Calibre Mining Corp.

Good morning and welcome to the Caliber Mining Corp 2024 second quarter conference call. All participants will be in a 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 the touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over 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 of the presentation. 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 Q2 and year-to-date 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, Daniela Dimitrov, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Tom Gallo, Senior Vice President, Growth. we will be providing comments on our second quarter and year-to-date 2024 results, 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 Darren.

Thanks, Ryan. Moving to slide three. Good morning, and thank you for taking the time to join us today. Firstly, I'd like to thank all Calibre employees and business partners for their continued focus and diligence to responsibly deliver another quarter. The organisation's commitment to act like owners is demonstrated in the following three recent milestones. In June, the Calibre team in Nevada surpassed three years without a lost time injury. In Q2, our Nicaraguan operations reported year three conformance with the World Gold Council's Responsible Gold Mining Principles. This significant milestone reflects the team's commitment to foster positive impacts on the environment, engaging with and supporting local communities, and upholding rigorous governance standards. And in early August, the team at Ballantyne passed two million hours worked without a lost time injury. Switching gears, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Daniela Dimitrov to the team, Excalibur's SVP and Chief Financial Officer. Daniella joined Calibre in June, and their positive contributions are already evident. I look forward to Daniella's insights and contributions as we continue our journey to a quality mid-tier gold producer. Moving to the quarter, consistent with expectations, the company delivered 58,754 ounces of gold in the quarter. Q2 saw higher tons mined, largely stripping at the open pits in Nicaragua, resulting in short-term cost tension that's setting us up for a stronger production leading to lower oil and sustaining costs in H2. Given our projections for the remainder of the year, we are on track to deliver into our full-year production guidance of 275,000 to 300,000 ounces. The team's progress at Valentine in Newfoundland has been very pleasing as we march towards first gold in Q2 2025, which I will talk to more shortly. I'm excited by the significant exploration opportunities across our portfolio of assets, not the least being on our Valentine property, where we recently commenced a 100,000-metre drill program. More on that in a minute. Turning to slide four. As mentioned, first gold of Valentine remains on schedule for Q2 2025. The addition of Valentine to our portfolio of assets will establish Calibre as a quality mid-tier gold producer in the Americas, providing a compelling re-rate opportunity for all shareholders. I am pleased to report that construction of the fully-funded Valentine Gold Mine was 77% complete at the end of July, and the team continues to make good progress, consistent with the schedule and spend provided in our May project update. A few recent highlights. Line of placement is well advanced at the tailings management facility, and we expect to retain water by the end of September. SAG, ball mill and primary crusher installation is well underway. CIL tank area construction is nearing completion. Steel mechanical piping and electrical and instrumentation is advancing consistent with schedule. The operations leadership team is employed and engaged in pre-commissioning activities with RCC. Importantly, federal environmental approval and provincial mining and surface leases for the Berry Pit and associated infrastructure have all been obtained during the quarter. We have commenced a scoping study to review phase two process plan expansion options focused on investigating combination circuit alternatives. It's early in the analysis, but I'm encouraged that there are options which may present even higher returns than the feasibility study envisaged with the original phase two plan. With 211 million Canadian in initial project capital remaining to be spent and 350 million Canadian in cash and restricted cash, The Valentine build is fully funded. Moving to slide five. This slide provides an aerial view of the Valentine site, looking southwest over the tailings management facility towards the process plant and mining operations. The photo provides a good perspective of not only the scale of the project, but importantly, construction progress. It's great to see the project evolve as the team steadfastly progresses towards first gold in Q2 2025. Turning to slide six, the Valentine Gold Mine and surrounding property offers a robust 5 million ounce resource base and numerous discovery opportunities from an extremely prospective array of exploration targets with similar geology to the prolific Valdor and Timmins camps in the Abitibi Gold Belt. It is this prospectivity, coupled with the encouraging results we've seen, which supports the recently announced expansion to our Valentine Exploration Program. During Q2, we commenced an additional 100,000 metre drill program across the flagship property to confirm the vast potential of the Valentine District, comprised of 64 kilometres of high potential discovery opportunities along the two parallel shear zones. This program is in addition to the previously announced 50,000-meter wall control RC drilling program and the 10,000-meter Winky RAB drilling program, which is focused on testing for bedrock geology. Additionally, drill results from the exploration programs across Nicaragua reinforce the potential for discovery and resource expansion, both within the 176-square-kilometer eastern Barosi land package located in the northeast, and the VTEM Gold Corridor located within the Limon Mine Complex. At Volcan, rapid progress following receipt of key environmental approvals for the development of the open pit resulted in first ore being delivered to the Limpetag Mill within a month of permit receipt, which will contribute to a stronger H2. Drilling at Volcan confirms the deposit can host higher-grade near-surface gold mineralization in excess of the initial open-pit resource average of 2 grams per tonne. Moving to slide 7. In closing, I am confident in our ability, as we have demonstrated, to deliver on our commitments. With detailed engineering at 98% and construction at 77%, Calibre is well positioned to responsibly deliver the Valentine Goldmine and commence production in Q2 2025. The company remains committed to deliver into our 2024 production guidance as we drive increased production and lower costs during the second half of the year. With demonstrated resource growth and discovery potential across all assets, Calibre will continue to add significant value through investment and exploration. We will continue to look forward, grow the company organically, maximize the full potential of our existing assets, and choose the most sustainable and accretive path forward to drive shareholder value. With that, we're happy to take questions.