DPM Metals Inc.

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Dundee Precious Metals First Quarter 2022 Earnings Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1 on your telephone. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. If you require any further assistance, please press star zero. I would now like to hand the conference over to Jennifer Cameron, Director, Investor Relations. 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 Calls. Joining me today are David Ray, President and CEO, and Hume Kyle, Chief Financial Officer. After the close of business yesterday, we released our first quarter results for 2022, and we 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 or ratios. 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 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 are related to continuing operations and have been rounded, References to 2021 pertain to the comparable period in 2021, and references to averages are based on midpoints over outlook or guidance. And now to turn the call over to David.

Thanks, Jennifer. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us. As you've seen from our news release circulated last night, the first quarter of 2022 was a solid start to the year, as we continue to generate significant cash flow driven by solid gold production and impressive oil and sustaining cost performance. This morning, I'll briefly review the highlights of our first quarter results and our operational performance before handing the call over to Kim to discuss our financial results. Looking at the highlights then from the first quarter, they include solid production of 63,000 ounces of gold and 7.7 million pounds of copper, excellent oil and sustaining cost performance of $684 per gold ounce, which was below the low end of our four-year guidance. strong free cash flow generation of $52 million to the quarter, and continued financial strength exiting the quarter with a cash balance of $382 million. With higher quarterly production forecast for the balance of the year, our mining operations are on track to achieve the 2022 guidance. I'm also proud to share another notable performance highlight. Our Bulgarian operations recently achieved 4 million hours without a lost-time injury, which translates to two years without a lost-time injury. This is a remarkable accomplishment that speaks to DPM's strong culture that prioritizes the safety and well-being of our employees at all levels. Turning now to the highlights of our operations, I'll start with Jalapetra. So Chalipetch continued its track record of consistent performance, producing approximately 41,500 ounces of gold, 7.7 million pounds of copper, at an all-in sustaining cost of $563 per ounce of gold. Gold production was above expectation, largely as a result of higher ore processed and higher gold recovery achieved in copper concentrate. Copper production was slightly below plan due to lower copper grades. At the end of March, we were pleased to announce a mine life extension and optimized mine plan in a technical report, as well as an updated mineral reserve and resource estimate for Chalapach. The optimized mine plan reflects improved gold recoveries, better commercial terms, and results in higher gold and copper production, adding approximately 286,000 ounces of gold and 47 million pounds of copper to Chalapach's life of mine production profile. The results are also reflected in an updated holding-sustaining-cost outlook for 2023 and 2024, where we've lowered costs to reflect the benefits of improved recoveries and commercial terms related to a higher volume of gold-copper concentrate delivered to third-party starters. We continue to focus on extending Chalapetch's mine life to our successful in-mine exploration program and a growing brownfield exploration program, which for 2022 includes the usual 44,000 meters of in-mine drilling for mineral resource development, of which roughly two-thirds of that is extensional. approximately 50,000 meters of brownfield exploration, which this year is primarily concentrated on near-mine exploration drilling related to the Sveta Petka commercial discovery application, as well as drilling at Sholodiri and other near-mine targets in the mine concession area. We've received all the required permitting for the drill program for Setapetka in March, allowing us to start the planned intensive drilling campaign to support a further assessment and application for a commercial discovery. And we commence that at the end of March, and it's for the commercial discovery application early in 2023. With a mine life that extends to 2030, an updated mineral resource base, an increase in mine and brownfield exploration drilling, we believe there is strong potential to continue our track record of mine life extension at Chalapetch. During the first quarter, Adetepe produced approximately 21,400 ounces of gold, which is above expectation for the first quarter as a result of higher gold grades, at an all-in and sustaining cost of $893 per ounce sold. With grades and production expected to be stronger in the second half of the year, and particularly the last quarter, Adatepe is on track to achieve its 2022 guidance. As we look to the year ahead, we are assessing the results of the accelerated grade control program at Adatepe, which was completed in 2021. The drilling was carried over with 7,000 metres done in 2022, and all of that together is now anticipated to go into an optimised mine plan, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022. We're continuing our exploration efforts at Edetepe with 20,000 metres of drilling planned for 2022, which will be focused on near-mine target delineation and drilling within the mine concession and surrounding Cremobitsa exploration lines. During the quarter, after completing conceptual targeting for possible feeder structures within the Kamkrum mine concession area, we're also planning a 5,000-meter drill program, which will commence in the second quarter. We also commenced drilling of the Chirite Exploration License with an 11-hole scout program underway to test targets identified in 2021. Turning to Sumer, Sumer smelt had processed approximately 47,200 tons of complex concentrate in the first quarter at a cash cost per ton of $480. This is below target for the quarter as a result of maintenance to the off-gas system, as well as reduced backhouse capacity. This impact to throughput is likely to continue as we progress towards the shutdown, which is planned to occur in Q2 and actually later in this month. As a result, we expect SUMEP to be towards the lower end of its 2022 guidance for complex concentrate. In terms of future growth, we continue to advance the Loma Laga project, recently achieving a very significant milestone in the permitting process. In mid-April, we received technical approval for the EIA assessment study from the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition. This process is now advancing to the community consultation stage. Following another review from the Ministry, we expect to get the environmental license in the third quarter of 2022. As the permitting process advances, our team is proactively working with stakeholders to obtain the project's social license. I had the opportunity to meet with President Lasso and a number of his cabinet ministers in March, and we continue to maintain a constructive relationship with the government. We are in negotiations regarding an investor protection agreement, which we expect to execute prior to making any significant capital commitments. We've also increased our dialogue with local stakeholders to provide more visibility to certain aspects of the project that are of high interest in the local community. As we previously reported, we paused our planned drilling activities near the end of February, pending the hearing of a constitutional protection action against the ministry, which is sent in in Cuenca. The original hearing date was deferred following the filing of preliminary motions, and we expect the hearing to be scheduled shortly. We continue to work closely with government ministries and local stakeholders that support the project in defending this action, which the company believes is without merit. In parallel with permitting, we've also continued our work to optimize the feasibility study for Loma Laga and progressed with several trade-off studies aiming to further improve the project based on expertise and experience. Turning to the TMOP project in Serbia, we continue to progress the feasibility study focused on the oxide and transitional portions of the deposit, which is on track for completion in the second quarter and reporting in Q3. In terms of greenhouse gas targets, last night we were pleased to announce DPM's climate change commitments. These commitments are the culmination of a significant amount of work, which included assessing the risks and opportunities of climate change on DPM's business, as well as the development of a climate change strategy that incorporates our growth strategy, capital resources, and operational priorities. And it is aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. We are committing to reducing our absolute scope one and two greenhouse gas emissions by 37.5% by 2025 and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. However, in order to achieve the real reductions needed to avoid the global tipping point in the climate crisis, we also need to work with the suppliers and customers along our value chain. We're therefore also committing to develop a scope three emissions target by 2025 and to engage in the existing and potential new partners within our value chain to pursue opportunities that will have a meaningful impact. These commitments will require a significant amount of work and collaboration throughout our whole value chain, and I'm confident that we have the skills we need to be successful. We look forward to sharing our progress as we work towards these commitments. To wrap up the quarter, our strong production profile and significant free cash flow generation, combined with our operating track record and strong ESG performance, position us well to continue delivering value for all of our stakeholders. We are committed to deploying our capital in a disciplined manner, as we have demonstrated with our investment in optimizing our assets and advancing our growth pipeline. We also continue to pay a sustainable quarterly dividend and more recently used our NCIB to repurchase 1.5 million shares during the first quarter. We are confident that DPM's strong fundamentals continue to represent a compelling value opportunity for investors. And I'll now turn the call over to Hume for a review of our financial results and outlook, following which we will open the call to questions.