DPM Metals Inc.

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Dundee Precious Metal 4th Quarter 2023 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 1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, press star 1 1 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference to Jennifer Cameron.

Thank you and good morning. I'm Jennifer Cameron, Director of Investor Relations, and I'd like to welcome you to Dundee Precious Metals' fourth quarter and year-end 2023 conference call. With me today are David Ray, President and CEO, Navin Dial, Chief Financial Officer, as well as members of our Senior Manager team who will be available to take your questions. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that 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 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 the call are related to continuing operations and have generally been rounded. References to 2022 pertain to the comparable periods in that year, and references to averages are based on midpoints of our outlook or guidance. I'll now turn the call over to David Ray.

Good morning, and thank you all for joining us. Overall, the leadership team at DPM is very proud of what our global team achieved in 2023, which was an exceptional year for the company. We delivered strong operating results and robust free cash flow generation, significantly increased our return of capital to shareholders, and further strengthened our balance sheet, providing an exceptional platform for our future growth, which we significantly transformed during the year. Today, Navin and I will provide a brief update on our Q4 and year-end results and discuss why we believe that DPM continues to be well-positioned to deliver value to all of our stakeholders now and over the long term. I will also outline why we are excited about what lies ahead for DPM in 2024. Looking back at the past year, I'm pleased to report that in 2023, we continued our strong track record consistent performance at our operations. We produced approximately 296,000 ounces of gold and 31 million pounds of copper. And despite industry-wide cost pressures and lower copper prices, our all-in sustaining cost was $849 per ounce, which was within our guidance. We generated $228 million in free cash flow and significantly increased our return of capital to shareholders, returning $96 million or 42% of our free cash flow to share buybacks and dividends. We ended the year in a strong financial position with $595 million in cash and strong liquidity, including an undrawn $150 million revolving credit facility and no debts. Importantly, we continued to deliver on our ESG priorities and scored in the 91st percentile among metals and mining companies in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment for the third consecutive year. During the year, we also significantly transformed our growth pipeline, which the Csoka Rikita project in Serbia and the acquisition of Acino Resources, which is targeted to close in the second half of the year, subject to certain approvals. Looking at our operations in more detail and starting with Chalipetch, our largest mine continued its track record of strong performance in 2023, producing approximately 162,000 ounces of gold and 31 million pounds of copper within our guidance for the year. In November, we announced an updated mineral reserve and resource estimate, along with an updated life of mine plan with improved grades and recoveries, continuing our consistent track record of extending Chalipetch's mine line. Today, Chalapetch has a life of mine that extends to 2032 based on mineral reserves, has a strong mineral resource base, and significant opportunities to continue our track record of mine life extensions, including Chalapetch North, which used to be known as Sveta Petka, where we received our commercial discovery certificate in Q4. In 2023, we continued our in-mine exploration program, as well as aggressive brownfield explorations. We continued drilling at Charlotte Dairy West and Charlotte Dairy Prospects, which demonstrate additional resource potential, and these are within the concession and close to existing infrastructure. Turning now to Adetepe, the mine achieved a new gold production record in 2023 at 134,200 ounces. All in sustaining costs were particularly impressive at $500 per ounce of gold sold and were below the low end of guidance for the year. In the fourth quarter, we continued the target delineation campaign and scout drilling at the new Kramovica exploration license. Scout drilling of several epithermal sediment-hosted targets was advanced during the quarter and is planned to continue in the first quarter of 2024. In 2024, we plan to spend a total of $3 million to $4 million of groundfield exploration activities and approximately $2 million in greenfield exploration at Atatepa. Last night, we announced that in 2023, we decided to undertake a strategic review of our SUMET asset, including a potential sale of the smelter. To provide some context around that announcement, we acquired SUMET in 2010 as a secure processing outlet for the complex concentrate produced by Chalapeche. With developments in the global smelting market, we've been able to place Chalepetch concentrate at several other third-party facilities, providing secure and reliable processing at favorable terms without the need to own and operate the smelter. Therefore, we do not expect to process any Chalepetch concentrate at SUMEB commencing in 2024, and the smelter, therefore, is no longer seen as a strategic asset within our portfolio. In 2023, SUMA processed approximately 188,000 tons of complex concentrate, which was below 2023 guidance. This was a result of unplanned downtime in the off-gas furnace system in the first three quarters of the year, and we extended our shutdown in order to complete repairs to that off-gas system. However, in the fourth quarter, we got the benefit of that work with sumo processing approximately 68,000 tons of complex concentrate, which was a near record level of performance, a very large improvement over the prior three quarters due to the repair of those off-gas systems. Over the course of 2023, we significantly transformed our growth prospects. In December, we announced that we had entered into an agreement to acquire Acino Resources and the Advanced Stage Twin Hills project in Namibia. which has the potential to add near-term growth to our portfolio. The transaction is subject to a senior shareholder approval and Namibian competition approval. Also in December, we announced the initial mineral resource estimate for Chocoriquita, which marked a significant milestone for DPM's future growth and confirmed Chocoriquita's potential as a high-quality gold project. Since we announced the initial discovery in January of 2023, Chocoriquita has rapidly grown into a 1.8 million ounce deposit at 5.6 grams a ton, a remarkable achievement over such a short period of time. We're continuing to accelerate the project through our development pipeline, including advancing a preliminary economic assessment, which we expect to complete in the second quarter of 2024. We'll be targeting throughput rates of 850,000 tons per annum. The project is located approximately 35 kilometers from the city of Bor in Serbia, is proximal to existing roads and power lines, and is approximately 320 kilometers northwest of DPM's Chelyabinsk mine in Bulgaria, which will allow easy access to existing technical support capabilities. Choker Rakuta is a strong fit with our underground mining and processing expertise, with metallurgical test work demonstrating gold recoveries of approximately 90% by gravity concentration and conventional flotation. We're excited by Chocoraquita's potential in a region where we've had a presence for many years and where we've developed strong relationships with local stakeholders. We're also planning to continue progressive exploration at Chocoraquita and the surrounding licenses to generate new discoveries. Scout drilling near Chocoraquita continued in forked water, intercepting favorable geological indicators in the north and northwest flank of the system, where additional marble-hosted scar mineralization was encountered. In the fourth quarter of 2023, we were granted two new exploration licenses covering the area hosting the TMOK Gold Project. We are currently preparing an aggressive exploration program and plan to start testing SCARM targets on the new Potash Kuka exploration license located to the north of Choca Rikida, as well as the new Pestajur exploration license, which is to the west of Choca Rikida. This program is expected to commence in early 2024, pending approval of work programs and permitting procedures, with approximately 25,000 metres of drilling planned for the first year of exploration on these targets. 2024, we plan to spend a total of around $20 million for exploration activities in Serbia. Turning to Loma Lago in Ecuador, we continue to progress activities related to permitting and stakeholder relationships. In October, a new president was elected, and we are working with the newly formed government to fulfill the requirements of the August 2023 ruling, which found that free prior and informed consultation of certain local indigenous populations must be carried out by the state. That ruling also required environmental consultation with communities in the project's area of influence and additional reports on the impact on water resources and the nearby national recreation area. and these will be delivered by the ministry to the court to advance the project to the exploitation phase. In line with this ruling, the government commenced the environmental consultation process in January. DPM will continue to support the government of Ecuador and proactively engage with stakeholders to fulfill the conditions established by the court. As previously reported, DPM will continue with the optimization phase of the feasibility study beyond the previously stated timeline ending in 2023. This in order to evaluate additional opportunities and potentially incorporate the results of drilling once these activities are able to recommence. We will continue to take a disciplined approach with respect to future investments in the Loma Laga project, which will be based on the receipts of key milestones, the overall operating environment in Ecuador, and our other capital allocation priorities. At the tier of Colorado's concession, which is located 200 kilometers south of Loma Laga, In Ecuador's local province, we continued the 10,000-meter drilling program, which commenced in August. This program is designed to follow up the positive results we reported at the end of February, which confirmed the presence of two high-grade vein systems that remain open in multiple directions. In closing, we're entering 2024 in the unit position. We have strong and consistent production from our operations and an all-in sustaining cost that ranks among the lowest in the gold industry. We have significant free cash flow generation, a record of disciplined capital allocation and returning capital to shareholders. We have attractive development projects, proven exploration success, and the financial strength to internally fund our growth pipeline and exploration prospects, as well as continuing to return capital to shareholders through our quarterly dividends. We've got continuing ESG performance and an impressive track record of securing our social license and a very strong technical team with a history of adding real value through innovation. I'll now turn the call over to Navin for a view of the financial results and outlook, following which we'll open the call to questions.