First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Desiree, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the first Quantum of Minerals third quarter 2025 results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question again, press the star one. I would now like to turn the conference over to Bonita Toh, Director, Investor Relations. You may begin.

Thank you, Desiree, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today to discuss our third 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 releases. 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 Paschal, 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 you to everybody for joining us today to discuss our third quarter results. During the quarter, we made meaningful progress on our priorities for 2025, and I am pleased to be able to provide an update on these. Firstly, we continue to proactively strengthen our balance sheet and manage our liquidity. In August, we announced the $1 billion non-debt Gold Stream Agreement with Royal Gold and undertook a series of bond transactions to extend our debt maturities, which Ryan will cover in more detail in this financial overview. Secondly, we remain focused on safe and leading productive operational performance. We were pleased to host analysts and investors to our Zambia operations in September to showcase our cornerstone assets, and we continue to see quarter-over-quarter improvement in production. We remain on track with our guidance for the year, which Rudy will review. Thirdly, at the consensus along with subsequent shipments of supplies and equipment. These all took place safely at our port without incident. With regards to the power plant, we commenced pre-commissioning activities and mobilized specialists to site ahead of the restart, which remains on schedule, with the first 150 megawatt unit expected to be fired and synchronized with the grid in November. The power generated will support onsite preservation activities surplus energy will be made available for dispatch to support the national grid as required. During the quarter, the Government of Panama, through Miambamente, initiated the comprehensive audit of Cobra Panama and awarded the contract to SGS Global, an independent and internationally recognised audit firm. SGS has commenced the six-month audit process and is currently working with the various The company has always sought to conduct its operations with transparency and in full compliance with international environmental standards, including achieving 100% compliance on our environmental commitments in the most recent ESIA audit published earlier this year. Our team at Cobra Panama is ready to provide all the necessary information to support SGS and the government to complete the audit. Today, the company's work with the government has been centered around the preservation and safe management program for the mine, with a priority focused on safety, asset integrity, and environmental stewardship. However, we remain prepared for when the government is ready to discuss more broadly a resolution for the future of Cobra Panama. Understandably, any potential new agreement will need to clarify that the mineral resources belong to the people of Panama. This is well understood by First Quantum and hence our willingness to find a durable agreement for a fair fiscal structure that reflects this, as well as the $10 billion investment that First Quantum has made into the country. I believe both sides will be motivated to reach a fair, equitable and mutually beneficial resolution. Had Cobra Panama remained in operation since 2023, contributions to the country of Panama could have reached $1 billion to the Treasury, and $2 billion US to local Panamanian supplier companies. It is important to First Quantum that the contributions of the mine, such as employment and growth, can deliver tangible benefits to the people of Panama. At the same time, a fair and balanced agreement would position Panama as a destination for foreign direct investment and a pivotal step in confirming the country's reputation as a stable and attractive environment for international capital. Our focus remains on reaching a resolution for the mine that serves the best interests of our stakeholders, the government and the people of Panama. Thank you and I will now pass the call over to Rudy for his operational review.

Thank you Tristan. We are splitting to report that operations continue to improve into the third quarter of this year and operated uninterrupted from Bauer constraints. Total copper production was 105,000 tons, a 15% increase over the second quarter as both Sentinel and Kansanshi reported higher production. Copper sales volumes totaled 119,000 tons. During the quarter, as Tristan noted, we benefited from additional concentrate shipments at Coppery Panama. However, sales volumes in Zambia were lower than production due to the replenishment of inventories following the smelter shutdown in quarter two. this in more detail in its overview. Year-to-date, we produce 295,000 tons of copper and are on track to achieve our 2025 tightened guidance range of 390 to 410,000 tons. At Gansanchi, the operations reported 47,000 tons of copper production in the third quarter, an increase of nearly 7,000 tons from the previous quarter. The improvement was mainly driven by higher mold throughput with the commissioning of the S3 expansion. The ramp-up of S3 has surpassed expectations, achieving first production in August and contributed approximately 6,000 tons of copper production to the quarter. Looking forward, copper and gold production in the fourth quarter are expected to exceed third quarter levels as stable circuit performance is running ahead of schedule leading to a better-than-anticipated ramp-up of the S3 concentrator, which Tristan will cover in more detail in his closing remarks. With respect to 2025 production guidance for Kansanshi, we have narrowed copper production to a range of 175,000 to 185,000 tonnes, while gold production guidance has increased to a range of 110,000 to 115,000 ounces. Over to our triad and operations. improvement of over 8,000 tons from quarter two. Mill throughput averaged over 5 million tons per month, representing a 14% increase from the second quarter levels, benefiting from improved ore fragmentation, improved reliability and performance of the primary crushers, and excellent management of the crushed ore mill feed stockpile. The relocation of input crusher two has been completed and will be commissioned in the fourth quarter. The innovative low-energy consumption rail-run conveyor, which was showcased on our Zambian tour for analysts, investors, and lenders in September, will require some modification as performance testing continues towards final commissioning of the asset. During the quarter, we also continue to advance the maintenance program to address the bolt fatigue issues on the bolt tube. Work is ongoing with the original equipment manufacturer and special once this is established. Any remedial actions will be timed to the best of our ability with planned maintenance downtime in order to mitigate impact on production. Copper production at Sentinel is expected to continue to improve for the fourth quarter as higher grades will be accessed as mining progresses to the bottom of Stage 1 pit for sub-development ahead of this wet season, along with the transition to higher prime That being said, due to the year-to-date production, we have updated our copper production guidance for Sentinel to a range of 190 to 200,000 tons. At Enterprise, it is pleasing to report a 44% quarter-over-quarter improvement in nickel production to nearly 6,000 tons during the third quarter. While nickel grades continue to be impacted by transitional ore from the Stage 3 area, throughput improved with increased nickel ore supply and plant performance. Production guidance for the year has narrowed to between 80,000 and 23,000 tonnes of contained nickel. The continued focus at Enterprise will be on maximising ore supply, improving communication efficiency to increase throughput as well as enhancing plant performance when processing complex nickel ore types. At Corbyn Panama, area and the conveyor belts. Inspections of the plant and stockpile feeders have concluded that these areas are in fair condition. Additionally, detailed inspections with original equipment manufacturer specialists are being conducted on the mobile fleet to ensure asset safety and integrity. These inspections and reports are expected to be concluded in the near future. Preservation and safety

Thank you, Rudy. For the third quarter, we reported EBITDA of $435 million and an adjusted loss of $0.02 per share. This financial performance positively benefited from the solid operational results which Rudy just described. Additionally, the copper price increased 2% from Q2 due to supply disruptions at several large copper mines across the industry. Financial results, however, were negatively impacted by two key items. While revenue grew by 10% quarter over quarter, benefiting from higher copper sales volumes and improved metal prices, this was mainly driven by the 24,000 tons of concentrate shipped from Cobre, Panama. However, as Rudy noted, sales volumes from Kansanshi were negatively impacted by the replenishment of anode inventories following the smelter shutdown. This impacted EBITDA by $45 million and third quarter earnings 3 cents per share. Additionally, royalty costs were $25 million higher at Kinsachi this quarter due to the smelter shut, which resulted in an increased proportion of local sales, which in turn resulted in an earlier crystallization of royalties. With inventories largely replenished, we expect sales volumes and associated royalty costs to normalize. subject to normal timing lags. Moving on to the rest of our financial results. As I noted earlier, during the quarter, we shipped the remaining concentrated COVID Panama. These shipments contributed approximately $160 million to third quarter EBITDA. At the Zambian operations, we had a late shipment of anodes in the quarter. While revenue was booked in the quarter, It also resulted in elevated receivables at the end of September, which is expected to unwind in Q4. During the quarter, we slightly added to our copper hedges while maintaining our gold hedge portfolio. We're not currently adding additional hedges as our long-term strategy remains to be unhedged, thereby retaining full exposure to spot commodity prices. We've engaged in selective hedging as a tool to support our financial resilience. safeguard the balance sheet while S3 ramps up and as we work towards resolution in Panama. Copper C1 costs of $1.95 per pound improved by 3% from Q2, helped by higher production and lower fuel costs, but negatively impacted by reduced gold byproduct credits and less capitalized costs. Remaining input prices and Zambian power rates were stable during the quarter. We've narrowed our full year C1 cash cost guidance to $1.95 to $2.10 per pound. While gold prices have been strong, the strengthening Zambian butcher and higher expected Zambian power costs in Q4 offset this benefit. Our all-in cost guidance has also been narrowed to $3.10 to $3.25 per pound, reflecting our load guidance and sustaining and capitalized stripping spend. with low 2025 CapEx guidance by approximately $175 million, to a range of $1.15 to $1.25 billion. This is due to low capital spend year-to-date, and the expectation that the next three projects will come in under the $1.25 billion budget. Some of the reduction of sustaining capital is expected to be carried forward to next year, such as some of our mobile fleet replacements and mobile component change-ups. As Tristan noted, during the quarter, we continue to take proactive steps to further strengthen our balance sheet by executing two milestone transactions. First, we completed a $1 billion gold stream with Royal Gold, which provides long-term, unsecured, non-debt capital. This transaction allows us to maintain full exposure to copper production at Kansachi, while leaving most of our gold production exposed to spot pricing over the long term. Proceeds were largely deployed toward debt repayment of net debt ending the quarter at $4.8 billion. Second, we issued $1 billion in senior unsecured notes maturing in 2034. The proceeds were used to retire the remaining 2027 notes and a portion of the higher coupon 2029 secured notes. Following this refinancing, our nearest bond maturity has now been extended to 2029. These combined actions have improved on the interim liquidity by approximately $1.6 billion, resulting in a liquidity of $2.3 billion at quarter end. This comprised of $960 million in cash and a fully undrawn revolver of $1.3 billion. After thoroughly evaluating alternatives, the stream agreement was the best strategic and financial outcome for First Quantum. As such, there are no further financings or stake sales planned for Zambia at this time. remarks.

Thank you, Ryan. During the third quarter, First Quantum achieved two milestones that demonstrate our commitment to safety and sustainability in our broader business. At Chayeli in Turkey, our colleagues delivered over three years without a lost Also at Chiaoli yesterday, we published an updated 43-101 technical report on the new southern ore body, including a life of mine plan which extends the mine life of Chiaoli to 2036. In Finland, at our closed Piasami mine, a 13 megawatt solar photovoltaic generation project was commissioned on the filled tailings pond by the municipal-owned development company, Kaleo. legacy assets into renewable energy that benefits local communities. It is pleasing that I can conclude today's call by discussing the substantial completion of the company's latest brownfield expansion project. During the quarter, the Kansanshi S3 expansion project was successfully completed and all but two circuits were handed over to operations in October. The full copper circuit was put online in stages with a focus on tuning the circuit and ramping up towards steady state and nameplate capacity. As Rudy noted, to date the rampart has exceeded expectations and the plant is now maintaining 24-hour operations with support from the commissioning team and vendor specialists. Only the gravity gold circuit and some concentrate filter upgrades S3 remain to be completed and handed over to operations. Ongoing project capital works on TSF2 are expected to be completed in the second quarter of next year. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the in-house first quantum teams responsible for the successful delivery of the Constantius III expansion. And on behalf of the board and the company, I would like to extend my gratitude to all involved in building and making operational the project for their remarkable work. These are the same in-house teams that successfully built the Sentinel and Cobra Panama projects, allowing us to learn and improve on each of the six 40-foot sag mill processing trains across our business. The new processing plant at Kansanshi, designed to treat 25 million tonnes of ore annually, incorporates cutting-edge technology and automation, such as the Integrated Operations Centre, that make the Kansanshi S3 expansion one of the most advanced copper projects in Africa. At the peak of construction, over 2,500 Zambians and 535 local Zambian companies worked on the project alongside our in-house teams, gaining skills and capacity that will serve them long after S3 is complete. projects, the industry average capital intensity to build a project is moving steadily towards $30,000 per tonne of annualised cost production. In contrast, by building our own projects largely in-house, our experience at First Quantum is that we are typically able to exert greater production. Our latest greenfield projects at Cove and Panama, including a port and power station, was built at $18,000 and Sentinel was built at $12,000 per tonne of annualised copper production. As we look forward to applying our experience to future projects within our portfolio, at the most responsible and correct time for our balance sheet position, we see our most likely near-term timeline. In closing then, the Consangie S3 expansion is the latest of our projects to deliver on schedule and under budget. This is an important milestone for First Quantum, which will move Consangie back to a 200,000 plus per annum copper producing mine, extending its life beyond 2040 and returning the company back to a position of positive free cash flow generation. With that operator, I'm happy to open the call to questions.

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you have dialed in and would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad to raise your hand and join the queue. If you would like to withdraw your question, simply press star 1 again. If you are called upon to ask your question and are listening via speakerphone in your device, please pick up your handset to ensure that your phone is not on mute when asking your question. We do request for today's session that you please limit to one question and one follow-up question only. Thank you. And our first question comes from the line of Ralph Profili with Stifel. Your line is open.

Good morning, tax operator. Tristan Ryan, congratulations on performance of budgeted capital targets at Consanche. What's your outlook for copper recovery improvements and targets in that S3 circuit over the coming months and quarters, looking at that 74% in the context of the low-grade stockpiles and as you optimize the circuit.

Hi, Ralph. Thanks for that. Yeah, look, it's very pleasing to see S3 performing better than our expectations so far. As I said in my comments, there are some areas that need to be finished off, the two circuits being the Gravity Gold and the Filter S3. So we will continue to remain conservative and stick with our guidance at this stage, and we only provide guidance this year. We will re-look at guidance next year in late January. But again, the ramp-up's going well. We continue to target an 80% of design throughput by the end of the year. and costs as well. But then as we get into 2027, the outlook is we'll get into much more fresh grade, which will increase production from the overall circuit with a corresponding impact, most likely on costs as well.

Okay. Okay. Thanks, Tristan. I appreciate that. And as a follow-up, what are the critical path items for consensus TSF2 completion by the second quarter of 26? Is this just maintaining civil earthwork rates?

Yeah, not complicated, Ralph. We're just putting in a large buttress there and going about the works. We're comfortable around deposition rates. We're comfortable around rates of rise. It's really just steady progress on earth moving volumes. I mean, as we get into the southeast dome and have much more confident rock available, that gets easier and easier for us as well.

Our next question comes from the line of R.S. Volcada with Scotiabank. Your line is open.

Hi, good morning. And, you know, I'd like to just say congratulations on the deleveraging efforts, both with the stream and the terming out the refinancing your debt that really eases the pressure in the next couple of years. But my question had to do with Cobra Panama. And I'm just curious, with the environmental audit now underway, Do we, do you think that we have to wait to the conclusion of that audit before formal negotiations could begin with the government on a potential new deal, or could that begin earlier? I'm just wondering what milestones we should be looking for here.

Thanks, Doris, and thank you for those comments. Yeah, look, Panama, we, you know, we recognize the concrete progress in the country, and there has been, of the concentrates that were completed during Q3. We continue to see the power plant coming online and the permits granted to get that restarted. And we expect to start up in the first training in November. And the environmental audits now underway is good, solid momentum. In terms of future milestones, we're not really anchoring around those. We remain disposed to the set out that timetable and the pathway to those milestones and for progress. from the government of Panama.

Okay. And just as a quick follow-up, is there any potential visibility on processing the existing ore stockpiles on site at Cobra Panama under the preservation plan in terms of turning on a mill?

Yeah, sure, Boris. Thanks. There hasn't been any discussions on that to date. And again, we wouldn't anchor things around future milestones. We want to be constructive and move towards resolution that deals with the matters at Cobra Panama and the best interests of all stakeholders, the government of Panama, the people of Panama, but also shareholders. Having said that, the stockpiles, we do think there's some good rationale to move forward. cancer erosion from the high rainfall, that is important work that the stockpiles would provide. But we don't have that on the critical path. We remain constructive towards resolution and engaging with government in that regard.

Next question comes from the line of Marsha Farid with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and congrats on getting S3 on time in the low budget. Yeah, my question is maybe to Ryan on the hedging strategy. Ryan, probably it made more sense to be more active on hedging, you know, before you take the... You've done the actions related to, you know, refinancing, but also the streaming deal as well. Just wondering how we should think about it going forward as well, now that the balance sheet is cleaner. What was the sort of strategy you're going to be taking on the hedging program? Thank you.

Thanks, Marcio. Rowan, can you take that? Yeah. Hi, Marcio. Yeah, absolutely. You've seen three big tailwinds for the balance sheets. The first is the stronger copper price. The second is the strong performance at S3 coming in on track at this stage under budget. side, and we'll continue to monitor that month to month. Those hedges roll off as we get into this first half of next year, but absolutely the liquidity and stronger balance sheet gives us more flexibility in terms of planning for future hedging, noting our overarching goal is to be unhedged over time.

Great, thank you. And as a follow-up on Trident, obviously it seems like some progress has been made around the issue with the bolt, bolt mule number two. But it seems like it's still doing a lot of log maintenance as well, right? So, just wondering what's the path for a final solution around Trident and the bolt mule number two, please. Thank you.

Thanks, Marcio.

Rudy, will you take that one on the fatigue issue? No problem. Hi, Marcio. Thanks. As you would have noticed from the indication of how comfortable we are getting with the maintenance strategy around the bolt fatigue on ball mill 2, which really equates to something like 20 hours a month now. We are quite comfortable with the way we're handling it. We're working with the OEM to try and get to a final fix. We're almost there, and as we we continue into next year, we are happy to continue with our current maintenance strategy, but we will come back to the market and give a clear, full-sum update once we have finalized the final approach for this bone mold. We certainly don't want to do any intermediate measures because we're quite comfortable with the current maintenance strategy.

And again, if you would like to ask a question, press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. Next question comes from the line of Miles Alsop with UBS. Your line is open.

Thank you. Maybe just on over Panama, you're saying you're kind of working towards a fair outcome. How should we think about fair from a first quantum perspective? Is that something... broadly aligned with the previous license agreement? And do you think the government has a similar kind of expectation in terms of how value is shared as we go into these negotiations?

Hi, Mark. Thank you. Yeah, look, I think it's too early to get into that. But I think, first of all, we understand The recent comments in Panama, the mineral resources, it's very clear ownership of those belong to the people of Panama, and we're absolutely willing to find a durable arrangement that deals with each of the stakeholders, that is, the government and the people of Panama, and they need to see reasonable and tangible benefits coming from the mine. recognition on that basis. And we will look at those as the main principles and be constructive around any conversation. Again, the timetable from that, we will take direction from the president, the government of Panama as to when they're ready to commence.

Yeah. And how would you consider I presume there'd be quite a big working capital bill to get Panama back up to full operational level.

by the government. And so dealing with corrosion, dealing with the situation on site, we're pleased in that the resolution to those corrosion has been fairly straightforward. It's really around man hours for welding, for painting, and to work our way through that. The mills, the rope shovels remain warm, in good condition, but certainly we will need to repair some of those minor items. And as that comes online, we'll understand timetable more because inspection means that we will be able to open up and see areas. But at this stage, we think that's something like six to nine months as we work through those issues. But again, you know, the time table for that, you know, remains to be seen. So no, we don't see major capital items in that regard. And it will really be getting people back on site, getting the supplies back on site that are the sort of the key drivers of that. And that's largely around working capital to pay salaries and also to remobilise supply chains in order to get there. I'm sure. of what we see there, but also as we understand progress in Panama around resolution of this matter.

Next question comes from the line of Lawson Winder with Bank of America. Your line is open.

Thank you, operator, and hello, Tristan, Rudy, and Ryan. Thank you for today's update. I just wanted, you know, if I could ask about Chi Alley. I mean, I don't think that was something that was on everybody's bingo cards. So first of all, well done on extending the life to 2036. I mean, I think that's an extraordinary development. But also, as you think about longer-term growth and the benefits for jurisdictional diversification, how would you characterize Turkey as a country in which to grow going forward, both in terms of the regulatory environment and the geological prospectivity?

Awesome. Thanks for the question. Yeah, look, I think the team at done a remarkable job here. The history is that certainly the mine was looking at end of life and then a lot of work over the last decade on exploration and the discovery of the southern ore body, which is very productive for it. It's improved ground conditions compared to the existing ore body. We still have more transition period across to the new southern all body. And as we spelt out in the 43-101, we see life out to 2036. I think beyond that, you know, that's been very well developed both by the local team at Chiley, but also our exploration group working hand in hand. And, you know, we do see that Turkey has those opportunities for exploration. I would just, you know, frame those a little bit in that what we see is in this reasonable grade, but it's really around scale that we seem challenged. But permitting, and particularly an example like Charley, where there's an extremely good relationship with community and so on, and an established operation that's been one of the leading training grounds for technical capacity in the country, having run for many decades, it does set up a good basis in the country. But overall, there is opportunity in Turkey. It's just around questions of scale as to whether they really move the needle for a company like First Monset.

Okay, understood. That's a helpful perspective. If I could ask a follow-up, I would love to ask about Takataka. The last technical report that you guys studied showed a project with very low capital intensity and I mean, clearly there's been CapEx inflation in the industry. But, you know, perhaps, you know, can you give us a sense of how we can think about that CapEx intensity today? Would that be approaching global averages? Would it still be slightly below global averages? And then when might First Quantum think to update that technical report?

Thanks, Lawson. We're working on that at the moment. It's mostly around the engineering studies. We would like to have a technical report of 43-101 out at the end of this year, early next year. We're dotting the I's and crossing T's on the engineering studies around that. There's been a lot of... The drilling and the resource definition is well in hand, but also around in terms of the environmental in Salta Province. We look forward to receiving those in the near future. In terms of capital intensity, Takataka will remain competitive. Once we have that final picture in the 43-101, we would release that and make it very clear, that capital picture. But I think we don't see it evolving to the $30,000 per tonne annualised capital intensity. No, it will remain at a reasonable picture. Obviously, there's been some level of inflation, but we think that the project remains well in hand.

Our next question comes from the line of Anita Soni with CIBC. Your line is open.

Good morning, Kristen, Ryan, and Rudy. Most of the questions have been asked and answered, but I just have a couple of follow-ups. Could you just talk about inflationary pressures, if there are any in Zambia that you're seeing and any offsets that you see, you know, obviously such as the ramp up at S3, but could you just give us a context of what we should be thinking about going into 2026?

Thanks, Anita. Ryan, could you take that question on inflation?

Yeah. Hi, Anita. What we've seen in Zambia in terms of pushing costs up has principally been two things, slightly higher employee and maintenance costs. And then secondly, we started this year with the kwacha around 28 kwacha to the dollar. More recently, because of the strong fiscal reforms the country's made, that's got closer to 20 kwacha to the dollar. So that's pushed our costs up. Conversely, the strong gold price, a strong gold price for our costs down, and the net-net of those two has meant that we've narrowed rather than changing cost guidance. We expect those similar dynamics to play out as we go through next year. You know the S3, as we ramp it up, the early phase of S3 has higher costs. putting Southeast Dome all through it, that's when you really see the cost position improve and therefore the positive impact on our cost position as a company.

Okay, thank you. And then just on Cobre Panama, in terms of the timeline, thanks for all the color that you provided, and I think Oris asked a little bit about the environmental audit and whether or not something, the negotiations can start. Is the timeline for a restart... once it's all passed through Congress, still six to nine months, or has that evolved at this stage?

Thanks, Anita. Yeah, I think, look, that's the best estimate that we have at this stage. As we go through inspection and detailed understanding on the Preservation State Management Plan, as we open up areas, it may adjust, but that's the best estimate that we have. That's really to get the three trains operating. It's important to note that optimization It seems reasonable based on what we know today. You know, we need to go through the process with the government. That's not a straight line. There'll be some ups and downs, but we've seen constructive progress in all of the concrete milestones that have been achieved this year. We need to keep working on public perception, and certainly we'll follow the timetable provided by governments on the overall process.

And our last question comes from the line of Dalton Barreto with Canaccord Genentee. Your line is open.

Great. Thanks, operator. Good morning, Tristan and team. Thank you for taking my question. Tristan, I wanted to follow up on a comment you made in your prepared remarks there around Panama, where I think you said that First Quantum recognizes that the resources belong to the people of Panama. but that any agreement would need to recognize the $10 billion investment made. And I'm just wondering, it sounds like there are being markers laid down and negotiating positions ahead of the actual official discussion kicking off. And I'm just wondering, are there background discussions happening around a potential framework, and sort of defining what the non-negotiables are ahead of actual official discussions with the President?

John Coates Yeah, thanks, Dalton. It's been pleasing progress so far this year in terms of the concrete milestones that have been achieved on the Preservation and Safe Management Plan and so on. And certainly around those, there is conversation with the government on the Preservation and Safe Management Plan, around bringing in feedstock for the power plant, the technical issues around these topics. So there are discussions at that level. We welcome the environmental and to go through that with the environmental authorities, with the selected independent expert there in SGS. All of those form a framework around which conversations and feedback is in process. But, you know, more broadly, there is no formal conversation. We're waiting for that timetable to come from government that wants the president and so on to provide that timetable. we will be constructive. In terms of those royalties, just to point out, we understand that criteria. Certainly, because we were paying royalties before, those royalty payments do recognise that it is the people of Panama that own the resources, and we understand that that's important in terms of the profile of the mine and the profile of extraction in Panama.

Great. Thank you for that, Tristan. And then just one follow-up for me. If and let's say when Cobra Panama is back up and running again and looking at what you're doing at the rest of your portfolio in terms of partnering in JVs and so on, is it your intention to bring on another partner there in addition to Franco and the Koreans? I mean, even getting the Koreans to re-up their stake? Or are you happy with the way things are?

Yeah, Dalton, I think we need to go step by step with the government of Panama. I think it's too early to get into that. It's not something we're looking at at this time. We're just working our way through each step. As they present, our focus at the moment is the preservation and safe management plan, the restart of the power plants, the environmental audit that's right areas at this stage.

That concludes the question and answer session. I would like to turn the call back over to our CEO, Tristan Pascal, for closing remarks.

Thanks, operator, and thank you, everybody, for joining the call. Should you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Thank you again, and I would like to wish everybody well for the remainder of the year. Thank you and goodbye.

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining and you may now disconnect.