IAMGOLD - Q4 2025

Transcript

Operator (participant)

At this time, I would like to turn the conference call over to Graeme Jennings, Investor Relations for IAMGOLD. Please go ahead, Mr. Jennings.

Graeme Jennings (VP of Investor Relations)

Thank you, operator, and welcome everyone to our conference call this morning. Joining us on the call are Renaud Adams, President, Chief Executive Officer, Maarten Theunissen, Chief Financial Officer, Bruno Lemelin, Chief Operating Officer, Annie Torkia Lagacé, Chief Legal and Strategy Officer, and Dorena Quinn, Chief People Officer. We are calling today from IAMGOLD's Toronto office, which is located on Treaty 13 territory on the traditional lands of many nations, including the Mississauga of the Credit, the Anishinaabe, 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, including 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.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

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 gross margin of over 40% and generating operating cash flow of over $1 billion, which is 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 exiting the year at just over $4,300 an ounce, but which is still more than $600 an ounce lower than where we are today.

While we're not alone in realizing this 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 product, quarterly productions across all sites, the first full year of productions at Côté, 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, 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 pre, prepay obligation mid-year, delivered the balance sheet through the repayment of the $400 million high-cost term loan, and established a share buyback program that purchased $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 mining, 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 rates 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 contractor 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 result 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 guiding range of $1,830-$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 to where they accounted for an average of approximately $330 per ounce or 24% of cash costs in the fourth quarter of 2025. As we look ahead through this year, where we will uncover opportunities to grow the value of our asset, we will stay diligent on our commitment to operational excellence and discipline. While we may not be able to control the gold price, we can control our cost structure and ensure that cost improvement opportunity comes down with our production profile. 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?

Maarten Theunissen (CFO)

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 financial leverage put in place to build 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 at 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 Essakane is repatriated through dividend 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 and allows for the company's portion of the dividend to repay monthly 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 held by Essakane at the end of the year.

Subsequent to year-end, these funds, combined with free cash flow generated in January, was used to make further payments against the shareholder account by Essakane, 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 $50 million at an average price of $16.87 per share through its share buyback program. Subsequent to quarter end, after 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 and $500 million during the year. The NCIB allows for the purchase of approximately 10% of IAMGOLD's public float that was outstanding as of November 2025. All common shares purchased under the NCIB will be either canceled or placed under trust to satisfy 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 Essakane 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 a number of 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 sales 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 price 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 allowed for the delivery and conclusion of the gold paper arrangements mid-year, funding all capital programs of operation, significant delivering of the balance sheet, payment of a record dividend of 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, utilize, utilizing cash flows from Westwood, becoming net cash positive following the repayment of the remaining balance of the credit facility, fund our operations as outlined in our guidance, ensure that we're 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?

Bruno Lemelin (COO)

Thank you, Maarten. Starting with Côté Gold, as Renaud noted, it was a very strong end to the year for Côté, with fourth quarter attributable gold production of 87,200 ounces, or 124,600 ounces on a 100% basis. The success of Côté goes beyond just the fourth quarter. In its first full years of operation, Côté's produced 399,800 ounces on a 100% basis, achieving the top ten of our guidance estimates. During the year, our Côté teams achieved success after success every day on many fronts: operational stability, maintenance, environmental monitoring, or workforce engagement. Côté Gold completed the ramp up and demonstrated a nameplate throughput of 36,000 tons per day over a period of 30 consecutive days ahead of schedule in June.

It was a very strong 2025, with Côté now having strong three consecutive quarters in a row of the mine hitting its target and its tribe. Focusing back to the quarter, mining activity totaled 11.1 million tons. Ore tons mined were a record of 4.5 million tons in the quarter, with a strip ratio of 1.5 to 1. Mine throughput in Q4 totaled 2.9 million tons. Head grade for the fourth quarter was a record of 1.44 gram per ton as a result of the combination of higher grade direct feed ore, a low strip ratio over the quarter, and stockpiling of lower, lower grade ore. The installation of the additional secondary crusher was completed in November and commissioned in December, with both cone crushers tested and operating in parallel.

As we discussed later last quarter, we elected earlier in the year to bring in a temporary contractor aggregate crusher to supplement Côté's crushing capacity to improve the availability of the secondary crushing circuit. This allowed the plant to achieve its throughput milestone, but at a higher cost, as well, as we will discuss on the next slide. With the two secondary cone crushers now operating, the company plans to phase out the temporary crushing circuit over the first half of 2026. Looking at cost, Côté reported fourth quarter cash costs of $1,265 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs of $1,688 per ounce. We continue to see mining and processing unit costs above where we would like them to be. A major driver of costs this year has been associated with the temporary crusher.

The decision to move ahead nameplate by five-six months, allowing for maximizing tons versus waiting for the installation and ramp-up of the second cone crusher in an important time for the project and in the market. Looking at mining costs on an annual basis, they averaged $4.20 per ton in 2025. We expect to see cost improvement through 2026 as further operational improvements are made, including the elimination of the contracted aggregate plan and reduction of contractors. Milling unit costs on an annual basis average $20 per ton. There is a direct relationship with the amount of ore crushed with the temporary crusher in our processing cost. We expect that the removal of the aggregate plant will reduce processing costs by $4-$5 per ton.

Additional savings are expected as we improve the life cycle of the HPGR rollers and fine-tune our maintenance cycles. Looking ahead, 2026 is the year in which our operations team is focusing on fine-tuning Côté at 36,000 tons per day. This year, the operations team will be focusing on unit cost improvement to stable and efficient mining and milling practices. It is important for our team to be able to operate Côté with an expected specification before we expand the operation further. On costs, all-in sustained costs are expected to be in the range of $1,775-$1,925 per ounce sold, which reflects an additional $50 million or about $185 an ounce of non-recurring sustaining capital investments to improve the operating efficiency and the long-term operating cost structure.

These include the implementation of a refeed system for the coarse ore dome, additional maintenance facilities, and improved dust mitigation measures. Expansion capital this year is estimated at $85 million for IAMGOLD. As we look to grow Côté, it is clear we can accelerate basic expansion projects. This includes a strategic tip pushback that will provide both operational flexibility in the near term and optionality for the expansion, as well as the acceleration of certain expansion-related improvement to the processing plant, including an additional ball mill in early 2027. This leads us to what is next for Côté, the Côté-Gosselin expansion mine plan. In the fourth quarter of this year, we will release the details of the updated mine plan that envision a near-term expansion of the Côté plant, targeting a significantly larger ore base from both Côté and Gosselin.

Alongside our financial results last night, IAMGOLD announced its updated mineral resources and reserves estimates. In the estimate, we saw a significant upgrading of ounces from inferred to measured and indicated at Gosselin, which now is estimated to have 6.9 million ounces of indicated ounces and 1 million ounces of inferred resources. Combining Côté and Gosselin, the Côté Gold project currently is estimated to have M&I resources inclusive of mineral reserves and on a 100% basis of 18.2 million ounces and an additional inferred mineral resources of 2.2 million ounces. Work will be ongoing this year to incorporate the end-of-year drilling and then combine the mineral resources estimate and pit shells into a single model.

As currently designed, Côté has the mining capacity to average an annual ore mining rate of 50,000 tons per day, versus our current main plant processing rate of 36,000 tons per day. As part of the 2026 technical report, we will look to find the right balance between an increased processing rate with mining rates targeting the combined Côté-Gosselin super pit. Turning to Quebec, in the fourth quarter, we saw Westwood produce a record 37,900 ounces since mine restart, as the underground return high grades, coupled with strong throughput in the plant. Underground mining activities in the fourth quarter averaged 1,139 tons per day, translating to 105,000 tons in the quarter, a record volume from underground since the mine restart, with an average underground mine grade of 9.87 grams per ton.

During the first three quarters of the year, mining activities underground operated through lower grade stope and adjusted blasting technique. In the fourth quarter, Westwood refined stope design, sequencing, and blasting, while re-returning to higher grade stopes as per mine plan. Mining of the Grand Duc satellite open pit continued in the quarter, with 174,000 tons mined, with a head grade from the open pit averaging 1.19 grams per ton. The Grand Duc open pit life has been extended into 2027. We expect Grand Duc to contribute a similar amount of ore to the plant this year, with at a slightly lower grade of between 1.1-1.2 grams per ton. Mill throughput in the third quarter was 299,000 tons at an average grade of 4.21 grams per ton, and average recoveries of 93%.

Plant utilization was 92% in the quarter, up from 75% in Q3 and in line with the average expected for 2026. As a result of the strong fourth quarter, costs on a per ounce basis declined notably. Cash costs in the fourth quarter averaged $1,288 per ounce, and all-in sustaining costs averaged $1,719 per ounce, well below the average of the year of around $2,100 per ounce. The cost improvement was also assisted by lower unit costs, while with mining costs, the milling unit costs declining due to the high volume of ore mine and mill. Looking ahead to this year, Westwood production is expected to be in the range of 110,000-113,000 ounces.

Mill throughput is expected to average 1.2 million tons in 2026, with blended head grade expected to average 3.44 grams per ton over the course of the year, with a fairly flat production profile quarter-over-quarter through the year. Cash costs at Westwood are expected to be in the range of $1,500-$1,650 per ounce sold, and all-in sustaining cost in the range of $1,950-$2,100 per ounce sold. Sustaining capital expenditures guidance is $55 million, primarily consisting of underground development, renewal of the mobile fleet, upgrades in the mill, and general maintenance.

Expansion capital is expected to increase this year to $30 million, which is primarily associated with development works and risks, to support the study of options to extend the mine in the eastern parts of Westwood underground, that could potentially be amenable to both mining. Looking at our mineral resources and reserve update, Westwood more than replaced depletion over 2025, with 1.1 million ounces of mineral reserves to date. Further, M&I resource inclusive of mineral reserves increased by 682,000 ounces or 40% to 2.4 million ounces as of December 31, 2025, with an additional 1.5 million ounces of inferred ounces. We are looking forward to conducting additional drilling underground at Westwood this year, as we believe there is still significant potential as depth to the east and west of our current underground operation.

Turning to Essakane and continuing with the Q4, the mine reported record production of 138,100 ounces on a 100% basis, equating to 117,300 ounces on a, or 85% mining interest. Mining in the fourth quarter totaled 9.4 million tons, an increase from the prior quarter, with higher ore tons mined of 4.1 million tons, for a strip ratio of 1.3 to 1 in the quarter. The average grade of mine ore in the fourth quarter was the highest grade mined in the year as the mine sequenced deeper into phase seven.

The mill reported strong throughput in the fourth quarter of 3.2 million tons at an average head grade of 1.5 grams per ton, continuing the quarter-over-quarter step up we have seen this year. The plant achieved recoveries of 88% in the quarter, which was below the 90% average for the year, as Essakane typically sees higher graphitic carbon in the higher grade zones, though this is mitigated with blending. Similar to Westwood, Essakane saw an improvement in cost per ounce and unit cost per ton on the higher volumes. For the four quarters, Essakane offered cash costs of $1,471 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs of $1,674 per ounce.

As Renaud noted in his earlier remarks, royalties in the current gold market are having a measured impact on the industry cost structure. And, this is even more pronounced in Burkina Faso, where the new royalty decree was implemented in 2025, with royalties now uncapped and tied to the gold price. In the fourth quarter, royalties accounted for $460 per ounce, or approximately 36% of Essakane's cash costs. Accordingly, when we look at this year, we have guided to cash costs excluding royalties and cash costs, including royalties, at a gold price assumption of $4,000 per ounce. Cash costs, excluding royalties, are expected to be in the range of $1,150-$1,300 per ounce sold, and including royalties in the range of $1,600-$1,750.

All-in sustaining cost is expected to be in the range of $2,000-$2,150 per ounce sold. On the production side, Essakane attributable production is expected to be in the range of 340,000-380,000 ounces or 400,000-440,000 ounces on a 100% basis, similar to production in 2025. With a production profile expected to be fairly flat quarter-over-quarter this year, mining activity will target phase six and seven in the level pit that is adjacent to the Essakane main zone. On mineral resources and reserve, Essakane reserve decreased by 640,000 ounces due to depletion and geologic model adjustment for a total of 1.7 million ounces.

However, measured and indicated mineral resources reported a 40%-50% increase in tons, offsetting a 26% decrease in grades, for a total of 4.4 million ounces in measured and indicated, and an additional 853,000 ounces of inferred. We are currently studying the Block 3 project, which would add an additional five years of life of mine, extending Essakane until at least 2032. With that, I will pass it back to Renaud. Renaud?

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

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 target, Nelligan, Monster Lake, Philibert, Chevrier, Lac Supérieur, Croteau, and Mart. The Nelligan mining complex already has a significant mineral inventory of over 4.3 million measured and indicated ounces, and 7.5 million inferred ounces, positioning the project among the largest pre-production stage gold project in Canada. The close proximity of the primary deposit to each other supports a conceptual vision of a central processing facility being fed from multiple ore sources within a 17 km 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 on 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, you know, to have a preliminary economic assessment on the Nelligan complex in 2027. With that, I want to thank our shareholders for your 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. Operator?

Operator (participant)

Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will begin that question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star and then one on a touchtone telephone. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you are using a speakerphone, we do ask that you please pick up the handset prior to pressing the keys. To withdraw your questions, you may press star and... We'll pause a moment as callers join the question queue. Our first question today comes from Mohamed Sidibé from National Bank. Please go ahead with your question.

Mohamed Sidibé (Equity Research Analyst)

Thank you. Good morning, Renaud and team, and thanks for taking my question. Maybe I'll start with Essakane and with the M&I increase there 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 as the license is potentially expiring into 2029? Please, yeah. Thank you.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

I'll give some first comment, and I'll ask Renaud to complete more in on the potential we have here. But, you know, we've been going really on the step by step. I thought, you know, we had a wonderful 2024, 2025. The team is working hard. You've seen the increase in the resources. We see more and more possibility of expansion. The most important thing is what I would call the acceptance of all of it, right? So we understand, you know, the geographics and the geopolitics and so forth, but the reality is, we've been operating this mine pretty steady state, no interruptions for nearly three years now.

We've found, and congrats, you know, to Maarten and his team, and Renaud, and found, you know, a very creative way, you know, to allow for cash flow. At those prices, we see a good opportunity of using this cash flow to reward our shareholders. I think over the next few quarters, you know, we just need to continue to beat the, you know, to beat the drum and execute on our plans and continue to repatriate, you know, and reward our shareholders. As we advance in 2026, Renaud and his teams will complete some work. We'll definitely see an expansion, you know, potential, which we need to continue to work and prove.

But, we're not there yet, but, I think we've come a long way, you know, to make Essakane a very strategic element of our portfolio. Renaud, if you want to add anything.

Bruno Lemelin (COO)

Yes. Thank you, Mohammed, for your question. You know, I've been at Essakane, like, I started with IAMGOLD at Essakane in 2014, and since then, the life of mine has not stopped getting extended, so it should not come to much of a surprise. What is really good is we were able to find those additional resources within the fence, north of phase seven. We have now phase eight and phase nine and 10, north of where we are currently mining. South, we have the Lao pit, that is also getting... We're seeing an extension of the current Lao pit that also tried to connect, south of the Essakane main zone. There's a saddle zone, and now we believe that those two connect together.

So it gives us confidence that we could be targeting at another five years of life of mine. That's what we're going to be coming with when we're going to start engaging with the government. Shouldn't be, like, too much of a problem when we first met with the officials in terms of having the license be extended by another five years, which would bring us closer to 2032, 2032.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

So we're not, again, decision to be made probably later as we advance in the year in preparations for a 2027 plan. But meanwhile, we expect, another great year and maximum free cash flow out of the asset repatriated and, applied towards the, the, shareholder program. Sure, about that. So-

Mohamed Sidibé (Equity Research Analyst)

Great.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

More to come.

Mohamed Sidibé (Equity Research Analyst)

Thanks a lot for that, callers. Maybe I'll switch to Côté Gold.

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

Bruno Lemelin (COO)

Yeah. The mining costs for 2026, as we are making adjustments, some adjustments are taking time, now we're implementing a new motion plan. There will be some testing. We should be at it the year around $370-$380 a ton as we're getting. We are—we brought new equipment, new drills. We are also doing the pushback, Mohammed, and by doing this pushback, there's several infrastructure that needs to be relocated, like the towers for the autonomous fleet and everything. There's a lot of activities surrounding the mining activity. That's the reason why we see an embellishment in unit costs. However, it's going to take some time to see the long-term mining costs, not for this year.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

So what I could add to this is, you know, like, at the early stage, we've seen some... Yeah, we've seen some deficiencies, some areas, you know, that need some improvement. We put more capital this year addressing some, like Bruno just mentioned, you know, if you want to optimize your mining costs, well, you need to optimize your OEE, your overall performance. To do that, you need, you know, a larger pit. You need, like, maintaining your... This has all been taken into account. That may not be all achieved in 2026, as Bruno mentioned, but as we file and as we present our long-term plan, we will, if needed, you know, integrate some additional improvement in 2027, 2028.

But the objective is over the next, with a big chunk in 2026, but over the next two-three years, we really see a path forward with the possibility of reducing the cost and bringing Côté into one of, one of the best unit costs for this large-scale Canadian. And then when you combine with the average grade and the possibility to uplift, as we've seen the grade this year, and the low strip ratio of Côté, everything is in place at Côté as we optimize the cost to make it a very attractive, overall all-in sustaining cost. We've discussed the royalty.

Bruno Lemelin (COO)

Yeah.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

There's not much we could do more than we do have a provisions of buyback, which we would really pay attention to, you know, as we unlock our full potential of the scenario. So we're in a good position. We appreciate that there's a lot of work to do, Bruno and his team this year, but, but we feel very confident that we have a path forward, and we'll try to make it as much as possible this year, but it may extend a bit in 2028.

Mohamed Sidibé (Equity Research Analyst)

Great. Thank you. I'll go back in the queue, and that's for my last question later. Yeah.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Our next question comes from Satish Kasinath from Bank of America. Please go ahead with your question. Satish, your line is open. Is it possible your phone is on mute?

Satish Kasinathan (VP)

Yeah. Hi, sorry, I was on mute. Yeah, hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. My first question is on Côté. On slide 11, you mentioned that the mine plan for Côté is likely to include stage capital. Can you maybe provide a bit more color on what it means? Are you still targeting the 50,000 tons per day run rate or maybe even more? How should we think about it? Thank you.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

I think that the reference to the stage capital here is to being capable, you know, to focus from expansion to tailings down the road, to opening Gosselin. So what we're saying is that there is not a need to do everything on a day one, you know, to make an expansion at Côte Gold. As a matter of fact, you, the Côte itself is enough to justify the expansions and eventually Gosselin. So when we say stages, we see now six, seven, and eight. Bruno and his team is accelerating some aspect in the pit and opening the pit and so forth, so that's gonna be in place by the time.

We said 29 is a focus on the expansion, 29, 30, and we have enough tailing capacity in place, so there would be, there would be a stage, in fact. We just want to clarify that it's not like you need to build everything and have everything in place on day one. The capital will be staged, capable to be fully funded through the free cash flow of the asset.

Satish Kasinathan (VP)

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

Bruno Lemelin (COO)

Good morning. So we had $408 million of the shareholder accounts outstanding at the beginning of the year, and as you mentioned, we already received $171 million against that back.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

... We expect that remaining balance to be repaid by the end of the second quarter, during the third quarter. But then when we get into that period, we will be declaring the 2025 dividend, where the shareholder account will be reloaded again. So based on our projection, there would be more than enough shareholder accounts available this year to continue with the program, where we can move money out of Burkina Faso every month as the asset generates free cash flow above its excess working capital. And then, so the free cash flow attributable to IAMGOLD this year should, we should be able to match that to buy back shares in the program.

Satish Kasinathan (VP)

Okay. Thank you. Congrats on the strong quarter.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Our next question comes from Anita Soni from CIBC. Please go ahead with your question.

Anita Soni (Anita Soni)

Hi. Good morning, guys. Congratulations on a strong quarter and a 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 reserve... Another update on the reserves and resources for Gosselin, in Q2. And my apologies if you addressed it in the opening comments. I was hopping between-

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

No.

Anita Soni (Anita Soni)

But, what do you-

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

No, thank you for asking, Anita, on this.

Anita Soni (Anita Soni)

Yeah. So I was just-

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

No, just for clarification.

Anita Soni (Anita Soni)

Yeah.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

Sorry, it's cutting here, so, sorry about that. So go ahead.

Anita Soni (Anita Soni)

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

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

No, thank you for asking this. So as Bruno, you know, showed in his portions, you know, talking about the mineral reserve, mineral resources. So not a surprise on the reserve side. It was just a deflation, as you know, like the big consolidating both Gosselin, you know, and Côté through. On the resources side, we've come quite a bit a long way, you know, and have delineated some, but this is a kind of an ongoing work. So to your point, we expect to complete probably late Q1, and maybe, you know, like, we're talking about Q2 potentially, but you know, the target is by the end of Q1, somewhere there. We would complete the resource update, if you call, like, the final one that would serve for the plan.

We're comfortably sitting in more than 18 million, but there is more, drilling to be incorporated. There is the merge of the block models as well. We're still discussing, you know, the final price to be used and so forth, but, we had this objective of, the saddle zone as well, as Renaud just pointed out to me. So as you combine the block model, so you create that saddle zone that we've drilled as well. So it's not the final, not to look at the resource update at Côté as the final word toward our objective of 20 million, and we're still planning to discuss those results late Q1, early Q2.

Anita Soni (Anita Soni)

Okay. How much more drilling would that have incorporated versus what you just did? I think you converted two out of the three million ounces of inferred into M&I category, but how much more would that bring on stream? If you could just tell me, like, as a percentage of the drilling update.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

Yeah.

Anita Soni (Anita Soni)

Or if you want to tell me the number of ounces, that'd be great too.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

We still have 29, 25 holes to be included, and we have also the campaign on the saddle zone that needs to be included as well.

Anita Soni (Anita Soni)

Okay, I'll take a look at the-

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

Enough... Yeah. And again, like, the merge of the block model as well, you know, like, technically should also create some. So we feel very, very strong, Anita, if without giving a final number because we haven't seen it, but we feel very comfortable towards objective of 20 million M&I plus.

Anita Soni (Anita Soni)

Yeah. I just wanted to follow up on the Essakane reserves and resources as well. I noticed the grade declined. Is that... Have you—I mean, I, I'm just, I guess, you know, you've had positive grade reconciliation at the asset.

How are you basically calculating your depletion at the asset? I'm just, like, are you just basically saying: "Okay, well, you know, we ended up, we thought this ore body would be 1.2, and it ended up being 1.5, so we're deducting the 1.5 off of the average." Is that the way you're doing it, or did you include the positive grade reconciliation in the calculations?

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

Yeah. So we changed the block model, and the block model that we'll be using this year has taken... We had to do some adjustment. But moving forward, the block model is going to be forced to be a little bit more conservative with this. Therefore, that's the reason why you see the grade going down. It does not exclude the possibility that we will see positive reconciliation, specifically when you hit those higher grade zone like we were doing in phase seven. What we're trying to cap a bit is that kind of positive reconciliation in our future resources estimate. So we have something more balanced and conservative.

Anita Soni (Anita Soni)

Okay. All right. Thank you. That's it for my questions.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks.

Operator (participant)

Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star and then one. Our next question comes from Sam Overwater from Scotiabank. Please go ahead with your question.

Tanya Jakusconek (Equity Research Analyst)

Hello, can you hear me?

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

Yeah.

Tanya Jakusconek (Equity Research Analyst)

... Oh, it's Tanya. Yeah. Just, thank you for taking my question, first of all. I just had a hard time, getting on and hearing the little beep that says 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 in, in Q2. So just so that I understand, so you were still targeting that 20 million ounce overall number. What the, what the, reserves and resources and other 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?

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

The way to look about it is we feel strong that when the exercise is done, we will, 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.

Tanya Jakusconek (Equity Research Analyst)

Okay.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

So obviously, the reserve that we have released at the end of the year is only reflecting the old plan depleted. So we're moving from this to the new plan, consolidated, from which new economics mine plan. So we're definitely going to see and expect a significant increase in reserve. We just need to complete the work, but the starting point will be hopefully a 20 million+ M&I resource base, and we feel very strong about the economics of those pit. So more to come, but we feel strong about a significant increase in reserve.

Tanya Jakusconek (Equity Research Analyst)

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

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

I guess if I would have all the detail, Tanya, we would have probably been a little more, because we're still in trade-off. So the way to look at it is, I think, you know, 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, capable to provide, you know, for the, for the. Now, the mill itself, which will be the main capital of 29-30, we're still in the trade-off and so forth. No, I do not believe you build an expansion today for $100 million, so up to $200 million, total capital.

We believe that it could probably be achieved, you know, below $500, but we still have to do the work.

Tanya Jakusconek (Equity Research Analyst)

Okay. Thank you for that. I'll, I'll take a look further into it. Just on two other things. Bruno, I think you gave some guidance for how the year is panning out for us quarter-over-quarter, stable for both Essakane and Westwood. What about Côté?

Bruno Lemelin (COO)

Okay, fair question. Côté is going to be lower for the first half of the year, because we have maintenance plan for the HPGR tire roll change in March or April. That's going to be a five-day shutdown. We will have supplement fines or materials to feed the mill, but we're going to be running at a slower pace. We also have, we did a very good end of the year 2025, and we took advantage of Q1 to take a lot of other maintenances. So overall, we need to expect Q1 and Q2 to be lower than Q3 and Q4. And generally, summertime at Côté is very good.

Like last year, Q2, Q3, Q4, we produced 36,000 tons per day, almost like 36,000 ounces a month in average. So that gives you a bit like the kind of seasonality that we have. Like, we have a seasonality due to winter conditions in Q1, and Q2, we do some plan maintenance on the HPGR, and after that, like, we are rolling till the end of the year.

Tanya Jakusconek (Equity Research Analyst)

Okay, so should I be thinking, like, a 45-55, or is that?

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

Yeah, I guess anywhere between, like, the zone of around the 40-45, as you say. Definitely H2 will be much stronger, season-wise, second crusher fully up and running, HPGR relined, and plus any other optimization that's going to come. So yes, I think it's fair to think that our second half could be at the 55% of the year.

Tanya Jakusconek (Equity Research Analyst)

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

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

I think we feel very strong that, on the step by step. I mean, as Maarten discussed, I think, the first thing first is on the share buyback. There is no doubt, you know, that let's call the Canadian platform, would most likely be in excess cash as well, and those prices, something we're going to revisit after with our board at the end of Q2. See how the share buyback goes. Is there an opportunity to increase the share buyback using a bit of the Canadian excess? Do we start incorporating, dividend? So I think we are, we're going to have these conversations post-Q2 for the second half, as we realize that the free cash flow on the Canadian side as well. So we feel very strong that it's, again, should normally go towards share buyback.

The question is after, what is the next in a row? And, I think we're going to postpone these decisions for the second half of the year.

Tanya Jakusconek (Equity Research Analyst)

Okay. Thank you so much for taking my questions.

Renaud Adams (President and CEO)

Thank you.

Bruno Lemelin (COO)

Thanks.

Operator (participant)

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.

Graeme Jennings (VP of Investor Relations)

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 or myself. Thank you all. Be safe and have a great day.

Operator (participant)

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