Lithium Americas Corp.

ladies and gentlemen thank you for standing by my name is Abby and I will be your conference operator today at this time I would like to welcome everyone to the lithium Argentina third quarter 2024 earnings call all lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise and after the speaker's remarks there will be a question and answer session if you would like to ask a question during that time simply press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one a second time. Thank you. And I would now like to turn the conference over to Kelly O'Brien, Vice President, Investor Relations, and ESG. You may begin.

Thank you, Abby. I want to welcome everyone to our earnings conference call this morning. Joining me on the call to discuss the third quarter results is Sam Piggott, President and CEO. Alex Shogo, VP and CFO will also be available during the Q&A session. Before we begin, I would like to cover a few items. Our third quarter earnings press release was issued last evening, and the corresponding documents are available on our company website. I remind you that some of the statements made during this call, including any production guidance, expected company performance, Gonteng's strategic investment in Pastos 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.

Thanks, Kelly. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We appreciate your interest in our company and your ongoing support as we progress Cachari-Olaraz and navigate the evolving landscape of the lithium market. We are cautiously optimistic on the future of lithium, particularly as we assess market conditions, our operational capabilities, and positive changes we are seeing in Argentina. Last night, we published our third quarter results, and we're pleased to announce that during the third quarter, Kachari Oloraz produced approximately 6,800 tons of lithium carbonate, a 21% increase from the second quarter of the year. The plant is currently operating at 75% to 80% of nameplate capacity, and while we expect this level to be maintained into 2025, we are confident that we will be able to reach 40,000 tons in the future. Given production year-to-date and targets for the fourth quarter, we are well-positioned to meet our production guidance of 20,000 to 25,000 tons of lithium carbonate this year. As mentioned in the earnings release last night, the additional processing cost to achieve battery-quality lithium carbonate has been reduced from $2,000 to $1,500 per ton. While this change had a positive impact on margins, market prices of lithium continued to see downward pressure during the third quarter. The most recent realized prices for Kachari Gold or Oz fell to approximately $7,000 per ton following the decline in lithium prices. Looking forward, we continue to work closely with our partner, Ganfang, to determine the optimal product mix and quality to address the evolving needs of lithium battery customers and to maximize our overall operating margin. We expect to provide clarity on our 2025 production plans and product quality targets early in the new year. We are pleased with the work being done to advance Stage 2 at Kachari-Olaroz in the Regional Development Plan around Pasos Grandes Basin in Salta Province. The work on the Regional Development Plan is ongoing and should be completed in the coming months. We believe that the newly passed RIGI regime will provide a number of very attractive fiscal incentives to support large-scale investments in the country and will help support the development of our comprehensive growth pipeline. We expect to release more information related to the Regional Development Plan in early 2025. In closing, we remain optimistic about our strategic positioning in the lithium market and the long-term demand driven by the ongoing energy transition. Our operations in Argentina continue to demonstrate strong production capabilities, and we are committed to enhancing our efficiency and sustainability practices. As we move forward, we believe our investments in technology and partnerships will further solidify our role as a key player in the global supply chain. We look forward to updating you on our progress in the coming quarters. And with that, We'll open the floor to questions.