DPM Metals Inc.

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Dundee Precision Medals second quarter 2024 earnings results conference call. At this time, all participants are in 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 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message Advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today. 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 the Dendy Precious Metals second quarter conference call. Joining us today are members of our senior management team, including David Ray, President and CEO, and Navin Dayal, Chief Financial Officer. 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. These definitions 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 reconciliation of these measures. Please note that unless otherwise stated, operational and financial information communicated during this call are related to continuing operations and have been generally rounded. References to 2023 pertain to the comparable periods in 2023, and references to averages are based on midpoints of our outlook for guidance. I'll now turn the call over to David Ray.

Thanks, Jennifer. Good morning and thank you all for joining us. I'm pleased to provide you with an overview of our second quarter results and to provide some insights into our achievements during this period. This morning, David and I will briefly review our results and discuss why we believe DPM continues to be well positioned to deliver value now and over the long term. As you would have seen from our news release circulated last night, we've delivered a very strong quarter. which included record financial results and excellent cost performance. Highlights from our second quarter include production of approximately 68,000 ounces of gold and 8 million pounds of copper, an all-in sustaining cost of $710 an ounce, in line with our guidance for the year, record free cash flow generation of 82 million, and continued financial strength as we ended the quarter with a consolidated cash balance of $707 million and no debt. I'm pleased to say that we're on track to achieve our 2024 guidance targets, which will mark the 10th consecutive year we have achieved or outperformed our gold production and oil and sustaining cost guidance, a testament to the strength of our operating team and the quality of our minds. During the quarter, we also advanced our growth pipeline, completing the PEA for Choca Raquita, and initiated the pre-feasibility study. which is on track for completion in the first quarter of 2025. Taking a look at our operations in more detail, Chalapetch continued its consistent track record in the second quarter, producing 44,000 ounces of gold and 8 million pounds of copper at an impressive oil and sustaining cost of $531 per gold ounce sold. Of the balance of the year, we expect improved copper grades at Chalapetch, and the operation is on track to achieve its production guidance for the year. With all-in sustaining costs of $670 per ounce in the first half, Chalapetch is also expected to be well within its cost guidance for the year. We continue to focus on extending Chalapetch's mine life through our successful in-mine exploration program and an aggressive brownfield exploration program. With increased in-mine and brownfield exploration drilling, we believe there's strong potential to continue our track record of extending mine life at Chalapetch, which currently extends to 2032. We commenced in the quarter drilling at Charlotte Derry, ended evaluating extensions and confirming several high-grade intercepts from previous work. We also continue to advance the activities to support moving to the commercial discovery phase for Brevenet, and this includes a one-year extension of the exploration rights, which we expect to receive in the fourth quarter. Adatepe produced approximately 24,000 ounces of gold in the second quarter, in line with our expectations. All in sustaining cost was $699 per ounce of gold sold, which is below the low end of Adatepe's guidance range for the year. Adatepe has consistently outperformed our expectations since commissioning in 2019, and we are confident that Adatepe will continue to deliver strong results. We're also continuing our exploration efforts around Adatepe with activities focused on delineation of Krumavica. Drilling, which commenced at the end of March, is ongoing and permitting for the next phase of drill sites is in progress. Turning to our development projects and starting with our high-quality Chocowikita project, We completed and showed the results of the PEA in the second quarter, which outlined a high-margin, low-cost underground mine, robust economics with first production targeted for 2028. Based on the positive results, we initiated a PFS, which is advancing well and is on track for completion in the first quarter of 2025. We're also advancing project permitting activities in support of this timeline with good support and engagement from key regional and national authorities. This includes preparation for the EIA, which we expect to submit in the first quarter of 2026. What makes Chocomikita particularly exciting is that it's not only an attractive project on a standalone basis with an IRR of 33% at a $1,700 gold price, But it also has significant exploration potential across our four licenses. We are continuing our Scout drilling program, which is focused on aggressively pursuing additional targets and following up on the positive results we published earlier in the year. Overall, we're very excited by Chocoriquita's potential in a region where we've had a presence for many years and where we've developed strong relationships with local stakeholders. Turning to the Loma Laga project, we continue to progress activities related to permitting and stakeholder relations. The informational phase of the environmental consultation process was successfully completed in April, and we are working with the Ministry of Energy and Mines to outline an interim procedure for the free prior and informed consultation process. The baseline ecosystem and water studies are also currently in progress. We continue to take a disciplined approach with respect to future investments in activities in Ecuador, which will be based on the project achieving key milestones, the overall operating environment in the country, and our other capital allocation priorities. In our release last night, we provided an update on the SUMET sale. As we progress towards closing, all Chinese regulatory approvals have now been received. with the Namibian Competition Act being the only remaining approval required. Due to DPM's sale of the smelter, the smelter's tolling agent has elected to end the existing agreement it had with Sumer, and DPM will therefore be required to purchase all unprocessed concentrates and secondary materials owed by Sumer, which amounts to approximately $80 million net of the cash settlement of the outstanding metal recoverable. As a result of this development, we're in discussions with Sinemine regarding amendments to the agreement, including an expected reduction in the cash consideration for the smelter from $49 million to $20 million. We're also discussing an arrangement whereby DPM would step into the position of a tolling agent on a temporary basis, commencing when the current agreement with IXM ends and terminating four months following closing. We view this as a necessary step to facilitate the transaction, one that we are comfortable in making given DPM's experience and knowledge of smelter counterparties. The sale of the smelter is consistent with our strategic objective of focusing on our gold mining assets and simplifying our portfolio going forward, and we continue to target closing the transaction in the third quarter. Overall, we delivered record financial results for the second quarter and first half of the year, And with both minds on track to achieve our 2024 guidance, we are well positioned to continue our strong operating track record. I'll now turn the call over to Navin for a review of our financial results.