First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the first Quantum Minerals Limited first quarter 2024 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, then 0. I would now like to turn the conference over to Benita Till, Director, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today to discuss our first quarter results. During the call, we will be making forward-looking statements, and as such, I encourage you to read the cautionary notes that accompany this presentation, our MD&A, and the related news release. As a reminder, the presentation is available on our website and that all dollar references are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. On today's call are Tristan Pascal, our Chief Executive Officer, Ryan McWilliam, our Chief Financial Officer, and Rudy Battenhorst, our Chief Operating Officer. And with that, I will turn the call over to Tristan for opening remarks.

Thank you, Benita, and thank everybody for joining us for our first quarter update today. Shortly following our fourth quarter results, we announced our comprehensive refinancing package that involved an amendment and extension of our corporate loan facilities, a $1.6 billion second lien bond offering and a $1.15 billion equity bought deal offering. These transactions, combined with our $500 million copper prepay agreement with our long-standing customer, Shangxi Copper, have strengthened the company's balance sheet significantly. to which Ryan will speak more on later, and provides the company with the necessary time and space to deliver the Consangie S3 expansion whilst we work towards a resolution for Kogba Panama. With the closing of these transactions in the first quarter, the focus is for both Consangie and Sentinel and Enterprise to deliver operationally. During the quarter, Zambia declared a state of national emergency due to drought conditions that have brought about challenges in food security and electricity generation across the country. We have seen that the country is adopting a proactive and organised response to these national challenges. We also note that at the end of the first quarter, Zambia successfully completed its debt restructuring with both official and private sector creditors, which is a solid step forward for the country. Due to the drought conditions, the state electricity utility ZESCO announced a comprehensive electricity management plan that includes power reductions to the mining sector. Based on our bilateral discussions with ZESCO, it is expected that their capacity to deliver power to our Zambian operations will be curtailed by approximately 20%, equivalent to around 60 to 80 megawatts under current forecasts from May 1st to the end of this year. In anticipation of these challenges, the company's primary objective is to prioritise production, particularly at today's copper prices. With that in mind, in working with Zesco and by proactively engaging with alternative power providers, I am pleased to share that we are in the process of finalising binding agreements for power from Mozambique and Namibia that will cover the reductions requested from Zesco. Related to this, on April 11, First Quantum received a force majeure notice from Zesco to formalise the request for power reductions, thereby allowing First Quantum to independently contract power from these alternative sources. As such, we anticipate that we will be able to substitute the power curtailed by Zesco with imports and avoid any major interruptions to our Zambian operations based on current forecasts. The imported power will come at a higher cost, to which Ryan will provide more details later, but will allow us to maintain our production as planned without a large impact on our overall cost base. Over to Cobra, Panama, where the mine remains in a state of preservation and safe management, which Rudy will review some of the work that this entails with respect to the plants and equipment. The mine remains clear of blockades, allowing the delivery of necessary supplies for the PMSM program. As I noted on our last conference call, at the request of MISI, the Ministry of Commerce, we submitted a preliminary draft to formalise the P&SM plan and its associated costs, estimated at around $15 to $20 million per month. In March, MISI requested some clarifications and additional information, and in response, Cobra Panama has submitted an updated and expanded P&SM plan. We also submitted a request to the National Authority of Public Services to extend the auto-generator licence to restart the power plant, which is critical to the ongoing implementation of the P&SM plan. Earlier this month, government delegations, including representation from various ministries, undertook site inspection and verification visits as part of their processes to evaluate the P&SM plan. In regard to the environmental standing of the mine, we recently received the finding of Miambamente, the Ministry of Environment's compliance audit for the period from June to October 2023 undertaken by the government's independent auditors, CADESA. Their report finds that Cobra Panama was 100% compliant on its environmental commitments and legislative obligations. On health and safety, there were five instances of non-compliance relating to three commitments of the total 371 commitments under the ESIA, which at the time were being actively addressed. The summary report will be published shortly on the Cobra Panama Transparency website. As well, approximately 121,000 dry metric tons of copper concentrate remained on site. The company was advised on January 29 by the Attorney General of Panama that minerals extracted through mining concessions granted in accordance with the mining code belong to the concessionaire. The shipment of the concentrate is included as part of the PMSM plan. In protecting our investment in Panama, we continue to move forward with our two arbitration proceedings, that being the Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement and the second one as per the arbitration clause of the Refresh Concession Contract. However, as we have consistently stated, Arbitration is not our preferred outcome and we remain committed to Panama and being part of a long-term solution that delivers the best outcome from the country and the people of Panama. The next few months will be a period of change for the country with elections to be held on May 5th and a new president to officially take office in early July. In the meantime, we will continue to engage constructively with the current administration to ensure the environmental stability and asset integrity of Cobra Panama. We also continue to seek to listen and learn from the people of Panama. With that, I will conclude the opening remarks and pass the call to Rudy to review our operational results.