Altius Minerals Corporation

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Altius Minerals Corporation second quarter 2023 financial results conference call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ms. Laura Wood, VPIR and Sustainability. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Hilda. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our Q2 conference call. Our press release and interim filings were released yesterday after the close and are available on our website. This event is being webcast live, and you'll be able to access a replay of the webcast along with the presentation slides that are on our website and on the webcast site. Brian Dalton, CEO, will speak on the call. And we have Stephanie Hussey, VP Finance, speaking today as she's substituting for Ben Lewis, our CFO. We also have Lawrence Winter, VP Generative and Technical, who many of you know, he's here for questions you might have on Silicon or on project generation. The forward-looking statement on slide two applies to everything we say in our formal remarks and during the Q&A session. And with that, Stephanie is up first. Go ahead, Stephanie.

Thank you, Flora, and good morning, everybody. Royalty revenue for Q2 2023 was $18.7 million, or $0.39 per share, compared to $28.6 million, or $0.61 per share, in Q2 2022. Adjusted EBITDA followed the trend of revenue in the second quarter. The mineral royalty segment had an EBITDA margin of 81%. Both revenue and adjusted EBITDA were impacted by lower commodity prices, primarily potash, and the schedule closure of the 777 mine at the end of Q2 last year. The prior year quarter also included a positive thermal coal adjustment of $1.6 million relating to 2021 sales. Q2 2023 adjusted operating cash flow of $14.1 million, or $0.30 per share, compares to $16.6 million, or $0.35 per share, in the same quarter last year. The decrease follows the trend of lower revenue as well as higher interest paid and some working capital adjustments. Our balance sheet is strong, and we remain focused on our capital allocation strategies. During the quarter, Altius received 8.9 million from Lithium Royalty Corp as a return of capital distribution to the pre-IPO shareholders. We expect to receive a further combination of cash and shares over the next 24 months as described in LRC's prospectus. We made 2 million in scheduled principal repayments on our term debt during the quarter, paid cash dividends of 3.6 million or $0.08 per share to its common shareholders and issued approximately 9,800 common shares valued at $200,000 under the corporation's dividend reinvestment plan. The Board of Directors approved an $0.08 dividend that will be paid to shareholders of record on August the 31st with a payment date of September the 15th. The corporation repurchased and canceled approximately 98,000 common shares under its normal course issuer bid for a total cost of $2.1 million during the quarter. Our current liquidity consists of $25 million in cash at the end of Q2 and $94 million in unused revolver room on our credit facility. ARR held cash of US $41 million at quarter end. The combined term and revolving credit balance was $116 million, while the market value of our holdings in LIORC ARR, LRC, and the PG equities portfolio stood at a combined total of $387 million. Subsequent to the quarter, Adventist announced a U.S. $9 million financing, of which U.S. $4 million was provided by Altius in the form of a convertible debenture. The debenture bears interest at 10% per annum and is set to mature by December 31st this year. Altius will have the right to convert the principal and the interest into shares at any time, and if the loan is not repaid by maturity, Altius may convert the outstanding amount into a 0.63% NSR. We currently hold a 2% NSR on the Curripampa-El Domo project, which is a high-grade copper-gold project in late-stage permitting. In addition, ARR funded $9.9 million into GBR representing its 50% portion of new renewable royalty investment deployment. And with that, I'll turn it over to Brian.