Calibre Mining Corp.

Hello and welcome to the Caliber Mining Corp 2024 Quarter 1 Conference Call and Valentine Goldmine Update. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. And to withdraw from the queue, please press star then queue. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the call to Ryan King. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to join the call this morning. Before we commence, I'd like to direct everyone to the forward-looking statements on slide two. Our remarks and answers to your questions today may contain forward looking information about the company's future performance. Although management believes that our forward looking statements are based on fair and reasonable assumptions, actual results may turn out to be different from these forward looking statements. For a complete discussion of the risks, uncertainties and factors which may lead to actual operating and financial results being different from the estimates contained in our forward looking statements, please refer to the Q1 2024 MD&A and Consolidated Financial Statements available on our website as well as on CDAR+. And finally, all figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated. Present today with me on the call are Darren Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer, David Svlet, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, And Tom Gallo, Senior Vice President of Growth. We will be providing comments on our first quarter 2024 results and Valentine Goldmine update following yesterday's news releases. We will discuss capital costs and project updates, after which we'll be happy to take questions. The slide deck we will be referencing is available on our website at calibremining.com under the events section. You can also click on the webcast to join the live presentation. With that, I'll turn the call over to Derek.

Thanks, Ryan. Moving to slide three. Good morning, and thank you for taking the time to join us today. Firstly, I would like to thank all Calibre employees and business partners for their continued efforts and focus during what has been a very busy quarter. First, I want to acknowledge and I'm proud to make particular mention of the Valentine team for their outstanding safety performance, which was recognised on Monday when the Canadian Institute of Mining, Medallion and Petroleum awarded the team with the prestigious John T. Ryan National Safety Award. A significant achievement and well done to the entire team. Moving to Q1, consistent with H1 expectations, the company delivered 61,700 ounces of gold in the first quarter. With higher tons mined and processed, costs were as anticipated, higher than full-year expectations. Additionally, with the team in Nicaragua making good progress in the open pits, we are 20% ahead on total material movement, which is a little double-edged as it results in higher Q1 spend but de-risked production in H2. As we have consistently foreshadowed, Gold production is H2 weighted, and I'm confident in reaffirming our four-year guidance. Turning to slide four, our vision at Caliber has always been to establish a quality mid-tier gold producer by generating strong operating cash flows to fund organic growth while seeking accretive opportunities to diversify and grow. We have consistently delivered into this vision, never more so than now, with the acquisition of the Valentine Gold Mine in Newfoundland and Labrador. With first gold scheduled in Q2 2025, Ballantyne will establish Calibre as a quality mid-tier gold producer in the Americas, providing a compelling re-rate opportunity for all shareholders. I'm pleased to report the construction of our fully funded Ballantyne Goldmine is 64% complete, and we have progressed detailed engineering to 98%. Additionally, the team has completed the tailings management facility starter dam, received engineer of record sign-off and commenced liner placement, which is a significant milestone in the project development. Delivered critical path items, including mills and motors to Newfoundland. We recently enclosed the mill building. We've connected site to permanent hydroelectric power. We've awarded all major outstanding construction contracts. employed an experienced and highly motivated operations leadership team, and awarded a contract for and advanced pre-commissioning and commissioning activities. These project optimization and de-risking efforts, combined with accelerating operational and a portion of Phase 2 capital expansion, results in an initial capital cost of $653 million Canadian dollars, $145 million Canadian increased over Marathon Gold's Q3 2023 update. With $279 million Canadian in initial project capital remaining to be spent and $400 million Canadian in cash and restricted cash, the bill is fully funded. Moving to slide five, the $145 million Canadian is consistent with our pre-acquisition due diligence and incorporates underestimated costs, inflationary impacts, and capital advance by caliber to de-risk delivery and to support future operations. The increase versus marathons Q3 2023 estimate primarily consists of three components. Schedule and cost estimation of approximately $70 million, which relates to improved quantity, cost, and time estimates with engineering now at 98%, progressed from 60%, which was the basis of the Q3 2023 estimate. Secondly, $40 million attributable to Calibre's project optimisation and de-risking efforts, which focus on ensuring that the facility as designed delivers its full potential as we transition from construction to operations. This investment includes pre-commissioning and commissioning planning and activities, mill and site modifications, access road upgrades, and importantly, advancing deployment of the operations team. Finally, Calibre is advancing operational and phase two capital expansion of 35 NIA, which is more opportunistic in nature and includes investment in infrastructure that will positively impact operations. This includes commencing construction of permanent mobile equipment maintenance facilities, process plant effluent, treatment plant, and accommodation upgrades. A more strategic component of this investment advances a portion of the Phase 2 expansion capital. In the feasibility study, Phase 2 is the planned plant expansion in years 3 and 4, which increases throughput to 4 million tonnes per year. We are early in the analysis, but given the current SAG ball circuit design, we believe there may be opportunity to increase throughput in advance of a plant expansion. A key component to enable any increased throughput would be to ensure the capacity in the CIL circuit and therefore we have included additional tankage as anticipated in the Phase 2 design. We've commenced a scoping study to review process plant expansion options focused on assessing comminution circuit alternatives It's early in the analysis, but I'm encouraged that there are combinations of secondary crushing and grinding options which may present even higher return options than the feasibility study envisaged phase two. Which is a good segue into exploration, as having an appreciation of the potential scope of the district will influence scale when assessing processing expansion opportunities. The Valentine Gold Mine and surrounding property offers a robust resource base and discovery opportunities from an extremely prospective array of exploration targets with similar geology to the Prolific Valhalla and Timmins camps in the Abitibi Gold Belt. I'll now pass it to Tom to provide additional color on Valentine's exciting exploration potential.