Lithium Americas Corp.

Thank you for standing by. My name is Kathleen and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the first quarter 2024 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 the star 1 again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Kelly O'Brien, Vice President of Investor Relations and ESG.

Please go ahead. Thank you, Kathleen. I want to welcome everyone to our earnings conference call this morning. Joining me on the call today to discuss the first quarter results is Sam Pigott, President and CEO of Lithium Argentina. Alex Shoga, Vice President and CFO, will also be joining during the Q&A session. Our earnings are released after the market closed yesterday, and you'll find the press release, the MD&A, and the financial statements posted on our website. I remind you that some of the statements made during this call, including any production guidelines, expected company performance, gum things, strategic investment, impuestos grandes, the timing of our projects, and market conditions, may be considered forward-looking statements. Please note the cautionary language about forward-looking statements in our MD&A and news release that was filed last night. I will now turn the call over to Sam.

Thank you, Kelly, and a warm welcome to everyone joining us today. It's been six weeks since our last earnings conference call, and I'm delighted to have this opportunity to provide you all with an update on our progress. As we move forward into 2024, our focus remains steadfast on several key priorities. supporting the successful ramp-up of Kachari overalls. Secondly, ensuring the company remains sufficiently capitalized through the ramp-up and to support our future growth plans. And thirdly, advancing the regional development plan for Pasos Grandes Basin with Ganfeng. In the first quarter of 2024, the Kachari project achieved a production milestone of 4,500 tons of lithium carbonate, a 20% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. As production increases and different components of the plant have been pushed to higher levels, the operation has encountered increased variability consistent with a ramp up. I'm very proud of our team at site, including some of Ganfeng's most senior and experienced individuals and their ability to address any challenges that arise. I have confidence in their technical expertise, commitment to the project, and focus on the goal of successfully completing this ramp up. Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, Our primary objective is to continue ramping up production consistently and sustainably towards our 2024 production target of 20,000 to 25,000 tons of lithium carbonate. As the project reaches near nameplate capacity and begins to see levelized production and sales volumes, we will work with our joint venture partner to enhance disclosure later this year. We expect the increased disclosure to coincide with more normalized operations that are less impacted by short-term variability tied to startups and present a clear picture of the project. In line with our commitment to operational efficiency, we've initiated a corporate cost reduction program. It is important to highlight that although cost reduction efforts are being made, we remain committed to the neighboring communities and provinces in which we have development projects and operations. The company is working with Ganfang to pursue additional long-term debt options to leverage improved lending conditions in Argentina and support future growth plans. The Paso's grand debt transaction remains on track to be finalized around the end of Q2, providing a further $70 million to support our operations in Argentina. Additionally, the regional development plan for the Paso de Grandes Basin is progressing as planned. There has been a significant amount of work conducted by both GANFANG and Lithium Argentina. In recent weeks, this information has been compiled and organized to support completing a comprehensive development plan by the end of the year. In summary, despite encountering some challenges as typical to any ramp-up, Our efforts are yielding positive results in terms of both volume and quality, and we remain on track to meet our guidance for 2024. We extend our gratitude to our dedicated teams in Argentina and abroad, and our joint venture partner, Ganfeng, for their continued efforts and expertise. Looking ahead, our focus this year will remain on key priorities of ramping up production, maintaining a strong balance sheet, and advancing our regional development plan. With that, I'll open it up to questions.