Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call August 1, 2024 8:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Chris Lichtenheldt - Vice President of Investor Relations
Paul Rollinson - Chief Executive Officer
Andrea Freeborough - Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Claude Schimper - Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
William Dunford - Senior Vice President, Technical Services
Geoff Gold - President

Conference Call Participants

Joshua Wolfson - RBC Capital Markets
Lawson Winder - Bank of America Securities
Mike Parkin - National Bank
Carey MacRury - Canaccord Genuity
Anita Soni - CIBC World Markets
Tanya Jakusconek - Scotia Bank
Ralph Profiti - Eight Capital

Operator

Thank you for standing by. My name is Joel [ph] and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Second Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call and Webcast. 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. [Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Lichtenheldt, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin.

Chris Lichtenheldt

Thank you and good morning. With us today, we have Paul Rollinson, CEO; and from the Kinross Senior Leadership Team Andrea Freeborough, Claude Schimper, William Dunford and Geoff Gold.

For a complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties which may lead to actual results differing from estimates contained in our forward-looking information, please refer to Page 2 of this presentation, our news release dated July 31, 2024, the MD&A for the period ended June 30, 2024 and our most recently filed AIF, all of which are available on our website.

I will now turn the call over to Paul.

Paul Rollinson

Thanks, Chris and thank you all for joining us. This morning I will discuss our Q2 margins and cash flow, provide high level updates on our operations and projects, update you on our sustainability initiatives and reaffirm our outlook. I will then hand the call over to Andrea, Claude and Will to provide more detail.

Following a strong start to the year in Q1, we delivered another strong quarter in Q2, establishing an excellent first half of positioning us well to meet our full year guidance. In Q2, our operating margins grew by over 20% compared to the prior quarter, once again outpacing the relative increase in the gold price over the same period. As a result, free cash flow more than doubled in the second quarter to $346 million, the first half total of just under $0.5 billion.