Capstone Copper Corp.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Capstone Copper's Q3 2024 results conference call. At this time, all lines are in 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 0 for the operator. This call is being recorded on Thursday, October 31, 2024. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Daniel Sampieri. Thank you. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. I'd like to welcome everyone to Capstone Copper's Q3 2024 conference call. Please note that the news release and regulatory filings announcing Capstone Copper's 2024 third quarter financial and operational results are available on our website and on CDAR+. If you are logged into the webcast, we will advance the slides of today's presentation, which are also available in the investor section of our website. I am joined today by our CEO, John McKenzie, our President and Chief Operating Officer, Kajal Maher, our SVP and Chief Financial Officer, Raman Randhawa, our SVP Risk, ESG, and General Counsel, Wendy King, and our SVP Technical Services, Peter M. Ellingson, is also available at the end of the call. Following our brief remarks, there will be an opportunity for questions. Please note that comments made on the call today will contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This information, by its nature, is subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the views expressed today. For further information on the risks and uncertainties pertaining to our business, please see Capstone's most recent filings, which are available on our website and on CDAR+. And finally, I'll just note that all amounts we will discuss today are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise specified. Now I'll turn the call over to John McKenzie.

Thank you, Daniel. Good afternoon, everyone in North America and Europe, and good morning to those dialing in from Australia. We're pleased to present our third quarter 2024 results and achievements, starting with slide five. In Q3, our operations delivered consolidated copper production of 47,500 tons at consolidated C1 cash costs of $2.83 per pound. Very importantly, during the quarter we had several major achievements at our mines in Chile. At our flagship Monteverde development project, we achieved commercial production levels in September. This is a tremendous accomplishment within three months of producing first concentrate from the plants. We also completed our first two concentrate shipments with a copper concentrate meeting all required specifications. At Montes Blancos, we undertook a two-week shutdown to install the new equipment that will allow us to unlock the design capacity of the plant. Following these milestones and the Q3 results, we've noted that we expected to finish at the low end of our 2024 production guidance. We've revised our C1 cash cost guidance to $2.60 to $2.80 per pound, mainly as a consequence of the ramp-ups at Monteverde and Montes Blancos commencing later in the year than we had expected. On the corporate side, our net debt was largely unchanged at $751 million as at September the 30th. Our balance sheet is in excellent shape as we ramp up Monteverde ahead of our next phase of growth. During the quarter, we also provided our leadership succession plan that will take effect at our AGM in May next year. The announcement followed a thorough and orderly succession process to ensure continuity of leadership and continued success of the company. It has been a privilege to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of Capstone Copper since March 2022, and I'm thrilled to be nominated to the role of Board Chair at our next AGM. I was also very pleased to announce that Cashel will be appointed as our next CEO. I have every confidence in Cashel to lead the execution of our next stage of growth at Capstone, including our Monteverde Optimized and Santo Domingo projects. Jim Whittaker will succeed Cashel as COO, and this will also allow us to flatten our organizational structure with all mine general managers reporting directly to the COO. We also announced today that Gerald Annet has retired after five years with Capstone to spend more time with his family. Gerald has been an important contributor to Capstone's success over the past five years, and we thank him for all of his contributions and wish him all the best in retirement. Turning to slide six. Earlier in October, we released a feasibility study for our Monteverde Optimized project. MV Optimized is a capital-efficient, brownfield debottlemaking project that will expand the existing sulfide concentrator at Monteverde from 32 to 45,000 tons per day, leveraging the excess capacity in existing infrastructure. This project will bring on an additional 20,000 tons of copper per year for an initial capital of just below $150 million, implying a super low capital intensity of $7,500 per ton of copper equivalent production. This positions us to produce over 120,000 tons of copper per year at Monteverde for the next 10 years, with cash costs of $1.80 per pound. Importantly, when combined with the release of our updated Santo Domingo feasibility study earlier in July, we have now defined the next transformational phase of growth for Capstone and our world-class Monteverde-Santo Domingo district in the Atacama region of Chile. We see ourselves producing copper by these two processing centers in this well-endowed district for many decades to come. Monteverde and Santo Domingo are separated by only 35 kilometers, and we have identified multiple options to serve for significant further value in the coming years. And with that, I'll pass over to Raman for our financial results.