% year to date. Although we withdrew our 2020 guidance in recognition of the uncertain operating environment, we will continue to work towards the original targets. I'll now turn the call over to Andrea for a more detailed review of our financial results.