Centerra Gold Inc. (NYSE:CGAU) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call February 23, 2024 9:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Lisa Wilkinson - Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications

Paul Tomory - President and Chief Executive Officer

Paul Chawrun - Chief Operating Officer

Darren Millman - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Brian MacArthur - Raymond James

Lawson Winder - Bank of America Securities

Operator

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Centerra Gold Fourth Quarter 2023 Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the conference over to Lisa Wilkinson, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications with Centerra Gold. Please go ahead.

Lisa Wilkinson

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Centerra Gold's fourth quarter 2023 results conference call.

Joining me on the call today are Paul Tomory, President and Chief Executive Officer; Paul Chawrun, Chief Operating Officer; and Darren Millman, Chief Financial Officer.

Our release yesterday details our fourth quarter 2023 results. It should be read in conjunction with our MD&A and financial statements, both of which can be found on SEDAR, EDGAR and our website. All figures are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted. Presentation slides accompanying this webcast are available on Centerra's website. Following the prepared remarks, we will open the call for questions.

Before we begin, I would like to caution everyone that certain statements made today may be forward-looking and are subject to risks which may cause our actual results to differ from those expressed or implied. Please refer to the cautionary statements included in the presentation as well as the risk factors set out in our annual information form.

Certain measures we will discuss are non-GAAP measures. Please refer to the description of non-GAAP measures in our news release and MD&A issued yesterday.

I will now turn the call over to Paul Tomory.

Paul Tomory

Thanks, Lisa, and good morning, everyone.

To start, I'd like to express my sympathy and support to everyone impacted as a result of a recent slip of the heap leach pad at the mine in Türkiye. We have sent a mine rescue team to assist in the recovery efforts and our thoughts and prayers are with the affected individuals.

Moving on to Centerra's performance, we delivered a strong finish to 2023, achieving both production and cost guidance for the year. Fourth quarter was our second consecutive quarter of significant free cash flow, and we ended the year with over $600 million in cash and cash equivalents. I'd also like to highlight annual record performance at Mount Milligan in both the mine and the plant.