Perseus Mining Limited

Good morning and welcome to the Perseus Mining investor webinar and conference call. All attendees are in a listen-only mode. If you would like to ask a question directly to the company, please use the raise hand function within Zoom. I'll now hand over to Perseus Mining Managing Director and CEO, Craig Jones.

Thank you, Craig. Yeah, thanks, Nathan, and welcome to the Perseus Mining quarterly webinar to discuss our December quarterly reports. and I'm joined here today by Leanne, our CFO. Let me start by acknowledging the tragic loss of two employees of our haulage contractor, Bincardi, who work at our Bagway mine, and they were involved in a tragic off-site vehicle accident two weeks ago. These deaths have been incredibly sad for the team at Perseus, and particularly our Sasingi operations. and we've been supporting the families of both individuals as well as the entire team at the CINDI since the accident occurred and will continue to do so in this very difficult time. We've commenced an internal investigation into the accident and are cooperating fully with the relevant Iborian authorities to ensure appropriate processes are followed. Nothing is more important to Perseus than the safety and wellbeing of the people that work for us and with us, and this remains our highest priority across the group. We are committed to the rigorous application and oversight of our safety systems and to ensuring that all employees and contractors carry their work in a safe and responsible manner. This tragic loss reinforces the need for constant vigilance in all aspects of our work, including travel associated with remote operations. As we turn to our operations Through the December quarter, our performance reflected a period where all of our sites transitioned into new mining areas. Transitioning to new mining fronts introduces new complexities to mining operations, and despite this, we delivered a strong operational result and continued to generate robust cash flows at the same time as making meaningful progress on our growth initiatives. Our gold production for the quarter was 88,888 ounces. at an all-in site cost of US$1,800 per ounce. The increase in our all-in site cost to US$1,800 per ounce versus Q1 FY26 is primarily driven by higher royalties linked to the increased gold price achieved during the period and an additional 2% royalty paid on revenue at Cote d'Ivoire. The payment of the additional 2% was done in good faith as part of ongoing negotiations between the mining industry and the government of Cote d'Ivoire in relation to formalising a revised fiscal arrangement which takes into account fair and equitable distribution of profits in the current high gold price environment. A total of $20 million was paid in FY26 Q2 in relation to the additional royalty, of which $4 million related to the current December quarter, $5 million related to September quarter, and $11 million related to half two of FY25. So just to reiterate, the Q2 FY26 all insight cost in this report only includes the additional royalty paid in this quarter. Combined gold sales from all three operations totaled 86,607 ounces, sold at an average sale price of US$3,437 per ounce, delivering a robust cash margin of US$1,637 per ounce, capitalising on strong market conditions. The notional cash flow for the quarter was US$145 million, with the quarter ending with a net cash and bullion of US$755 million. For the December half, the group produced 188,841 ounces of gold at an all-in-site cost of $1,649 per ounce and an average gold sale price of $3,241 per ounce, generating a notional cash flow of $301 million. Yarra produced just over 32,000 ounces of gold for the quarter, which was down 42% on the previous quarter. The quarter-on-quarter decrease in production is primarily due to lower milled head grade, resulting from higher reliance on lower-grade stockpile material than planned, along with the planned transition in all sources from the CMA open pit to the Yarra open pit. The implementation of improved grade control practices at Yarra, along with higher strip ratios during the period, resulted in lower direct mill feed from the Yarrae pit and the need to supplement lower grade stockpiles in greater proportions. The grade control process is now well established at Yarrae and mining rates have substantially improved, resulting in increased direct feed of Yarrae open pit ore. This, along with the addition of the higher grade CMA underground in half two, is expected to result in higher grade mill feed. Production cost for the quarter was US$1,574 per ounce at an all-in-site cost of US$2,092 per ounce. The jump in all-in-site cost versus Q1 was driven primarily or predominantly by lower gold production resulting in higher fixed costs per ounce as well as higher royalties and timing related increase in sustaining capital as a result of the timing of the life of mine tailings pipeline relocation. We sold 34,000 ounces of gold from Yare at a weighted average sale price of US$3,243 per ounce, which delivered an average cash margin of US$1,151 per ounce. Notional operating cash generated by Yare for the quarter was US$37 million. Reconciliation between the block model and the mill for the last three months is 20% positive on tonnes and 11% negative on grade for a 13% increase in contained gold ounces. This continues the trend from the previous quarter, with higher mine tonnage offsetting lower grades, though the overall metal reconciliation has slightly improved. The upper levels of the Yara open pit is continuing to yield more gold as grade-controlled drilling extends mineralised structures. Etican delivered a strong quarter with 38,000 ounces of gold produced at an increase of nearly 17% on the previous quarter. Production cost for the quarter was $1,097 per ounce, and then the all-in-site cost of $1,535 per ounce, which was down 4% on the previous quarter. We sold 37,000 ounces of gold from Etican at a weighted average sale price of $3,700 per ounce. resulting in an average cash margin of US$2,165 per ounce and national operating cash generation of US$83 million. Mill time and recovery were 89% and 87% respectively, largely in line with the targeted key performance indicators. Reconciliation between the block model and the mill for the last three months is 9% positive on tonnes and 3% negative on grade for a 5% increase in contained ounces, which is a substantial improvement on the last quarter. This improvement in operating outcomes for the quarter is largely due to full mining access being available at the Inka sewer pit, allowing the mining sequence to be restored and improving mining conditions. Edekan's gold production is expected to continue to increase over the next two quarters as grade from Nkasua continues to climb. Plan to mine cutbacks of Fetish and Aswaja North pits are currently progressing with applications submitted to the relevant regulators for approval to commence mining in both areas. During the quarter, the Sasingi complex produced 18,000 ounces of gold, which was up nearly 60% on the September quarter. The Sasingi complex results are attributed to mining and processing operations at Sasingi Gold Mine together with satellite mining operations comprising of the Fimbiaso Gold Mine located approximately 65 kilometres from Sasingi processing facilities and the newly developed Bagway Gold Project located approximately 137 kilometres from Sasingi processing facilities. Both the Fimbiaso and Airport West pits were completed during the quarter and ore is now being sourced from the Visingi main pit and the Baguio Antoinette deposit. Mining at Baguio commenced during the quarter at the Antoinette deposit following the completion of the Fimbiaso operations. Production cost was US$1,545 per ounce and an all in site cost was US$1,844 per ounce. The improvement in the oil in-site cost is largely driven following the introduction of the higher grade ore from the Bagway Gold Project, partially offset by higher royalties resulting from higher realised gold prices and the additional royalty payment to the government of Coast of Wires described earlier. We sold 14,000 ounces of gold from Sasingi at a weighted average sale price of US$3,227 per ounce resulting in an average cash margin of US$1,383 per ounce and a national operating cash of US$25 million for the quarter. Mill run time improved to 97% from the previous quarter. The previous quarter's 91% and gold recovery was steady at 89.5%. Reconciliation between the block model at and the mill for the last three months is 18% positive on tonnes and 17% negative on grade for a 2% reduction in contained ounces. The lower grade performance is the result of mining narrow, variably mineralised structures at Sasinghe Main, Pimpiaso West and Airport West pits with higher than anticipated dilution in several benches. Operational control, including blast design, refinement and improvement or improved ore mining control initiatives remain in place to minimise dilution and maintain alignment between the model and mill outcomes going forward. As mining is now focused on the Antoinette pit at Bagway and the Sonsinki main pit as the primary mill feed sources, mill feed grade is expected to increase for the remainder of the year with the introduction of the higher grade ore from Antoinette. Looking ahead for FY26, our production guidance remains unchanged. Group Gold production in the range of 400 to 440,000 ounces, with production weighted to the second half of the year. Group Oil into site cost guidance range has increased from 1460 and 1620 US dollars per ounce to 1600 and 1760 US dollars an ounce. The Group AI All Insight Cost Increase in Guidance has been updated to reflect increased gold price assumptions and the resultant increase in royalty costs. We have also allowed for the 2% royalty increase in Cote d'Ivoire for Yarra and Sisingi whilst we discussed fiscal arrangements with the Iborian Government that result in fair and equitable distribution of mining proceeds at these unprecedented gold prices. As we've discussed previously, our gold production is weighted to half two of FY26 with the inclusion of the new higher grade ore sources at Eddicam and Sasingi that are included as part of our mine plan. However, due to the performance of Yara in Q2 FY26, it is expected that Yara will produce in the lower half of its guidance. Before I hand over to Leanne, I just want to briefly discuss growth. During the quarter we progressed our organic growth strategy which focuses on resource to reserve conversion at our existing mines, brownfields exploration and development of greenfields exploration portfolio. We're progressing our update to our mineral reserve estimates for our existing mines with an updated estimate for Nianzake anticipated in quarter three of FY26, so March quarter. followed by an update to Yarra towards the end of the financial year. Etican will follow towards December 26. These updated estimates are focused on extension of mine life of our existing assets. From an inorganic growth perspective, Perseus progressed an offer to acquire the remaining shares of Predictive Discovery during the quarter. Perseus first acquired a stake in Predictive in August 2024. for a total investment of just under $90 million Australian dollars, initially securing a 19.9% stake in the Gold Explorer and were later deleted down to 17.9%, which we remain as Predictive's largest shareholders. This has been a great investment and at current share prices, the investment is now valued at more than $400 million Australian dollars, more than four times what we paid for it. A decision to make an offer to acquire the remaining shares of Predictive was supported by our knowledge of the asset and Perseus' strategy to build a superior portfolio of African gold assets. At the end of the day, Robex's revised matching offer for Predictive was ultimately deemed superior by Predictive's board and resulted in the rejection of our offer. While at this stage we have no plans to revise our position on Predictive, we will continue to monitor the market conditions. In terms of inorganic growth, we're constantly assessing the best ways to execute our growth strategy and provide best value outcomes for our shareholders. Now I'll pass over to Leanne to speak on some of the financial aspects.

Thanks very much Craig and hello everyone and Happy New Year. I'm sure it's too late to be doing this. The quarter delivered a very strong closing cash and bullion balance of US$755 million which was down US$82 million on the previous quarter and this is built up as a result of a contribution from our operating margin of US$132 million. We continue to invest strongly in our capital investment programs, about US$60 million for went into that which included development capital for the Niyanzaga Gold Project of about $28 million and the CMA Underground of about $14 million during the quarter. We will continue to make contributions to our host governments with $13 million paid in taxes during the quarter. Perseus balance sheet remains strong with increased liquidity. We're looking forward to further strong forecast cash flows through the fiscal year. We also, as we would have seen in December, announced that we refinanced and upsized the debt facility, replacing the existing $300 million facility. The amended facility has been increased to $400 million plus a EURUSD 100 million accordion option. It has a three-year term plus an option to extend for two years, so this takes it out to 2031. We achieved very competitive pricing through strong demand, resulting in a total margin reduction of 125 basis points from the existing facility. Amendments were made to provide Perthes with more flexibility across a range of terms, including our financial covenants, and this really reflected the continued enhancement of Perthes' credit profile. And I'd like to thank Nedbank and Citi for their assistance and all the banks that have come on board through the process and our continued support of our financiers. Shifting our head to hedging, in this current rising gold price environment, Firstis has continued to ensure the hedging strategy evolves, ensuring we remain refocused on measured downside protection whilst always maintaining as much upside opportunity as possible. During the quarter, we further reduced the committed hedging position from 14% to 11% of our three-year production, rolling off a large number of the fixed forward contracts. We continue to protect against the downside and this is obviously to ensure that as we make investment decisions for all life and mine extensions across all our operations, we have some level of downside protection and we have about 215,000 put options which are all uncommitted in place at an average price of $2,619 per ounce. An always vital clarity of reconciliation between the all-inside cost used by Perseus to the all-in sustaining cost metrics with the key variances relating to produce versus gold sold as the denominator and corporate administration costs. The average all-inside cost for the quarter, as Craig has mentioned, was US$1,800 per ounce, which is higher than the Q1 FY26 restated all-inside cost of $1,516. This increase in this quarter-on-quarter is largely attributable, as Craig spoke to, to the higher royalties driven by increased gold price achieved during the quarter and the additional 2% royalties paid on revenue in Cote d'Ivoire. The additional 2% was paid to the government of Cote d'Ivoire despite our stability afforded to Yara and the Sissingi conventions. Agreement was reached with the government to pay the additional 2% for FY25 in good faith as part of our ongoing negotiations between the mining industry and the government of Cote d'Ivoire in relation to formalising a revised fiscal range which takes into account fair and equitable distribution of profits in the current high gold price environment. We'll update you as we go through that, but we're appreciative of the nature and the style in which we're engaging with the Ivorian government and with which the industry is working collectively together to get an outcome that works for both industry and the Ivorian government. I'll now hand over to Craig.

Thanks, Leanne. And then we'll move on to our organic growth projects. We'll start with Niyazaga. So Niyazaga remains on budget and schedule with first gold anticipated in January 2027. Construction activities onsite continue during the quarter with several key work fronts achieving significant progress. A total of $262 million has been committed up to the end of December, which is half of the approved budget, and of the $262 US million, $161 million has been incurred. The resettlement housing project is closing in on completion with the final 10 homes expected to be delivered before the end of January. Fabrication of the sag and ball mill continued during the quarter, the construction and installation of which are on the current project schedule, critical part, and are progressing well ahead of schedule. The camp construction progressed to 70% complete with 32 senior rooms occupied and a further 32 rooms expected to be handed over by the end of January. And the tailing storage facility remains ahead of schedule with clearing and topsoil removal. Detail design is complete and procurement is well advanced. Importantly, the pre-strip activities for the Tusker deposit have commenced. At our CMA underground development at Yarra, Q2 FY26 saw strong progress with all four declines under development and a total of 800 metres of development achieved to date. We achieved a major milestone this month This is January with the first oil mine from the Bleecker portal. First oil was achieved through development mining and the stoping operations are anticipated to commence in Q4 of FY26. Project development is progressing to plan with US$44.8 million incurred up until the end of December 2025 and commercial production remains scheduled to be reached in Q3 FY27. The CMA underground total development capital has increased by $9 million from the approved $172 million to $181 million due to the requirement for remediation of the eastern wall in the CMA pit to mitigate access risks from ground instability. Alongside our financial and operating performance, Perseus continues to deliver tangible value to our host communities and governments, and this slide captures the breadth of our contribution In the quarter, our total economic contribution reached $269 million across our host countries, and this included $167 million in local procurement, which directly supports national supply chains and local business development. We also contributed $85 million in taxes and royalties and $1.5 million in community contributions as we continue to support local development funds and key community initiatives. Our workforce overwhelmingly comes from the regions in which we operate, with 95% of employees coming from our host countries. This is a reflection of our commitment to building local capability and building the skills base that our future growth depends on. Although our safety indicators reflect very strong safety performance, with a TRIFR of 0.383 and an LTIFR of 0 up until the end of December, The reality is that the true safety performance is ultimately reflected in human outcomes, not statistics and our recent fatalities at Sing Singi are testament to this. Sustainability is at the core of our purpose and guides how we deliver results, creating value and building resilience and that's what makes Percy as a trusted partner in achieving its mission of creating material benefits for all stakeholders in fair and equitable proportions. Before I hand over to any questions, I want to acknowledge the hard work and commitment from our teams across the business. The quarter reflected a challenging period as all of our sites transitioned to new primary oil sources. The teams completed this challenge at the same time as continuing to improve operating practices and discipline. Despite this, we continued to deliver a solid operating performance, generate strong financial returns and progress our strategic growth projects, all while maintaining high sustainability standards. With a strong balance sheet, high margin operations and a clear growth path, we believe we're well positioned to continue delivering long-term value for our stakeholders and shareholders. Thank you all.

Now I'll open the floor up to questions. Thank you. Just a reminder, if you would like to ask a question to the company, please use the raise hand function within Zoom. Your first question comes from Richard Knights at Baron Joey. Please go ahead, Richard. Hi Grace, hi Leanne, thanks for the call. Just on the ore, can you give us a feeling, are you still feeding the plant with stockpiled ore or are you now getting all the ore from the ore rate? How should we think about the grade going forward at the next six months to end the year?

Yeah, so we're predominantly feeding expit ore moving forward for the rest of the year, so a lot of that's dependence on stockpile is behind us.

Okay. Can you perhaps be a little bit more explicit with that in terms of the grade range?

If you look at, I mean, the Yarra grade I think is in our mineral reserve estimates, so that'll give you an indication on grade from Yarra. Obviously in the second half we're starting to bring in the CMA underground ore and with the stoping for the bulk of the ore really in that fourth quarter is when you'd expect to see the bulk of the underground ore starting to be delivered.

Okay, thanks. And maybe just one on the new fiscal regime in Cote d'Ivoire. Can you give us an indication about the kinds of things being discussed? Is it just... increase in royalty rates or are there other elements being discussed as well?

So I think with gold prices the way they are, obviously governments are looking to maximise their recovery of revenues as a result of high gold prices. So we're discussing just general taxation and how governments take their share of proceeds from the operations. So basically we're having broad conversations at this point in time on that. The reason we decided to pay the royalty in good faith is we wanted to be having a productive conversation on how to best achieve the desired outcomes of both ourselves and the government. And we didn't want to be talking about penalties and all these other things. So that's why we took the decision to do what we did. But the conversation is productive and proactive between industry more broadly and the government and we're continuing to have those conversations.

Yeah, and do you have a feeling in terms of the timeframe for finalising the new fiscal regime?

No, not really. I think these things are complex conversations and could take a little while.

Yeah, I mean the Ivorian government is obviously formalising a new mining code. They want to finalize it before they release the new mining code so that they can capture it in that. I think just importantly, it is important for you to emphasize, we do have stability agreements, but we do understand the government's position that in these high gold prices, they don't necessarily have the structures in place that they feel can give them an equitable share. To answer your original question, just in terms of are we only talking about royalty, I think we're trying to steer the government to other mechanisms like increases in corporate income tax, you know, and other things that we think are sort of more effective in distribution of profits. But, you know, it's been a very collaborative engagement and I told you, you know, in my history in mining, I don't think I've ever seen an industry working so well together as we have been in Curvois. So we are looking forward to getting an outcome that's, you know, that's supportive for both the government and industry and ongoing investment in Ivory Coast.

Yeah, okay. Is there any risk that it could be retrospective in nature?

No, I mean, I think just as a bit of background, remember last year the Ivorian government implemented this 2% additional royalty into the Finance Act, which doesn't apply to companies that have stability agreements. Effectively, the only way it's going to be applicable is that we've paid the FY25 with them in good faith and as part of negotiations, given that the average gold price for the year was about $3,500 an ounce last year, spot price, remembering that in Ivory Coast, you pay royalty on spot price, not on sales price. So no, it's very low likely that it's going to be retrospective. The Ivorian government are, in my experience, they do understand investments and they have got a lot of projects ongoing and being developed in the Ivory Coast that any sort of retrospective change would be pretty detrimental to those projects.

Okay, brilliant. Thanks, both. Cheers. Thanks, Rishi. Thank you. Your next question comes from Levi Spry at UBS. Please go ahead, Levi.

G'day. Thanks, guys. Hi, everyone. Thanks for your time. Can we just follow up on the royalty piece? So maybe it's a refresher or an around the grounds on what rate is included in your cost guidance across the three sites and the one development site?

I hope I answered your question correctly. Just to backtrack, the royalty that is included in the $1,800 that's been reported, for example, includes only the 2% relative to that quarter. If you're talking about the December quarter, we've included that. In terms of the guidance, Similarly, we have guided conservatively, because we don't actually know the outcome of this, but we've included the 2% royalty in the guidance that would apply to the period. It would apply from 1st of July 2025 to 30th of June 2026. We have included a 2% royalty assumption for that period. We have not included in that what we paid for Q3 and Q4 of FY25. Does that make sense?

I think so, but can I just confirm the absolute number that you're budgeting the pay in Ghana in Cote d'Ivoire and then Tangerine?

So the Ghana royalty is the 5% plus the 3% GSL. So they've got a 5% royalty and then something that they call the Global Sustainability Levy, which is 3%. So we pay a total of 8% in Ghana. And then in Ivory Coast, Now, Ivory Coast has got a scaled royalty, but at current gold prices, you're going to be paying, we've assumed, 6% plus a 2% additional royalty across all of the sites in Ivory Coast.

Yep, got it. Thank you.

No worries.

And maybe just moving to PDI, can you just flesh out intentions now and the potential to recycle that capital going forward?

We have no plans at this point in time with PDI, so we'll just continue to watch and monitor how that develops. In terms of our position in PDI, there's been no decision on any changes to that position. So, I mean, it's been a pretty good investment for us, so we'll continue to sit on that at this stage.

Okay, thank you. And then just Ninzaga, obviously PDI, big value driver, key project. Just a bit more detail around next steps as we, you know, think about, you know, first production only 12 months away. Yep.

Yeah, I think we'll obviously continue to work through the construction phase. So it's really moving into tank erection now. Steel erection will be starting shortly. You know, the concrete's progressing well. We're, you know, the bulk earthworks are predominantly done and it's really now start to pre-strip and get ready for all presentation and commissioning in the back end of the year.

And just, you probably mentioned it, but just confirming critical paths to the top items?

Yeah, mainly through the mills.

Okay, yep. Good one. Thank you. Thanks for your time. Thanks, Greg.

Thank you. Your next question comes from David Radcliffe at Global Mining Research. Please go ahead, David.

Please go ahead, David.

Okay, looks like there's some mic issues there. There are no further questions at this time, so I'll now hand back to Craig for closing remarks.

Okay, thanks, Nathan. Well, as I said at the end of my presentation, I really do want to acknowledge the hard work and effort by the The teams in Perseus, I think they're what make the business tick and it was a challenging quarter as we went through quite a lot of change in the business and they performed well to get through that process and we're really looking forward to delivering the second half of this year and continue to build on the value that we've created as an organisation and progress our growth projects towards towards commissioning and ultimately production.