Eldorado Gold Corporation

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the El Dorado Gold First Quarter 2023 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 Lynette Goad, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Ms. Goad.

Thank you, Operator, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to welcome you to our first quarter 2023 results conference call. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that we will be making forward-looking statements and referring to non-IFRS measures during the call. Please refer to the cautionary statements included in the presentation and the disclosure on non-IFRS measures in our management discussion and analysis, as well as the risk factors set out in our annual information form. Joining me on the call today, we have George Burns, President and Chief Executive Officer, Phil Yee, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Joe Dick, Executive Vice President, and Chief Operating Officer. Other members of the senior leadership team will also be available for the Q&A session. Our release yesterday details our first quarter 2023 financial and operating results. This should be read in conjunction with our first quarter financial statements and management's discussion and analysis, both of which are available on our website. They have also been filed on CDER and EDCIR. All dollar figures discussed today are U.S. 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. After the prepared remarks, we will open the call for Q&A. At this time, we will invite analysts to queue for questions. I will now turn the call over to George.

Thanks, Lynette, and good morning, everyone. Here is the outline for today's call. I'll provide a brief overview of Q1 results and highlights before passing it to Phil to go through the financials and Joe to review our operational performance. Then we will open the call to questions from our analysts. On April 5th, we were pleased to close the Scurries project financing of 680 million euros with the initial drawdown of 32 million euros completed mid-month subsequent to quarter end. This financing funds 80% of the remaining capital required to complete this world-class asset. The remaining 20% of the project funding will be fully covered by El Dorado. The financing package includes well-aligned strategic partners, including two Greek banks, National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank, in addition to funding through recovery and resilience facility provided by the European Union. Additionally, the estimated blended interest rate is approximately 5% to 6% on current six-month year of borrow, representing competitive terms given the current interest rate environment. We have spent approximately $34 million since January 2022 in early work activities that will count as a credit towards the 20% equity commitment. We therefore expect the project financing package to fund a significant portion of construction of Scuri's project in Q2 and Q3 of 2023. This is a major milestone for the company and transitions us to full execution mode of what will be a transformational asset for our global portfolio once in commercial production, which is expected by the end of 2025. Alongside Eldorado's existing operating portfolio, Scuri's is expected to generate strong cash flow further strengthening our financial position, and will help establish an exciting future for growth and value creation for our stakeholders, including contributing to the global supply chain for critical minerals. Having completed the construction of Lamoc in just over two years from the time we acquired the asset, a successful track record of executing on several organic growth projects, including the Quesada HPGR, the Triangle Sigma Declined Project at Lamarck, we are confident that we have the expertise and team, which includes our EPCM contractor floor, in place to deliver scurries on time and within budget. In addition, 50% of the construction is completed, and in Q2 2022, we executed a purchase order for the filter press, which is a long lead item with delivery scheduled in Q1 2025. Starting with production, consolidated production across the global portfolio came in line with our expectations for the quarter, a significant improvement over the first quarter of 2022. As mentioned on our last conference call in February, we expect second half production to be higher than first half production and maintain our 2023 production guidance range of 475,000 to 515,000 ounces. Additionally, we are maintaining our capital expenditure guidance of $394 to $437 million, including $240 to $260 million towards the Advancement of Securities Project for 2023. Joe will speak to the operations in more detail later on the call. Shifting to cost, first quarter cash operating costs per ounce sold and all unsustaining costs are in line with our guidance ranges. driven by steady production across the portfolio. Bill will speak to our cost and financial position in more detail later on the call. At Scurries, activity in Q1 focused on early construction works, engineering, and procurement. Towards the end of the quarter, drilling and blasting commenced on the first phase of underground development. Upcoming milestones in 2023 include the mobilization of major construction contracts for earthworks and concrete. and finalizing the awards of the remaining major procurement and contract packages. As previously disclosed, project spending at Scurries is expected to be $240 to $260 million in 2023. The spending is focused on finalizing detailed engineering, which is 43% complete and forecasted to be 70% to 75% complete for full construction mobilization in the second half of 2023. Procurement of fixed plant and tagged items is currently 42% complete and expected to be approximately 90% complete by year-end. Additionally, yesterday we received approval of the Ministry of Energy and Environment for the modified EIA for the Cassandra Mines. This modification will allow for the expansion of the Olympias Mine and processing facility to 264 650,000 tons per annum and improvements to the Strattoni pork. Finally, I would also like to congratulate the team in Greece for our Hellas Gold subsidiary once again named one of the most sustainable companies in Greece for 2023. This is confirmation to our commitment to responsible practices and sustainable development. I'll stop there and turn the call over to Phil to review our financial results.