Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the IAMGOLD Third 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] I would now 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 third quarter 2022 operating and financial results conference call. Today, joining me on the call are, Maryse Bélanger, Chair of the Board and Interim President and CEO; Maarten Theunissen, Interim Chief Financial Officer; Bruno Lemelin, Senior Vice President, Operations & Projects; Craig MacDougall, Executive Vice President, Growth; and Tim Bradburn, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. 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 today. IAMGOLD reported another strong quarter, building on operational and productivity initiatives put in place earlier in the year. Based on the exceptional performance of our operating teams, we forecast that 2022 production will exceed the top end of our guidance. Consequently, we increased our production guidance for the year to between 650,000 and 705,000 ounces up from 570,000 to 640,000 ounces as previously guided. On behalf of the Board and the Executive Team, we applaud the tireless efforts of the…

Thank you, Maryse, and good morning. The following are some key highlights of our third quarter financial results. Gold revenues in the third quarter totaled $343 million, for a year-to-date total of just over $1 billion. The average realized sales price for gold for the quarter was $1,690 per ounce and that includes the impact of delivering 37,500 ounces at $1,500 per ounce under our 2019 prepay arrangement. We have 37,500 ounces remaining to be delivered in the fourth quarter under the prepay arrangement. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $103 million for the quarter and exclude the $74 million after-tax non-cash impairment charge recognized to align the carrying value of the Rosebel cash generating unit with the sales price of the asset as well as the impact of unrealized non-hedged derivatives and foreign exchange losses, mainly due to the impact of the weakening Canadian dollar on the cash balances held in Canadian dollar. Year-to-date adjusted EBITDA was $350.6 million. The company reported the third quarter net loss of $129.1 million and an adjusted net loss of $13.7 million or $0.03 per share, bringing the adjusted earnings year-to-date to $6.1 million or $0.01 per share. The adjustments mainly related to the non-cash impairment charge in Rosebel and the foreign exchange differences previously mentioned. Operating cash flow changes in working capital was $108.8 million for the quarter and $336.6 million for the year-to-date. And mine site free cash flow increased to $59.2 million in the quarter and totaled $189.3 million for the year-to-date. In terms of our financial position, we ended the quarter with approximately $536 million in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, and we had approximately $107 million available under our credit facility after drawing down $380 million year-to-date, and accounting for the letters of credit in the amount…

Thank you. We'll now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Tanya Jakusconek with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Great. Good morning and thank you for taking my questions. Maryse, Maarten, thank you for the insights. Maryse, can I ask a couple of things? I have three questions. So I'm going to start number one on inflationary pressures. I want to get an understanding that, are you starting to see any easing of inflation in your cost in either labor and/or diesel and/or consumables? Just are you starting to see that ease a little bit? That's my first question.

Good morning, Tanya, if you don't mind, I'll answer the question. We have seen sharp increases like our peers in the first half of the year with inflation for oil type costs and oil linked commodities, such as our grinding media. In Q3, we started seeing those costs plateau. So we have not seen further increases, but the costs remain elevated at those levels that we saw in Q2.

Okay. All right. And where would you -- so you're seeing it mainly in diesel and other consumables related to fuel, petrochemicals and other?

Yes. Yes. And items like steel grinding media that requires energy to produce.

Okay. Nothing in labor.

No.

Okay. My second question, again, is another technical question, which has to do with the reserves. I'm just interested to understand, what exactly is happening at Essakane that you're getting this positive block model reconciliation on the grade. Like, what do you think is happening with this complex geology? And my second part would be, as you look at your reserves in year-end 2022, are you thinking about adjusting the gold price upward to reflect these additional or higher costs. I don't know, Maarten, you or Maryse on that one. Maryse Bélanger: Okay. I'll take the question on Essakane. We've added few consecutive months of positive reconciliation at Essakane. It is linked to really Côté Gold in the Phase 4 pit. And that Côté Gold, in fact, seems to report directly to gravity. So, we have great benefits from that. And we are into process of validating those blocks -- our block model. And further, we are now drilling and trying to better understanding the type of mineralization and what's going on. So, I would suspect next quarter, we would be able to provide more visibility to what we see Essakane adept and talking about cost and all of the technical aspects, we are not seeing any changes to our kind of grade at Essakane.

That is what about the company itself for 2022 year-end. Maryse Bélanger: Sorry, Tanya, would you please read

I guess it was just -- you're only left with really Westwood. So it's an underground operation. So that's fine. I just answered my own question there. So my last question, if I could, was just on the additional liquidity that you're looking to put in place by year-end. You mentioned that the Boto and exploration is well advanced. I thought my understanding was that you wanted to get all of that drilling done and then sort of get additional like a resource and/or other before that would be sold. Does it appear that you can get all of this done before year-end to give us an update in Q4?

Tanya, so our discussions with the various bodies is commercially sensitive. But what I think we can say is that for these assets, we continue to make sure that we get the value for the asset as part of the sales process and that it's not a prior sale. So we are looking closely at the proceeds and the underlying value that bodies are offering for it.

Okay. So you feel you could get this done in Q4?

Yes

Okay. And then I noticed in your language, in your release that you removed joint ventures off as one of your options - joint venture partnership. We had mentioned these on previous calls. So we're still looking to keep 100% of Essakane and Westwood. Is that a fair statement? Maryse Bélanger: Yes, it is, Tanya.

Okay. And then my last question just on this funding gap. It's just once we sell or get value for Boto and other exploration, would you put your packing order as options on royalties and streams as a preferred option to debt and/or equity. I'm just trying to understand the ranking of the remaining funding

So we are looking at the options with the various solutions in the capital structure. And is a trade-off between the cost of capital and the permanency of solutions. So we have not decided a picking order. We are dropping through the various options with that competitive tension between the cost of capital and the permanency of the solutions.

I guess I'll stay to, do you think you will have the full funding, so including your other option, in addition to the sale of Boto and other by year-end? Maryse Bélanger: Yes, we will be able to communicate these debt to the market before year end.

Okay. That's good. Congratulations on the progress. Maryse Bélanger: Thank you, Tanya.

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

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. First question, you mentioned the amount of capital – or the amount of cash that is held between Essakane and Côté. Could you give us a breakout of that? I think it's probably – is critical to my thinking in terms of how much is actually put ahead for the Côté construction already.

So Anita, the way that the Côte spending all cash costs work is we have to provide two months of funding, but the cash cost is on the beginning of the month. So at the end of the month, we have approximately one month of expenditures remaining and then we need to fund on the next day. So we see it as two months of cash. I would say that it's roughly 50-50 of that amount that we've included in the MD&A.

Okay. So 50-50 between Essakane and how long does it take you to upstream cash from Essakane to go into Côté?

It doesn't take us long at all. However, we only can do it in a certain window, and that window is normally Q2 and Q3. So that's why our -- the cash balance built up in Q4 and Q1 and then we start repatriated cash again in that window.

Okay. Sorry. And then as I look to just a minor point, but going into Q4, the guidance for the year at Essakane would imply a weaker quarter. So somewhere around the range, I think, it was about 85,000 ounces or so. And you did mention that you -- you'd be focusing on stripping to prepare yourself for the grade profile in 2023 and 2024. So is that accurate, my assumption that, you know, you'd be focused more on stripping and less on delivering ore to the mill at Essakane in Q4?

Anita, thanks for the question. First of all, we do expect grades to normalize closer to reserve grade in the fourth quarter. We also expect the mill to be processing 100% hard rock as opposed to a combination of Fayolle [ph] and hard rock. And also we have noted the security situation in the country. That's putting a bit of pressure on our people. The situation is managed. But at this point, I would rather be a little conservative when it comes to Essakane.

Okay. And then just moving backwards to the funding gap and the ZenBook [ph] package of assets. I believe you carry it on the balance sheet right now for about $258 million. Is that, I mean, is that an accurate assumption of the value that you're trying to achieve when you sell that, or is there something else that we should be thinking about?

Anita, thanks for the question. It is very commercially sensitive at this stage in our process, and we cannot comment on value. That is not our carrying value of these assets on our balance sheet. It's for Boto, it's closer to $80 million.

No, I meant the package of assets, all of them together were $250 I thought. But Boto itself is $80 million, you said?

So the other assets is exploration assets, and we don't -- we expense our exploration expenditures. We don't have significant value on the balance sheet, but value of the accounting carrying – the carrying, carrying value is not represented of the value of the package in our view…

Okay. All right. Okay. Thank you very much.

You’re welcome.

[Operator Instructions] The next question is from Lawson Winder with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Hi. Good morning and thank you for the update. On the African asset sales, I just wanted to sort of, drill down a little bit more on your previous comment. So when you say you expect to have some sort of announcement with regard to the strategic alternatives for West Africa by the end of Q4, do you mean for to -- also, what's the smaller exploration stage assets? Maryse Bélanger: Yes. Yes, it would be the package. It would be for the three properties, yes.

And is the idea that they would all be sold together as a package, or could there be multiple buyers for each of those assets within that package? Maryse Bélanger: They could be sold separately, two of them, three of them together. It really depends on where we see the value and where we can create some value for the company. So, no definitive answer yet on this, and it's still a work-in-progress.

Okay. Got it. That's great. And then just on Rosebel, with the higher guidance, I mean, I think it's great that you're getting the benefit of that improved guidance. What I want to understand, will there be any sort of adjustments upon closing as a result of that higher guidance, or why IAMGOLD be able to fully benefit from that?

Good morning, Lawson. So for Rosebel, the purchase price is $360 million, would not be adjusted based on the agreement. But there is certain working capital adjustments that will be made based on the standard working capital. And the company also received the cash on the balance -- at the time of the sale. So if there is over-performance, it could result in an increase in proceeds. In our negotiations, we have shared these forecasts with the purchaser as well. So it's in line with what they are seeing as well.

Okay. Excellent. And then, just going to Essakane, with the CapEx now running at 100 -- sorry for this, $75 million of sustaining CapEx. And if you look into 2023, I mean -- and even beyond, is that kind of the correct level for maintaining that operation?

We are currently working on the budget, Lawson, right now. I think it's too early to tell. There will be some stripping to be to be done in 2023 and 2024 for sure. But, again, to give you the best level of the capital for the coming years, we are actually finalizing our budgets.

Okay. Well, we’ll stay tuned for that. And then, just finally, I'm not sure if Maryse, you can provide any color on the search for a permanent CEO. Is there sort of any sense of timing at this point? Maryse Bélanger: Well, the CEO search is active and ongoing. And the Board has been conducting an extensive process, because we really want to find the right candidate for the job. And I would say, in terms of timing, we'd expect to be able to make an announcement before the end of the year.

Okay. Excellent. Thank you very much for answering my questions. Maryse Bélanger: Thank you.

We have a follow-up question from Anita Soni with CIBC World Markets. Please, go ahead.

Hi. Can I just get some -- I guess, some color, I'm sure I could probably find in the technical report, if I looked, but the working capital requirements that you would have for Côté, sort of leading up into the, I guess -- leading up into the commercial production declaration early 2024. Could you give me a ballpark number of what you're looking at there?

The technical report does have information in there. I think what is important because it's an unincorporated joint venture, we will continue to have to fund two months of expenditures going forward. And then each partner gets the gold credits back. So, the working capital is included in the cost assumptions for the construction period, but also included in the technical report once it's in operation.

Okay. Thank you.

So, from -- we need to continue to fund the cash costs for the ongoing cash outflows of the project.

All right. Thank you.

The next question is from Sean Wondrack with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Just the first question, I believe you provide a liquidity bridge on slide nine. Your cash balance went up about $130 million quarter-over-quarter. Can you just describe what exactly drove that? Sorry if I missed it.

We drew down on our credit facility at the end of September and that was to assist us to make the cash goal for Côté at the beginning of October. We also drew down a bit more and for a bit longer period to take advantage of savings in an increasing interest rate environment. So, we drew down more on the facility than we needed in the short-term.

Okay. That makes sense. Thank you. And then if I take a look at your income statement, it does appear that exploration and SG&A expense both came down a little bit. Is this a fair run rate to use moving forward?

We are working through our updated plans and budget process, and we would be giving an update on that in our guidance. So, I don't think it's -- we're in a position to say that, that is our run rate and we're also kind of looking at our exploration expenditures and levels based on what happens with the asset disposition of exploration assets in West Africa, for example, as well. So, we just need to complete our assessment of our planned activities.

Understood. Understood. And then is there any concern out there around the Rosebel sale closing? Anything in particular that could slow the closing or gives you any pause with it? Maryse Bélanger: At this point, know this nothing that gives me pause. We have the normal regulatory requirements and we are proceeding through those. As a matter of fact, I'm on my way to Surinam with the representatives to do a joint visit and it's really just about customary regulatory approvals at this point.

Okay. Thank you very much.

This concludes the time allocated for questions. I'd like to hand the conference back over 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. As always, should you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to myself or Graeme Jennings if you would like to set up a meeting. Thank you all, and have a great day.

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