Earnings conference call (announced in 6-K)

Good morning. My name is Angela and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Integra Resources Q1 2026 Results Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, simply press star or followed by the number 1 in your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press the pound key. Thank you. I would now like to turn the meeting over to André St. Germain, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead, André.

Thank you, Operator. I would like to welcome everyone to Integra's 2026 First Quarter Operating and Financial Results Conference Call. Before we begin, I would like to note that we will be making forward-looking statements during today's call. I will direct you to the second slide of the earnings presentation, which contains important cautionary notes regarding these forward-looking statements. The cautionary notes can also be found on Integra's corporate website. All dollar amounts discussed today will refer to US dollars, unless otherwise indicated. On the call today, I am joined by Integra's president, CEO and director, George Salamis, Chief Operating Officer, Cliff LaFleur, Vice President Finance, Sean Desner, Vice President Permitting, Dallas Kerner, and General Manager for the Florida Canyon Mine, Greg Robinson. Today we are pleased to provide an Operating Infantial Update for the first quarter of 2026, followed by a live Q&A session. With that, I would like to hand the call over to George to kick things off?

Thank you, Andre. Our 2026 plan prioritizes mine site operational safety, reliability, maintenance discipline, and targeted reinvestment to strengthen the mining operation, extending mine life with the goal of conducting investment, position Florida Canyon as a sustainable, high-quality producing gold mine rather than simply a transitional one. While these initiatives, including elevated catch-up legacy stripping and infrastructure upgrades, result in higher near-term sustaining costs, they are also designed to support higher production levels and improve cost performance in 2027 and 2028, while we built on a treasury designed to fund and support growth at Delamar and Nevada North, our two primary growth projects. Our sequencing strategy at Florida Canyon is focused on maximizing predictable cash flow, preserving balance sheet flexibility, and supporting the advancement of Del Mar from a position of strength. Investments in safety systems, water source security, quality reliability, leach pad planning, and other initiatives at the site level reflect a deliberate approach to reducing operational risk and stabilizing the mine site operations before pursuing accelerated growth in the coming years. In parallel, large-scale exploration and technical optimization programs are aimed at organically growing goal balances around existing infrastructure. and enhancing long-term asset value at all of our mining assets. Integra's strategy remains centered on building a durable U.S.-focused coal producer. Turning now to slide five, we've highlighted several metrics that underscore Q1 2026 results. Q1 was underpinned by the company's strong financial position with $105.8 million in cash and working capital of $139.7 million. While gold production in the quarter reflects temporary constraints, the deferred gold ounces are expected to be recovered over the balance of the year. Importantly, with these gold ounces expected to be recovered over the balance of the year, we have maintained our full-year gold production guidance, underscoring our confidence in the operation and the improvements that we have made to the mine. In parallel, we have significantly strengthened our balance sheet through a $61 million financing focus on growth and de-risking at Delamar, while we continue to invest in sustaining capital at Florida Canyon. We believe these investments position Integra for a stronger second half of 2026 and reinforce our strategy of building a sustainable multi-asset coal producer in the United States. Now, I will hand the call over to our COO, Cliff, to discuss the Q1-2026 operating results for Florida Canyon.

Thanks, George. Turning to slide 6, where we have outlined key operating metrics for Florida Canyon in Q1-2026. The first quarter marked a period of strong operational progress at Florida Canyon with a record mining rate of 76,800 total tons per day and the start of leaching on our Phase 3b leach padded the increase in mining rate was driven by the commissioning of eight haul trucks in the quarter since 2025 the total of new equipment added to the fleet now includes eight caterpillar 785 haul trucks one caterpillar 992 high lift loader and one hitachi ex-3600 front shovel with an enhanced mining fleet the operation is better equipped to manage the historical waste stripping inherited from prior operators. In Q1 2026, the company mined 3 million tons of ore and 3.9 million tons of waste from its open pit operations at Florida Canyon, resulting a strip ratio of 1.3. The higher strip ratio in Q1 2026 is a result of the company's stated commitment to reinvest through increased capitalized waste stripping and ramping up new mining areas as outlined in this 2026 guidance. In Q1 2026, the company produced 12,635 ounces of gold. Approximately 3,000 ounces were deferred from quarter one due to temporarily reduced solution flow rates to a specific phase 2 heat bleach pad cell which contains fine ore from the newly opened N2 pit. A blending strategy has been developed to maintain nominal leach rates from its fine material from N2 going forward. With this approach, together with the commissioning of the Phase 3B leach pad, the company expects to meet its annual gold production guidance of 70,000 to 75,000 ounces. The majority of deferred first quarter ounces are predicted to be recovered through ongoing leaching over the remainder of 2026. Average gold process recoveries were 59.9% in Q1 2026 and were in line with expectations. The first quarter of 2026 continued to mark a capital intensive period across the company's portfolio of assets with several key activities during the quarter. These investments reflect a deliberate focus on de-risking the portfolio and positioning the company for sustainable production growth. In Q1 2026, the company invested $10.8 million dollars in sustaining capital at florida canyon this increase reflects the company's reinvestment strategy through new equipment leases increased capital stripping and mobile equipment refurbishments the company expects increased investment in sustaining capital expenditures to continue into q2 the company also invested 1.8 million dollars in non-sustaining growth capital during the first quarter this ending was primarily directed toward the growth focused capital stripping and drilling programs at the florida canyon mine as well as equipment lease payments for the enhanced fleet these expenditures are in line with the company's 2026 guidance cash costs averaged $2,422 per gold ounce and Minesight ASC averaged $3,310 per gold ounce in Q1 2026. Both metrics were elevated with cash costs above the company's guidance range of $1,900 to $2,100 per ounce and Minesight ASC above the company's guidance range of $2,750 to $2,950 per ounce due to lower gold ounces sold, higher royalties and excise taxes on gold sales from higher than fine metal prices, and increased diesel prices. Now I will hand the call over to George to discuss the exploration drilling program at Florida Canyon. Thanks Cliff.

Integra announced in early April the launch of an exciting 50,000 meter drill program across its Nevada and Idaho portfolio, making this the largest gold-focused exploration campaign in the company's history in the United States. The 2026 drilling program marks an important investment in Integra's evolution as both a gold producer and an exploration-driven growth company. The drilling designed to expand mineral resources, extend mine life, and to collect key engineering metallurgical and hydroceological data to support future mine development at Delamar and Florida Canyon. The program includes the following. 42,500 meters of drilling at Florida Canyon focused on near-mine oxide gold targets and the nearby past-producing standard mine area. So exploration both within the mine gate and for the first time in many years outside of the mine gate on regional gold target is included. And there are quite a number of interesting targets outside of the mine gate at Florida Canyon. We also have 2,500 meters of advanced engineering drilling at the Delamar Project to support future development of one of the largest and most advanced undeveloped heat-leached gold-silver projects in the Great Basin right now. And lastly, 5,500 meters of development and resource conversion drilling planned at the Nevada North Project, also known as the Wildcat Deposit, supporting a future pre-feasibility study and resource growth. Initial drill results are expected in summer 2026 and will continue throughout the year. Turning now to slide 8. The 2026 drilling program at Florida Canyon consists of approximately 42,500 meters of RC and core drilling. Exploration activities include 9,000 meters of drilling focused on testing new gold targets, both within and outside of the mine gate, identified around the Florida Canyon and standard mine areas. and 33,500 meters focused on resource development inside the mine gate at the Florida Canyon Mine property itself. I should note that this is the first time in Integra's history and in fact the first time in many years that exploration and drilling is being conducted outside of the mine gate. Drilling is commenced and is expected to conclude in Q4 of 2026 with initial results anticipated during the summer of 2026. Portions of the program will also support the updated Florida Canyon Feasibility Study, New Mine Plan, and 43-101 Technical Report, which is expected to be completed by the end of June this year, so not so far off from today. Now, I will hand the call back to Cliff, our CEO, to discuss the Delamar and Nevada North Q1 2026 highlights.

Thank you, George. Now on slide nine. In quarter one, 2026, the company continued to advance and de-risk its flagship development asset, the Delamar Project, located in Idaho. From a permanent perspective, since the Mine Plan of Operations, or MPO, has been deemed administratively complete by the BLM in August 2025, it has been refined and submitted to the BLM in February 2026 in preparation for the NEPA. the blm has determined that this version called version 4.3 will be the project proposed action to be carried forward through environmental review process in accordance with the national environmental policy act or neva the blm its third party nepa consultant swica and cooperating agencies will proceed with the environmental analysis of the project by preparing an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, in a process that is consistent with the updated DOI-BLM guidelines for the implementation of the NEPA. The Notice of Intent, or NOI, is expected to be published on May 22, 2026, initiating the NEPA process. The BLM's NEPA schedule targets an efficient 15-month process to the record of decision anticipated in late 2027. The Delamar Projects Permitting Timeline was posted to the FAST41 Project Dashboard on January 13, 2026. The FAST41 Transparency Project Program is a federal permitting framework designed to streamline environmental reviews, improve interagency coordination, and increase transparency. Agencies must develop and maintain a coordinated, project-specific timetable for all required environmental review and permitting actions. Integra will be designated a dedicated project advisor from the Permitting Council who will monitor the advancement of the project, maintaining active engagement and coordination across multiple regulatory agencies. The Permitting Council provides high-level oversight to ensure that federal agencies adhere to established timetables. Concurrently, Integra is working with federal, state, and regulatory agencies and authorities to obtain all necessary permits for mine construction, operations, and reclamation, and to establish appropriate financial assurance for mine reclamation and closure. Q1-2026 also marks the commencement of de-risking activities at Delamar, including an initial deposit to Idaho Power to begin planning work on upgrading the existing power infrastructure and the acquisition of strategic land position near the project. Finally, the Delamar Feasibility Study 43-101 Technical Report was filed in early February 2026. The feasibility study demonstrates a large-scale conventional open pit oxide heat feature operation with competitive cost profile and excellent economics. After-tax NPV of approximately $774 million and after-tax IRR of 46% using gold and silver prices of $3,035 per ounce respectively. The after-tax NPV improves to approximately $1.9 billion and after-tax IRR of 97 using recent gold and silver prices of $4,565 per ounce respectively. Moving to slide 10. The company also advanced the Nevada North project in Q1 2026. The Nevada North project consists of the Wildcat deposit and the Mountain View deposit. Hydrogeological data was collected at the Wildcat deposit this quarter and will continue to be collected through 2026 to support the construction of a hydrogeological conceptual site model to be used in future planning and permitting processes. Additionally, final decision record documentation for the Wildcat Exploration Plan of Operations, or EPO, was complete as of April 9, 2026, and the reclamation permit from Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Bureau of Mining Regulation and Reclamation was received on April 20, 2026. The Wildcat EPO, now fully approved, will provide greater flexibility for significantly expanded exploration and technical drilling campaigns scheduled to begin in Q2, 2026. At Mountain View, NEPA environmental analysis for the EPO is also complete as of December 2025, and the reclamation permit is anticipated in Q2, 2026. Once fully approved and permitted, the Mountain View EPO will provide greater flexibility for significantly expanded exploration and drilling campaigns in the future. Integra expects to begin work on an updated technical report for Nevada North in 2026 with target release date in early 2027. I'll now pass the call to our CFO Andre to provide an overview of the Q1 and results.

Thanks, Cliff. Integra closed Q1 2026 in her strongest financial position with a cash balance of $105.8 million and working capital of $139.7 million. The company completed an equity financing this quarter for net proceeds of $57.5 million to fund preproduction expenditures at Delamar and for the acquisition of strategic land nearby the project. The company recorded Q1-2026 revenue of $61.7 million with a cost of sales of $36.9 million which resulted in $24.9 million in mine operating earnings. This represents a 40% operating profit margin for the quarter versus 27% in the comparative period. Increased gross profit margin versus a comparative period is mostly a result from increased revenue due to the higher gold prices realized in 2026. The company achieved average realized gold price of $4,854 per ounce per Q1-2026 versus $2,888 per ounce in Q1-2025. The company recorded adjusted earnings of $12.9 million, or $0.07 per share, in Q1-2026, versus $4.4 million, or $0.03 per share, in Q1-2025. I will now pass the call back to George to discuss strategic objectives for 2026.

Thanks a lot, Andre. Looking forward, our priorities for 2026 remain clear and in line with our strategy to become a leading mid-tier gold producer in the United States. At Florida Canyon, we aim to optimize gold production, grow cash flow, and continue to demonstrate growth potential through the completion of an updated mineral resource estimate and life of mine plan in 2026. We believe that this updated technical report for Florida Canning will have some game-changing elements for the company and demonstrate to the market that this mine purchased by us not long ago in late 2024 has a long and profitable future ahead of it. At Delamar, with permitting quickly advancing towards a notice of intent, marking the full commencement of NEPA, we've also commenced de-risking activities on-site and continue to advance detailed engineering to prepare the project for a development decision. Delamar remains one of the few large-scale precious metal projects in the United States at a feasibility stage that is actively being advanced through federal mine permitting, underscoring the scarcity value of the project. At Nevada North, we continue to de-risk the project and lay the foundation for future development with pre-feasibility study work to commence on the ground on the capital market side we also continue to bolster our profile and investor awareness leading to enhanced trading liquidity and we are proud to report our recent inclusion on to the gdxj from a corporate perspective we are intently focused on disciplined capital allocation and on a longer term horizon we will continue to evaluate strategic and accretive M&I opportunities that support our strategic goal of becoming a leading mid-tier gold producer. Turning to slide 13, I would like to end the formal part of the presentation with slide 13 as it captures our strategy, production, growth, scale, jurisdiction, and team. We are now over one year into our status as a gold producer in the United States and generate cash flow to advance our high-quality, U.S.-focused, gold- and silver-focused development portfolio, supporting our peer-leading growth profile. We hold one of the largest inventories of gold and silver in the Great Basin, not controlled by a major mining company. Our pipeline of development projects are being efficiently de-risked without dilution. We operate in Idaho and Nevada, two of the best mining jurisdictions globally. Lastly, our people are our most important asset. We have handpicked a team with a track record of success and deep industry experience. Integra is a U.S. gold producer with a growth runway and a clear strategy to become a mid-tier. At this point, I would like to turn the call back to the operator to begin the Q&A session.

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you have dialed in and would like to ask a question, please press star 1 in your telephone keypad to raise your hand and join the queue. If you would like to enjoy your question, simply press Bounty again. Your first question comes from the line of Heiko Isle with H.C. Wainwright. Your line is now open.

Hey, Georgian team. It's Heiko Ile. I assume you can hear me okay?

Yeah, Heiko, I can hear you fine.

Hey, at Delamar, I mean, how much cash are you spending there this month? And maybe if you want to be so kind, just give us a bit of an idea on actual cash spent quarter by quarter for the rest of the year, please.

Pretending to Delamar, so your question is how much we're spending this month or quarter by quarter. Andre, do you want to handle that one with respect to sort of giving Heiko a rough estimate of what we plan to spend on a quarterly basis?

Yeah, for sure. No problem. So, you know, including, obviously we'll be spending a fair amount this year in pre-production derisking activities, but in the summer months, you can probably, between Delamar and Nevada North, probably going to be looking at anywhere between $4 million to $6 million per month, and that's including derisking, permitting, engineering, etc. And if we just look at Delamar, call it somewhere between three to four million a month.

Got it. So it's actually a bit more than we have. Okay, good. And then…

Keep in mind… Oh, sorry. Half of that is about the risking activities.

And then speaking of cash getting spent, you talked about the increased diesel prices in your release. And then out of curiosity, I looked on Google, and it seems one of those Caterpillar 785s takes 18 to 29 gallons an hour. But I mean, just overall, how much do you spend on fuel per month across the company right now?

I think that's a question best directed at Greg. Greg, over to you on that. I know you probably don't have a precise number, but perhaps you can give Heiko a bit of a ballpark sense.

Good morning.

Good morning.

We budget right around $1 million a month at Florida Canyon. That was at lower prices than we're seeing today.

So we spend accordingly with the floating diesel price.

Cool. Fair enough. That's it for me. I'll get back with you. Thank you guys very much.

Thanks, Iko.

Your next question comes from the line of Joseph Regor with Roth Capital. Your line is now open.

Hey, George and team. That's on a strong start to the year. Looking at the balance sheet, your leases have increased. Is that just the fleet rollout at Florida Canyon, or is there anything else in there?

Great question. so I think I will readdress that one to Andre. Andre, over to you.

Yes, that's the addition of the fleet that we commissioned to 785 in November and December of last year and 6th this year and it also includes the tattoo shovel that we commissioned in Q4 of last year so all the leases additions are purely mobile equipment leases okay and then um you know given gold prices being where they are and all the plans that you guys have any consideration to potentially putting in some kind of collars or something um you know just to

protect, you know, any downside risk.

So, Joe, Andre, if you want to answer that question, go for it. Maybe give Joe a few insights as to kind of the current put buying arrangements we have in place to cover this year's production.

Perfect. Thanks, George. So, we did purchase in December of last year in early Q1 of this year, put options to protect the downsides. So, about 40 to 50 percent of our production is is protected it's the the put options are at 3 500 gold and but we maintain full exposure to the to any upside in gold price it's really just a floor protection we put options okay and would you expect to continue that policy as you move forward like if we get to the second half of the year pricing still where it is would you guys do that again most likely we've done it uh all year in 2025 we've done it for 2026 uh we'll probably we're obviously monitoring gold price but uh we'll we'll potentially roll this over in in 2027. okay thanks for the color there i'll turn it over thanks joe your next question comes from the line of Brian MacArthur of Raymond James.

Your line is now open.

Good morning and thank you for taking my question. It has to do with Nevada North. Can you just go through now that you're getting the well you've got part of the permits for expanded drilling there. When you do the technical report this year, what are we actually going to get in that?

Are we going to get an updated uh like mine plan are we just going to get updated reserves and resources through the drilling and how much of the money there is being spent on hydrological studies versus actual drilling um that could potentially increase the resource there thanks brian uh so cliff i'm going to direct that question to you perhaps you can give brian a bit of a heads up as to what is going to go into the the pre-feasibility study that's due out in the first half of next year and what's what we're to be working on that will go into that study thanks george a good question on nevada north so what we're focused on right now is advancing the wildcat deposit with mountain view coming in

at a later date while we finalize the exploration program at mountain view so for wildcat we want to do some upgrade drilling starting in q2 transferring a good portion of inferred ounces isn't indicated uh and some more technical drilling so think of the hydro g program and some more met drilling um condemnation drilling for areas where we feel like we need to cite some infrastructure in the future for this study coming up so it'll be a pfs level study with a new mine plan and a focus on what we're upgrading at wildcat and i'd say uh we have a lot of the holes for the Hydro-G program that were done last year we're collecting the data on an ongoing basis which isn't very expensive so this year's program will the lion's share of the cost will be in drilling upgrade holes for inferred material so if I sort of look back the original 13-year plan it's more like we're more likely to just upgrade everything at the front for Wildcat as opposed to extending an awful lot through Mountain View.

Is that kind of the way I can think about that? Because I thought the other advantage of getting all these permits was you're really constrained about where you could go before, but now with these new permits, you're going to be able to, you know, there's a large portion of the property that has never been looked at. Are we going to do that in this study as well?

Are you referring to doing more at Wildcats or more at Mountain View? well kind of both that's where i was going with this yeah i thought there's more opportunity on both of them right yeah there's definitely more opportunity at mountain view that we need to develop the program this year and place it in the right timing for exploration program going forward in 2027. kind of the florida canyon purchase changes things for us a bit with the proximity to wildcat deposit uh so we're really interested to see how updating the study goes with synergies to florida canyon um but that's that's the thinking is uh wildcat deposit is nearer and seems to be less complicated on the permitting side and mountain view needs more drilling and we're going to invest that coming up in the next in the next year or two great thanks thanks very much that's exactly what i was trying to figure out that's very very helpful thank you thanks brian your next question comes from the line of spiel kerr with canaccord genuity your line is now open hey george and team uh thanks for taking the time today uh just a quick

one for me george could you just touch on how um how things are going in terms of the uh of the solution flow rates after the liner tear, and if the problems have been rectified, and if you're starting to see recoup of those 3,000 ounces of gold, that we're still in progress.

Okay. Bill, I'm going to address that question to Cliff. Over to you.

The liner tear that occurred last year, we're back up to normal solution flow rates. that that wasn't a great piece of work done by the team in a short amount of time of course with trying to get to the tear which was below the water line we had to take some weeks to allow the solution flow rate to come down which impacted the ounces in quarter four but the rates are now back up the issue that's referenced in the um in the q1 uh reporting has to do with um n2 being finer or than we expected we were blending it and when we started mining it we weren't blending it enough from what we found after we stacked it in that cell that's referenced we had to cut the percolation rates to that specific material in quarter one i believe was half which uh we didn't have to cut the full percolation rate but because that was the higher grade material we were stacking in quarter four and we were not seeing the uh the ounces come out in time from having to cut that specific cell percolation rate so overall the percolation rates are normal that one specific area had to be throttled back now that we're blending and for material more aggressively we can uh turn up the percolation rates on other cells that are receiving that material i hope that answers your question uh yeah and then just in terms of blending that's uh you're blending some of the higher grade with lower grade that was we're blend well yeah n4 is one of the n2 is one of the higher grade kits that we're mining right now um so most of the areas we're mining are lower grade than N2. So, I'd say it's kind of regular grade where N2 is higher grade than the other areas. Okay.

Yeah, that's a good color. Thanks a lot, Cliff.

Thanks, Phil.

As we have no further questions, ladies and gentlemen, this will conclude today's question and answer session.

I'd like to turn the conference back over to George Salamis for closing remarks uh i have no further closing remarks i thank everybody for the uh the great questions i think this is the most questions that we've had on on our quarterly calls since we've been a producer over the just over a year so really appreciate the great questions and look forward to uh communicating with you all soon thanks very much this concludes today's call Thank you all for joining.

You may now disconnect.