Maarten Theunissen
Analyst · Scotiabank. Please go ahead
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 of $19.3 million issued under the facility as collateral for certain surety bonds issued as environmental indemnities. Taken together, this translates to approximately $637 million in total liquidity at quarter end. Of note, $238 million of our cash and cash equivalents entailed by Côté and Essakane. As the Côté Gold JV requires its joint venture partners to fund in advance two months of future expenditures, and at Essakane, the company uses dividends and intercompany loans to repatriate funds from its operations and the timing of dividends is usually in the second and third quarter of every year. As a result, we typically hold between $200 million and $250 million of cash on our balance sheet for normal course business purposes. At the end of the third quarter, the remaining attributable spend to complete the construction of the Côté Gold project is estimated to be between $1 billion and $1.1 billion. Based on information currently available and providing market conditions, we continue to expect that IAMGOLD will require additional liquidity in 2023, in addition to the proceeds expected to be received from the sale of Rosebel to complete the construction of the project. The company is actively pursuing various alternatives to increase its liquidity and capital resources, including the options listed here. The funding alternatives are advancing well and we expect to be able to provide an update later in the fourth quarter. It is worth highlighting that the strategic review of our development and exploration assets in the Bambouk region of West Africa is active and ongoing, and we will provide further updates in due course.
Maryse Bélanger: Thank you, Maarten. Now on operations, and I will talk first about Essakane. Essakane achieved its highest quarter of production ever, reporting attributable gold production of 115,000 ounces. The mine continues to benefit from the higher grade mineralization in the lower portion of the Phase 4 pit with a higher amount of Côté Gold. Mining activity of 12.6 million tonnes increased from the prior quarter as mining operations resumed at full capacity in September, thanks to an easing of supply chain challenges in country and abroad. Mill throughput increased in the third quarter to 3 million tonnes, benefiting from improved grind size and a higher plant availability at 93%. Head grades were reported at 1.5 grams per tonne and recoveries at 90%, remaining at the same level as seen in the second quarter. As announced subsequent to quarter end, there were political developments in Burkina Faso with a change of leadership within the military land government. All IAMGold personnel were safe and the Essakane operation continues to operate as per the business plan. The company continues to take proactive measures to ensure the safety and security of our in-country personnel, and we continue to adjust protocols and activity levels at site according to the security situation. As we look to the end of the year, we have increased our production guidance for a second to between 410,000 and 430,000 ounces, up from 360,000 to 385,000 ounces previously. Essakane is well positioned to have its best production year ever, and that's the best year on record. We’re continuing to review the positive reconciliation between head grades and the updated block model, while we are also executing on targeted operational improvements. Recent initiatives focused on increasing mill throughput and recovery with improved blast fragmentation and enhanced gravity circuit recoveries between the planned addition of a double-deck screen. Now turning to Rosebel. Operationally, the turnaround at Rosebel has continued with Q3 attributable production of 50,000 ounces. This is the fifth progressive quarter of higher production as a result of the infrastructure improvements initiated at the end of last year and the new life of mine plan announced earlier this year. It document a roadmap to return Rosebel to being a 300,000 ounces plus producer by 2025. Subsequent to quarter end on October 18th, the company announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with Zijin Mining Group to sell its interests in the Rosebel mine for total consideration of $401 million with cash consideration of $360 million and the assumption of $41 million of liabilities related to equipment leases. When we initiated our strategic review process for Rosebel, our goal was to find a new owner committed to the future of the Rosebel complex, and it would make the necessary investments in the operation and place it on a path for long-term success. Rosebel has been an important contributor to IAMGOLD and we are pleased that a company with the capability and reputation of Zijin, a leading global mining company will be taking over this operation for the benefit of all stakeholders. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023 or earlier subject to some regulatory approvals. With the exceptional diligence and efforts of our Rosebel employees and management, Rosebel is expected to produce 175,000 to 200,000 ounces, up from our prior guidance of 155,000 to 180,000 ounces. Cost pressures remain in Surinam as the country is heavily exposed to the US dollar and a net importer of goods to oil prices continue to be partially mitigated by our existing hedge program. On Westwood, gold production was 19,000 ounces in the quarter as a result of higher volumes of underground ore at a higher grade and higher tonnages from the Grand Duc satellite open pit. Lateral development in the third quarter was 151 meters, lagging from the previous quarter due to continued labor constraints and lower mechanical availability of underground equipment. However, underground rehabilitation progress at the planned rate despite challenging ground conditions and impacts from supply chain challenges. Underground mining activity in the third quarter focused on accessing additional stope sequences in the Eastern Zones to supplement the recently opened higher-grade Western and Central Zones in order to secure multiple ore faces, which will allow for simultaneous exploitation underpinning the 2023 production plan. As a result of the improvements seen in Q3 and expectations for Q4, we raised the bottom end of our production guidance to 65,000 to 75,000 ounces, up from 55,000 to 75,000 ounces previously. Now turning to Côté Gold. The project has made significant progress over the last few months. Progress rates are currently at peak levels in line with the updated project plan. The site is currently near capacity, with approximately 1,500 workers. I would not – all that site a couple of weeks ago, and I have to commend the project management team for due diligent and focused to keep everyone on task. As of September 30, the company's estimated attributable remaining project spend to complete construction and bring Côté Gold into production is $1 billion to $1.1 billion net of leases and working capital. It is worth noting, considering current market that, this estimate also assumes a Canadian to US exchange rate of 1.2521, so any further strength in the US dollar provides the benefit to Côté Gold construction cost and our contracts and expenses on Canadian dollar denominated. The company is putting in additional Canadian dollar foreign exchange hedges in addition to its existing hedges to increase exposure to current rates over the construction period. The project at the end of September was 64.2% complete, with monthly project advancements estimated to be approximately 3% to 4% per month during this big construction per year. Detailed engineering is now 100% complete. So our focus is on execution and mechanical installation. Key progress milestones in the third quarter, include structural, mechanical and piping activities in the processing plant, with the ball mill now mounted on the reception cradle and the pump -- sorry, the pump box set in place. Significant progress on the tailings management facility, water realignment, channel, publishing pan dam and other volume management infrastructure dams. The handover and assembly of the Autonomous Control Room. Completion of the primary crusher concrete to the 409 elevation, with just one more vertical lift remaining and concrete foundations for the HPGR/secondary crusher, screening building and fine ore bins handed over to SMPEI contractors. So Côté Gold continues to track well to the updated project schedule towards initial production in early 2024. IAMGOLD and our partner, Sumitomo, are aligned and focused on building Côté safely, on time and to the current scope and budget. As this on the critical path for the project continues to be through the processing plant and all teams are focused on ensuring outdoor work has been executed to facilitate mechanical installation within the plant once the winter season hits. The company cautions that potential further disruption including without limitation caused by COVID-19, the Ukraine war, weather, potential labor disruption and the tight labor market could continue to impact the timing of activities, availability of workforce productivity and supply chain and logistics and consequently could further impact the timing of actual commercial production in project cost. Now right next to Côté, Gosselin. At the end of last year, we announced an initial resource for the Gosselin deposit, which is located immediately adjacent to Côté. Gosselin contains 3.4 million ounces of measured and indicated resources and an additional 1.7 million ounces of inferred resources. Notably, Gosselin has only been drilled to us the depth of Côté and is open along strike and adept. This year, we conducted a 16,000-meter diamond drill campaign targeting further delineation of the model the resource and extension of the mineralization zone outside the resource boundaries. Results of this program will be reported once up complete. It is worth reminding everyone that the Côté Gold Life of Mine plan as defined today is based on mineral reserves of 7.2 million ounces contained within the Côté deposit. Taken together, Côté and Gosselin have a total of 13.5 million ounces in measured and indicated results. We firmly believe that Côté Gold is not just a project, but the stock of the new mining district, and there is significant upside to be uncovered as there has been minimal historical exploration targeting these Côté, Gosselin installed intrusion-hosted deposits within our 596 square kilometer line package. With that update, I would like to pass the call back to the operator for Q&A.