Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the IAMGOLD Second Quarter 2022 Operating and Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast. 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. [Operator Instructions]. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Graeme Jennings, VP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications for IAMGOLD. Please go ahead, Mr. Jennings.

Thank you, operator, and welcome everyone to the IAMGOLD second quarter 2022 operating and financial results conference call. Joining me today on the call are Maryse Bélanger, Chair of the Board and Interim President and CEO; Daniella Dimitrov, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development; Craig MacDougall, Executive Vice President, Growth; and Bruno Lemelin, Senior Vice President, Operations & Projects. Our remarks on this call will include forward-looking statements. Please refer to the cautionary statement included in the presentation under the heading cautionary statement regarding forward-looking information, and be advised that the same cautionary language applies to our remarks during the call. Non-GAAP measures will also be referenced on the call and we direct you to review the cautionary statement included in the presentation and the reconciliations of these measures included in our most recent MD&A, each under the heading non-GAAP financial measures. With respect to the technical information to be discussed, please refer to the information in the presentation under the heading qualified person and technical information. The slides referenced on this call can be viewed on our Web site. I will now turn the call over to our Chair and Interim President and CEO, Maryse Bélanger. Maryse Bélanger: Thank you, Graeme. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us this morning. Last night, we reported our second quarter operating and financial results as well as announcing the results of the Côté Gold project update. We have a lot of information to cover on this call, so we will try to expedite matters in order to allow for allotted time for questions and answers at the end. As you will see, IAMGOLD had another strong quarter benefitting from recent productivity initiatives at our operations. We are on track to achieve the upper end of…

Thank you, Maryse. The following are some key highlights of our second quarter and year-to-date financial results. Revenues in the second quarter totaled $334 million and $691 million year-to-date. The average realized gold price for the quarter was $1,799 per ounce, reflecting the physical delivery of 37,500 ounces at $1,500 per ounce our 2019 prepay arrangement as we closed monthly contracts. The average gold price in the second half of 2022 will continue to be impacted by the completion of physical deliveries of 75,000 ounces at $1,500 per ounce as we close out the remainder of the 2019 prepaid arrangement. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $110 million for the quarter and $247 million year-to-date. Higher income taxes for the second quarter that included withholding taxes on the repatriation of funds from Essakane impacted net earnings, resulting in net loss per share of $0.02. Adjusting for non-cash items, adjusted net loss per share was $0.01 in the second quarter. Year-to-date net earnings and adjusted earnings per share were $0.03 and $0.04, respectively. We have updated our income taxes paid guidance for 2022 to between $69 million and $79 million from $55 million to $65 million set out in our previous guidance released in January to primarily account for withholding taxes on the additional repatriation of funds from Essakane that we expect in the second half of 2022. Operating cash flow before changes in working capital was 94 million for the quarter and 228 million year-to-date. And mine site free cash flow was $42.8 million in the quarter and $130 million year-to-date. In terms of our financial position, we ended the quarter with $453 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, and we had approximately 349 million available under our credit facility after drawing down $150 million in the quarter. Our…

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]. Our first question is from Fahad Tariq with Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.

Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe first for Daniella, can you -- from what you can tell in your forecast what is the funding gap right now between the end of this year, the cash flow generated and what is needed for Côté?

So we've disclosed that the remaining spend for Côté Gold is 1.2 billion to 1.3 billion from July 1, 2022 to production. We disclosed our cash balance at quarter end and following the drawdown at the end of July that we have about $250 million available under our credit facility. We've also disclosed that not all cash is readily available, as some of the cash is held within our operating subsidiaries and operations need working capital. We've also disclosed that our Côté joint venture -- under our joint venture agreement, we need to stay ahead two months of construction costs in cash. And until the end of July, that period was three months. And we also have hedges that do require gross settlement rather than net settlement which impacts the total cash that we need to have on hand at any one time. We've also talked about in the past that taking all of these factors into consideration we view that at any point in time, our minimum cash balance that we would need to maintain would be somewhere around $200 million. So that and the gold price and of course our operating performance all go into the range of additional liquidity that the company needs to go into production.

Okay. And then just as a follow up, I know there's a number of alternatives available. Is there a preference that you can highlight, whether it's an asset sale, additional debt, diluting the 70% ownership, any color there would be really helpful?

We are looking at various options, as we've disclosed, and we do expect that the financing package will have several components, considering the cost of capital, maximizing shareholder value and providing the necessary additional liquidity to get Côté to production.

Okay. And then maybe just the last question. In the press release, it mentioned like one potential option if the financing isn't secured in time that potentially the Côté timeline could be extended. And this would “significantly increase project costs.” Can you just maybe give some clarity on what that means?

We are working to implement a fully funded solution by year end, and that is our focus. We talked about the fact that the processes are well advanced. And we are cautiously optimistic that we will get to that fully funded solution by year end.

Okay. Thank you.

The next question is from Josh Wolfson with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Thanks very much. A couple of quick questions for Côté. For the updated study, what was the oil price assumption included, either short term and long term?

I believe that for the second half of the 2022, it was $93. For 2023, it was $82. And from 2024 onwards is about $70.

Okay. And looking at the updated plans, which incorporate I guess a bit of breathing room with the scheduling and the ramp-up period, where would you see the risk now with developments, either in terms of the bottleneck or critical path items? Maryse Bélanger: Thanks, Josh, for the question. Considering that detailed engineering is done at 99.6% that most of our contracts have been led, procurement is -- all of the equipment is at site at the lay down area. I do not expect any major issues. The plan is to deliver on what we say we're going to do. And in fact, the team is targeting mechanical completion as soon as possible. So I don't see a lot of risk. And if you consider what we've disclosed that the $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion costs remaining, that we have more than $235 million in contingency and escalation in there. At this stage of the project, it's quite unusual to have up to 12% contingency built in cost estimates. So my job, Josh, is to deliver on this project, on schedule and on budget.

Okay. And then maybe a final question for Côté. Has there been any feedback or discussion with your joint venture partner, either about your views on the updated economics or about coming in as a party that could assist with funding here? Maryse Bélanger: I'll take that. Josh, Sumitomo is very supportive. As noted in our MD&A, we made an amendment to the Côté joint venture and we are in regular contact. We work closely with Sumitomo. They have people integrated with the team at site. So I would say that we are actively pursuing various alternatives to increase liquidity and capital resources. But at this point, we will not discuss specific alternatives.

Understood. Great. Thank you very much.

The next question is from Jackie Przybylowski with BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Thanks very much. Maybe to start, I'll just follow up on that last question that Josh asked on Sumitomo. Sumitomo put out a press release I guess overnight, which it says really briefly that it's continuing to review the estimates for the Côté project and will -- the way that it's written, it doesn't sound like Sumitomo is entirely committed even to funding its existing portion of the project. So is there a formal commitment in place that Sumitomo is going to fund its commitment, or is that still something that you guys are in negotiations with Sumitomo on? Maryse Bélanger: Thanks for the question. And I think what I would say at this point is that what we seen last year when the -- in July 2021 when there was an increase in capital cost debt was announced. As part of normal process for Sumitomo, it took the company close to probably the end of October, early November, to go through the approval process internally. So in this case, we have been told that the normal process would take its course, and I don't see anything unusual about that, just normal course of business for Sumitomo internally.

That's really helpful. Thank you. Yes, it's good color. And maybe another question on Côté. I know the full study is coming out in September, so I'm sure we'll get more details then. But just for modeling purposes, can you give us some color in terms of the cadence for spending on the project, like the capital spending? And specifically, I guess I'm asking for maybe for this year and next year, can you just talk about like how much you're anticipating you'll spend at Côté?

Yes. Hi, Jackie. We expect our spend to be somewhere between $60 million to $70 million per month.

Okay. Thanks, Daniella. It's really helpful. And maybe if I could just ask one other question just with respect to the commentary about the process on the review for Rosebel and potential sales, how would that impact if at all your debt covenants? Do you have commitments to maintain a certain sort of cash flow level, or is it easy for you to sell an asset like Rosebel without tripping those debt covenants?

So we are -- certain of the asset sales we are looking at, including the sale of Rosebel, are part of the security package under our credit facility. We have been working closely with our lead lenders who are aware of the process and the ultimate necessity to release the security on a successful completion of a sale, and we're comfortable. That is part of working with our lenders. We have a good handle on it.

Okay, super helpful. Thanks, Daniella. Thanks, Maryse.

The next question is from Mike Parkin with National Bank. Please go ahead.

Hi, guys. With respect to Côté, can you just give us an update on the dike that you're putting in, how is that progressing? And have you got to the point where you're starting to dewater the side that you need to dewater? Or if not, when does that start? Maryse Bélanger: Thanks, Mike, for the question. Dewatering is ongoing, and we have dealt with a pretty intense pressure but we are through, and no issues with dewatering whatsoever at this point. In fact, I think we have really good visibility into the first benches of the pit.

Okay. So you're not getting kind of surprised by excessive water penetration? Maryse Bélanger: No, not at all.

Excellent. And then just in terms of cash flow, your exploration spend still remains fairly high. Is that anything that you're considering trimming back in the near term just to help preserve the balance sheet?

Hi, Mike. So we're through I guess more than 50% of our exploration spend. Part of that spend was focused on Gosselin and we've got a spend on Karita. We put out some pretty great drilling results recently on that. We are going to continue with the completion of that program specifically. We think that is important to get that across the line to give us better visibility in terms of value, particularly on that asset that is part of the West Africa sale process.

And what about into 2023, is there any -- is it too early? You haven't really kind of worked on budgets yet.

Yes, it's too early to comment on 2023.

Okay. Thanks, guys. That's it for me.

The next question is from Anita Soni with CIBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Hi. Thanks for taking my questions. So firstly, can we talk about the life of mine plan? A couple of things that you mentioned were seeping up the pit walls and also the ramps from 8% to 10%. Can I ask? Did you have an independent third party review, those technical assumptions, from a geotechnical standpoint? Maryse Bélanger: Anita, in fact, there's been extensive geotech work done. And originally, the assumption was that we needed to be more prudent with the pit design and the ramp because of the autonomous haul trucks. But those constraints now have been removed in the sense that actually then that's really good news. Last weekend, the first fully autonomous truck was operating on our calibration pad and we feel really confident we can achieve those ramp gradients and design parameters.

All right, considering all weather factors that you have there? Maryse Bélanger: Yes.

Okay. Second question, the assumption to go to 5% over nameplate capacity when doing this life of mine plan, what was the genesis of that? Why go higher? And I noticed you guys commented this was a 1 on the McNulty curve. And given that you've got HPGR and autonomous haulage, I'm not sure that I would classify it as a 1 on the McNulty curve. Maryse Bélanger: Okay. I think your comment was more related to the capacity overall of the equipment. What we have is a plant with oversized [indiscernible] overall capacity. And as we've seen, in the industry it's not uncommon. Once you get mills going, it's not uncommon to get an extra 10%, 15% tonnage throughput. So we feel very, very confident we can reach that throughput. It's going to take some time. But considering the size and really the oversized equipment in that plant, I don't see any issues with quoting that 105.

Okay. So then let's just move on to the capital cost estimate. I just wanted to circle back. The updated estimate is the same number that you guys put out three months ago, right, and you've spent $172 million in the quarter. So by my math, I think that's about 15% or 16% escalation in three months. How do we -- can we talk about how that went up and why it went up by so much in three months? Just in context of now you've got $185 million contingency and trying to figure out whether that's enough when your costs just escalated in three months by $172 million? Maryse Bélanger: Okay. First of all, I would like to mention the strike that caused some delay. And that was first -- there was a number of strikes; the first one to crane operators, followed by laborers. And as you know, costs are largely driven anyway in the indirect categories by schedule. So what we've seen is actually a delay because of this strike, so five to six weeks. And that does impact not only our schedule, but also the timing of first revenues that we can realize. And, Daniella, if you want, you can add to this.

Sure. So the number that -- the estimate that we issued on May 1 was on a preliminary basis, and we did caution that we had not fully completed our work. In the first week of May, as Maryse noted, there were a number of strikes. We thought we had hoped and expected that those strikes would be avoided. They did result in approximately a six-week plus extension to the schedule as we had to demobilize quite a number of workers and then remobilize following the completion of the strikes. And it always takes longer to get back to where you were than it takes to demo. So that really were the primary factors that drove that increase that resulted in a slightly extended schedule with a slight increase to indirect primarily, and more of those operating costs now being part of project costs, because our production, initial production and commercial production, were extended from the schedule that we were assuming back on day one.

Okay. I'm just looking -- okay, all right. Thanks. And then I just want to circle back to a question that Fahad asked, and it was about the minimum cash balances that you referenced. You said, keeping everything in mind, you would need 200 million as a minimum cash balance. Did that include the two months lead for the construction capital? So is it 200 flat, or should we be thinking more along the lines of 320 to 340 when you include 60 million to 70 million per month to spend in a two months lead on it?

It's plus or minus 200, including staying ahead by two months.

Okay, all right. Thank you very much.

The next question is from Tanya Jakusconek with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Great. Thanks for taking my questions. Just wanted to follow back. Thank you for the oil assumptions on Côté. Do you have the sensitivity for a $10 moved barrel, what it would do to the cost so that we can just have an idea on that front?

We'll follow up and provide that. We do have some oil hedges that we have done for our own account, rather than at the project level. And so we'll provide that information as well.

Okay. And just falling back to this funding gap, just looking at and I appreciate there's a lot of moving parts, but for us trying to figure out what this funding gap is, and we know we need to have that minimum 200 million in cash on the balance sheet. As we look into next year, is it safe to assume or we're assuming similar production in costs overall for the company as we have in 2022? And on that basis and the spend that we're seeing at Côté of that 70 million a month or thereabout, is it safe to assume with that minimum 200 million in cash on your balance sheet plus, let's say, spot gold prices, that 600 million, 700 million of a funding gap is -- are we within a reasonable range?

I would think about -- depending on whether ultimately Rosebel is in our portfolio or not, and I would take that into consideration as well. And I would think about that range being -- the lower end of the range being your high end of the range.

Okay, so about 600 million. I appreciate. Obviously, I've had to include Rosebel in there, because it's not sold yet, but just trying to understand. So assuming Rosebel is in, assuming the assumptions I gave you with that minimum cash, 600 million gap would be something thereabout at spot pricing?

Yes. Rosebel, I think we noted when we released the update, a technical report back in January, that again depending on what gold price you're using, as we ramp up to that 300,000 ounce production range in 2024, we were still expecting and are seeing Rosebel be a user of capital, both in 2022 and in 2023.

Yes, okay. And can I circle back to obviously, maybe Rosebel is going to be sold, maybe it's not. We've got two mines otherwise that are going to need to generate cash flow for us to get us through this period. Can we talk about Essakane just in general, like it's a bit concerning about this security issue? So can you just talk a little bit, it's a big cash flow generator for you, like what exactly is going on there? And how is July looks, like are we getting material to site here? Did we have a decent July? And what are we doing there to make sure we keep this mine going? Maryse Bélanger: Yes. Okay, let's talk a little bit about Essakane, because it's a very interesting one. Some challenges around security, but working very closely with the government on some security measures. And we're also working on things like extending the air strip at this site to have more flexibility. We have found ways to organize convoys where we have very large numbers, you can just imagine hundreds of -- 100 large trucks going to site all at once. We are taking measures also to increase our capacity of storage -- storage capacity at site as well, so that we are not dependent as much on those convoys. And there's a number of measures that are being put in place. Essakane is an interesting one, because we have a positive grade reconciliation. And what Essakane can provide is very steady production where we also have 53% average gravity recovery. And what we've seen is adept [ph] an increase in grade and also an increase in Côté Gold to some extent, which has led the team to decide to go back, build a new block model, which will be implemented I expect in September or early in the fall. So Essakane, despite the challenges, we've had a higher grade than expected. We're looking at it. We're going to implement new block model and redo our mine plan and forecast. So more to come on Essakane, but so far it's been very solid producer and it's been a very, very steady producer also.

Okay. Maryse Bélanger: So that's a bit of color on Essakane challenges, but we've been -- our team has done an awesome job managing around the security issues.

But, Maryse, like on site, what sort of inventory levels do we have on fuel, cyanide, other consumables? Should we have to close down because of uncertainty around the mine site? What do we have on site that we can keep going? Maryse Bélanger: We keep close to a month of supplies on site.

Okay, that's helpful. And so far in July, things have gone okay? Maryse Bélanger: Yes, absolutely. July was in fact a great month at Essakane.

Okay. Perfect. And Maryse or Daniella, just on the financing package and I'll leave it to somebody else because it's gone over time. I just wanted to understand that we're going to get some sort of financing package by year end. It appears that it's just not going to be one thing i.e. not just that, it could be components of it. Is it something that we're going to see just come through, like bit by bit from now until year end? Or are you looking to put one big package together? Like, I'm just trying to understand how you're going to attack this finance package. I understand it's the sale of an asset that happens when it happens, but everything else is it -- you want to get something in place and then potentially we see a CEO coming in? I'm just trying to understand how this is all going to work?

We are working to implement a fully funded package with our various components.

Okay. So one pack is fully funded. And that then, Maryse, would help us with the CEO, trying to finalize the CEO for the company? Maryse Bélanger: Yes. So the CEO search is ongoing, and the Board wants to ensure that we're doing it right, that we ask the right person. So stay tuned on this one.

Okay. I appreciate it. Thank you for taking my questions.

The next question is from Carey MacRury with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.

Hi. Good morning. Maybe just back on the Côté CapEx, 1.2 million to 1.3 million to complete, how much of that is now fixed price versus how much of it is really still exposed to either price or volume changes?

That's a good question. I may have to go back to you to provide more details. But when we do look at it is all of the large contracts have been led, and right now it's the work -- what's remaining is all time and material.

Maybe I'll follow up. Maybe on just the sales processes, I know you said that they're well advanced. I'm just wondering maybe you could give a bit color on or how long it's been, is there any sort of expected timeline to complete that process?

So we are very active on both of those processes. And we'll update the market when we have an update.

Okay, fair enough. Thank you.

The next question is from Lawson Winder with Bank of America Securities. Please go ahead.

Hi. Good morning. A couple of questions, maybe just quickly on Côté. One would be what percent of the CapEx is in Canadian dollars, so we can just think about the sensitivity there?

90% to 95% of the CapEx is in Canadian dollars. We've used 1.25 as the FX rate for the remaining spend. The previous estimate was on at 1.3. The average at which we've incurred the expenses is somewhere around 1.27. And we have a number of FX hedges at 1.30 and slightly above, all of which are listed in a table on the MD&A.

Got you. Thank you. And then with regards to Sumitomo, under the JV agreement I was just kind of curious what kind of rights Sumitomo has? Do they have the right to decline additional funding?

They have the ability not to contribute to cash costs, in which case they would be diluted. There are two different dilution mechanisms depending on how much of the costs have been spent. We can share with you that we're cash calling on the updated schedule and costs. And a cash contribution that was due August 1 was made.

Okay, that's very helpful. And then just coming back to your existing operations, we've definitely touched a lot on Essakane, but maybe just on Rosebel as well. So number one question would be on the labor contract expiring in August, do you have any insight into when that could be resolved? And I'm going from the point of view of both risk to possibly disruption impacting your cash flow, but also potential buyer or partner for that asset and they want to see that result? So that would be my first question. Maryse Bélanger: Okay. I'll try to address that. But obviously, it's going to be based on past years experience and past negotiations. What we have seen in the past with some one to two month delay in signing final agreements. And in terms of disruptions, we have seen in the past really just one week of, what do you call that, word to rule, for example. But I would say one week is a good estimate at this point of possible delays in production.

Okay, that's helpful. And then maybe just asking you about your guidance. So to be honest given how strong the first half was, I would have expected you to increase the guidance. The implied for H2 is 55,000 to 85,000 ounces, which would be a substantial decline from H1. Are you factoring in disruptions from the labor negotiations, or is this strictly grade tonnage or operationally related? Thanks. Maryse Bélanger: Yes, and thanks for the question, because I said in my remarks that we've had a great quarter, a good half of the year, and I expect even some improvement in the second half of the year. I understand there's a bit of disconnect. We decided to simply reiterate guidance, not increase it to be a bit conservative. And I would say that with the team here, we really want to focus on meeting and beating expectations. Okay? So decided to reiterate guidance that allows us to take into account some of the risk around production, but definitely being conservative from my perspective. So no, we don't expect that second half of the year. It's not the case, no.

Okay, great. That's helpful. Maybe just one follow up on Burkina Faso, if I may? Are you currently relying strictly on sort of government, military support from a security point of view, or have you hired a private security team? And if not, is it something that you're seriously considering? Maryse Bélanger: We are working with the government and military people, and we do not use private military support in country, no.

Okay. Thank you.

This concludes the time allocated for today's questions. I will now turn the call back to Maryse Bélanger for closing remarks. Maryse Bélanger: Thank you very much, operator. And thanks to everyone for joining us this morning and for your continued engagement with IAMGOLD. There's no doubt that we have solid work ahead of us, but myself, the Board and the management team are entirely focused on advancing Côté to production, addressing our capital needs, and continuing on the solid operational performance at our operating mines. I look forward to directly engaging with you, our investor and analyst community. So please reach out to myself or Graeme Jennings if you would like to set up a meeting. Thank you all. Goodbye. Have a great day.

This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.