First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, and welcome to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of First Quantum Minerals Limited. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Mr. Philip Pascall, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Quantum Minerals. Sir, the floor is yours.

Welcome to the 2021 Annual General Meeting of First Quantum Minerals, which I will now call to order. I'm Philip Pascall, and I'm the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the company; and I will act as Chairman of the meeting. Before I begin with the formalities of the meeting, I'd like to note that this year, due to the ongoing restriction on travel, and public gatherings currently in place in Canada and around the world as a result of COVID-19, our Annual General Meeting is, as last year, being held virtually via the Lumi platform. Joining me on the call today is Mr. Tristan Pascall, Chief Operating Officer of the company. And Mr. Robert Harding, Lead Independent Director of the company. Our remaining directors, Clive Newall; Peter St. George; Simon Scott; Kathleen Hogenson, Andrew Adams; and Joanne Warner, are also present at the meeting. Kevin McArthur is also in attendance and will be standing for election at this year's meeting. Kevin has many years experience in the mining sector, having been CEO of Tahoe Resource Inc, Goldcorp, Inc, and Glamis Gold Limited. He also serves as Chairman of Boart Longyear Limited and is a Director of Royal Gold Inc. We also have other members of our management team attending today. Hannes Meyer, CFO; Jan Honeyman, HR Director; Ryan MacWilliam, Director, Business Development; Angus Kennedy-Perkins, Group Manager Commercial Projects, John Gregory, our Group Consulting Mining Engineer to name, but a few. As the company's Chairman, I will chair the meeting. Later on, we will briefly review the company's performance over the last year. [Operator Instructions]. I will ask Ms. Sarah Robertson, to act as Secretary of the meeting, and I appoint Computershare Investor Services, Inc., through its representatives to act as Scrutineer. I have before me a copy of the affidavit of mailing from Computershare, confirming that the notice and access document, combined notice of meeting and management information circular dated March 15, 2021, where applicable, former proxy; Lumi user guide, annual report and financial statement request for or mailed to securityholders on March 29, 2021. I have before me a preliminary Scrutineer report, indicating that no shareholders are present in person and 109 shareholders holding 582,519,893 common shares are represented by proxy. A total of 109 shareholders representing 84.38% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the company are, therefore, present in person or by proxy. As the articles of the company require the presence of 2 shareholders in person or by proxy or Quorum to exist at a shareholder meeting, I declare that a quorum is present. And that the meeting is regularly called and properly constituted for the transaction of business. For the purpose of the meeting today, voting on all matters will be conducted by electronic ballot. Registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders, who have properly logged in with their control numbers or user name will be able to vote after the presentation -- the items of business to be put forth at today's meeting. When you are invited to vote, you will receive a message on the Lumi virtual interface requesting you to register your vote for each item of business. If you are a registered shareholder or a duly appointed proxy holder, and have already voted by submitting your proxy form in advance of the meeting. It's not necessary for you to vote again today. The last annual meeting of the company was held on May 7, 2020. I have minutes of that shareholders meeting before me and I ask for a motion.

I move that the reading of the minutes of the 2020 Annual General Meeting held on May 7, 2020, be dispensed with and that the minutes of the said meeting be taken as read and approved.

Thank you, Sarah. I'd like now to move to the formal business of the meeting and the resolutions for consideration before the meeting today. One, consolidated financial segment of the company for the year ended December 31, 2020. And the report of the auditor thereon, copies of which have been mailed to each shareholder of the company who has requested it. Electronic copies of the consolidated financial statements are also available for viewing on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The next item of business is to fix the number of directors to be elected to the Board of Directors. The management information circular provided for a number of directors to be fixed at 9. Next is the election of the 9 directors of the company for the ensuing year. The company's management has nominated the following persons for election as directors: Philip Pascall; Clive Newall; Robert Harding; Peter St. George; Andrew Adams; Kathleen Hogenson; Simon Scott; Joanne Warner; and Kevin McArthur. Please note that in accordance with the company's majority voting policy, this resolution requires you to vote for each individual Director and not a slate of directors. The next part of the business is to appoint auditors for the ensuing year. It's proposed that PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited LLP, Canada, Chartered Accountants be reappointed to serve as auditors of the company for the ensuing year, and the directors of the company be authorized to fix the auditor's remuneration. The final item of the business is to accept the company's approach to executive compensation as described in the management information circular. It should be noted that this is an advisory vote and that the results will not be binding on the company. However, the Board will take the results of the vote into account as appropriate when considering any future compensation policies, procedures and decisions. Now I have a motion for each of the resolutions.

I move that the consolidated financial results of the company for the year ended December 31, 2020, be received.

I move that the number of directors to be elected to be fixed at 9. That each of Philip Pascall; Clive Newall; Robert Harding; Peter St. George; Andrew Adams; Kathleen Hogenson; Simon Scott; Joanne Warner; and Kevin McArthur, be elected as Directors to hold office until the next annual meeting of the company.

I move that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Canada chartered accountants, be appointed as auditors of the company to hold office until the close of the next Annual General Meeting of the company. And that the directors be hereby authorized to fix the remuneration to be paid to the auditors.

I move that be it resolved on an advisory basis and not to diminish the roles and responsibilities of the Board of Directors of the company, that the shareholders accept the approach to executive compensation, as discussed in the company's management information circular, delivered in advance of this Annual General Meeting of shareholders.

Thank you, Jan and Hannes. The poll is now open for approximately 2 minutes, I ask that you cast your votes. [voting] We will provide registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders, approximately 1 more minute to completely the electronic ballot. [voting] Thank you. And I now declare poll closed. Given that it will take some time for the Scrutineer to determine the results of the ballot and prepare their report, I'd like to invite Tristan Pascall, our Chief Operating Officer, to make a short presentation on the company's performance over the past year.

Thanks, Philip. Good day, everyone, and thank you for joining us today at First Quantum Minerals 2021 Annual General Meeting. My name is Tristan Pascall. I'm the Chief Operating Officer of the company. It is certainly a privilege to address you today. I would first like to recognize Mr. Clive Newall, who retired from his role as President of the company in January this year. Clive was the founder of First Quantum and his drive and enthusiasm for the business over the last 25 years has been a great source of motivation for all of us within First Quantum. I wish Clive all the best in his new endeavors and as a business, we are pleased that he will stay on as a member of the Board of Directors. 2020 was a tumultuous year. The global pandemic had already made a significant impact in the run-up to last year's AGM and the significant human and medical challenge posed globally by COVID-19 continued throughout the year. As did the impact of the pandemic on the global economy. For First Quantum, the impact of the pandemic was different for each of our operations due to the varied government responses, changes to border and quarantine controls and the differing capacity of health systems in our regions of operation. Across the year, the only major operational impact was a relatively short period of shutdown at Cobre Panama, whilst the other operations were relatively unaffected. We responded to protect our workforce and the many communities in which we operate. We developed the necessary processes and procedures so that we could protect our people and their families as well as sitting in the response of our host nations as best we could. We also formed strong partnerships with various health authorities and community support institutions as we all learned to push back the contagion. First Quantum is proud to make a real and long-term difference to the communities it partners with at its operations. In 2020, we continued our efforts in education, small business development, empowering women, biodiversity programs, and we significantly expanded our health and social infrastructure support in response to COVID-19. These included new special health facilities, livelihood support to vulnerable communities and the support to -- on education of children by radio after the classrooms have been closed. The commitment and dedication of our workforce was central to successfully navigating the challenges of the pandemic for our business, as with the strong support from the relevant authorities. The commitment of our employees included reduced PMO staff off-site, which, thankfully, we were able to reverse once copper prices recovered. We are grateful and appreciative for those efforts without which we would not have reached the end of the year in such a strong position. Despite the challenges of 2020, First Quantum achieved its highest ever annual copper production. Our 2020 total production of 779,911 tonnes of copper represents an 11% increase in the previous year, and our costs were at the lowest level in 4 years. The Kansanshi mine in Zambia remained a consistent producer at 221,487 tonnes of copper in 2020 despite the challenge of reducing grades. We look forward to a decision to move ahead with the S3 expansion in partnership with the Zambian government. We continue regular constructive discussions with government to address the stability of the investment required for this expansion. The Sentinel mine in Zambia produced 251,216 tonnes of copper for the year, a record for annual production and a 14% increase from 2019. And as a result of a significant increase in annual throughput to 57 million tonnes in the year. Unit costs improved from the previous year as a result of lower maintenance and fuel costs and some foreign exchange benefits. In the second half of 2021, we plan to commission the fourth in-pit crusher at Sentinel, which is expected to increase production by increasing throughput to around 62 million tonnes a year from early 2022. - Total production at Cobre Panama in 2020 was 205,548 tonnes of copper despite a period of preservation and safe maintenance. And operating for most of 2020 under very strict protocols related to COVID-19. In 2021, we expect to achieve full ramp-up of Cobre Panama to the 85 million tonnes a year throughput rate and the Q1 results were on track to achieve this target. In 2020, the Ravensthorpe nickel operation in Western Australia restarted. Nickel production for the full year was 12,695 tonnes as the operations continued to ramp up across the year, while continuing the development of the Shoemaker Levy deposit, which is higher grade and has more remainable materials handling characteristics. First blast to open the Shoemaker levy pit was undertaken just a few days before the end of 2020. It is expected that the target production rate of 2,500 tonnes per month will be achieved later in 2021 after Shoemaker Levy comes into production. The ramp-up of Ravensthorpe and development of Shoemaker Levy strongly positions the mine to supply into the rapidly growing battery supply chain and further increases First Quantum's exposure to the green economy. All the other FQM, First Quantum operations performed on plan in 2020. Overall, First Quantum's comparative EBITDA for the year was $2,152 million, which was 34% higher than 2019, with increased sales volumes, higher metal prices and lower costs. COVID-19 continues to pose health and economic challenge in the current situation in India is of particular concern. At the same time, we are hopeful that the world is reaching a turning point in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to keep a defensive stance on health and sanitary protocols at our operations, but it does seem the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is reducing on the global economy following the worldwide rollout of vaccines commencing. Beyond the pandemic, we believe that we can look forward to significant opportunities for First Quantum. Global demand for our key commodities, copper and nickel, is looking strong. We expect demand to strengthen further as governments and many nations seek to stimulate their economic recovery by infrastructure and of stimulus spending. In 2021, we expect to produce between 785,000 to 850,000 tonnes of copper and between 23,000 to 27,000 tonnes of nickel. Copper and nickel are also now widely recognized as essential components in the global transition to a low-carbon economy. In this regard, First Quantum is committed to extracting resources as responsibly as we can. And to put our boarder approach, we recognize our need to identify, assess and report on our actions to address climate change. We recently published our climate change mission statement. And in 2021, the company is committed to reporting an alignment with the TCFD framework, establishing tangible and realistic targets with an identified pathway to achievement for absolute emission levels in the carbon intensity of our operations and integrating an internal carbon price and the expected determinant impacts on commodity prices and the evaluation of our new projects. 2020 has also marked a significant improvement in the company's balance sheet. By the end of the year, we reduced net debt by $266 million and a further $347 million by the end of Q1 to just over $7 billion as at March 31, 2021, and further reduction of debt remains a key priority. We consider that debt repayments will continue to accelerate whilst commodity prices remain elevated, and the Board has announced that the company expects to be in a position to support increased dividend payments within the next 2 years. With our confidence in the strengthening long-term prospects for copper, we continue to advance our development projects at Taca Taca in the Salta Province of Argentina and Haquira in Southern Peru. Gradual progress continues on these greenfield projects with various studies and negotiations, which will lead in time to their construction and production. But a decision on either of the project is not expected before 2024 or '25, whilst we preferentially focus on brownfield expansions. We look forward to continuing the growth of the business and to deliver returns to shareholders. Thank you.

Thank you. This is a continuation of the formal meeting. I've been advised now that the Scrutineer has completed a tabulation for each of the items of business. Based on the Scrutineer tabulation, each of the items of business of the meeting were approved, namely the determination of the number of directors to be elected at 9; the reelection of Philip Pascall; Clive Newall; Robert Harding; Peter St. George; Andrew Adams; Kathleen Hogenson; Simon Scott; Joanne Warner; and the election of Kevin McArthur, as directors of the company to hold office until the next Annual Meeting; the appointment of the auditors and the fixing of their remuneration; the acceptance of the company's approach to executive compensation. As soon as possible following the meeting, a report of voting results will be posted at www.sedar.com, under the company's profile. There being no further business, I would ask for a motion to conclude this meeting. Do I have a motion?

I move that the meeting be concluded.

I declare the formal business of the meeting concluded and the meeting terminated. And I'll now respond to any questions you might have. As there are no questions put forward. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I'd like to thank you for attending today. Thank you very much. Goodbye.

This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect. Presenters, please stand by.