Iamgold Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
May 6, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: IAMGOLD generated strong cash this quarter with ~CAD 525M mine-site free cash flow, >CAD 1B revenue, repurchased CAD 260M of shares and repaid CAD 100M of debt, leaving the company in a net‑cash / strong liquidity position.
  • Positive Sentiment: Management says 2026–2027 will be "catalyst‑rich" with planned updates and studies across key assets — including an updated Côté resource and expansion study, a Nelligan PEA (H1 2027), and Essakane and Westwood life/expansion studies — which management expects will materially increase the company’s scale and NAV.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Operationally Côté was affected by conveyor downtime that reduced Q1 throughput, but the company plans a May belt replacement and expects quarter‑over‑quarter throughput and cost improvement toward year‑end and to remain within full‑year production guidance.
  • Negative Sentiment: Costs remain sensitive to external factors — high gold prices increased royalty burdens (management noted ~CAD 115/oz impact per CAD 1,000 gold price) and Essakane’s diesel/heavy‑fuel exposure means oil price moves (≈CAD 20/oz per CAD 10/bbl at Essakane) could materially raise cash costs.
  • Positive Sentiment: The Nelligan Mining Complex is being aggressively advanced (planned 60,000+ m drilling this year) and already hosts multi‑million ounce resources, with management positioning it as a potential major long‑life asset once the PEA is released.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Iamgold Q1 2026
00:00 / 00:00

There are 10 speakers on the call.

Speaker 6

Welcome to the IAMGOLD first quarter 2026 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. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Graeme Jennings, VP Business Development and Investor Relations for IAMGOLD. Please go ahead, Mr. Jennings.

Speaker 2

Thank you, operator, and welcome everyone to our conference call this morning. Joining us on the call are Renaud Adams, President, Chief Executive Officer, Maarten Theunissen, Chief Financial Officer, Bruno Lemelin, Chief Operating Officer, Ankit Shah, Chief Strategy Officer, and Annie Torkia Lagacé, Chief Legal Officer. We are calling today from IAMGOLD's Toronto office, which is located on Treaty 13 territory on the traditional lands of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabe, and the Chippewa, and the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. At IAMGOLD, we believe respecting and upholding Indigenous rights is founded upon relationships that foster trust, transparency, and mutual respect. Please note that our remarks on today's call will include forward-looking statements and refer to non-IFRS measures.

Speaker 2

We encourage you to refer to the cautionary statements and disclosures on Non-IFRS measures included in the presentation and the reconciliations of these measures 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 website. I'll now turn the call over to our President and CEO, Renaud Adams.

Speaker 7

Thank you, Graeme, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Before I start, I'd like to welcome Ankit Shah, who joined IAMGOLD on Monday as our Chief Strategy Officer. Ankit, who many of you on the call are familiar with, brings to our team nearly 20 years of strategy, corporate development, and capital markets experience at a very exciting time for this company. Welcome, Ankit. IAMGOLD is off to a strong start to 2026. In the first quarter, we produced 183,600 attributable ounces of gold, positioning us well to achieve our full year guidance of 720,000-820,000 ounces. The quarter was marked by robust financial results, with revenue exceeding $1 billion and mine site free cash flow of $525 million.

Speaker 7

The cash flow we are generating is allowing us to execute on all fronts, as in the first quarter alone, we returned CAD 260 million to shareholders through our share buyback program and repaid CAD 100 million of debt on our credit facility while increasing our cash position. These results reflect the significant leverage of our business as to the current gold price environment, and more importantly, the quality of the asset we have built and the teams that operate them. What excites me most is where IAMGOLD is headed. I believe we are entering one of the most catalyst-rich periods of the company's history. Over the next 12-18 months, we expect to deliver updated technical reports across each of our assets, Côté Gold, Westwood, Essakane, and the Nelligan Mining Complex.

Speaker 7

These studies are expected to outline a larger, longer life production profile that we believe will redefine how the market views IAMGOLD. At Côté, the year-end technical report is expected to contemplate a significantly larger scale of operations incorporating both the Côté and Gosselin, supported by an updated mineral resource estimate coming this quarter. At Nelligan, we are advancing one of the largest pre-production gold camps in Canada towards a preliminary economic assessment next year. At Westwood and Essakane, we see meaningful potential of mine life expansion and production growth. We will get into the detail on each of these through the presentation today.

Speaker 7

When I look at IAMGOLD today, with CAD 2 billion of EBITDA generated over the last 12 months, a strengthening balance sheet and increasing production profile, catalysts ahead at every asset, and meaningful capital being returned to shareholders, I see a company that is delivering on its promises and building something very exceptional. We are well positioned to create significant value in 2026 and beyond, and I look forward to walking you through the details. With that, let's get into the quarter. Starting with health and safety, in the quarter, our total recordable injury rate was 0.44, a measurable improvement from the prior year period.

Speaker 7

I would like to highlight two big achievements in the quarter, as the Essakane mine achieved a milestone of triple zero in the first quarter, and Westwood achieved its first full quarter at a zero TRIR, a goal every mine site strives to reach. I want to thank our teams across our operation and in the field for their continued commitment to safe and responsible mining, as safety is where it starts for us. Looking at operation, as I noted, IAMGOLD produced 183,600 ounces to our account in the first quarter. At Côté, attributable production of 52,300 ounces was impacted by reduced throughput due to unplanned downtime associated with wear and tear on a conveyor belt as crushed ore volume significantly increased following the commissioning of the second cone crusher.

Speaker 7

This belt will be replaced in May, after which we expect to operate at full capacity with an improving cost profile through the year as the bottlenecking of the secondary crusher allows us to phase out the aggregate crusher. Essakane and Westwood both had a very strong start to the year, demonstrating the value of having a diversified portfolio of producing assets. Cash costs, including royalties, were CAD 1,301 per ounce in a quarter, tracking well within our full-year guidance range. Including royalties, cash costs were CAD 1,608 per ounce, and all-in sustaining costs were CAD 2,124. It is worth highlighting that both Côté and Essakane carry significant royalty structure which are directly linked to the gold price.

Speaker 7

In a quarter where the gold price realized was nearly CAD 4,900 an ounce, the royalty component is naturally higher than what our guidance assume at CAD 4,000. As a reference, this worked out to around CAD 115 per ounce increase in cash costs for a CAD 1,000 per ounce increase in the gold price from a royalty alone. Meanwhile, on input costs, the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East has introduced additional volatility to energy markets, and we did see oil prices move higher towards the end of the quarter. Essakane, in particular, has meaningful exposure given its reliance on diesel and heavy fuel oil to power both the processing and the mining fleet. On a consolidated basis, a CAD 10 per barrel increase translates to approximately CAD 12 per ounce increase in cash costs.

Speaker 7

We are actively monitoring energy price movement and potential supply chain impact across all of our operations. With that, I will pass the call over to our CFO to walk us through our financial matters. Martin.

Speaker 4

Thank you, Renaud, and good morning, everyone. The current gold market and our operating results have resulted in good financial results and considerable free cash flow being generated, which allows us to continue to execute on our capital allocation strategy to maximize value. We produced CAD 524.6 million of mine site free cash flow. That is operating cash flows minus capital expenditure from each operation. CAD 228.4 million of the funds was used to strengthen our balance sheet by repaying CAD 100 million of the credit facility, and we also increased cash by CAD 128.3 million. For the shareholder return component, we purchased 260 million or 12.9 million of IAMGOLD shares as part of the share buyback program.

Speaker 4

Subsequent to quarter end, we purchased an additional 2.1 million shares for CAD 40 million. Which brings the total shares repurchased by IAMGOLD since the start of the program last December to CAD 350 million or 18 million shares. In addition, we completed the debt repayment component of our plan and paid down the remaining CAD 100 million balance of the credit facility, making the full facility available. The company intends to continue to use cash flow from Essakane to fund its share buyback program at approximately the same rate that cash is generated and repatriated from Essakane over the course of 2026.

Speaker 4

Naturally, the actual number of common shares that may be purchased, if any, and the timing of such purchases will be determined by the company based on a number of factors, including the gold price, the company's financial performance, the availability of cash flows, consideration of uses of cash, and our strategic allocation. In terms of the financial position, at the end of the quarter, IAMGOLD had CAD 550.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, with CAD 100 million drawn on the credit facility, resulting in liquidity at the end of March of approximately CAD 1.1 billion.

Speaker 4

With the CAD 400 million term loan repaid at the end of last year and the repayment of our credit facility, IAMGOLD today is in a net cash position, a significant milestone for a company that a year ago was carrying over CAD 800 million in net debt. Within cash and cash equivalents, we note that CAD 281.9 million was held by Essakane at the end of the quarter. The cash balance at Essakane increased during the quarter and will be used to fund tax payments in April and the government of Burkina Faso's portion of the 2026 dividend payable in June. The company uses dividends and shareholder account structure to repatriate funds in excess of working capital requirements from Essakane. Turning to our financial results, revenues from operations totaled $1 billion from sales of 211,500 ounces.

Speaker 4

On a 100% basis at an average realized price of CAD 485 per ounce. The record gold price and operating results resulted in adjusted EBITDA of CAD 666 million in the first quarter of the year. Which brings the trailing 12-month EBITDA to a total of approximately CAD 2 billion. At the bottom line, adjusted earnings per share for the quarter was CAD 0.67. Looking at the cash flow reconciliation for the quarter offers a good visualization of the major drivers in the quarter. We see good conversion of EBITDA into operating cash flow with CAD 629.5 million of operating cash flow before working capital changes. As stated earlier, the significant operating cash flow allowed for the funding of our capital expenditure of CAD 101.6 million, CAD 260 million under the share buyback program.

Speaker 4

We paid CAD 100 million of the credit facility, while still resulting in an increase in cash of CAD 128.3 million. We look ahead with our debt prepayment goal achieved, we will continue to shape the share buyback program using cash flow from Essakane and the remaining cash going to our balance sheet to further strengthen it as we evaluate the best use of the funds to increase value of the business. We are evaluating an appropriate time to induce a dividend that would likely be at the end of the year or early next year. It is worth reinforcing on how we think about our capital allocation framework today. The Canadian platform, consisting of Côté Gold and Westwood, is generating sufficient cash flow to fund the company's Canadian operations and corporate activities, as well as our internal growth plans over the next 3 years.

Speaker 4

This is important because it means that the cash flow from Essakane can be directed to fund our capital return to shareholders that currently consists of the share buyback program. We believe there is compelling logic to that. The market has historically applied a discounted cash flows generating between Essakane. By repatriating those funds to Canada and using it to repurchase our shares at current market value, we are effectively converting cash that the market discounts into full value equity for our shareholders. We continue to evaluate the program and believe that this is currently the most prudent use of capital. With that, I will pass the call to Bruno Lemelin, our Chief Operating Officer, to discuss our operating results and outlook. Bruno.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Martin. Starting with Côté Gold. Looking at the quarter, Côté produced 74,700 ounces on an all-in basis. Mining activities totaled 9.3 million tons of material mined, with 3.6 million tons of ore, representing a strip ratio of 1.6 to 1. Total tons mined were lower in January and February. The operation completed overburden removal activity required to open up the pit while managing seasonal winter conditions. Mining activity increased in March as drilling and blasting commenced in the pushback area. Grade mined in the quarter was 0.99 grams per ton, in line with the mine plan. Mill throughput in the quarter was 2.3 million tons. As we noted in our results, throughput was limited due to downtime on the CV10 conveyor, which feeds material from the primary and secondary crushers to the screening building.

Speaker 1

This downtime was primarily due to the increased load on the conveyor following the installation of the secondary crusher, putting additional stress on areas of the conveyor belt that had prior wear and slices. We were able to refine our repairs in early April. We saw improved performance of the belt when the belt plant averaged 32,000 tons per day over the month. Later this month, we are installing a new heavier gauge belt, which will allow for the circuit to resume full operation above 90,000. In summary, the CV10 belt situation is not structural in nature, but an isolated, non-recurring early life item. We are seeing fewer of these as the operation stabilizes, marking an important step forward versus the past 12-24 months. Côté is transitioning into a phase focused on operating discipline and consistent execution.

Speaker 1

Head grades for the first quarter was 1.07 grams per ton, in line with the guidance for the year of 1-1.1 grams per ton, with recovery of 93%. We continue to be very pleased with the reconciliation between reserve model through grade model to mill feed and production. Production is expected to increase quarter-over-quarter as throughput increases in Q2 and on higher grades in the second half of the year. We remain on track with Côté's production guidance of 390,000-440,000 ounces for the year. Looking at cost, Côté reported first quarter cash costs, excluding royalty of CAD 1,369 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs of CAD 2,109 per ounce.

Speaker 1

We have been clear with our plan to lower our costs this year, and that plan is still in place. Our goal is to exit the year at sub CAD 400 ton mining costs and processing costs in the mid-teens. The primary drivers to lower costs this year are fourfold. First is to increase tons through the mill and higher production. Second is to significantly reduce and remove the reliance on the contracted aggregate crusher. Third is with improved maintenance cycle and iterative performance improvement. Fourth is to realize the operational efficiency as the pit is opened up. The second cone crusher is operating well, which has removed the bottleneck from this area of the secondary crushing circuit.

Speaker 1

Later this quarter, the increased capacity will allow us to phase out the usage of the aggregate crusher, which we contracted last year to allow the plant to hit its 2025 goals. We have already realized benefits beyond the additional volume capacity, with the HPGR seeing an immediate reduction on wear of its rollers, which will translate to less roller replacement over the course of a year. As Renaud pointed out, costs at Côté Gold are impacted by higher gold prices. In the first quarter, royalties accounted for CAD 335 per ounce or 20% of cash costs. Further, and this is something that we've been asked about frequently of late, is the impact of rising oil prices. The benefit at Côté is that the plant and our shovels are connected to the low-cost hydro grid.

Speaker 1

Effectively, only our mining fleet is directly impacted by fuel prices. Based on our estimates, this translates to about CAD 7 per ounce increase in cost per CAD 10 increase in the price of oil. With a path forward this year to a higher production and lower cost, all eyes turn to what is next to Côté for Côté. The first step is the upcoming updated mineral resource estimate, which will combine both the Côté and Gosselin zones into a single block model. The goal is to see additional upgrading of ounces into measured and indicated. The resource base will form the foundation of the Côté-Gosselin expansion mine plan, which is still on track to be announced in the fourth quarter of this year.

Speaker 1

The re-report will envision a near-term expansion of the Côté plan to 50,000-55,000 tons per day, targeting a significantly larger resource base from the updated resource estimate. We expect the expansion to be highly accretive on a NAV basis, as the near-term capital required for the plant expansion is relatively modest. The permitting and larger capital requirements for additional tailings management and opening of Gosselin will likely be staged out many years in the mine plan. Turning to Westwood, the mine continued its strong production, producing 36,300 ounces at the quarter, as underground activities performed very well with excellent mucking and hoisting performance. Underground mining totaled 106,000 tonnes in the quarter, with an average head grade from underground of 9.85 gram per tonne. The underground open pits saw lower ore tonne mined of 60,000 tonnes.

Speaker 1

Operations prioritized waste stripping to open up access to additional ore with opportunities to further expansion or further expansion. Their throughput in the third quarter was in line at 303,000 tonnes at a blended average grade of 4.4 gram per tonne and recoveries of 92%. Together, Westwood produced CAD 110 million of mine site free cash flow in the first quarter, bringing the last 12 months of cash flow generation to CAD 242 million. Westwood demonstrates what disciplined execution and incremental optimization can deliver: safe operation, stable production, expanding optionality, and strong free cash flows without step-change capital. As a result of the strong quarter, cash costs averaged CAD 1,230 per ounce, and all-in sustaining costs averaging CAD 1,733 per ounce, well below the guidance ranges for the year.

Speaker 1

We have seen a modest mining cost increases on a per unit basis associated with increased dry drilling activities and higher explosive costs. Looking ahead, our teams are quite excited for the future of Westwood. This year, we are spending about CAD 30 million on expansion capital that is being used to explore Ente, the eastern extension of the mine, which you can see circled here on slide 13. We are seeing a thickening of mineralization in this area. Our project teams are currently drifting into this area to conduct bore testing. The company plans to publish an updated technical report for Westwood in the second half of 2027, which is expected to extend the life of mine and highlight the potential for both mining in this eastern zone.

Speaker 1

This approach could potentially support higher overall underground throughput, this conceptually would allow for increased gold production at improved mining costs, allowing the mill to be filled with higher margin material. Turning to Essakane, the mine reported record production of 111,900 ounces on a 100% base. As grade continued to benefit from the positive reconciliation as mining progresses deeper into phase 7. As a result of the strong performance, mine site free cash flow from Essakane was CAD 302.7 million in the quarter, bringing the total cash generated by Essakane over the last 12 months to CAD 803.6 million. On operation, mining total 11.9 million tons versus ore ton of 2.2 million tons, translating to a strip ratio of 4.4 to 1.

Speaker 1

The higher proportion of waste was a result of the initial pushback of the dip extension in the Lao pit. The mill reported in line throughput of 3.1 million tons, which was a good achievement as the plant completed its annual shutdown. Head grades average 1.24 grams per ton coming off the record grade last quarter. Despite the positive reconciliation impact in phase seven, we are maintaining our guidance for the year of 1.1 grams per ton as additional ore from Lao is brought into the mine plan. Essakane cost came within guidance ranges with cash costs excluding royalties of CAD 1,083 per ounce and all-in sustaining cost of CAD 2,125 per ounce.

Speaker 1

Mining costs benefited in the quarter due to free dig gain of the initial satellite benches of the Lao pit, resulting in reduced exclusive consumption. While on a project basis, these savings were offset by higher energy and consumable costs and the replacement of the liners. Essakane costs also have exposure to the gold price. In the first quarter, the strong gold price translated to royalties accounting for CAD 597 per ounce or 35% of cash costs. Further, Essakane is heavily reliant on oil and diesel. Based on the usage between milling and mining, it is estimated that a CAD 10 increase in the price of oil per barrel would equate to about CAD 20 per ounce increase in cash costs and in all-in sustaining costs, respectively.

Speaker 1

At this time, our fuel supply has not been impacted by the conflict in the Middle East, though risk to price and supply have increased. The company is actively monitoring the situation and implementing measures that are within its control. Essakane continues to be a highly cash generative asset, delivering strong free cash flow while offering optionality to an updated mine plan targeting a potential 5-year extension of its current life of mine. In the first half of 2027, IAMGOLD expects to release this updated plan, which would extend Essakane's life to 2033. This work will also support discussions with the government of Burkina Faso ahead of license renewal in 2028. Today, Essakane hosts 4.4 million ounces of measured and indicated resources with further upside supported by ongoing drilling. With that, I will pass it back to Renaud. Renaud?

Speaker 7

Thank you, Renaud. This bring us to the Néligan Mining Complex. The first quarter was the first full quarter that we controlled the consolidated district, and our exploration teams have been drilling to expand mineralization at Philibert, Néligan, and Monster Lake while prioritizing targets for further discovery. This year, I will be drilling over 60,000 meters to advance the project, so we can release our initial PEA study to the market in the first half of next year. The Néligan Mining Complex already has a significant minerals inventory of over 4.3 million ounces of measured and indicated and 7.5 million ounces of inferred resources. We believe there is meaningful upsides to those numbers. Many of these deposits and targets have not had a sustained or well-funded exploration program behind them.

Speaker 7

That is changing now. We expect the mineral inventory to continue to grow as we put capital to work across the district. We expect the study to outline a project with a central processing facility being fed from multiple ore sources within the 17-kilometer radius. Considering the minerals wealth and potential for growth and the fact that IAMGOLD owns 100%, the Nelligan Mining Complex has the potential to be among IAMGOLD's largest mines. The Nelligan Mining Complex is already positioned as one of the largest pre-production gold projects in Canada. What makes truly compelling is the combination of district scale consolidation across multiple million ounces deposit, the ease of access, the combine of underground and open pit mining, and the fact that it is located in Quebec, one of the top premier mining jurisdictions in the world.

Speaker 7

Taken together, we believe these attributes positions Nelligan as a premium asset in our portfolio. One where we expect to unlock significant value as we advance the project through the study process. With that, I want to thank our shareholders for your support. We truly believe that will be an exciting years for IAMGOLD, with significant value growth opportunities ahead, including the upcoming resource update at Côté, the Côté expansion study later this year, followed by next year, where we outline a mine life extension in Essakane in the first half of the year, initial study wrapping economics around Nelligan Mining Complex also in the first half of next year, and a mine life extension, expansion underground at Westwood in the second half of next year. Altogether, we have significant value accretion catalysts ahead.

Speaker 7

With that, I would like to pass the call back to the operator for the Q&A portion of the call. Operator?

Speaker 6

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. We will pause for a moment as callers join the queue. The first question comes from Sathish Kasinathan with Bank of America.

Speaker 8

Yeah. Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. My first question is on Essakane. Are you seeing any risks in terms of potential supply disruptions for diesel or fuel oil over there? How much inventory do you currently have on site? You also talked about the direct cost impact from higher oil prices, but how should we think about the indirect inflationary pressures?

Speaker 7

Maybe Maarten, you take that one, please.

Speaker 4

Morning, Sathish. We are de-risking the fuel supply at Essakane. We have supply at site that's 5 to 6 weeks. We try to maintain that at maximum capacity. What we've also done is we continue to secure additional fuel up the supply chain. We have secured that fuel. For the next 2 to 3 months, Essakane has already secured sufficient fuel. The impact, as we stated, for the direct impact on the actual cost per fuel that is linked to the market price is about CAD 20 per ounce for every CAD 10 per barrel. There is other costs at Essakane as well. There's taxes on fuel and those impacts. We have not seen other inflationary pressures at Essakane or the other mines at this point. It's hard to estimate those.

Speaker 4

If you look at our energy cost as a company, it's about 20% of our operating cost, and our consumables is about 15%-16%. That's kind of like the level of our cost structure that could be impacted by inflationary pressures. It's hard to, I think, for anyone to predict at this point what exactly that would look like.

Speaker 8

Okay. Thanks for the color. My second question is on Côté. How should we look at the quarterly guidance of production and cost, especially for the 2nd quarter with the reduced operating capacity and the scheduled maintenance shutdown in May? Should we expect the average milling rates and cost to improve versus the 1st quarter, or is it more like a 2nd half story?

Speaker 7

Renaud, do you want to have a go at that?

Speaker 1

Good morning. We expect that once we have completed the shutdown in middle of May, like it is meant to be on the May 20th, we are going to be replacing the conveyor belt. We are going to be replacing also the HPGR tires that were supposed to be changed earlier in the year. We are going to make some adjustment in certain areas. After that, we are going to resume to full operation and even going beyond the nameplate capacity. What it entails is, after that, the expectation is both on the mining side and milling side, the unit costs are expected to decrease and to have a sharp improvement in terms of gold production quarter-over-quarter.

Speaker 2

Sathish, this is Graeme. You'll note in our news release that we refined our throughput guidance for Côté to 12 million-13 million tons for the year.

Speaker 8

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for the additional color and congrats on a strong year-to-date buybacks.

Speaker 7

Thank you.

Speaker 6

The next question comes from Anita Soni with CIBC.

Operator

Hi. Good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to ask a little bit about Westwood. So this quarter, a little bit lower production from the Grand Duke deposit or from the open pit, I'm not sure if it's still Grand Duke. How long do you expect to have that for? I think it said into 2027, but I was just trying to figure out, you know, when it ends and sort of the ramp up in 2026 in terms of the tonnage over the course of the year.

Speaker 1

Good morning, Anita. This is Bruno. Good question. We are seeing material from Grand Duke to be extended even beyond 2027. We have also options, phase 5 that could go even beyond to till 2029. That's what we're doing right now. We're currently evaluating those options. Grand Duke has been like a great support for Westwood. The moment that it will be fading off, it would be also a great moment for the eastern zone that I'm referring to, the thicker part of the underground zone at Westwood to replace that material.

Speaker 7

And then-

Speaker 7

If I may add, Anita. What I really like about the work that's been done and the drilling that took place in the last 2 years, our effort has always been, you know, to protect the production profile on the upside, the phases. The potential phase 5s of the Grand Duke, you know, should we be able to maintain this up to 2029, 2030, followed after that, you know, by an increase of the underground in the East Wing. This is the focus right now. You don't see any gap in that. If anything, you know, a continued increased profile. It's a bit of about the same thinking, and I appreciate Burkina Faso is a different situations we monitor and so forth.

Speaker 4

The best, of course, would be to completely offset the gap and fit the Nelligan. Can, you know, also being capable to maintain the production profile. That's really the focus at this stage, understanding that we would be continuing to monitor the situation in the West Africa.

Operator

Yeah. I guess what I was driving at with on the Westwood was, you know, this quarter you had very good costs and very, you know, a lot of mining from the underground and with the Grand Duke ramping up. You know, I'm just curious to see how the, like, the, like theoretically, the overall mining cost per ton should actually drive down more with more underground, sorry, more of the open pit ore coming in. I'm just trying to get a handle on, you had a significant cost beat in the first quarter at Westwood relative to your guidance.

Speaker 4

Yeah.

Operator

How I should be thinking about costs for the rest of the year?

Speaker 4

Good morning, Anita. It's Maarten. I agree we had a great quarter if you look at the dollar per ton for the underground mine. We do expect it to maybe increase just above the 300 level again for the rest of the year. That it might not be staying at that level, closer to that 325 for the full year again as we saw in the past. Yeah, we don't expect Q1 to be the norm for the rest of the year.

Speaker 1

We wish so, we do understand that there are some zones, some areas in the mine that requires maybe more support and so forth. We cannot really It really depends where the guys would be, where the team would be, would be mining. Our focus is to remain at the lower cost. I appreciate that we'll be mining out a sector as well at higher cost.

Operator

Okay. My other question on Côté on throughput was answered in one of the other questions going above me in place. I'll leave it there and get back in the queue if I have any follow-up. Thank you.

Speaker 7

Thank you so much.

Speaker 6

Thank you. The next question comes from Tanya Jakusconek with Scotiabank.

Speaker 9

Oh, great. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for taking my questions. Maybe I'll do the financial 1 first. Maarten, over to you to maybe talk about the CAD 400 million dividend after tax that you're getting in Q2 from Essakane. Should I be think that all of that now could be going to share buyback in like Q2 or Q3? How should I be thinking the payment of the CAD 400 million over for the share buyback or from a quarterly perspective?

Speaker 4

Good morning, Tanya. We have about CAD 200 million left on the shareholder account for last year's dividend. We expect that cash to be repatriated by June or July of this year. The reason why there's a bit of a slowdown is because of the tax payments we have to make in Q2, as well as the government is getting their CAD 100 million portion of the dividend. The cash that we bring in, we expect for the remainder of this quarter to spend CAD 40 million to CAD 50 million a month. We already did CAD 40 million in April, so kind of like getting to that CAD 400 million for the year. Likely on the share buyback, we will continue to evaluate. That CAD 400 million that we then declare in June is then a new shareholder account of CAD 400 million.

Speaker 4

As we then repatriate cash from Essakane, we would then continue to use that to potentially fund share buybacks for the second half of the year into next year. Gold price dependent is the exact sequence of that. We have good vision on the next quarter, taking us through the middle of the year.

Speaker 9

Okay, great. That's very helpful. My other financial question is just on the taxes were quite low in Q1. When I look at your guidance and what you paid, significantly lower. Maybe just a little bit about what's happening there and how you see the rest of the year you know, coming out in terms of taxes.

Speaker 4

From a cash tax perspective, we've paid about 14% if you take our guidance, cash taxes. We still think our cash tax guidance is intact. Maybe if you look at it for how it's spread over the course of the year, like 14%-15% in Q1 and Q4, and then the remainder is spread over Q2 and Q3. That's again driven by the decline cash tax payment in Q2 and the revolving tax payment on the dividend that's normally either end of Q2 or beginning of Q3.

Speaker 9

Okay. Should see that go down.

Speaker 4

10% in Q2 and Q3 then.

Speaker 9

Yeah. Okay. Perfect. Thank you for that clarification. Moving to some of the technical questions. Maybe, Renaud, over to you. You know, as I think about this updated resource that is coming out on Côté Gold at the end of, I think it's this quarter, end of Q2, or in Q2. Should I be thinking, I think I heard that we're upgrading the measured and indicated the category. Should I be thinking that that 20 million ounces that you have outlined, should I be thinking that 2 million of inferred gets moved into measured and indicated and there will be no increase to the reserves that you reported of 7 million ounces? Should I also be thinking that that 20 million overall should get bigger?

Speaker 9

Just trying to understand what to expect.

Speaker 7

No, no. Thanks for the questions. You know, we've been socializing this quite a bit. If you look at our year-end mineral resource, where we're sitting below the 19 million and the 18.5+ million of measured and indicated, there were still some holes to be integrated in the database. We've done some work in the saddle as well. In short, our confidence remains, as you say, that there will be additional conversion to MI, to our objective of 20 million ounces of measured and indicated. As you drill, as you continue to improve your inferred as well. We would all clarify this, but the most important thing is our objective remains 20 million of measured and indicated, and that will form the basis for the reserves.

Speaker 7

We will not disclose the reserve, obviously, because we'll trigger the need for the report right away. We're gonna clarify in Q2 our resource and the reserve, then will be a measure of the factor of conversion of the CAD 20 million. Obviously, we're expecting a significant increase in reserve out of the 20, out of the CAD 20 million, but that will be clarified in the study as it come out at the end of the year.

Speaker 9

Okay. Thank you for that. That's what I thought was gonna happen, but I just wanted to make sure. Then just maybe on, you know, I know we talked a little bit about these costs coming down at Côté on both the mining and the processing. As we think about this new study that's coming out at in Q4 for this, you know, complex, should I be thinking that you know, the new study should have, you know, costs of under CAD 4 a ton for mining and processing and that CAD 12-CAD 14 a ton as a combined entity? I mean, they were quite high this quarter as we know for various reasons.

Speaker 9

I'm trying to understand if I am going to be benchmarking on that, you know, under CAD 4 a ton and CAD 12-CAD 14 on the processing.

Speaker 7

You're absolutely right. Appreciate, you know, that in the short term our cost has been higher. You know, as we highlighted in Q2 last year, the use of the aggregate crusher is a big portion of it. Not having the capacity of the dry and short. All this have been tested. We've been using as well some external review as well to revalidate all this. We're talking about feasibility, you know, level type of study. We remain extremely confident. We understand and appreciate our costs are higher, but I think we have good visibility about what has to be done. This is a focus as we park the aggregate and focus on reducing. It's not gonna be all in one year.

Speaker 7

It's gonna be spread over 2 years to 3 years. Our world are highlighted, heading to the expansion. Maybe, Bruno, just quickly what you see as the main focus in the second half of the year in terms of cost reduction.

Speaker 1

For the mining costs, you will see those mining costs basically in the second and for the rest of the year. First of all, it's because of volume really the thing for Q1. As we expect the volume to increase, unit costs are going to go down. Second is we have also made great improvement in drill and blast, increasing our performance by 65% of late. We're also going to receive 4 additional 793 trucks increasing haul. We're putting everything in place to be successful, to be below the CAD 4 a ton before the end of the year. Same thing happened for the mining costs.

Speaker 1

The moment that you take out, remove the aggregate crusher, the contractor, the demobilization of other contractors, you'll see also a sharp reduction in cost. We are also making improvement here and there as it should. It's part of the optimization phase. As Renaud pointed out, that optimization phase is going to take a good two years to make sure that we keep putting a downward pressure for the cost. We're quite confident that the 43-101 is going to be well supported by assumptions that are realistic.

Speaker 9

Okay. Understood. A basis to go forward on that. Maybe just my final question, as I thought about the rest of the year, I know in the, in the previous, in February, the guidance had been that Essakane production would be relatively stable through the year, as was Westwood, and then, Côté would see quarter-on-quarter improvement. We saw a stronger second half. How are we looking at the overall company for, production profile for first half, second half?

Speaker 1

Go ahead, Renaud.

Speaker 1

Yes. It's going to be much stronger, as we mentioned, for Côté. The grades are going to be over in between 1 and 1.2. We have to expect a stronger H2. For Essakane, it's going to be quite stable. We mentioned that we're going to remain within guidance as we start implementing the low ore into the mine plan. Westwood is just like the only thing that we need for Westwood is just being a stable operation. Stable and safe operation. 1,000 ounces a month on average, and something more we can be optimistic. Overall, you will see a much stronger H2 as opposed to H1.

Speaker 1

I think this is what we also disclosed last quarter, that H1 would be softer to take into account the winter conditions and certain changes for the HPGR, changes that can come with it. I think right now everything falls in plan.

Speaker 9

Yeah, no, that's what you had last. I just wanted to make sure. Thank you.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Tanya.

Speaker 6

The next question comes from Mohamed Sidibe with National Bank.

Speaker 5

Hi, Renaud and team. Thanks for taking my question and for a good quarter. Maybe at Westwood, if I could maybe ask a question on the underground. We've now seen 2 quarters of mining rates above the 1,100 tons per day and grades over the 9.8 grams per ton mined. Could you maybe help me understand how to think about the next few quarters in terms of mining productivity and the grade over the coming quarters? Thank you.

Speaker 1

Renaud?

Speaker 1

Yes. The hoisting, the mucking is doing very well. Our targets are close to 1,000 tons per day. In fact, we're exceeding those metrics every day now. It's done through optimization and better engineering, better preparation. Hoisting, you know, we have 4,000 ton capacity at Westwood, so we have plenty of capacity at the hoist, so it's not constrained. Therefore, that's the reason why it gives us a great hope that whatever improvement that will be done at Westwood will become an immediate catalyst into the gold production of the mine.

Speaker 1

Overall, what we plan is we do what we plan what we do and we do what we plan, so trying to make sure that we stabilize the operation and we improve in an incremental manner the Westwood operation on all metrics. The meter per meter of advance per day, meter per man shift. The drilling is going very well also. We have a newer Simba drills coming in. The drilling performance is also improving very well. The ability of our crew mining crews to new zones are improving also with the algorithm that we have developed over time. Overall, it's doing well.

Speaker 7

I appreciate that you've seen, you know, like quite a significant increase. I mean, it's again, it's a little bit of the questions on the cost side, depends a bit where you mine as well. What we want is reliable and safe operation. Are we going to see a continued increase? The focus is really to deliver, you know, sustainable and safe operations. We're very comfortable, really like the last quarter. I think like being in the zone of the CAD 1,000-CAD 1,200 is a good zone. We're gonna always prioritize the safe operations, Mohamed, but I appreciate your question.

Speaker 5

Thanks for that. That's very helpful. Maybe if I can ask a second question on, at Côté Gold on the improvement on the process cost, sorry if I missed this, is the improvement of the maintenance timeline for the HPGR already reflected in that expected cost improvement you have for the end of the year? Is that a positive surprise following the installation of the cone crusher? Thank you.

Speaker 7

No, I wouldn't call it a positive surprise. I would say a validations of what has been our belief since the start. Again, with the short of capacity and the dry, we knew we were feeding the HPGR slightly outside of its design criteria with the coarser ore, which was accelerating the wear on the machine. Since we've commissioned the second cone and we've been in capacity to return to the design criteria, we've seen an automatic and overnight change. We expect the change of the tire now to get back to the lifespan that we're expecting. Yes, we're not expecting another change of tire this year, and therefore it is built in the reductions of cost post change.

Speaker 5

Great. Thanks for taking my questions.

Speaker 7

Thank you.

Speaker 6

The next question comes from Josh Wilson with RBC.

Speaker 3

Yeah, thank you very much. I apologize. I just wanted to clarify a couple things. I'm having trouble hearing some of the data points. Just going back to some of the details on Côté. You know, this comment about the plant operating above nameplate in the second half of the year and some of the tonnage numbers that was provided. You know, the numbers look to imply about maybe 10%-15% above nameplate in the second half. I just wanted to clarify, does that sound correct? Is it reasonable to assume that those throughput levels can be sustained beyond 2026, even before the expansion takes hold?

Speaker 1

Yeah. When we say that we can produce above nameplate is we have more than many days above 36,000 tons per day, even hitting 42,000 tons per day many times. With the addition of the second cone crushers and also allowing the geology of the ore, protecting now the HPGR, which is going to be running very efficiently, we expect to remain in through that zone between the 36 and 42 in average. That's very promising for us. We, with the shutdowns that we have in August and other shutdown that we have in certain areas, we are still evaluating and planning an overall average throughput of 36. Overall, like, when you have a very well run rate, it goes well beyond 36.

Speaker 7

What we've experienced, Josh, with the second cone is for only a few weeks, unfortunately, before we started to have the issues on the conveyor. The objective has always been to stabilize it at 36. What we've seen is effectively, of course, if you wanna average 36 when you operate, you need to be above. You also, you also heard Bruno earlier talking about slightly better grade as well. It's not just a matter of throughput, it's a matter that we should access as well better grade in the second half. The priority at this stage is to demonstrate that minimum 36 average all time in the dry, in the wet. As you crush finer, you will unlock more potential in the wet as well.

Speaker 7

For the first stage first is as soon as we change a tire, we change the belt, we park the aggregate plant. The focus in June is to demonstrate that we actually can operate at the nameplate. Will come the optimizations on a step-by-step basis, but so far so good for what we're seeing with the crusher.

Speaker 3

Okay, got it. Then, your comment about the better grade, the number was mentioned on the call. Again, I apologize for not being able to hear. It was said it was 1.1 to 1.2 in the second half. Is that correct?

Speaker 1

Between 1 and 1.2.

Speaker 7

Yeah. We did 107 the 1st quarter and, you know, you should, you could see a quarter above the 107. We say 1 to 1.2, and hopefully we'll see quarters, you know, above the 1.1.

Speaker 3

Okay. Last question. I know it's sort of been mentioned by some of the other participants just on mining costs for Côté. I mean, I wouldn't necessarily extrapolate the current quarter, and obviously there's a lot of volatility on the energy side of things, but what is a reasonable sort of mining cost for us to assume in the second half of the year when you factor in maybe, I'm not sure what sort of energy price to use. I'll let you guys figure that out, but maybe just at these higher throughput levels, what would be the target steady state? Thank you.

Speaker 7

Maarten, you can give some details, but I can say that at this stage, the focus is absolutely to bring those mining costs below CAD 4 as we exit the year. Maarten?

Speaker 4

Josh, one thing we didn't mention earlier was that we've actually put in some price protection for oil at Côté. For June, as well as for all of Q3, 90% of Côté's oil is hedged at a price of about CAD 80 per barrel. If the price goes above CAD 80 per barrel, it doesn't impact our cost further during that period, and we still participate if the price goes below that. That will help offset some of that cost as well to get us close to that four.

Speaker 7

As we exit the year, as we achieve our objective to drop our mining below 4 and get the milling more towards 15, as we exit, that is the main focus at this stage, knowing that there would be some more optimization to continue to take place.

Speaker 3

Great. Thank you very much.

Speaker 7

Thank you, Josh.

Speaker 6

Thank you. This concludes the question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Graeme Jennings for any closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thank you very much, operator. Thanks to everyone for joining us this morning. As always, should you have any additional questions, please reach out to Renaud or myself. Thank you all. Be safe and have a great day.

Speaker 6

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

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