Lithium Americas Corp.

Hello and thank you for standing by. My name is Tiffany and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Lithium Argentina second quarter 2025 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 that time, Simply press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to turn the call over to Kelly O'Brien, Vice President of Investor Relations. Kelly, please go ahead.

Thank you, Tiffany. I want to welcome everyone to our earnings conference call this morning. Joining me on the call today to discuss our second quarter results is Sam Piggott, President and CEO. Alex Shulga, VP and CFO will also be available during the Q&A session. Before we begin, I would like to cover a few items. Our second quarter 2025 earnings press release was issued earlier this morning, 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, update on the regional development plan, 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 presentation, MD&A, and news release. I will now turn the call over to Sam.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. We will begin on slide three with a review of key highlights and milestones from the second quarter. At Kachari-Olaroz, we delivered strong operational results with higher production volumes and lower costs quarter over quarter. With the completion of the first half, we feel confident in reaching our full-year production guidance of 30,000 to 35,000 tons. We also strengthened our financial position, securing $120 million in new bank facilities at Kachari-Olaroz to support working capital as operations advance. Together with our partner, Ganfang, we made meaningful progress towards consolidating the Pazuelos-Pazos Grandes basins. We expect to give the market an update shortly. as we work diligently to position these assets for long-term growth and to develop a platform for what is expected to be one of the largest lithium operations globally. On slide four, we delivered solid performance in the second quarter. You can see a summary of the key operating financial metrics. Revenue increased despite softer market prices, reflecting the benefit of higher output. The team has done an excellent job executing safely and efficiently. And during the second quarter, the operations consistently produced 85% of main plate capacity delivering 8,500 tons of lithium carbonate for the second quarter and 15,700 tons in the first half. While market prices have been quite volatile in recent weeks, we realized an average price of $7,400 for the second quarter, an 8% decrease compared to the first. We emphasized the reduction of costs quarter on quarter and turning to the next slide, we will discuss this in more detail. In the second quarter, We brought operating costs down approximately 8% compared to the first quarter, reaching $6,100 per ton. This decreases a function of many different cost reduction efforts across the operation. There are structural, long-term changes, and part of our transition to a steady-state operator. We are quite proud of these optimization efforts, which bring our current costs below latest feasibility study estimates. The scale and quality of Kachari-Oloraz, coupled with efficient operations and low production costs, reinforces our position as a resilient producer that is able to sustain profitability across market cycles. Moving to slide six, in recent months, we have seen increased volatility in lifting prices. Today, prices are just over $10,000 per ton. We do not believe that these lower prices are sustainable, given strong global growth and the need for new supply, which is often significantly higher cost. We have positioned the business to withstand a lower for longer price environment and remain focused on what we can control, namely safe, low cost and reliable operations. We believe this environment favors low cost brine operations, which are well positioned on the cost curve and able to execute and grow through the cycles. On slide seven, we have outlined our platform for growth. As we look ahead, we're excited by the scale of opportunity emerging across our platform in Argentina. Our growth strategy targets over 200,000 tons per year of lithium carbonate equivalent capacity, leveraging both expansion at our producing operation and at our regional growth projects with Gansang, where through consolidating our projects in the Pizuelos and Pasos Grandes basins, we are targeting approximately 150,000 tons of capacity. We've made significant progress in advancing the regional development plan in Salta. Very soon, we expect to combine these three high-quality assets that together cover two entire solars, something unique in our industry. This positions us to participate in what is expected to be one of the largest lithium projects in the world, with the benefits of scale and advanced technology. This partnership will allow Lithium Argentina and Ganfeng to bring together their respective strengths in large-scale brine development. building on the capabilities and collaboration already proven at Kachari-Olaroz. We expect to have an update shortly on the consolidation and a feasibility study complete by the end of the year. Both Lithium Argentina and Ganfeng are working together to advance financing plans, including project debt and potential minority equity investments from customers. In addition to our regional growth plans, stage two of Kachari remains a key component of the pipeline, expected to contribute an additional 40,000 tons. Our approach is to create a more efficient operating structure that harnesses new technologies, economies of scale, and builds off our track record at Kachari-Olaroz. As we advance these longer-term growth initiatives, we are focused on strengthening the balance sheet while preserving and maximizing shareholder value. In closing, on slide eight, we remain focused on executing our core priorities, unlocking value, operational efficiency, and financial flexibility. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, our priorities are clear. At Kachari Olaraz, our focus is on continuing our efficient operations and maintaining our position as one of the lowest cost producers in the industry. We plan to advance the unified development plan for Pesuelos Pasos Grandes Basins, positioning this world-class asset for long-term scalable growth. At the corporate level, we continue to strengthen our balance sheet and preserve financial flexibility without diluting shareholders. Above all, we will execute with discipline focus on delivering against our targets, and ensure we close out 2025 in a position of even greater strength and opportunity. Thank you for your continued support. And with that, I think we'll open up to questions.