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| And [ Fagundes ], our mining contractor has given us a very strong pathway on how they have done it in working with SENAI in terms of hiring the workforce that is running our trucks, our excavators and other equipment in the mine for the last almost two years |
| Turning to our Xavantina operations, we reported another stellar quarter, capping a year of record gold production and record operating margins, thanks to contributions from the new Matinha vein |
| If I take a step back from the details for a moment and think about the major component parts required for a successful ramp up of any project, we are extremely well positioned |
| Although we anticipate our total capital expenditures year to be weighted towards the first half, our strong financial position, including available balance sheet liquidity of approximately $262 million at year end, and cash flow from operations during the first half of this year that are projected to be consistent with the second half of 2023, ensures we are fully equipped to support these investments |
| With capital expenditures on this project winding down through the first half of this year, we're approaching an exciting inflection point in our consolidated copper production and cash flow profile |
| They have also started to reflect positively in our cash flows from operations |
| More specifically, record gold production drove a meaningful expansion of operating margins at the Xavantina operations that contributed to a $20 million year-on-year increase in consolidated Ero Group cash flow from operations, which totaled $163 million |
| In short, we feel we are in a strong and enviable position to have a successful ramp up |
| Since the offering in early November, the copper market outlook has improved, with supply/demand fundamentals now signaling supply deficits in 2024 and 2025 |
| As Dave highlighted, our financial results for both the fourth quarter and full year positively reflected the execution of our growth strategy, particularly at the Xavantina operations |
| And it has been a fantastic year from the standpoint of investing in our future |
| In addition to making significant strides towards doubling copper production to approximately 100,000 tonnes in 2025, we achieved targeted gold production levels of nearly 60,000 ounces, following the successful completion of Xavantina's NX 60 initiative |
| Processed gold grades continued to exceed our expectations during the fourth quarter, averaging over 17 grams per tonne and resulting in production of 16,867 ounces at C1 cash costs and all-in sustaining costs of $413 and $991 per ounce, respectively |
| 2023 was a cornerstone year for our company, highlighted by significant accomplishments across our organic growth initiatives |
| Again, we are seeing a positive reconciliation in the first two months |
| As we progress through the first quarter, we continue to absorb -- observe positive grade reconciliations with mined gold grades at Xavantina trending above 15 grams per tonne |
| Our 2023 financial performance also reflects the opportunistic implementation of risk mitigation measures throughout the year, including an expanded foreign exchange hedge program that yielded realized gains of over $11 million and helped to soften the impact of a stronger Brazilian Real against the U.S |
| Highlighting what was said earlier, we have continued to make outstanding progress across the entirety of our project portfolio |
| Starting at Tucuma, where we continue to make huge strides across all work streams throughout the project, our most notable achievement to-date is reaching 4 million hours without lost time incident |
| So we are very confident with regards to the work that SENAI is doing in terms of working with us in partnership to identify our local workforce and hire up that team to be ready for us, executing on commercial production in the third quarter |
| On the Mining side, we continue to progress well ahead of schedule |
| I'd say that we continue to see here in the first quarter or the first few months, favorable grade reconciliations, most notably in the Matinha vein |
| I'm also happy to report that commissioning is advancing smoothly |
| For the full year, production was up 39% compared to 2022, driven by a nearly 100% increase in processed gold grades |
| That's very helpful, and it's still very exciting |
| That's excellent for clarity, David and Makko |
| Our primary goal at Tucuma is to deliver the project safely, and our performance to-date demonstrates the commitment of our site teams and construction partners in achieving this goal |
| These developments come at a favorable time as we approach initial production at Tucuma |
| Before we proceed to the question-and-answer session, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to our teams in Brazil and here in Canada for their continued commitment and hard work in executing on both our operating plan and our organic growth strategies |
| Consequently, our expectations around the cadence of full year production remains consistent with our previously issued guidance, with the first quarter anticipated to deliver the highest quarterly production levels in 2024 |
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| This negatively impacted our earnings by approximately $0.03 |
| More specifically, Caraiba's production is expected to be lowest in the first quarter, with processed copper grades projected to be the lowest for the year and processed tonnenage expected to increase between 5% and 10% compared to the fourth quarter |
| The shift reflected in the copper price as well as copper concentrate treatment and refining charges, which have dropped to their lowest levels since 2013 |
| With respect to major project, the Tucuma project is a case in point where we are observing a decline in monthly capital expenditures, as we near the end of construction |
| While this represented an impressive increase of approximately 13% compared to 2022, fourth quarter and full year mill throughput volumes slightly missed out targets due to approximately 1 week of additional unplanned downtime related to the completion of the mill expansion project |
| We took an additional proactive measure during the fourth quarter amid a challenging macroeconomic landscape that drove short term copper price uncertainty, and both stood our balance sheet with a bought-deal equity financing |
| It's worth noting that during the quarter we recorded approximately $3 million of writedowns related to obsolete inventory and fixed assets |
| We do not know how long it will continue to go |
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