First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Welcome to the first Quantum Minerals quarterly results conference call. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Ryan McWilliam, Director of Business Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Mr. McWilliam.

Thank you, Alfreda. And thank you, everyone, for joining us today to discuss our second quarter results. Before we begin, I'll draw your attention to the fact that over the course of the call, we'll be making several forward-looking statements. And as such, I encourage you to read the cautionary note that accompanies our most recent MD&A and the related news release, as well as those risk factors, particularly to our company, which are detailed in our most recent annual information form and available on our website and on CDAR. And a reminder that the presentation which accompanies conference call is also available on our website. On today's call, Tristan Pascal, our Chief Operating Officer, will provide an overview of operations and performance during the quarter and share his perspective on the company's outlook moving forward. He'll be followed by Hannes Meyer, our Chief Financial Officer, who will review the financial results. Tristan will then wrap things up with an eye to the next quarter and an overview of our key strategic priorities. After that, we'll open up the line to take questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to Tristan.

Thanks, Ryan. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the call. Q2 was another strong quarter for First Quantum. Debt reduction remains a key part of our focus, and I'm proud to say that we're well on our way to achieving our target of more than $2 billion reduction in gross debt. There is a result of strong operational cash flows and robust commodity prices. The tapering off of the hedging program will further benefit financial results in the remainder of this year. And the expected close of the sale of 30% stake in the Raventhorpe operations to our new partners, POSCO, for $240 million in Q3, will also contribute to our debt reduction program. Copper production was just shy of 200,000 tonnes in the quarter, an increase of 18% from the same period in 2020. This increase was due primarily to strong production at Cobra Panama, which was nearly four times the rate of the COVID-19 impacted second quarter of 2020. Cobra Panama continued with a ramp up to the target throughput rate of 85 million tonnes per annum in 2021. with stronger throughput being somewhat offset by higher maintenance during the month of April and slightly lower grades compared to the previous quarter. However, production throughput in May and June was pleasing, with a new production record of approximately 7.5 million tonnes processed in the month of June. This resulted in quarterly production of around 82,000 tonnes of copper contained in concentrate. Earlier this month, the Government of Panama announced the appointment of a high-level Commission of Senior Government Ministers and Officials to deliberate on Law 9, which sets the fiscal regime for Cobra Panama. The public acknowledgement of these ongoing discussions ensures transparency in the outcome of the process we've been speaking about. The Ministers of Commerce, Finance, Labor and Environment were confirmed as representatives on the Commission. The company welcomes the appointment of the Commission and the opportunity for all stakeholders to resolve this matter in the medium term. Also in June, the Supreme Court ruled on the clarification motions presented by the company to the court in relation to its Law 9 decision announced in September 2018, which have not yet come into effect. The Supreme Court upheld its ruling and the company understands the decision will be enacted once published in the Gazette of the Supreme Court in the near future. The company is reviewing these developments and expects the government-announced process to result in a mutually agreed new law to be presented to and approved by the National Assembly. In Zambia, operations at Sentinel experienced weaker grades, as we guided to in last quarter's report, but throughput was higher, assisted by softer ore and higher availabilities. This resulted in record milling rates during May. Installation of the fourth in-pit crusher continued as planned, with installation in Q3 and commissioning in Q4. This will enable the plant to ramp up throughput to 62 million tonnes per annum in 2022. Consantia saw improved throughput following the end of the dry season at the end of April, which was offset with lower grades. The lower grades are anticipated to remain through the balance of this year as reflected in the change made to Consantia guidance in this quarter. Scheduled smelter shutdown at Consantia occurred as planned in June. with the smelter coming back online in early July on schedule. In respect to Zambia, we are no longer in discussions to sell down the stake in that business. The strong performance of the copper price and continued solid operational performance has meant that the prices offered by counterparties were too much of a discount to the strong earnings that the business currently generates. Nickel production in the quarter was 4,543 tonnes at Raventhorpe, while construction of Shoemaker Levy continues to advance with all civil works now predominantly complete. Pre-strip at Shoemaker Levy continues with the first mining area cleared. We look forward to moving on to better quality feed from Shoemaker Levy and anticipate first ore delivery in this third quarter of 2021. Across First Quantum, all of our established COVID-19 protocols at each of our mines remain in place. The health and well-being of our workforce and the surrounding community continues to be our priority. We continue to work closely and support the various levels of government and health authorities in all the regions we operate to reduce transmission of the virus and to deal with outbreaks and infections as they occur. In Panama, the company supports the work of the government with aerial transport, food, medical supplies and other facility-based needs, including support to the Gorgas Institute laboratory testing facilities. In Zambia, the company has provided COVID-19 testing equipment and treatment and isolation facilities for the community and continues to implement COVID-19 protective measures across all operations. Vaccination programs have commenced in most of the host countries for the company's operations and First Quantum is supporting rollout of vaccination programs as appropriate to each country. In Panama, the rollout is reasonably strong and by mid-July, 3,928 employees had received their first dose vaccination. In Zambia, the rollout was slow to start but has been increasing steadily and by mid-July, 366 employees had received their first dose vaccination. On ESG, the company has always been committed to extracting resources as responsibly as it can and sustainability is an intrinsic part of First Quantum's operations. We recognise that mining has a significant impact on the environment and we work as hard as we can to mitigate these impacts and to deliver positive contributions from mining to the communities around us. In line with our commitment to transparency and the ongoing development of First Quantum's ESG reporting, we recently published our 2020 Environment, Safety and Social Data reports and our Tax Transparency report, which are both now available on our website. This year's report highlights for the first time the significant CO2 emissions savings realised by some of our industry-leading mining technology, including the use of trolley assist and in-pit crushing and conveying, which are part of First Quantum's approach to place innovation and operational excellence at the core of our business and in our response to climate change. Also in this year's report, we've expanded our CO2 emissions intensity disclosures to reflect our downstream Scope 3 CO2 emissions, and the emissions benefit of our largely hydropowered on-site smelter in Zambia. At Cobra Panama, we are currently evaluating the opportunity to increase our use of renewable power as part of our efforts to reduce emissions intensity. We will continue to provide updates in respect to the energy strategy at Cobra Panama as these plans become more developed. The company continues to make progress on our 2021 commitments related to climate change. We have commenced our efforts to report in alignment with a taskforce on climate-related financial disclosures framework, a program to set tangible and realistic emissions level and carbon intensity targets with an identified pathway to achieve it remains on schedule, and we are making progress on establishing an internal carbon price and consequent commodity prices in the evaluation of our new projects. The company also continues to make substantial substantial fiscal contributions to the countries in which we operate and during this quarter we disclosed our 2020 ESMA Tax Transparency Report which is also now on the website. In 2020 our direct tax and economic contributions to our host governments reached close to US$1.1 billion. I am proud of what the First Quantum team has achieved this quarter and the ongoing improvements we continue to make across our operations. Much has been done and more work remains but I am excited about what the future holds, and look forward to reporting on our progress throughout the year. With that, I'll hand things over to Hannes, and I'll be back in a few minutes to wrap things up. Hannes?