Equinox Gold Corp.

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Equinox Gold first quarter 2026 results and corporate update. 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 and one on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, You may reach out to an operator by pressing star and zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ryan King, Executive Vice President, Capital Markets for Equinox Gold. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to join the call this morning. Before we begin, I'd like to direct everyone to our forward-looking statements on slide two. So our remarks and answers to your questions today may contain forward-looking information about the company's future performance. Although management believes their forward-looking statements are based on fair and reasonable assumptions, actual results may turn out to be different from these forward-looking statements. For a complete discussion of the risks, uncertainties, and factors that may lead to actual operating and financial results being different from the estimates contained in our forward-looking statements, please refer to risks identified in the section titled Risks Related to the Business in Equinox Gold's most recently filed annual information form, which is available on CDAR+, on EDGAR, and on our website. And finally, I should mention that all figures in today's presentation are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated. With me on the call today are Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Pete Hardy, Chief Financial Officer, David Schumer, Chief Operating Officer, Daniela Dimitrov, Chief Strategy and Risk Officer, and Matt McPhail, SVP of Technical Services. Today we will be discussing our first quarter 2026 financial and operating results and provide an update on Greenstone and Valentine ramp-up progress, and then we'll take questions. The slide deck we are referencing is available for download on our website at equinoxschool.com. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Darren.

Yeah, turning to slide three, and thanks, Ryan. Good morning and thank you for joining us today on the call. Firstly, I'd like to thank the entire Equinox Gold team, including all of our business partners across the Americas, for their commitment to safety, operational excellence and disciplined execution, which delivered another strong quarter. There is no better demonstration of the team's capability and commitment than responsibly delivering more than 197,000 ounces of production. with no material environmental events and a 25% reduction in our reportable injury frequency rate. Well done, and thanks to the entire team for a great quarter. We continue building on the positive momentum established in 2025, which reset the foundation of the business, strengthened the balance sheet and established a clear path to a long-term value creation. Today, we are executing against that foundation with a focus on operational excellence, cost of discipline and delivering on our organic growth profile. We delivered a solid start to 2026, producing 197,000 ounces of gold, with cash costs of $1,633 an ounce and ASIC of $1,950 per ounce. Importantly, our Canadian platform continues to ramp up, contributing over 87,000 ounces during the quarter. While the quarter reflected a level of variability not unusual with ramp-ups and winter conditions, Based on performance today and expected improvements through the year, we remain on track to achieve our full year production and cost guidance. Turning to slide four, during the quarter, we sold more than 199,000 ounces of gold at a realised price of just over $4,600 an ounce, generating $527 million in adjusted EBITDA. We reported net income from all operations of $310 million, or 39 cents per share, and adjusted net income of $234 million, or 30 cents per share. We ended the quarter with $363 million in cash and net debt of approximately $80 million, excluding our in-the-money convertible debentures. Additionally, we completed the sale of our Brazilian assets, repaid $990 million of debt, initiated a share buyback, and paid our inaugural dividend. Subsequent to quarter end, Following meaningful deleveraging and improved financial strength, we refinanced our revolving credit facility on improved terms, which enhances liquidity, flexibility and overall cost of capital. As of April 30th, the company has nearly $1 billion in available liquidity, providing significant financial flexibility. We also declared our second quarterly dividend of a penny and a half per share, reinforcing our commitment to disciplined capital returns. Turning to slide five, let me take a moment to focus on our Canadian operations, which are central to our long term value proposition. At Greenstone, we produce just over 60,000 ounces in the quarter. Mining rates averaged 180,000 tonnes per day, marginally lower than Q4, primarily due to heavier than normal snowfall, while mill throughput averaged 24,600 tonnes per day, a 6% increase over Q4. Plant performance continues to improve quarter over quarter. with 51% of the days exceeding nameplate capacity in the quarter, compared to 36% in Q4. With April mining rates increasing to approximately 200,000 tonnes per day, and the underlying productivity metrics continuing to improve, the Mellon mine is well positioned to deliver on 2026 material movement expectations which will result in increasing grades through the balance of the year. we completed our first full quarter of operations, producing over 27,000 ounces. The plant performed well, and despite some significant weather challenges, the team delivered 90% of nameplate capacity for the full quarter. Importantly, we actually exceeded nameplate capacity over the combined period of February and March. Mining performance was impacted by severe winter in Newfoundland, which hampered material movement and delayed access to planned ore zones. In addition, early stage mining practices and sequences impacted mill feed grades. We have identified a number of opportunities to improve performance, including enhancements to blasting practices, better utilization of mine control systems, and tighter control around dig lines to positively impact dilution. We are seeing progress in April with improving grades, supported by continued exceptional process plant performance. To highlight this progress, following a planned seven-day total shutdown at the start of April, The mill has averaged 8,488 tonnes per day, or 124% of known plate, since coming out of the shut. Looking ahead, we expect steady quarter-over-quarter improvements through 2026 as mining productivity increases as our Canadian operations ramp up to steady-state performance, underpinning our robust outlook of over 500,000 ounces of annual production for the next decade. Turning to slide six, Beyond our current operations, we continue to advance a strong organic growth profile that underpins our long-term production profile. At Valenzyne, we announced details of our planned Phase 2 expansion as part of the updated technical report published at the end of the quarter. We are currently committing funds to long lead time items and progressing detailed engineering to secure schedules. We expect to initiate early site works in the second half of the year following full funds approval anticipated in the coming months. At Castle Mountain, we continue to advance engineering and permitting activities with a project on track to receive a federal record of decision before year-end. In anticipation, we have hired an experienced project director to lead all aspects of the project and have engaged Worley, an engineering professional services firm, to progress the detailed engineering. I anticipate committing apps risk funds to secure long lead time items in early Q3. At Los Villos, we have made important progress strengthening relationships with our host communities and government stakeholders. With fully ratified new long-term access agreements in place with two of the three communities and continued constructive dialogue with the third, I am convinced that all stakeholders are aligned on identifying a path forward to a restart of operations and realising the full potential of the world class mineral endowment which exists at Las Villas. Turning to slide 7, I'm confident that Equinox Gold is well positioned to deliver top quartile valuation based on our portfolio of long life assets and tier 1 jurisdictions, a clear and executable organic growth pipeline, strong and growing free cash flow, generation a disciplined approach to capital allocation and shareholder returns and importantly with the right team in place to deliver on those commitments. In closing, our priorities for 2026 are clear. Grant Greenstone and Ballantyne to nameplate capacity, maintain cost discipline and operational consistency, advance our growth pipeline, continue strengthening the balance sheet and return capital to shareholders. With a stronger portfolio, improving operations and a clear path forward, we are entering 2026 from a position of strength. Before passing to the operator, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the team's efforts in Nicaragua, which delivered a record 81,000 ounces of production for the quarter, which is a testament not only to the team, but the prolific and enduring nature of those assets. With that, I'll turn it back to the operator for questions.