OceanaGold Corporation

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Oceana Gold Corporation Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If anyone has any difficulties hearing the conference, please press star zero for operator assistance at any time. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Rebecca Hennar. Please go ahead.

Good morning and welcome to Oceana Gold's fourth quarter and full year 2024 results webcast and conference call. I'm Rebecca Emery, Vice President of Investor Relations. We are joined today by Jared Bond, President and Chief Executive Officer, Marissa Meeker, Chief Financial Officer, David Landano, Chief Operating Officer Americas, Peter Sharpe, Chief Operating Officer Asia Pacific, and Craig Debrie, Chief Exploration Officer. The presentation that we will be referencing during the conference call is available through the webcast and on our website. I would also like to remind everyone that our presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. As we will be making forward-looking statements during the call, please refer to the cautionary notes included in the presentation, news release, and MD&A, as well as the risk factors set out in our annual information form. All dollar amounts discussed in this conference call are in U.S. dollars. I will now turn the call over to Jared for opening remarks.

Thank you, Rebecca, and thank you all for joining the call today. We're very pleased to report strong Q4 results, with the strong production in the quarter driving delivery of a number of records. Record quarterly and half-year production at hail. Record quarterly and annual net profit for the company. And record quarterly and annual free cash flow for the company. I'd like to view the year through the lens of our five pillar strategy. From a production perspective, we finished the year very strongly in line with the updated guidance. In addition to a production record at Hale, we also had a much improved fourth quarter at Waihi, our best quarter in three years. And at McRae's, the team delivered record annual throughput without any large investment of capital, which underpinned its strong year. The DDPO team had a number of operational issues in the period. but they're doing a great job of addressing them and positioning that business for long-term success. Culture really matters as the results of Oceana Gold are delivered by its people. And to this end, I was proud to see that our employee engagement scores increased significantly in 2024 to above average levels in our industry, assisted by a number of company-wide programs. This high level of engagement helps explain both the strong performance and our confidence for delivery in the years ahead. In terms of sustaining and growing our business, we released yesterday our updated annual reserve and resource estimates. And I'm really pleased to share that we increased our reserves by 27% net of mining depletion and increased the average grade of those reserves. This was driven by outstanding exploration results at both Hale and Ferry Kirraponga, including an initial mineral reserve declaration at Ferry Kirraponga. Together with record average realized gold prices, strong production performance, and the ability to convert most of the higher prices to the bottom line, Oceana Gold generated a record $245 million of free cash flow in 2024. And to be clear, this is real free cash flow. Operating cash flow minus all investing cash flow, such that what's left over is available to reduce debt, pay dividends, and return capital to shareholders. That $245 million of free cash flow represents around the 15% after tax yield on the enterprise value of Oceana Gold, which is a great return for investors. So what do we do with this free cash flow? In line with our capital allocation framework, we strengthen their balance sheet by repaying in full our revolving credit facility and getting into a strong $192 million net cash position. Shareholders now own 100% of this business, which is well positioned to grow. And in line with our capital allocation framework, we also delivered shareholder returns via our dividend, by actively using our share buyback program, and through a 60% increase in the share price, which meant we were amongst the top performers in our peer group. Yesterday, the Board of Oceania Gold approved a doubling of the annual dividend and approved up to $100 million of share buybacks in 2025. Specifically as it relates to the fourth quarter, we produced 12% more gold at a 10% lower all-in sustaining cost per ounce than the previous quarter. Hale, Macraes and Waihi all delivered higher production at significantly lower unit costs. This delivered a record quarterly net profit and record quarterly free cash flow. with a free cash flow margin for the quarter of $984 per ounce. It was really pleasing to see our ability to convert most of the strong gold price to the bottom line. And as you know, gold prices have increased further since. Most importantly, our fourth quarter was a safe quarter. We continue to progress our safety improvement plans. Our people have worked hard to deliver the operational and financial results we're reporting today, and we are all committed to this being done safely. I'll now turn the call over to Marius, who will discuss our 2024 financial results in more detail.