IAMGOLD Corporation (NYSE:IAG) Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call February 17, 2023 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Graeme Jennings - Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications

Maryse Bélanger - Chairman and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer

Maarten Theunissen - Interim Chief Financial Officer

Bruno Lemelin - Senior Vice President, Operations and Projects

Tim Bradburn - Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Conference Call Participants

Sean Wondrack - Deutsche Bank

Operator

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the IAMGOLD 2022 Fourth Quarter and Year End Operating and Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast. [Operator Instructions] At this time, I’d like to turn the conference over to Graeme Jennings, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications for IAMGOLD. Please go ahead, Mr. Jennings.

Graeme Jennings

Thank you, operator and welcome everyone to our conference call today. Joining me on the call are Maryse Bélanger, Chair of the Board and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer; Maarten Theunissen, Interim Chief Financial Officer; Bruno Lemelin, Senior Vice President, Operations and Projects; and Tim Bradburn, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.

Our remarks on this call will include forward-looking statements. Please refer to the cautionary statement included in the presentation under the heading Cautionary Statement regarding forward-looking information and be advised that the same cautionary language applies to our remarks during the call. Non-GAAP measures will also be referenced on the call and we direct you to review the cautionary statement included in the presentation and the reconciliations of these measures included 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 persons and technical information. Slides referenced on this call can be viewed on our website.

I will now turn the call over to our Chair and Interim President and CEO, Maryse Bélanger.

Maryse Bélanger

Thank you, Graeme. Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us. The last 12 months have been a transformative period for IAMGOLD. The company took significant steps towards this goal of becoming a leading high-margin gold producer with the advancement of funding of Côté as we prioritize our capital allocation on key jurisdictions and value-accretive assets, all for the benefit of our stakeholders and partners.

Operationally, the company exceeded its targets, producing 713,000 ounces for the year, coming in above our revised guidance of 650,000 to 700,000 ounces. This performance was fueled by the record production at Essakane. Essakane is the backbone of our current production and the team there has done an incredible job demonstrating great initiatives and resiliency. At Côté Gold, the project saw remarkable progress in 2022. It is now over 70% complete and recently celebrated a major milestone with the deployment of the first autonomous haul trucks, which began mining activities in January. The site celebrated 8.3 million hours without a lost time injury, which is a testament to the skill and dedication of the Côté team.