Iamgold Corp Q4 FY2025 Earnings Call

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the IAMGOLD Fourth 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 call over to Graeme Jennings, Investor Relations for IAMGOLD. Please go ahead, Mr. Jennings. Thank you, operator, and welcome, everyone, to our conference call this morning. 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 Lagace, Chief Legal and Strategy Officer; and Dorena Quinn, Chief People Officer. We are calling today from IAMGOLD Toronto office, which is located on Treaty 13 territory on the traditional lands of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, Anishinaabe, the 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 in the presentation under the heading 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 today. Last year was a monumental year for IAMGOLD. It is a year in which the company reported record revenues of nearly $3 billion, enjoying a gross margin of over 40% and generating operating cash flow of over $1 billion, with a notable $702 million generated in the fourth quarter alone. Now everyone on this call is aware that this is a historic time in the gold market, as the gold price increased nearly $1,700 per ounce over 2025 and exited the year at just over $4,300 an ounce, which is still more than $600 an ounce lower than where we are today. So while we're not alone in realizing the gold market, we believe IAMGOLD is particularly well positioned to capitalize on this market for the benefit of our shareholders, stakeholders, and partners. In 2025, IAMGOLD achieved significant milestones, including record quarterly productions across all sites. The first full year of production at Côté Gold, the establishment of a framework at Essakane that enables cash movements to be made at any time of the year, and the consolidation of assets in Chibougamau-Chapais, Quebec, to position the Nelligan mining complex as among the largest pre-production assets in Canada. On the financial side, we closed out the legacy gold prepaid obligation midyear, delivered the balance sheet through the repayment of the $400 million high-cost term loan and established a share buyback program that pursued $50 million in IAMGOLD shares in December and an additional $50 million so far in 2026. We will continue to do so, driving up our per-share valuations, all things being equal. This is a company that is taking a leadership position in the industry. IAMGOLD is a modern gold mining company that is proudly Canadian with strong cash flow and significant long-term growth opportunities ahead. We mine with a redefined purpose in mind, putting safety, responsibility, and people first. We hold ourselves accountable and embrace change, and drive innovations at every level from smarter systems to better ways of working. Now there are many highlights to discuss for IAMGOLD today. So let's get into it. Looking at the highlights from the year and the fourth quarter, we start with our safety record. Over the course of the year, our total recordable injury rate was 0.60, which was down from the year prior. We are focused on advancing our critical risk management program, including an important integration of contractors into the IAMGOLD way of safety management with a goal to reduce high potential incidents. On production, IAMGOLD closed out the year with a very strong fourth quarter in which all our mines reported record gold production. On a consolidated basis, attributable gold production for the fourth quarter was 242,400 ounces, a 28% improvement quarter-over-quarter, driving total production for the year to 765,900 ounces achieving the midpoint of the company's 2025 production guidance. The strong fourth quarter operating results helped to drive down costs on a per-ounce basis. All-in sustaining cost per ounce sold was $1,750 for the fourth quarter and $1,900 for the year within the guidance range of $1,830 to $1,930. As discussed last quarter, costs this year have faced upward pressure due to the record gold prices, directly translating to higher royalties. The impact of these royalties on cash costs continued to increase through the year, accounting for an average of approximately $330 per ounce or 24% of cash cost in the fourth quarter of 2025. As we look ahead through this year, we will uncover opportunities to grow the value of our asset while remaining diligent in our commitment to operational excellence and discipline. While we cannot control the gold price, we can control our cost structure and ensure that cost improvement opportunities come down with our production product. At Côté, we will continue to fine-tune our mining, milling, and maintenance practices to position the project well for the upcoming expansion phase. With that, I will pass the call over to our CFO to walk us through our financial highlights. Maarten?

Thank you, Renaud, and good morning, everyone. It was indeed a transformational year for IAMGOLD, as our solid operating results, coupled with record gold prices, helped to fast track our strategy to unwind the financial leverage put in place to both Côté and allowed us to also start returning capital to shareholders in December. In the fourth quarter, the company generated record mine-site free cash flow of $626.6 million, bringing the year total to $1.2 billion. On an asset basis, in the fourth quarter, Essakane contributed $340.4 million, and Côté contributed $197.0 million of attributable mine-site free cash flow. The record mine-site free cash flow was used to improve our financial position as the company's net debt was reduced by $468.8 million to $344.4 million at the end of the year, while also returning $50 million to shareholders. On the balance sheet, we completed the repayment of the $400 million term loan and also paid $50 million on our credit facility, reducing the balance to $200 million as of the end of December. IAMGOLD had $422 million in cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year and approximately $446 million available on the credit facility, resulting in total liquidity at the end of the fourth quarter of approximately $868 million. Excess cash at this account is repatriated through dividends and shareholder account payments, of which the company receives its share on its ownership net of withholding taxes. The shareholder account structure was introduced in 2025 and functions like an intercompany loan, allowing for the company's portion of the dividend to be repaid partly using cash generated in excess of working capital requirements. The new structure allowed for cash flow in the fourth quarter, resulting from strong operating results and record gold prices, to be repatriated in record time, and IAMGOLD received $291 million of payments from Essakane through the fourth quarter. Approximately $197.5 million of our consolidated cash balance was out by Essakane at the end of the year. Subsequent to year-end, these funds, combined with free cash flow generated in January, were used to make further payments against the shareholder account, and IAMGOLD received $171 million so far this year. The other notable event was the establishment of the share buyback program. In December, the company repurchased and canceled approximately 3 million shares for approximately $43 million at an average price of $16.87 per share through a share buyback program. Subsequent to the quarter end, up to the timing of our results release, IAMGOLD has purchased an additional 2.6 million shares for $50 million. For the remainder of the year, we are planning to use the cash repatriated from Essakane in 2026 to fund our buyback program. At a gold price of $4,000 per ounce, we estimate that this could be between $400 million to $500 million during the year. The NCIB lies with a purchase of approximately 10% of IAMGOLD's public float that was outstanding as of November 2025. All common shares purchased under the NCIB will either be canceled or placed under trust to satisfy its future obligations under the company's share incentive plan. This initiative reflects management's confidence in the company's long-term value and its commitment to disciplined capital allocation. We believe the alignment of strong cash flow generation from this account and our share buyback program represents a clear value-accretive opportunity for the company and our shareholders. The company intends to use the free cash flow generated by Essakane as a base level to repurchase shares under the share buyback program as the cash is generated and repatriated over the course of 2026. Naturally, the actual amount of common shares that may be purchased, if any, and the timing of such purchases will be determined by the company based on various factors, including the gold price, the company's financial performance, the availability of cash flows, and the consideration of other uses of cash, including capital investment opportunities, return to stakeholders, and debt reduction. Turning to our financial results. On a full-year basis, revenues from operations totaled $2.9 billion from the sale of 817,800 ounces on a 100% basis at an average realized price of $3,549 per ounce, excluding the impact of the gold prepay arrangement. The strong operating results and record gold prices resulted in adjusted EBITDA of approximately $1.6 billion in 2025, compared to $780.6 million in 2024 and $338.5 million in 2023. At the bottom line, adjusted earnings per share for the year totaled $1.23, up from $0.55 the prior year. Looking at the cash flow reconciliation for the year, it is a good visualization of the major drivers of our financial position to end 2025. The significant operating cash flow was large for the delivery and conclusion of the occupy arrangements midyear, funding all capital programs at operations, significant deleveraging of the balance sheet, and the payment of a record dividend in Burkina Faso that allowed us to set up the shareholder account that we used to repatriate funds into Canada and the start of the NCIB program in December. As we look into this year, our priorities from a financial and capital allocation perspective are to deploy funds to areas where we see the most value add to our company, which includes the continuation of the share buyback program, utilizing cash flows, becoming net cash positive following the repayment of the remaining balance of the credit facility, funding our operations as outlined in our guidance to ensure they are positioned well exiting the year, and ensuring that we have the financial capacity to support opportunities to improve our business. And with that, I will pass the call to Bruno Lemelin, our Chief Operating Officer, to discuss our operating results. Bruno?

Thank you, Maarten. Starting with Côté Gold, as Renaud noted, the end of the year was very strong for Côté, with fourth quarter attributable gold production of 87,200 ounces out of 124,600 ounces on a 100% basis. The success of Côté extends beyond just the fourth quarter. In its first full year of operation, Côté produced 399,800 ounces on a 100% basis, reaching the upper end of our guidance estimates. Throughout the year, our Côté teams experienced continuous success in various areas, including stability, maintenance, environmental monitoring, and workforce engagement. Côté Gold completed its ramp-up and achieved its nameplate throughput of 36,000 tonnes per day for 30 consecutive days ahead of schedule in June. The year 2025 was robust, with Côté delivering three consecutive quarters of the mine meeting its targets. For the fourth quarter, mining activity totaled 11.1 million tonnes, with a record of 4.5 million tonnes mined and a strip ratio of 1.5:1. Mill throughput in Q4 was 2.9 million tonnes. The head grade for the fourth quarter reached a record of 1.44 grams per tonne due to a mix of higher grade direct feed ore, a favorable strip ratio, and the stockpiling of lower grade ore. We completed the installation of the additional secondary crusher in November and it was commissioned in December, with both compressors tested and operating in sync. Earlier this year, we chose to bring in a temporary contractor aggregate crusher to boost processing capacity, improving the reliability of the secondary crushing circuit. While this helped us achieve our throughput goals, it came with higher costs, which we will address next. With the two secondary cone crushers now operational, we plan to phase out the temporary crushing circuit by the first half of 2026. In terms of costs, Côté reported a fourth quarter cash cost of $1,265 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs of $1,688 per ounce. We've seen mining and processing unit costs above our preferred levels, largely due to expenses related to the temporary crusher. The decision to advance the nameplate by five to six months allows for maximizing funding rather than waiting for the installation and ramp-up of the second cone crusher during a critical period for the project. On an annual basis, the average mining costs were $4.20 per tonne in 2025, and we anticipate cost improvements throughout 2026 as we implement further operational enhancements, including the removal of the contracted aggregate plant and a reduction in contractors. Annual mining unit costs averaged $3 per tonne, directly correlating to the quantity of ore crushed by the temporary crusher impacting our processing costs. We expect that eliminating the aggregate plant will lower processing costs by $4 to $5 per tonne. Additional savings are anticipated as we optimize the lifecycle of the HPGR rollers and improve our maintenance schedules. Looking ahead, 2026 will be a year when our operations team focuses on fine-tuning Côté at a throughput of 36,000 tonnes per day. This year, we'll prioritize unit cost improvements to stabilize and enhance our mining practices. It is crucial for our team to operate Côté at the desired specification before any further expansion. We're forecasting all-in sustaining costs to be in the range of $1,725 to $1,925 per ounce sold, reflecting an additional $50 million, or about $185 an ounce, in non-recurring sustaining capital investments aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and our long-term cost structure. These investments include the rollout of our repeat system for the duration of our mine, added maintenance facilities, and improved dust control measures. This year, expansion capital is estimated to be $85 million for IAMGOLD. As we aim to grow Côté, we can accelerate basic expansion projects. This includes a strategic pushback that will provide near-term operational flexibility and options for expansion, as well as speeding up certain processing plant improvements, including an additional burden set for early 2027. Looking to the future of Côté, we will announce the details of the updated mine plan in the fourth quarter, which envisions a near-term expansion plan targeting a significantly larger ore base from both Côté and Gosselin. Alongside our financial results, IAMGOLD announced an update on mineral resources and reserves. The estimate reflects a substantial upgrade of ounces from inferred to measured and indicated at Gosselin, now estimated at 6.9 million ounces of indicated and 1 million ounces of inferred resources. Combining Côté and Gosselin, the Côté Gold project currently holds estimated measured and indicated resources, inclusive of mineral reserves, of 18.2 million ounces on a 100% basis, with additional mineral resources of 2.2 million ounces. We will continue work this year to incorporate end-of-year drilling, combining mineral resources estimates into a single model. Currently, Côté is designed with mining capacity averaging an annual ore mining rate of 50,000 tonnes per day against our maintained processing rate of 36,000 tonnes per day. The 2026 technical report will aim to find the right balance between an increased processing rate and mining targets for the combined Côté and Gosselin operations. In Quebec, Westwood had a record production of 37,900 ounces since the mine's restart, as underground operations yielded high grades and strong throughput. Underground mining in the fourth quarter averaged 1,129 tonnes per day, translating to 105,000 tonnes mined, a record underground volume since the mine began, with an average underground grade of 9.87 grams per tonne. Throughout the first three quarters, operations targeted lower-grade stow and adjusted blasting techniques. However, in Q4, Westwood improved stow design, sequencing, and blasting, returning to higher-grade stocks as per the mining plans. The open pit activities in the quarter resulted in 134,000 tonnes mined, averaging a head grade of 1.19 grams per tonne, and the life of the open pit has been extended into 2027. This year, we expect Grand Duc to contribute a similar ore amount to plans, albeit at a slightly lower grade of between 1.1 to 1.2 grams per tonne. Mill throughput in the third quarter was 299,000 tonnes, with an average grade of 4.21 grams per tonne and recoveries of 93%. Plant utilization was 92% for the quarter, up from 35% in Q3 and aligned with our expectations for 2026. Thanks to a strong fourth quarter, costs per ounce improved significantly. Cash costs averaged $1,288 per ounce in Q4, while all-in sustaining costs averaged $1,719 per ounce, substantially lower than the yearly average of approximately $2,100 per ounce. This cost reduction was helped by decreased unit costs, as mining unit costs fell due to the high ore volume mined. For this year, we anticipate Westwood production will range between 107,000 to 113,000 ounces. Mill throughput is expected to average 1.2 million tonnes in 2026, with blended head grades projected to average 3.44 grams per tonne and a consistent production profile throughout the year. We expect cash costs at Westwood to range from $1,500 to $1,650 per ounce sold, and all-in sustaining costs to be between $1,950 and $2,100 per ounce sold. The guidance for sustaining capital expenditures is $55 million, largely for underground development, mobile fleet renewal, mill upgrades, and maintenance. Expansion capital is projected to rise to $30 million this year, mainly for development works and options studies for extending the mine into the eastern underground regions of Westwood. Reflecting on our mineral resources and reserve update, Westwood successfully replaced its reserves for 2025, accounting for 1.1 million ounces. Furthermore, the measured and indicated resources, inclusive of reserves, increased by 682,000 ounces or 40%, totaling 2.4 million ounces as of December 31, 2025, along with an additional 1.5 million ounces of inferred ounces. We look forward to more drilling underground at Westwood this year, believing significant potential lies to the east and west of our current operations. Turning to Essakane, in the fourth quarter, the mine reported record production of 138,100 ounces on a 100% basis, equating to 117,300 ounces based on our 85% interest. Mining in the fourth quarter totaled 9.4 million tonnes, increasing from the previous quarter with 4.1 million tonnes of high-grade ore mined and a strip ratio of 1.3:1. The average grade of mined ore was the highest of the year as the mine moved deeper into Phase 7. The mill achieved strong throughput of 3.2 million tonnes in the fourth quarter at an average head grade of 1.5 grams per tonne and recoveries of 88%, which was slightly below the average of 90% for the year, as the second quarter typically experiences higher graphitic carbon in the higher-grade zones, though this was mitigated through blending. Essakane also saw a decrease in cost per ounce and unit cost per tonne due to higher mining volumes. In Q4, cash costs averaged $1,471 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs averaged $1,674 per ounce. As Renaud mentioned earlier, current market conditions for gold are impacting the industry's cost structure, particularly noted in Burkina Faso due to the implementation of a new uncapped royalty decree in 2025, which ties royalties to gold prices. In the fourth quarter, royalties accounted for $460 per ounce, comprising approximately 36% of Essakane's cash cost. Looking at the guidance for this year, we anticipate cash costs, excluding royalties, to range from $1,150 to $1,300 per ounce sold, and including royalties, from $1,600 to $1,750 per ounce sold. All-in sustaining costs are projected to be between $2,000 and $2,150 per ounce sold. We expect attributable production for this year to be between 340,000 and 380,000 ounces, or 400,000 to 440,000 ounces on a 100% basis, similar to 2025 levels. With a consistent production profile expected across the year, mining will target Phase 6 and 7 as well as the adjacent second main zone. For mineral resources and reserves, Essakane reserves decreased by 640,000 ounces due to depletion and geology model adjustments, totaling 1.7 million ounces. However, measured and indicated mineral resources increased by 50% in funds, offsetting a 26% decrease in grades, bringing the total to 4.4 million ounces in measured and indicated and an additional 853,000 ounces of inferred. We are investigating the Block 3 project, which could extend Essakane's life by an additional five years, pushing its operations through at least 2032. With that, I will pass it back to Renaud.

Thank you, Bruno. I just want to take a moment to highlight the exciting development from the fourth quarter in which IAMGOLD acquired Northern Superior and Mines d’Or Orbec, consolidating their assets and properties with our assets in the Chibougamau-Chapais region of Quebec to form the Nelligan mining complex, which is now composed of the following deposits and high-value targets: Nelligan, Monster Lake, Philibert, Chevrier Lac Surprise, Croteau Est. The Nelligan Mining Complex already has a significant mineral inventory of over 4.3 million measured-indicated ounces and 7.5 million inferred ounces, positioning the project among the largest pre-production stage gold projects in Canada. The close proximity of the primary deposits to each other supports a conceptual vision of the central processing facility being fed from multiple ore sources within a 17-kilometer radius. This year, we are substantially increasing our budget to allow for a comprehensive exploration program, which will look to expand the mineralized footprint of both Nelligan and Philibert while testing Monster Lake at depth. In addition to a regional exploration program for high-priority targets to further grow the potential of the project, our teams are very excited for this project, and we will be putting the pedal to the metal to have a preliminary economic assessment on the Nelligan complex in 2027. With that, I want to thank our shareholders for their great support. We truly believe it will be an exciting year for IAMGOLD, with significant value growth opportunities ahead and many catalysts ahead. And now I would like to pass the call back to the operator for the Q&A session. Operator?

And our first question today comes from Mohamed Sidibe from National Bank.

Maybe I'll start with Essakane and with the M&I increased year-over-year and the potential extension of the mine life of that asset. How should we think about Essakane within your broader portfolio? And specifically, has the license potentially expiring into 2029?

I'll make some initial comments and then ask Bruno to provide additional insights on our potential here. We've been progressing carefully and I believe we've had a great 2024-2025; the team is working diligently. You've noticed our resource increase. We're seeing more opportunities for extension. The key factor is the overall acceptance of our situation. We are aware of the geographic and geopolitical influences, but the fact is, we've been operating this mine consistently without interruptions for nearly three years. Congratulations to Maarten, his team, and Renaud for finding a creative way to generate cash flow. Given the current prices, we have a solid opportunity to use this cash flow to benefit our shareholders. Over the next few quarters, we need to remain focused and execute our plans while continuing to reward our shareholders. As we move into 2026, Renaud and his teams will finalize some work. We definitely see extension potential that we need to keep working on and enhancing. While we're not there yet, we've made significant progress in establishing this as a strategic part of our portfolio. Renaud, do you want to add anything?

Thank you, Mohamed, for your questions. I've been with IAMGOLD since 2014, and during this time, the life of mine has consistently been extended, so this news should not be surprising. We have successfully identified additional resources within the area north of Phase 7, allowing us to establish Phases 8, 9, and 10 in that region. Additionally, to the south, we are seeing an extension of the current pit that connects south of the second main zone. We now believe that the saddle zone connects with these resources, giving us confidence that we could aim for another five years of mine life. We plan to engage with the government about extending our license for another five years, which would bring us closer to 2030. While we're not making a decision on this right now, we expect to have more discussions later this year as we prepare for the '27 plan. In the meantime, we anticipate another strong year and maximum free cash flow from this asset, which will be directed towards our shareholder program and share buyback initiatives. More updates to follow.

Maybe I'll switch to Côté specifically on the unit cost. I think, Bruno, you touched on the milling cost potentially improving $4 to $5 by the second half of 2026. Could you give us a little bit more color on mining costs and where you expect to exit maybe 2026 and what we should be thinking in terms of modeling there for Côté Gold?

Yes. So the mining costs for 2026, we are making adjustments. Some adjustments are taking time. By the end of the year, we should be around $370 to $380 per tonne as we are getting. We've brought in new equipment and new drills. We are also doing the pushback, Mohamed. By doing this pushback, there's several infrastructure that needs to be relocated, like the towers for the equipment and everything. So there's a lot of activities surrounding the mining activity; that's why we see a diminishment in unit costs. However, it's going to take some time to see the long-term mining costs, not for this year.

So what I could add to this is like at the early stage, we've seen some deficiencies, and there are areas that need improvement. We put more capital this year addressing those issues. If you want to optimize your mining costs, you need to optimize your overall performance. To do that, you need a larger pit, and you need to maintain that. This has all been taken into account. It may not all be achieved in '26, as Bruno mentioned. However, as we file and as we present our long-term plan, we will, if needed, integrate some additional improvements in '27 and '28. The objective is to see a path forward over the next two to three years. We really see a potential for reducing the cost and bringing Côté into one of the best unit costs for large-scale Canadian operations. Combined with the average grade and the possibilities for uplift that we've seen this year and the low strip ratio of Côté, everything is in place. As we optimize the cost, it becomes a very attractive overall all-in sustaining cost. We've discussed the royalty; there's not much more we could do. We do have a provision for buyback, which we will pay attention to as we unlock our full potential. We're in a good position. We appreciate that there's a lot of work to do, and Bruno and his team this year have a major task, but we feel very confident that we have a path forward and will work to make it happen this year.

Our next question comes from Sathish Kasinathan from Bank of America.

My first question is on Côté. On Slide 11, you mentioned that the mine plan for Côté is likely to include staged capital. Can you maybe provide a bit more color on what it means? Are you still targeting the 50,000 tonnes per day run rate or maybe even more? How should we think about it?

I think that the reference to the staged capital here is to be capable to focus on expansion and tailings down the road, and to open Gosselin. So what we're saying is that there is nothing that needs to be done on day one to justify an expansion at Côté Gold. The Côté itself is enough to justify the expansions and eventually the Gosselin project. When we say stages, we're acknowledging that Bruno and his team are accelerating aspects in the pit and opening the pit and so forth. That's going to be in place by the time we focus on the expansion in '29 or '30, and we have enough tailings capacity in place. So there will be a stage in fact, just to clarify. We don't need to build everything and have everything based on day one. The capital will be capable of being fully funded through the free cash flow of the asset.

That is clear. Maybe one question on Essakane. So you received $171 million in cash this year at the start of the year, of which $50 million was already used for buybacks. You still have $219 million left from last year's dividend declaration. For the full year, is it fair to assume a minimum of $390 million of share buybacks could be achieved in 2026? Depending on how much dividend is declared for this year, we could see potential upside to the number?

We started the year with $408 million in shareholder accounts. As mentioned, we have already received $171 million of that amount back. We anticipate that the remaining balance will be repaid by the end of the second quarter or during the third quarter. During that time, we will also declare the 2025 dividend, which will again relate to the shareholder accounts. Based on our projections, there will be more than enough shareholder accounts this year to support the program, allowing us to move money out of Burkina Faso every month as the asset generates free cash flow beyond its excess working capital. Consequently, the free cash flow attributed to IAMGOLD this year should be sufficient to buy back shares in the program.

Our next question comes from Anita Soni from CIBC.

Congratulations on a strong quarter and strong year. I just wanted to ask a little bit more about Côté and Gosselin. I think you noted in the MD&A that there would be an update on the reserves and resources for Gosselin in Q2. My apologies if you addressed it in the opening comments, but...

Thank you for asking, Anita, on this. So it's cutting here. So sorry about that. So go ahead.

I was just going to say, what were you expecting to provide with the Q2 update?

Thank you for your question, Anita. As Bruno mentioned earlier, he discussed the mineral reserves and our resources. Therefore, there were no surprises on the research side; this was expected as part of the consolidation of both Gosselin and Côté. We have made significant progress on the resource front and have outlined some areas, but this work is ongoing. We aim to complete this by late Q1, possibly into Q2, but our target is the end of Q1 for the resource update that will inform our plan. We are currently positioned with over $18 million, but additional drilling will be needed. We are also working on merging the block models. We are still finalizing the price to be used, among other details, but we are focused on the objectives for the Saddle zone as Renaud highlighted. As we integrate the block model, we will also drill the saddle zone. While we haven’t arrived at a final number yet, we are very confident in reaching the target of $20 million.

Yes. I want to follow up on the reserves and resources as well. I noticed the grade decline. Have you had positive grade reconciliation at the assets? How are you calculating your depletion at the asset? Are you basing it on the average, or did you include the positive grade reconciliation in your calculations?

Yes, we updated the block model we will use this year and made necessary adjustments. Moving forward, the model for Côté Gold will take a more conservative approach, which is why you notice the decrease. However, this doesn't rule out the possibility of quicker reconciliations, particularly with higher grades like we experienced in Phase 7. Our goal is to factor in a positive reconciliation in our future resource estimates, providing us with a more reliable outlook.

Our next question comes from Tanya Jakusconek from Scotiabank.

Hello. Can you hear me?

Yes.

It's Tanya. Yes. Just first of all, thank you for your time getting on and hearing the little beat so that my question is in queue. I have a few questions, if I could. I just wanted to follow up on Anita's question on the reserves and resources that's coming out on Côté and in Q2. So just so that I understand, we are still targeting that $20 million overall number. What the reserves and resources will show is just more of a conversion or an upgrade into the M&I and reserve category with those additional 25 holes. Is that a proper way to think about it?

The way to look at it is we feel strong that when the exercise is done, we will achieve our objective of $20 million of M&I and from which Bruno and the team will put the mine plan to it and convert as much as we can within an economic plan to reserve. Obviously, the reserve that we have released at the end of the year is only reflecting the all plan depleted. So we're moving from this to the new plant consolidated from which new economics might plan. We're definitely going to see and expect a significant increase in reserves. We just need to complete the work. The starting point will be hopefully a $20 million plus M&I resource base. We feel very strong about the economics of those pits. More to come, but we feel strong about a significant increase in reserves.

Okay. And how should I be thinking about this capital? Because you talked about a lot of this capital now being spent with $85 million or thereabout at Côté this year. How should I be thinking of the study? At one point, we were thinking $100 million to $200 million in capital. How should I be thinking about the capital for all of this?

I guess if I had all the detail, we would have probably provided a clearer picture because we're still in some trade-off discussions. So the way to look at it is I think the growth capital that we're going to be deploying over the next few years should normally bring the pit to a point of expanded capability to provide for the mine itself, which will be the main capital of '29 or '30. We're still in the trade-off and discussions. No, I do not believe you can build an expansion today for $100 million to $200 million total capital, but we believe that it could probably be achieved below $500 million, but we still have to do the work.

Just on two other things. Bruno, I think you gave some guidance for how the year is panning out for us, quarter-on-quarter stable for both Essakane and Westwood. What about Côté?

Okay. Fair question. Côté is going to be lower for the first half of the year because we have the maintenance plan for the HPGR change in March or April. That's going to be a five-day shutdown. We will have supplemental feed material to feed the mill, but we're going to be running at a slower pace. We also did a very good end of the year 2025, and we took advantage of Q1 to undertake a lot of other maintenance work. Overall, we need to expect Q1 and Q2 to be lower than Q3 and Q4. Summertime at Côté is generally very good, as last year, Q2, Q3, and Q4 produced an average of 36,000 ounces per month. That gives you a bit of the kind of seasonality we experience, with winter conditions affecting Q1. In Q2, we conduct planned maintenance on the HPGR, and after that, we roll until the end of the year.

So should I be thinking like a 45-55 or is that?

Yes. I guess, anywhere between around 40 to 45, as you say. Definitely, H2 will be much stronger, seasonally speaking, with the second crusher fully up and running, HPGR optimization, and any other improvement that’s expected. So yes, it's fair to think that the second half could be at 55% of the year.

And Renaud, I have you on for my one final question. Dividend, I mean we had talked on one of the previous conference calls that you were potentially thinking that once all this is done, the dividend plan could be implemented. Where are you on that?

I think we feel very strong that on the step by step approach. As Maarten discussed, the first thing is the share buyback. There is no doubt that the Canadian platform will most likely reflect excess cash as well at these prices, something we're going to revisit with our Board at the end of Q2. We'll assess how the share buyback goes. We’ll see if there is an opportunity to increase the share buyback using a bit of the Canadian excess. Do we start an operating dividend? So I think we'll have this conversation post-Q2 for the second half as we realize the free cash flow on the Canadian side. We feel strong that cash should primarily go towards share buybacks. The question is what the next steps are. We will postpone the decision until the second half of the year.

And this will conclude today's question-and-answer session. At this time, I'd like to turn the floor 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 and myself. Thank you all. Be safe and have a great day.

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