Iamgold Corp Q2 FY2025 Earnings Call

This is the conference operator. Welcome to the IAMGOLD Second Quarter 2025 Operating and Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast. The conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Graeme Jennings, VP, Investor Relations for IAMGOLD. Please go ahead, Mr. Jennings.

Thank you, operator, and welcome, everyone, to our conference call today. Joining us on the call are Renaud Adams, President and Chief Executive Officer; Maarten Theunissen, Chief Financial Officer; Bruno Lemelin, Chief Operating Officer; Annie Torkia Lagacé, Chief Legal and Strategy Officer; and Dorena Quinn, Chief People Officer. We are calling today from IAMGOLD's Toronto office, which is located on 313 territory on the traditional lands of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, Anishinaabe, Chippewa, 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 this call will include forward-looking statements and refer to non-IFRS measures. 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 on the presentation under the heading of Qualified Person and Technical Information. The slides referenced on this call can be viewed on our website. I will now turn the call over to our President and CEO, Renaud Adams.

Thank you, Graeme, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to walk you through our quarterly results, highlighting our operations, financial performance, and strategic priorities. Overall, at the halfway point of 2025, IAMGOLD has made major advancements as a leading Canadian gold producer. This starts with a highlight of the quarter, which was the successful ramp-up of Côté Gold and in-play capacity ahead of plan. The second quarter was also significant. It was a full quarter where the mine achieved overall operating milestones including throughput in gray, in line with consensus estimates and with gold recovery and reconciliation mill to reserve in line with plans as well. As we continue to stabilize Côté, we are confident that the ability to operate the mine with consistency, credibility, and predictability quarter-over-quarter will be rewarded by the market. Further, with another quarter behind us, we get closer to unlocking the expansion potential of Côté, where we outlined to the market a larger Côté in scale and scope, targeting ounces from both the Côté and Gosselin zones at the conclusion of our 2025 drilling program of 20 million ounces plus of measured and indicated resources. As we will discuss today, work on this plan is in motion, and we will be announcing an updated Côté life of mine in the second half of next year. Operationally, IAMGOLD is on track to achieve its production guidance target of 735,000 to 820,000 ounces of gold this year, though at a revised consolidated all-in sustaining cost range of between $1,830 and $1,930 per ounce, as we will discuss more on the revision in a moment. Financially, we have now concluded our gold prepayment arrangement with 75,000 ounces delivered this year in an environment where the gold price has reached $3,100 an ounce. These deliveries translate to approximately $200 million of value that went towards what can be considered a form of debt servicing this year. With this behind us, IAMGOLD is now an 800,000 ounces plus gold producer with full exposure to gold price and significant cash flow generation. Beyond Côté, IAMGOLD offers a robust organic growth portfolio with our own backyard in Canada with the rapid growth of the Nelligan and Monster Lake assets in Quebec, which combined has nearly 9 million ounces of gold resources. Turning to the quarter, and we are now on Slide 5. Above all, the safety of our people remains our top priority, and I'm proud to report that our total recordable injury frequency rate continued to trend below prior year levels, reflecting our commitment to a culture of safety and continuous improvement. In addition, in May, we released our 2024 sustainability report, which marked the 18th year in a row we have documented and disclosed our achievement and dedication to responsible mining practices. Looking at operations on an attributable basis, IAMGOLD produced 173,000 ounces of gold in the second quarter, bringing the year-to-date production to 334,000 ounces of gold. The quarterly performance was led by strong results at Côté, which produced 96,000 ounces on a 100% basis followed by the improved quarter-over-quarter production at Westwood with 29,000 ounces and Essakane at 77,000 ounces of attributable production as the mine continues work through the lower grades early in Phase 7. On a cost basis, IAMGOLD reported a Q2 cash cost of $1,556 per ounce and an all-in sustaining cost of $2,041. Costs were higher in the first half of the year due to a combination of higher royalties, foreign currency movement, and a higher unit cost as we continue to work on stabilizing Côté at maximum throughput and grade mill as we will discuss next. Looking at our guidance, total attributable production in the first half of the year was 334,000 ounces. The company expects attributable production in the second half of the year to be much stronger, ensuring that we are on track to achieve the full year production guidance of 735,000 to 820,000 ounces of gold. The stronger second half is due to continued improvement at the Côté mine during its first full year of operation, coupled with an increase in expected grades at both Essakane and Westwood based on the respective mining sequences. Our Q3 performance to date at our assets reinforces our confidence in our production guidance for the year. On Essakane, the attributable guidance was estimated at the beginning of the year, assuming IAMGOLD 90% ownership interest in the project. With the change in ownership to now 85% at the end of the second quarter, the company expects Essakane's attributable production to fall towards the lower end of the original guidance range. Looking at costs, we have revised our cost guidance upwards with cash costs now expected to be in the range of $1,375 to $1,475 an ounce sold or approximately $150 per ounce higher and all-in sustaining cost of $1,830 to $1,930 per ounce. The increase in cash cost is a combination of external and operational factors, including higher royalties being paid as gold prices rise at Côté and Essakane. At Essakane, the Government increased the royalty structure when gold prices are above $3,000 an ounce. Further, the recent strength in the Euro has necessitated a revision of its impact on our costs in the country. At Côté, we are seeing temporary higher costs at the mine and mill associated with the ramp-up and stabilization activities. Processing costs at the mine are expected to fall following the installation of the additional secondary crusher in the fourth quarter, and the mining costs are expected to improve as the team continues to transition to bulk mining and optimization for more direct feed mine to mill with less rehandling. In the short term, while rehandling is adding costs, it also allowed until the mine is set for it to boost the mine grade from 0.95 grams per tonne in Q2 to 1.1 grams per tonne milled adding approximately $0.25 to $0.30 per tonne mine or roughly $1 per tonne milled, also unlocking additional value of nearly $15 per tonne milled by uplifting the grade milled. Same idea with the extra milling costs. We have accelerated nameplate in part because we found a way to temporarily maximize throughput by incorporating an additional re-feed system using contractors for the aggregate plant. Moving ahead, nameplate by 5 to 6 months allows for maximizing tonnes milled over just waiting for the second crusher to support. This idea of following for extra milling costs brings also the opportunity to monetize additional tonnes already mined until the end of the year by building fine and core stockpiles that could be used during planned longer shutdowns, particularly around the installation of the second cone crusher. As we move forward, we will eliminate that practice and replace it by in-house crushing and re-feed systems once the second crusher is commissioned, allowing for extra capacity. On the capital side, at Côté, we have increased our sustaining capital estimate by $20 million this year for projects that will further improve the availability of the plant in working condition. This includes a more robust dust management system as well as a final re-feed system to support the mill during scheduled downtime of the crushing plant. This adjustment at Côté is a byproduct of where we are in the lifecycle of the project. This is the first full year of operation. And in Q2, we achieved the first full month of nameplate production. Standing back, the ramp-up of Côté has gone extremely well, and the project is delivering and displaying its potential. With that, I will pass the call over to our CFO to walk us through our financial results and position. Maarten?

Thank you, Renaud, and good morning, everyone. In terms of our financial position, at the end of the second quarter, IAMGOLD had $223.8 million in cash and cash equivalents and net debt of $1 billion. The company has $250 million drawn on the credit facility and approximately $391.7 million remains available, resulting in liquidity at the end of June of approximately $616.5 million. We note that within our cash and cash equivalents, $91.4 million was held in the corporate treasury, $56.4 million, representing IAMGOLD's 70% share was held by the Côté Gold UJV and $85.1 million was held by Essakane in Burkina Faso. IAMGOLD's interest in Essakane was adjusted from 90% to 85% effective June 20, 2025, as per the updated Burkina Faso Mining Code adopted in August 2024. Following the change in ownership, Essakane declared a significant dividend of approximately $855 million representing all of the undistributed profits of Essakane up to and including the 2024 profits. The company's 85% portion of the dividend, net of withholding taxes, is approximately $680 million. Essakane will make dividend payments during the third quarter based on the cash flows generated during the period, and the remaining balance of the dividend will be converted into a shareholder account between Essakane and IAMGOLD. The shareholder account structure works like an inter-company loan and allows for the company's portion of the dividend to be repaid at any time of the year using excess cash generated by Essakane, therefore, improving the efficiency of cash repatriation and aligning the interest of both IAMGOLD and the Government of Burkina Faso with more regular cash flow movements from Essakane. The Government of Burkina Faso received its portion of the dividend totaling $128.3 million in June of 2025. Looking at our debt obligations, IAMGOLD is in a good position to execute on our strategy to responsibly delever the balance sheet. Over the last 4 to 5 years, in order to fund the construction and completion of Côté, IAMGOLD put in place numerous financial vehicles with the goal to avoid permanent encumbrances or transactions that would permanently decrease IAMGOLD's ownership interest in Côté. These included the gold prepay arrangements and the second lien term loan. In the second quarter, we concluded our deliveries into the gold prepay arrangements. Year-to-date, the company delivered 75,000 ounces into the arrangements, resulting in deferred revenue of $154 million being recognized. Deferred revenue represents the cash IAMGOLD received when entering into these arrangements, adjusted for the impact of any gold hedging structure included in the arrangements. If those ounces were delivered at today's gold prices, cash would have been higher by approximately $200 million to $225 million, illustrating the potential increase in our future cash flows as we will now sell all production at market prices. We are now prioritizing repaying the highest cost debt, which is our second lien term loan, currently at a floating rate of more than 12%. Repaying the term loan will also reduce our average debt carrying costs. We're proud to announce that subsequent to quarter-end, the company made the first step on its delevering strategy and repaid 10% or $40 million of the term loan, reducing the principal balance to $360 million. Looking further ahead for IAMGOLD, we are continuously analyzing what the proper capital structure is for an organization of this size with our expected cash flow generation. Ultimately, we look forward to discussing the potential of returning value to our shareholders, whether through share buybacks or dividends once we have addressed our capital structure. Looking at our Q2 financial results, revenues from continuing operations totaled $580.9 million from sales of 182,000 ounces on a 100% basis at a record average realized price of $3,182 per ounce, which includes the impact of the gold prepay arrangement in comparison to the spot price of $3,302 per ounce. Cost of sales, excluding depreciation, was $287.1 million, and adjusted EBITDA was a record $276.4 million compared to $191 million in the second quarter of 2024. At the bottom line, adjusted earnings per share in the second quarter was $0.13. Looking at the cash flow waterfall at the bottom of Slide 8, which is explaining the cash flow movements for the first half of the year, we can see the year-to-date combined impact of the gold prepaid deliveries and the dividend payment to the Government of Burkina Faso following Essakane's large dividend declaration. On a mine site free cash flow basis, IAMGOLD generated $140.5 million in the second quarter, including $93.9 million from Côte and $36.6 million at Westwood. Essakane reported $10 million in mine site free cash flow in the second quarter, which is important to highlight as it was impacted by approximately $47.5 million for the timing of cash tax payments related to the final assessment on 2024 earnings as well as an increase in working capital and the VAT receivable. I would also like to note that subsequent to quarter-end, Essakane received a $27 million VAT refund, reducing the receivable. And with that, I will pass the call to Bruno, our Chief Operating Officer. Bruno?

Thank you, Maarten. Starting with Côté Gold. As Renaud noted in the opening remarks, this was an important quarter for Côté as the mine transitions from ramp-up to optimization and stability. We are very proud of our progress at the mine. 16 months ago, on March 31, Côté poured its first gold bar followed by commercial production 4 months later and ultimately achieving nameplate throughput of 36,000 tonnes per day on June 23, well before the 20-month estimate at project initiation. Looking at the quarter, Côté produced 96,000 ounces on a 100% basis. Mining activity totaled 11.8 million tonnes in the quarter with 3.2 million ore tonnes mined equating to a strip ratio of 2.7. The average grade mined increased from the prior quarter to 0.95 grams per tonne, in line with the updated mining plan as in-pit activities continue to broaden the mining area within the pit to support the transition to bulk mining. On a cost basis, we saw unit mining costs of $3.88 per tonne due to the higher-than-expected diesel consumption associated with additional rehandling as well as contractor costs, consumable parts related to an increase in drilling, loading and blasting activities. Mining costs are expected to reduce in the second half of the year closer to the $3.50 per tonne level. This will be achieved by targeting an objective of 1 million tonnes a week and the reduction of rehandling through an increased proportion of direct feed material, coupled with improved blasting and pit management. Turning to processing. Mill throughput totaled 2.9 million tonnes with successive increases in throughput each month during the quarter. Head grades of 1.1 grams per tonne were in line with plan, with feed material comprised of a combination of direct-feed ore and stockpiles. Mill recoveries averaged 93% in the quarter, beyond plan as well; we believe we are seeing the benefits of the micro-fracturing created by the HPGR. Reconciliation between the reserve models, grade control models, mill feed, and production continues to be in line with expected tolerances with Q2 exit production seeing 7% positive reconciliation to both reserve tonnes and grade. Milling unit costs saw quarter-over-quarter improvement to $6.94 per tonne milled, though they remain elevated from our target of about $12 per tonne. Unit costs are impacted by the supplementary crushing and coarse ore refeed activities, which have performed well to provide additional capacity during maintenance windows, but come at an increased cost. The supplementary crushing is temporary, and we expect unit costs to decline following the installation of the additional cone crusher in the fourth quarter. Looking ahead, we remain confident in our Côté Gold production guidance of 360,000 to 400,000 gold ounces on a 100% basis, which is essentially a doubling of production from last year. The primary focus continues to be the stabilization of the processing plant to operate at or above the design capacity of 36,000 tonnes per day. On costs, as Renaud highlighted, cost guidance has been revised. Cash costs are now expected to be in the range of $1,100 to $1,200 per ounce sold and all-in sustaining cost is now expected to be $1,600 to $1,700 per ounce sold. The cash cost increase is primarily associated with higher royalties due to the higher gold price equating to an increase of about $50 to $60 per ounce, coupled with the higher than planned cost to operate the temporary coarse ore refeed crushing circuit and higher maintenance costs that contributed close to $150 per ounce over the course of the year. The all-in sustaining cost revision includes the additional $20 million or $40 per ounce for the additional nonrecurring capital to improve overall plant availability and operating conditions, including dust mitigation systems inside the facility. We are looking forward to seeing the impact of the installation of the second cone crusher in Q4, which will provide further capacity and flexibility in the dry side of the plant in support of the operation and potential future expansions, which leads us to what is the most exciting slide, the advancement of the Côté Gosselin super pit scenario. Our drills are busy at work with over 32,000 meters completed on the 45,000-meter program. This program is prioritizing the resource conversion at Gosselin to provide the foundation for an updated technical report that is expected to outline a significantly upsized reserve base combining Côté and Gosselin into a super pit. This report is expected to be released in the second half of next year. As currently designed, Côté has the mining capacity to average an annual ore mining rate of 50,000 tonnes per day versus our current nameplate processing rate of 36,000 tonnes per day. As part of the 2026 technical report, we will look to find the right balance between an increased processing rate with mining rates targeting the combined Côté Gosselin super pit. It is interesting to note that the Côté deposit itself has over 400 million tonnes of measured and indicated material. If mined at a rate of 20 million tonnes of ore per year or 50,000 tonnes per day, the Côté deposit itself would have a mine life of potentially 20 years prior to bringing Gosselin into play. This would allow for considerable flexibility for phased permitting and capital outlays. Altogether, there is a significant amount of value to continue to uncover at Côté. Turning to Québec. The second quarter at Westwood saw improvement from the prior quarter with production of 29,000 ounces as the mine operates through some lower grade stopes and conducts additional underground activity to set up the mine for a stronger second half. Underground mining totaled 98,000 tonnes, averaging nearly 1,100 tonnes per day as volumes from the underground continued to increase compared to the prior year and previous quarters. Production drilling has continued to improve quarter-over-quarter, achieving 193 meters per day, a record since the mine restarted in 2021, building confidence that our underground mining methodologies and systems are proving to be effective. The Falagountou satellite open pit reported 315,000 tonnes mined, higher than the previous quarters, in line with the mining schedule. Mill throughput in the second quarter totaled 323,000 tonnes at an average head grade of 3.07 grams per tonne. The strong throughput was due to plant availability in the quarter of 96%, which was higher than the same prior year period of 89%. The mill achieved recoveries of 92% in the second quarter of 2025, in line with the same prior year period. Cash costs and all-in sustaining costs came in above our updated guidance ranges for the year as production is expected to be second half weighted with cash costs averaging $1,562 an ounce and all-in sustaining averaging $2,140 an ounce in the quarter. Looking ahead, we remain confident in Westwood's ability to meet our production guidance with production of 125,000 to 140,000 gold ounces. Underground mining rates are expected to be maintained at around 1,000 tonnes per day from multiple active mining zones, while grade is expected to increase in the second half of 2025 as the mining sequence transitions to higher grade zones during the period. As previously discussed, cost guidance has been revised and cash costs are now expected to be in the range of $1,275 to $1,375 per ounce sold and all-in sustaining costs to be between $1,800 to $1,900 per ounce sold. Unit costs were higher in the first half of the year due to higher mining and maintenance costs combined with lower production from lower average grade relative to plan in the first half of the year. Unit costs are expected to decline in the second half of the year on higher production expectations. Turning to Essakane, it was a challenging quarter as we work through the lower grades of the upper benches of Phase 7, while being impacted by higher costs from increased royalties, a stronger Euro, increased maintenance and consumables costs and a higher proportion of stripping activities being expensed. Production on a 90% basis in Q2 totaled 77,000 ounces. Mining activity totaled 10.7 million tonnes with ore tonnes mined of 2.2 million tonnes equating to a strip ratio of 4:1. Mill throughput was 3.1 million tonnes at an average head grade of 0.93 grams per tonne. The grade decreased as the mining activities progressed through the upper benches of Phase 7. Grades tend to reconcile slightly below the reserve model during the earlier stages of the mining of a new phase and conversely to the positive as mining moved deeper into the phase, as we saw in the first half of 2024 when we were mining the later stages of Phase 5. The transition to the higher grade benches in Phase 7 occurred later than forecast with increases in grade materializing subsequent to quarter-end. On a cost basis, Essakane reported a cash cost of $1,855 per ounce and all-in sustaining cost of $2,224 per ounce in the quarter. Costs were higher in the quarter due to a lower proportion of capitalized waste in the period, higher maintenance activities, and an increase in consumable costs, including diesel and grinding media. Labor, contractor, and facility costs also increased due to the appreciation of the local currency, which is pegged to the Euro. Royalties accounted for $257 per ounce in the quarter, representing an increase of nearly $100 per ounce from the prior year period, primarily due to higher realized prices and a revision in royalty rates. Looking ahead, we estimate that Essakane will be on the lower end of the attributable production guidance target ranging from 360,000 to 400,000 gold ounces. This guidance accounts for the revision of the company's interest in the projects to 85% from 90% previously. Our Essakane cost guidance has been revised, and cash costs are now expected to be in the range of $1,600 to $1,700 per ounce sold, and all-in sustaining cost is now expected to be between $1,850 to $1,950 per ounce sold. Costs at Essakane are higher than planned, primarily due to the increased royalty rate previously mentioned and the impact higher gold prices have on royalties, resulting in an increase of approximately $77 per ounce and the continued impact of a stronger Euro on operating costs. While the cost of operations in-country has risen over the recent years, Essakane continues to be a world-class mine and is positioned to generate significant free cash flows moving forward. Finally, it is worth highlighting that work is ongoing at the second largest gold mining camp, the Nelligan and Monster Lake project in Chibougamau, Quebec. Year-to-date, we have completed over 12,000 meters of drilling at Nelligan with an up-sized drill program of 15,000 meters and 11,000 meters of drilling at Monster Lake. The Nelligan program prioritized the extension of the deposit at depth. Nelligan's mineral resources estimate was updated earlier this year, which saw indicated ounces increase to 3.1 million ounces with an average grade of 0.95 grams per tonne and an additional 5.2 million ounces in inferred at similar grades. We plan to have assay results from this program later in the year as we work to grow Nelligan, targeting over 10 million ounces, making it among the largest undeveloped gold projects in Canada. With that, I will pass it back to Renaud.

Thank you, Bruno. So thank you all. There is no question we have to be exceptionally diligent at our operations to ensure cost management, particularly during a rising gold price environment to ensure the margin expansion is protected. Looking beyond this, it is a very exciting time for IAMGOLD. We are now completely exposed to the gold price with the conclusion of our prepays. We are expecting a strong second half of the year, and our Côté Gold project is performing very well with significant value growth opportunity ahead. So thank you for your support. With that, I would like to pass the call back to the operator for the Q&A. Operator?

Our first question comes from Anita Soni with CIBC World Markets.

A couple of questions. Just firstly, on the cost increase at Côté. Could you just give us an idea of what the - I think you mentioned that the stripping, the amount of material moved would be around 11 million to 12 million tonnes per quarter for the back half of this year. Could you just give a breakdown of what the strip ratio would be for those two quarters? I'm sorry if you've already said it, I'm just on 2 competing calls right now.

On the strip ratio, we should be slightly below what we had in H1. But the most important thing is when you look at the rehandling, so it's not just rehandling that has to do with moving the grade mine to the mill. So we talked about a lot about the crush, the aggregate plan and the support from contractors. So that also incurred some rehandling around this. But all in all, yes, we had about over 2 million tonnes of total moved above the total mine. So this is all those movements. So what I like about this, at least in the short term, is it does bring some uplifting grade at the mill and so forth. So obviously, the benefits offset largely. Why not in the long run? We talked largely about it. In the long run, we see more direct feed. We see bulk mining. We see the ability to reduce some rehandling while continue to separate at the source in the pit, the lower grade from there. So Bruno, do you have maybe more detail on the strip?

Anita, so we're going to have a stripping ratio closer to 2.5 in the second half, which is quite similar to what we had in H1. And as Renaud mentioned, like the rehandling is due to be reduced as we transition towards a direct ore feed strategy that will be helped coupled with the installation of the secondary cone crusher.

What I can add is that we have approximately 2 million tonnes of ore stockpile, which we refer to as NGO. As Bruno mentioned, processing it has resulted in a positive reconciliation, aligning the project quite well. We're very pleased with that. However, it's part of a strategy to gradually deplete these stockpiles. Eventually, there will come a point where we won't have these stockpiles to rely on. The mine will continue to ramp up, and at some point, the lower-grade excess ore will be stockpiled for the long term and for direct feed. This is our strategy. While we are not fully there yet, we are making good progress and managing the pit effectively. For now, while rehandling does incur costs, it has also generated a significant amount of revenue.

And then a second question on the processing. So I noticed you had a pretty good drop in the processing unit costs. How does that evolve with the two shutdowns? You've got a maintenance shutdown in Q3 and then also the tie-in that we knew about in Q4. So do you expect the processing costs to go up temporarily and then in 2026 could be at the cost that you delivered in Q2 were lower?

Not necessarily for the exact same reason you just mentioned. That's why we decided to keep external support. We had some time to address this, and Bruno can elaborate on it. There was quite a bit of work surrounding the crushers as well, prioritizing safety. That's why we maintained our approach. We adjusted the $150 million estimate because you could argue that rehandling, along with the extraordinary handling costs in the short term, as well as some additional milling expenses and power maintenance, played a role. Altogether, this amounts to about $4 or $5 combined. This essentially explains the $150 million figure. We need to keep this in place to ensure we maximize throughput once the secondary cone is installed. The overall dynamics will change as we progress. Bruno, do you have any additional comments?

We have our annual 5-day shutdown in August. We want to be careful since it's our first year of operation, and there will be training involved, which we will handle safely. In the fourth quarter, with the installation of the cone crusher, we're trying to strategize to minimize interruptions to the mill, although some disruptions will be necessary for the tie-ins. Overall, we are confident that we will meet our production expectations, but we need support to complete these activities. Installing the second cone crusher will position us to reduce both milling and mining costs due to decreased rehandling.

I want to make one final remark about costs. We’ve discussed the importance of remaining disciplined in this industry. The additional costs we are experiencing are temporary. I’m pleased with our cost structure; we are only in our first year, and our targeted mine cost for the year is $3.50, with a long-term goal of $3. We’re not far off from that. There's around a $0.30 element for rehandling, which will lower all our mining processes as we continue to improve. We’re looking at about a 10% improvement needed to reach our objectives, and we are confident we will achieve that. Currently, we are operating at a run rate of 12 million tonnes, which is a 48% improvement, and we will keep advancing. We have strong confidence in our mining operations, and the reconciliation is functioning well. On the milling side, there’s one particular area that stands out: the use of contractors for external services, which accounts for about $4 to $5 per unit. This is what we're focusing on moving forward. Our overall cost structure is under control, and variable consumption aligns well with costs. If we set an ultimate target of $1,050, we noted a milling cost of around $1,480 in June. We are very optimistic, willing to absorb short-term impacts as we believe this will create more value in the long run.

I have one final question, and I apologize for asking it. My last question relates to the Gosselin integrated study. I was expecting it to be ready by the end of this year or early next year, but I believe you mentioned it would be completed by the end of 2026. Has there been a change? You noted in your opening comments that the Côté project would sustain about 20 years of mine life. Is this extension just to allow more time for drilling, or was I mistaken about that?

No. Let's separate reserve from resources, right? So the plan is that we're going to extend our drilling to the end of the year, maybe even January. So for the reserve resource estimate, don't expect anything more than a kind of a deflation exercise at year-end. We're going to complete and maximize our drilling up to probably January and then update our new resource base within that. From that new resource base, which we're targeting late Q1, maybe early Q2 for disclosure, this is the resource base where we're targeting to have after the completion of the drilling at 20 million ounces plus of measure indicator, which will form the base of the mine plan and a new reserve. And all this, the final will be released in the latter part of 2025, but the resource will be earlier in the year.

Our next question comes from Matthew Murphy with BMO.

Just a few more questions on Côté. How is the HPGR performing at this point? Are there any risks associated with the maintenance, providing an opportunity to assess the previous rates? Or do you already have a solid understanding of its performance?

I'm sure Bruno has a smile because we both see this with a very optimistic perspective. It's true that, as we mentioned the other day, the performance of the HPGR might suggest that we're going to achieve less efficiency from the tires, but the machine's performance is outstanding. When we feed it wet, we can process and crush more with the HPGR, and we can actually extract more. We're still using external resources for longer periods, but the machine is functioning very well.

Yes. Matthew, this is Bruno. What we see is we see very good performance from the tires, although they are wearing fast due to the aggressiveness of the ore. But we see performance succeeding very often beyond 40,000 tonnes per day. So it's not a matter of daily performance. I think the team is managing those roles better. They understand now the behaviors of the equipment. Right now, what we're doing is we're going to be ultimately replacing those tires with a new generation, which will have longer life. So we hope that we're going to increase the longevity. So it's more like a longevity issue than performance issue. And they will be after that, another generation of tires with a larger diameter. So all in all, we believe that the HPGR actually is a piece of equipment that is bringing a lot of value for Côté. The team has been trained and it's catered as how to operate the HPGR. It works well. Right now, we just need to change those tires more often than initially expected, but the goal is to get there eventually.

Having said that, two things that are important with the addition of the second cone crusher, we should be in a position to restabilize even further crushing a little finer, feeding the HPGR more effectively. So we might see a reversal back to better life on those tires. But how are we going to bypass all this? We're not so concerned as long as it doesn't bring additional downtime. So as we mentioned, this improvement on the repeat system will be allowing us, as we crush to extract and repeat. And this is all going to be done in-house. So we're going to adjust to that, but the performance of the machine is extraordinary.

And then I'm just trying to understand some of these temporary costs, it sounds like a pretty abrupt drop-off in export costs once you get the secondary additional pressure up and running, are there any sort of temporary costs that you see persisting into 2026?

I'd like to say that it is absolutely possible that all in all, if you would compare like a SAG milling operation, let's say, with an HPGR, you might have to face a little higher maintenance cost or replacement of your wet part. But as we mentioned, this would probably be offset anyway by additional benefits brought to you. That is the only thing. On the wet side, there is absolutely nothing that I see remaining. Once you're positioned to extract and repeat internally from your coarse ore and you're fine, you'll take care of that. We had a lot of additional extraordinary repair costs which we've seen super, like much, much, much better now in stabilization and so forth. So a lot will disappear, but it could be possible that $10 a tonne as normally per tonne should be doing could be a little shy, but other than that, I'm pretty confident.

The next question comes from Steven Green with TD Securities.

I have a quick question regarding the new agreement at Essakane and the framework deal with the Government. It's advantageous to have more certainty on cash flows. Was this something you were actively seeking, or was it the Government's initiative to establish the new agreement?

I'll pass it to Maarten.

Steve, the Government wants to have a maximum dividend and IAMGOLD wants to make sure that we have an efficient structure to continue to be able to move excess cash out of the country. By declaring the full distributable profit from the past allowed us to pay that maximum dividend to the Government. So we achieved their objective. And now what IAMGOLD has is instead of waiting and only being able to pay dividends during the third quarter every year, we have this intercompany loan structure where as Essakane generates free cash flow in the next period, we can repay that loan using that free cash flow. And Essakane, paid a lot of taxes and other working capital amounts in Q2. But now going forward, we expect Essakane to continue to produce good cash flows, and that is then available for us. So we achieved both benefits and we work well with the Government on this.

Okay. And is there a stability agreement associated with this?

The Government is a 15% shareholder. So these things are done in Board meetings as shareholders. So it's not that there's a specific agreement, but there are, of course, agreements with Essakane for these types of instruments that the Government had to agree to as a shareholder.

And I guess just larger picture, with this in place, with this new agreement in place, is there a potential for Essakane to be something that you would look to divest at some point, just given your focus on Canada and Côté now?

At this stage, our main focus is on cash flow and debt repayment. We are seeing strong cash flow and believe that Essakane can generate good production, cash flow, and potential returns for our shareholders in the future. We have reached a milestone with 800,000 ounces attributable and expect to reduce a significant portion of our debt this year and next. By mid-next year, if we have excess cash available, we could increase rewards for our shareholders. This strategy is crucial as we move forward, and we are very pleased with our current position. With this plan in action, we will achieve more predictable cash flows, and we will continue to monitor the situation.

Our next question comes from Tanya Jakusconek with Scotia Bank.

A lot of questions have been addressed, but I want to follow up on a few. Regarding Essakane, Renaud, what is your perspective on the mine life there? Given the higher gold price, as we approach year-end, how do your reserve and resource pricing look? Additionally, how does Essakane appear in terms of extending beyond the technical study that you submitted?

So let's start first by looking a bit of the regulation attached to this. So it is a bit of understanding that renewal of the permit down the road could be for a period of 5 years. So let's see now we're focusing on looking beyond '28 up to 2033. So it looks extremely well. So like if we wanted to stay and develop and increase the life of mine and invest to extend, we're pretty confident we could easily bridge the first 5 years extension. Beyond that, this is not our focus at this stage. But yes, if you increase the gold price a bit, if you look at Essakane as you would accept that it should be more at $2,000, $2,100 an ounce, extended life of mine and so forth, there is a lot of additional value, and we're more than confident we could extend for another 5 beyond.

So I should be thinking probably 2033 as sort of what you're targeting for?

Yes, we have a 43-101, which indicates successful discussions with the Government. We wouldn't necessarily be looking to inject capital, as the mine is generating free cash flow and can likely fund its own investments. However, it's important to have clarity on permit extensions and other related factors before proceeding. While one scenario looks at a timeline of 2026, the current scenario points towards 2028. With rising gold prices, particularly maintaining a significant margin around the $2,000 to $2,100 range, expansion would be quite feasible.

And then if I can just come back to Côté. So as I'm thinking about getting these costs stabilized, you mentioned that you're $0.30 or thereabout $0.50 on the mining cost per tonne to get to $3. I mean, as you get rid of this rehandling, when do you think that will be? Like is that like this year? Or like is that into next year, we're going to finish the rehandling? I'm trying to understand when I can get this down dollar?

Again, there would always be a little bit of rehandling from the moment you mine more than the milling, but not to the extent of what we see. Again, a big portion of the rehandling takes place at the aggregate plant or around. You move the ore quite a few times. So that's one thing. So it's more of '26, Tanya. I think we feel strong that we probably can exit at an average of about $350. And as we continue, I see about half of it is about rehandling and half of it is just continued improvement volume, providing a bigger denominator type of to bring us to the $3 eventually. So it's more of '26.

On the processing side, once we eliminate these contractors and achieve more stability with the secondary crusher, are we also looking at this $12 per ton in the second half of next year? I'm trying to understand when the mine...

I would like it earlier than that. I would like it earlier than that, but we'll be commissioning. It should be straightforward commissioning of the second cone. At that point, we would have already improved the in-house or re-feed system on the fine side, maybe a little bit of improvement on the feeding system on the coarse side. But yes, technically, you'll be in a position already in Q1 next year to see a reduction of those costs, but it could go to the mid-year where you would stabilize there. In the long run, we would continue to improve beyond the $12, but I think it's a fair call that by mid-next year, we should stabilize there.

So hopefully, mid-next year, mining and processing were where you are or close to where you want to be, and we'll move forward from that. Would that be a fair comment?

Yes.

My final question is about the improvement we discussed for the second half. I'm trying to understand that although you have the same amount of tonnes mined for Essakane in Q3 and Q4, along with similar grades, you experienced maintenance downtime in August and are installing a secondary crusher. Should I assume the results for the quarters will be evenly distributed? I'm uncertain how long the installation of the secondary crusher will take. Should I expect Q3 to perform slightly better than Q4? I'm looking to clarify how Côté will perform in this scenario.

Yes, a little bit the same, I guess, like Bruno mentioned, like this quarter, we had a planned shutdown, and then Q4 is a tie-in. We'll be capable to reduce those by using some. So I would say Côté Gold is probably more kind of looking at Q3, Q4, strong both. And Essakane, Bruno, you're probably expecting Q4 a little higher.

Yes. The maintenance at Essakane in August is we have a 24-hour maintenance on Line A and a 16-hour maintenance on Line B. So the impact is going to be somewhat marginal.

No, no, that's fair enough. So really, it's Essakane that has a stronger Q4 and does Westwood as well with the grade? I'm just trying to see if that quarter-over-quarter improvement Q3, Q4 still stands.

No, you're absolutely right. You can take the view that Essakane and Westwood will have a stronger Q4 than Q3, and Côté should be about more or less the same.

And Westwood as well, more or less the same?

No, Westwood and, just like Essakane, should have a stronger Q4 as you continue to improve on the grade.

The next question comes from Mohamed Sidibe with National Bank Financial.

So maybe just on the second half expected at Essakane. Just wanted to know if you could provide us with a little bit more color on some of the grades you're expecting out of Phase 7? Or should we also anticipate a little bit more increase of throughput in the second half versus the first year?

Bruno?

Yes. I previously managed Essakane, and it's not unusual for us to encounter lower grade material at the upper benches of a new phase. This isn't a new situation. As we move into the second half, we anticipate that as we dig deeper, we will encounter higher grade material. Following this quarter, we expect grades to improve and for the reconciliation to be positive at the end of the month. Our plans are slightly conservative, but we are still looking forward to a stronger second half.

And then the second question would just be on the taxes paid and the increased guidance there. Could you give us maybe some color on the cadence that we can expect for Q3, Q4? I know it's impacted by the dividend declaration at Essakane, but should we expect Q3 to be higher versus Q4? Or how should we look at that?

Maarten?

So in Q3 in July, we actually paid the withholding taxes on the dividend. That was just over $40 million. And then the rest of the tax payment should be equal over the rest of the quarter.

This concludes the time allocated for questions on today's call. I will now hand the call back over to Graeme Jennings for closing remarks.

Thank you very much, operator, and 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.

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