Eldorado Gold Corporation

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Eldorado Gold Corporation Q4 and 2020 year-end financial and operational results conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star then 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star and zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jeff Wilhite, Interim Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and thanks, everyone, for taking the time to dial into our conference call today. On the line with me are George Burns, President and CEO, Phil Yee, Executive Vice President and CFO, Joe Dick, Executive Vice President and COO, Jason Cho, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, and Peter Lewis, Vice President Exploration. Our release yesterday details our 2020 fourth quarter and year-end financial and operating results. This should be read in conjunction with our fourth quarter and year-end financial statements and management's discussion and analysis, both of which are available on our website. They've also been filed on CDAR and EDGAR. All dollar figures discussed today are US dollars unless otherwise stated. We will be speaking to the slides that accompany this webcast. You can download a copy of these slides from our website. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that any projections included in our discussion today are likely to involve risks, which are detailed in our 2019 AIF and in the cautionary note on slide one. I will now turn the call over to George.

Thanks, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. Here is the outline for today's call. I'll provide a brief overview of Q4 and 2020 before touching on some of the milestone developments that have taken place since the end of the year that have positively altered the outlook for Eldorado in this young year. Then I'll pass it to Phil to go through the financials. Joe will follow by reviewing operational performance. Then we'll open it up for questions. I'm very pleased with the strong operational and financial results in Q4 and over 2020. We delivered on many fronts, including maintaining and achieving our original 2020 guidance and achieving our highest quarterly production in nearly five years. Production totaled almost 529,000 ounces for the year amid an improving cost profile. We finished the year in a solid capital position with over $500 million in cash and equivalents, which increases our financial flexibility to fund our growth. And we did this all amid an historically challenging year. I'm extremely proud of our teams as they continue to show courage in the face of adversity while working together to deliver on our key catalyst and drive value for stakeholders. Speaking of catalysts, We have had a tremendous start to the year with the major milestone of signing the amended investment agreement in Greece, the pending acquisition of QMX in Quebec, and this week's announcement of a maiden resource at ORMAC that demonstrates our continued exploration success in the region. Our strategy of prudent reinvestment in high-quality opportunities within our portfolio continues to take shape. Chief among these is the advancing the world-class scurries project in Greece and our LAMOC operations in Quebec. I'll talk more on both of these in a moment. Over to slide four. Many of you have seen our early February news of signing an amended investment agreement in the Hellenic Republic. This is a huge achievement for us, as well as for the government, and is a testament to the dedication of all involved. The agreement delivers a commercial framework that sets the stage for a productive and mutually beneficial relationship with the government. It also provides a path to unlock transformational value from the Cassandra Mines as our development plan of these assets is part of the agreement. It was an honor to be able to attend the signing ceremony in person. alongside Christos Belascus, our VP and General Manager of Greece. Also present were the Minister of Energy and Environment, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Development and Investment. The attendance of the Canadian and U.S. ambassadors also added support for increased trade and investment between North America and Greece. Perhaps a bit of a refresher on the agreement itself. The modernized agreement amends the 18-year-old contract that was put in place by a previous owner under vastly different economic circumstances. At the time, the contract was a simple asset transfer agreement that reflected the distressed nature of the Cassandra Mines. This modernized agreement now reflects the use of updated technologies such as dry stack tailings and improved water management and the needs of an investment of this size. It also maximizes value for all stakeholders while bringing about significant economic and environmental improvements. It's a mutually beneficial agreement we can all be proud of. As you're aware, investor protection mechanisms and permitting assurances were important parts of our ongoing discussions with the Greek government. These are included in the agreement and are similar to clauses offered to other foreign direct investors. The agreement also outlines enhanced fiscal revenues for the Greek state, job creation, community development opportunities, and various environmental benefits. Scurries and Olympias are world-class assets, and we believe it's important that all stakeholders benefit from their development. A bit more detail on the fiscal revenues for the Greek state. particularly the royalty increase of 10% for all metals contained in concentrate. To clarify, the current 2% royalty at $1,300 gold now becomes a 2.2% royalty. Over to the next slide that sets out the next steps in Greece and specifically at Scurries. As we've mentioned previously, the investment agreement now needs to be ratified by Parliament. We expect this to occur by the end of Q1 with a publication in the Government Gazette shortly thereafter. The arrows here show the stage gates to resume construction at scurries. It will be a busy year with the approval of the permit to use dry stack tailings expected in Q2 and commencement of pre-construction activities thereafter. We aim to complete a feasibility study in Q3 while concurrently evaluating funding alternatives. We expect a potential investment decision by year end, and thereafter look to restart construction in 2022. Back to this side of the Atlantic, I want to say a few words on key catalysts delivered this quarter in Quebec. First, the friendly acquisition of QMX strengthens Eldorado's position in the world-class Abitibi Greenstone District. by increasing our land holdings by approximately 550%. Scheduled to close early April, this would add a pipeline of organic exploration opportunities proximal to our existing infrastructure at Lamarck, including about 690,000 ounces of existing mineral inventory. On to the second catalyst. a recent announcement of the 803,000-ounce maiden inferred resource at Armagh. This early exploration success highlights the outstanding growth potential at Lamarck. The strike continuity, vein orientation, and dimensions of Armagh deposit exhibit important similarities to parts of the nearby historically mined Sigma deposit and mine tube. As you can see from the map here, It is ideally positioned along the ore haulage decline now under construction, connecting the Lamarck Triangle underground mine with the Sigma mill. We will be conducting an infill and expansion drilling throughout the course of the year as the deposit remains open in multiple directions. So very encouraging initial results. Taken together, These two catalysts underscore Eldorado's commitment to Quebec and Canada as a core jurisdiction in our portfolio. They also support our strategy in the region of developing a pipeline of additional ore sources within and proximal to the Lamarck Triangle mine, which could leverage existing infrastructure and optimize the Sigma mill, which has a permitted capacity of 5,000 tons per day. I'll stop there. Over to you, Phil.