DPM Metals Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Dundee Precious Metals first quarter results conference and webcast call. At this time, all lines are less than 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 Thursday, May 6th, 2021. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ms. Jennifer Cameron. Please go ahead.

Thank you, and good morning. I'm Jennifer Cameron, Director, Investor Relations, and I'd like to welcome you to Dundee Precious Metals' first quarter conference call. Joining us today are David Ray, President and CEO, Hume Kyle, Chief Financial Officer, and Michael Dorfman, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development. After the close of business yesterday, we released our first quarter results, and I hope you've had an opportunity to review our material. All forward-looking information provided during this call is subject to the forward-looking qualification, which is detailed in our news release and incorporated in full for the purposes of today's call. Certain financial measures referred to during this call are not measures recognized under IFRS and are referred to as non-GAAP measures. These measures have no standardized meaning under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The definitions established and calculations performed by DPM are based on management's reasonable judgment and are consistently applied. These measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. Please refer to the non-GAAP financial measures section of our most recent MD&A for reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures. Please note that unless otherwise stated, operational and financial information communicated during this call have generally been rounded, references to 2020 pertain to the comparable periods in 2021, and references to averages are based on a midpoint of our outlook or guidance. I will now turn the call over to Dave.

Good morning, and thank you all for joining us. As you've seen from our news release circulated last night, the first quarter of 2021 was a solid start to the year as we continue to generate significant free cash flow driven by strong gold production and impressive costs. Highlights from our first quarter include solid production of 70,000 ounces of gold and 7.2 million pounds of copper, excellent oil and sustaining cost performance of $522 per ounce of gold, Continued strong free cash flow generation of $51 million for the quarter. With a higher quarterly production forecast for the balance of the year, our mining operations are on track to achieve the 2021 guidance, and we expect our role in sustaining costs to be at the lower end of the guidance range. We're also expecting stronger performance at the smelter for the remainder of the year following the completion of the planned maintenance shutdown during Q1. We continue to build our financial strength, exiting the quarter with a cash balance of $176 million. Earlier this week, we also announced the closing of the sale of MineRP, generating cash proceeds of $41 million. We continue to retain upside from the sale of MineRP through potential earn-out payments, payable on the achievement of certain revenue targets in 2021 and 2022. Turning now to the highlights of our operations, I'll start with Adetepe. Since Aratepe reached full capacity in Q3 of 2019, the mine has established a track record of impressive performance, which continued in the first quarter as the mine delivered a new record for quarterly production of over 33 ounces of gold, 33,000 ounces of gold, ahead of our expectations. Aratepe also achieved strong cost performance during the quarter, which cashed costs of $43 per ton of ore processed and all in sustaining costs of $450 an ounce. which highlighted significant potential to drive free cash flow generation in our portfolio. We are continuing our exploration efforts around Adetepe with 23,000 meters of drilling planned for 2021, including 9,000 meters for additional resource and conceptual target extension on the mine concession, as well as advancing the Chattel Kaya and other prospects on regional licenses. In Q1, drilling activities continued at Cernak, Synap, Kuklica prospects, which are located approximately three kilometers southwest of the mine. At Cernak, drilling is close to completion with modeling planned for the second quarter. Additional drilling is also planned at Synap and Kuklica in Q2, and we expect to commence target generation and scout drilling on our other licenses. At Chalapetch, we produced 36,900 ounces of gold and 7.2 million pounds of copper. This performance in the first quarter was slightly lower than the forecast due to lower copper grades as well as lower copper and gold recovery performance with certain ore blends. However, cost performance continues to be strong with first quarter cash costs of $41 per ton of ore processed and all-in sustaining costs of $589 per gold ounce, both of which are at or below the low end of Chalopech's 2021 guidance range. I'm pleased to say that since the end of the quarter, Chalapetch's performance has been trending better, and the mine continues to be on track to achieve its 2021 guidance. At the end of March, we're pleased to announce an updated mineral reserve and resource estimate for Chalapetch, which reflected a net increase to mineral reserves and mineral resources, as well as a two-year mine life extension for Chalapetch. We continue to focus on extending the mine life through our in-mine and brownfields exploration programs, with an intensive program planned for 2021, which includes approximately 38,000 meters of brown fuels exploration, in addition to the normal 44,000 meters of in-mine drilling that we conduct annually. In January, a geological discovery certificate was issued by the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy, which is a significant milestone for the advancement of the Sveta Petka exploration license. Following completion of the formalities on the commercial discovery work plan, we plan to commence drilling and engineering work to progress the geological discovery to a commercial discovery, which is anticipated to take approximately one year. Following an environmental impact assessment, we would be aiming to convert the license into a mining concession. In the interim, we've commenced drilling on the Breveni exploration license, which immediately surrounds the Spetepetka license. We are testing more conceptual targets within the surrounding Breveni exploration license, which includes a significant evaluation drilling campaign at Bosol, Charlotte Deary, Bridge, and Kazana. With mineral reserves that now extend to 2029 and an updated mineral resource base and increased in-mine and brownfield exploration drilling, we believe there's strong potential to continue our track record of mine life extensions at Chalepinch. Turning to SUMEP, complex concentrate smelter was expected to be lower in the first quarter compared to the remainder of the year, primarily due to the scheduled off-smelt furnace shutdown. This was originally planned for 30 days. However, this timeline was extended to 45 days, reflecting COVID-19-related safety protocols, travel restrictions, and the use of remote commissioning support, as well as an increase in the scope of the off-smelt lining replacement and additional converter maintenance. As a result of that maintenance shutdown, the smelter processed approximately 23,000 tons of complex concentrate during the first quarter. Q1 cash costs reflected that lower production at $967 per ton, and that's partially volume, and it's also a very good indication of the high fixed cost nature of that facility. As previously disclosed in April, we've revisited SUMEP's guidance and now expect to process approximately 200,000 to 220,000 tons of complex concentrate. With the maintenance successfully completed during the quarter and the return to full operations at the end of March, we expect stronger smelter performance for the balance of the year. In terms of our future growth, we continue to advance our TMOP project in Serbia. During the quarter, we announced a positive pre-feasibility study and have advanced the project to a feasibility study, which we expect to complete in the first quarter of 2022. We also released encouraging exploration results where drilling is continued on shallow oxide targets and follow-up on high-grade sulfide mineralization just south of the existing reserves. During the second quarter of 2021, drilling activities will continue to support the completion of target delineation and infill drilling in support of the mining concession application. We also continue to pursue our growth strategy by evaluating additional opportunities that have the potential to generate strong returns and enhance the value of the company. Overall, our strong gold production profile and free cash flow generation, combined with our unique skills in innovation and building strong partnerships with local communities, position us well to continue delivering value for our shareholders. We continue to demonstrate the potential of our portfolio to generate significant free cash flow, and we are committed to deploying this capital in a disciplined manner. We firmly believe that DPM's strong fundamentals continue to represent a compelling value opportunity for investors. And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Hume for a review of our financial results and comment on our 2021 guidance and three-year outlook, following which we will open the call to questions.