Orezone Gold Corp Stock

Thank you for standing by. My name is Prilla, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Orezone Q2 2026 Results Webcast and Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference over to Patrick Downey, President and CEO. You may begin.

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Orezone's second quarter 2026 results conference call and webcast. Joining me today is Peter Tam, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'd ask everyone to take note of the forward-looking statements and other disclosures on Slides 2 and 3 of the presentation, and I'll start on Slide 4 with an overview of the quarter.

Q2 marked our first full quarter operating as a multi-mine gold producer following the acquisition of Casa Berardi Mine in late March. At Bomboré, we produced just over 38,000 ounces of gold during the quarter. And as previously discussed, we expect a very strong second half at Bomboré as we gain full access to the higher-grade hard rock ore, and that is happening in Q3.

At Casa Berardi, we produced just over 20,500 ounces of gold in our first full quarter of ownership. Since closing the acquisition, our focus has been investing in the operation, particularly in underground development, equipment and exploration, and we're making excellent progress in each of those areas.

We also continue to advance a number of growth projects during the quarter. We released exploration results from both Bomboré and Casa Berardi, highlighting the potential to continue growing the resource at both operations. Stage 2A at Bomboré remains on schedule for commissioning in October.

And in Quebec, we're working towards the release of both the updated Casa Berardi life of mine study in September, followed closely by the Heva-Hosco PEA later in the fall. With that, I'll turn it over to Peter to take us through the financial results.

Thanks, Patrick. In Q2, combined gold sales from our 2 mines was 60,654 ounces, reflecting the first full quarter of contribution from Casa Berardi, a step change in our sales and production profile moving forward. All-in sustaining cost per ounce sold was $2,449 for Q2 and $2,371 for the first half of 2026, in line with our annual guidance range. EBITDA was $119.6 million for Q2 and $211 million for the first half of 2026.

After removing the effects of the PPA adjustments from the Casa Berardi purchase accounting for gold inventory sold and stockpiles processed in the quarter, adjusted EBITDA was higher at $134.4 million for Q2 and $228.7 million for the first half of 2026. Net earnings attributable to Orezone shareholders was $45.2 million and $0.07 per share, while adjusted net earnings to Orezone shareholders was higher again at $55.2 million and $0.08 per share with the removal of the PPA adjustments.

Cash flow from operations was strong in Q2 with $109 million generated from the continued sale of gold ounces at a healthy all-in sustaining cost margin approaching $2,000 per ounce. Operating cash flows were further aided by VAT recoveries in Burkina Faso of over $19 million in the quarter.

We exited the quarter with cash of $96.7 million and bullion inventory with a market value of $21.2 million, a very healthy balance sheet. With the recent recovery in gold prices in this past week and improved feed grades planned for both operations in Q4, cash flow generation should remain robust in the second half of 2026. We expect our liquidity outlook to further improve at year-end, while at the same time, continue to pay down our senior debt.

With that, I'll hand it back to you, Patrick.

Thanks very much, Peter. I'll go right into Bomboré operations. So Bomboré produced, as we stated, 38,063 ounces during the quarter, which was as we expected. Mining performance remained strong with approximately 8.3 million tonnes of total material mined during the quarter.

However, intermittent and delayed emulsion deliveries earlier in the year required us to adjust the mining sequence, which did reduce the amount of higher-grade hard rock available to the mill during the first half as originally planned. Since then, we have secured 2 additional emulsion suppliers with consistent deliveries now being achieved, which will provide greater supply reliability as we advance the revised mine plan through the second half, which we are already seeing.

As a result, we expect the grade and production profile to improve significantly through H2 as we regain access to these higher-grade hard rock areas. Unit cost increased compared to Q2 of last year, really reflecting the addition of the hard rock mining and processing. And despite the lower grades experienced in the first half, we were able to produce within our guidance and our 2026 production and cost guidance remain unchanged, and we do expect to see a reduction in overall costs as we mine the higher-grade hard rock throughout the second half of 2026.

Switching to Casa Berardi -- sorry, capital project, pardon me. This is a quick look at Stage 2A. This is the rock breaker already installed and commissioned. Oxygen plant well advanced. Thickener well advanced for commissioning in October, and we expect full commissioning and ramp-up during Q4, on time and on budget again.

And this is the large tailings cell. We've now completed the full footprint for the tailings storage facility, and we completed that in the second quarter. So that's now fully ready and operating. So testament to the team yet again, even though we had some supply chain logistics throughout the first half of the year, we remain on budget, on schedule for Stage 2A.

So switching over to Casa. The operation produced 20,503 ounces of gold during the quarter, which was its first full quarter under our ownership and was right on our budget. At Casa, the open pit mining totaled 1.15 million tonnes during the quarter, reflecting the planned waste stripping underway at the F160 pit. Underground ore mined totaled approximately 82,000 tonnes, and we had 406 meters of lateral development completed during the quarter.

Since the acquisition, the key focus has really been increasing the underground development rates, which really ramped up from a 0 start in beginning of Q2. We're ramping it up now, and it will continue to ramp up during Q3 and Q4. We've got a contractor on site. We're now rebuilding the stope inventory to support higher underground production over time. And we are obviously ramping up our exploration.

We've also added mobile mining equipment throughout the quarter, and that will continue through the year with further purchases in 2027 and expanding our preproduction drilling to support that ramp-up.

The mill processed approximately 364,000 tonnes during the quarter at an average head grade of 2.01 grams per tonne and a recovery rate of 86.8%. Mill throughput also performed ahead of plan at approximately 4,000 tonnes per day compared with the planned rate of approximately 3,900 tonnes per day.

During -- just after Q2, we actually hit a rate of 4,700 tonnes a day. So we're very excited about what we've been able to do with the mill, and we hopefully will be able to ramp that up over 4,000 tonnes a day continuously through the life of the mine. Exploration activity continues to ramp up since the acquisition with 5 drill rigs currently active and a sixth expected to be added shortly. Initial drill results released in May included several high-grade intercepts near surface, and we will have further results later in the quarter and results throughout the year.

Looking ahead, waste stripping at the F160 pit is expected to be complete in Q3, positioning the operation for higher grades in Q4. Our 2026 production and cost guidance for Casa remains unchanged.

So finally, looking ahead in 2026, the key catalysts, which are expected to drive value throughout 2026 into 2027. At Bomboré, as I stated, we expect production to strengthen through the second half as access to the higher-grade hard rock improves, which should also have a positive impact on costs, while Stage 2A remains on schedule for commissioning in October.

In Quebec, September will be a very important month for us. We expect to release the updated Casa Berardi life of mine study, which will outline our longer-term plans for the operation. We will also release the Heva-Hosco PEA shortly thereafter, providing our first economic assessment of another potential growth opportunity within our Quebec portfolio, which we are very excited about along the Cadillac-Larder Break, not that far from the Cadillac mining operation on the other side of the border, the Kerr Addison.

Exploration also remains obviously a key focus at both assets with active programs underway at Casa and Bomboré. We did release exploration results from Bomboré earlier this week. We are very, very pleased with those, and we expect further results later in the year. So it's going to be a very busy second half, strong production expected across both operations and several very important milestones to come over -- coming up over the next few months.

With that, I'll hand it back to the operator to -- and we'd be happy to take your questions.

[Operator Instructions] And your first question comes from the line of Mohamed Sidibe with National Bank.

Good to see the cost improvement into the quarter, the good cost performance at both Bomboré and Casa Berardi there. I think you've detailed the production profile into the second half of the year. Could you give us some guidance in terms of CapEx spend into Q3 and Q4 at both Bomboré and Casa Berardi to just better understand how you get to your guidance there?

Okay. Well, I'll let Peter answer that. He's got that data at his hand...

Yes. Mohamed, obviously, that's in our disclosure in the MD&A. We're very confident in terms of the guidance range we've given for both operations there. So we've given obviously the color around Bomboré in terms of our growth CapEx, the 3 main items there being the Cell 2 expansion on the tailings, which, as Patrick has already pointed out, is completed; the ongoing RAP as well as the Stage 2A, which will be commissioned or planned to be commissioned in October.

And then on to Casa Berardi, it's really additions that we have planned for in terms of the mobile mining fleet, primarily in the underground, but also in the open pit and then further additions around underground development and some plant improvements and ongoing tailings lift. So hopefully, that's enough color. If you feel that more color is needed, certainly, you can reach out to us afterwards.

Sounds good. Yes, maybe I'll reach out to you in terms of specifics on at both assets. And maybe, Paddy, on Casa Berardi and good to see the throughput improvements. And I think you've noted that some days you've seen even the plant exceeding even 4,000 tonnes per day. Can you maybe provide us with some color on what's driving that outperformance versus your plan? Like what have you seen to date that's led to this positive update there?

Yes. We just made some changes around the gravity circuit, added an additional Knelson concentrator. We made change to some of the feed around the mills. And we've just pushed some of the throughput in and around the CIL to see where the recovery went. I mean you only know when the recovery drops off when you push the throughput. So we've sort of pushed the guys a little bit. We've made some tailings line improvements as well. So -- and we further expect to see how that goes on a consistent basis as we test the mill throughput.

And the next question comes from the line of Jeremy Hoy with Canaccord Genuity.

First one for me is on Bomboré. It's good to see those exploration results. It's got me thinking about a bigger resource there. On the 2B expansion, that spending is still on hold, and you've noted you're going to take a cautious approach there. What would you need to see to think about greenlighting 2B again?

Well, I think, obviously, there's the government purchase of Kiaka, and that hasn't been fully finalized yet. And once we know the full terms and conditions of that, we can better examine it. And we probably want to sit down with the government and talk about where we want to go with this to get some guarantees after that from what we want to spend. I mean on paper, yes, absolutely makes sense and in operation it makes sense. But we just want to spend our capital where we believe that we've got reasonable security and ownership.

Yes. Understood. Exciting to hear we've got the PEA coming for Heva-Hosco. Are you able to give us any more detail on that and how you're thinking about that? And might we see some drills at that site anytime soon?

Well, I'll answer the second part first. Yes, we are already planning a drill program. I can't remember what the meters that we were thinking about was, but it will obviously be 2-fold infilling on the inferred into M&I to bring it into P&P and then testing some of the higher-grade structures that we've identified. We have hired a regional exploration manager, so he will be focused on that. He's not on board yet, so I can't really say who he is.

And in terms of the study, what I can give you, it will likely be sort of an 8,000 tonne a day size plant. We're well advanced on -- we've got a new resource completed. We're in the mine planning stage now. We've got test work ongoing to be completed in the coming weeks. We're starting the capital and operating cost estimate. So we keep pushing it and pushing it. The only thing we have faced like everybody else out there, August is holiday month for most consultants. And unlike us, whatever, they don't answer the phone when they're on holiday. So we'll get through that, probably about a 2-week hiatus and back at it again, and we'll drive it to the finish line, hopefully, early Q4, but we could get it earlier as we have a lot of the work done.

Great. Last one for me. I saw there you're expecting a resolution to the Genser claim shortly. Any expectations there?

Yes, it's Peter. I'll answer that. We obviously expect a positive outcome on that. As to what the financial amount of that award may be, I would say, at this point, it's probably premature for me to say anything. But certainly, we feel comfortable how the arbitration went, how we sort of put our case forward. So we're very obviously keen to see this ruling come down for us.

[Operator Instructions] And I'm showing no further questions at this time. I would like to turn it back to Patrick Downey for closing remarks.

Thanks very much, and thanks for everybody for attending the call and the webinar. Obviously, steady Q2 for us, very happy with that, excellent financial results and really looking forward to the second half of the year for several reasons, including production, costs and several catalysts going forward. So look forward to continuing to report on those.

Thank you, presenters. And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

Hello, and welcome to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Orezone Gold Corporation. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. If you participate in today's meeting and disclose personal information, you will be deemed to consent to the recording, transfer and use of same. If you disclose personal information of another person in today's meeting, you will be deemed to represent and warrant to Computershare and the corporation that you first obtain all required consents for the disclosure, recording, transfer and use of such personal information from all appropriate persons before your disclosure.

It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Patrick Downey, President and CEO and a Director of Orezone.

Thank you. Good afternoon, and welcome to the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders of Orezone Gold Corporation. My name is Patrick Downey. I am the President and CEO and a Director of the company. The Board of the Directors of the company has delegated to me the authority to lead the meeting of the shareholders today.

On behalf of Orezone, I want to thank Joe Conway for his contributions and guidance during his tenure as a Board member.

As this meeting is held virtually via live webcast, we will set out a few rules for the orderly conduct of the meeting, and I'll ask Ryan Goodman, the company's Senior Vice President and General Counsel to do so.

Thanks, Patrick. One, questions in respect of a motion can be submitted by any registered shareholder or duly appointed proxy holder using the Q&A tab on the virtual interface.

Two, when asking the question, please indicate your name, which entity you represent, if any, and confirm that you are a registered shareholder or a duly appointed proxy holder.

Three, questions will generally appear shortly after those submitted but will only be addressed during the question period at the end of the meeting, provided that questions regarding procedural matters or directly related to the motions before the meeting may be addressed during the meeting.

Four, for the purpose of the meeting today, voting on all matters will be conducted by electronic ballot. Registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders will be asked to vote on each item of business.

Five, voting is now open. You may click on the Vote tab on the virtual interface to register your votes. We will let you know when the polls will be closed.

We will now proceed with the formal portion of today's meeting. To expedite the formal part of the meeting, Patrick will move and second all motions.

Thank you, Ryan. On the call to order and appointment of the secretary, I now ask that the Annual General Meeting of the shareholders of the company come to order. I appoint Ryan Goodman, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the company, as Secretary of the meeting.

Appointment of scrutineers. For the purpose of this meeting, I appoint Computershare Investor Services Inc. through its representative as scrutineers to compute the votes of all polls taken at this meeting and to report thereon to Ryan as Secretary of the meeting.

Constitution of the meeting. The purposes of today's meeting are set out in the management information circular of the company dated May 13, 2026. The notice calling this meeting, the management information circular and the form of proxy were mailed to shareholders on or around May 19, 2026. Unless there is any objection, I will dispense with the reading of the Notice of Meeting. Copies of the management information circular and other meeting materials are available under the company's website and its profile on the SEDAR website.

Computershare has attested to the proper mailing of the notice calling this meeting and proof of the service of such mailing has been filed with me. I direct that a copy of such proof of service be annexed to the minutes of this meeting as a schedule.

Quorum. I have been advised that there are more than 5% of all outstanding voting shares of the company present, and therefore, a quorum of shareholders is present and the meeting is properly called and duly constituted for the transaction of business. I have received the scrutineers' report, and I direct that their formal report be annexed to the minutes of this meeting as a schedule.

Previous minutes. The minutes of the shareholder meeting held on June 12, 2025, is available for inspection. Unless there are any objections, I propose that we dispense with the reading of these minutes. As there are no objections, I will move and second to the minutes of the previous meeting be taken as read.

Financial statements. As the first item of business on the agenda for today's meeting, I now present to the meeting the audited consolidated financial statements of the company as at and for the year ended December 31, 2025, together with the auditor's report to the shareholders thereon. Copies of such documents have been mailed to the shareholders who requested such statements and it is not proposed to read them to the meeting. I move and second that the financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2025, be taken as read.

Election of directors. The next item of business is to set the number of directors and the election of directors. The number of directors has been set at 6. The nominated directors are as follows: Sean Harvey, Patrick Downey, Tara Hassan, Robert Doyle, Julian Babarczy and Kate Harcourt. The directors to be elected by the shareholders of the company shall hold office until the close of business of the first Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the company following election or until their successors are elected or appointed. Each of the persons nominated has confirmed that he or she is prepared to serve as a director. Since there are no other nominations, I move and second the motion to set the number of directors at 6 and elected directors as set forth in the management information circular.

Appointment of auditors. The next item business is the appointment of auditors of the company for the ensuing year and to authorize the directors of the company to fix the remuneration of the auditors. The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the company has approved, subject to shareholder confirmation, the appointment of Deloitte LLP as the auditors of the company. I move and second that Deloitte LLP be appointed auditors of the company until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders and that the Board of Directors be authorized to fix their remuneration.

Voting. As we mentioned, voting today will be conducted by electronic ballot. Balloting is open to registered shareholders and appointed proxy holders. The polls are open and all registered holders and proxy holders who have properly logged in with their control numbers or invitation code and wish to vote will be able to using the Vote tab on the screen to see all motions being brought forth at this meeting. Once the electronic balloting closes, a message will appear in the Vote tab indicating the polls are closed. Balloting would close in 2 minutes.

[Voting]

I have been advised by the scrutineers that the vote is now closed and the ballots and proxies deposited for the meeting have been voted in favor of the resolutions. I ask that the scrutineer compile the report regarding the results of all business matters.

Termination. The formal items of business as set out in the notice of the meeting have now been dealt with. As there is no further business to come before the meeting, I declare the formal part of the meeting to be concluded. I move and second that this meeting now terminated.

I ask that all attendees who would like to ask a question use the Q&A tab of the virtual interface to do so. We will answer as many questions as time permits. When asking your question, please state your name, the entity you represent, if any, and confirm you are a registered shareholder, a duly appointed proxy holder or gas. Please limit your questions to topics related to today's subject matter and keep your questions short and to the point. We will now give attendees a moment to type in their questions.

As there are no questions, this concludes the question-and-answer period. Once again, thank you to all shareholders who attended today's meeting.

This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Hello, and welcome to Orezone First Quarter 2026 Results Webcast and Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

I would like to turn the conference over to Patrick Downey, President and CEO. Please go ahead.

Thank you. And as the operator said, this is Orezone's Q1 2026 Results Conference Call and Webcast. I'd like to welcome you all to it.

And with me today is Peter Tam, Executive Vice President and CFO; and Kevin MacKenzie, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development.

These are important notices and disclaimers, so please read these at your leisure and we'll go right into the conference call.

Well, first quarter has been very, very busy, very busy start to the year, and I want to thank the team at Orezone in that regard for a lot achieved. During the quarter, we acquired the Casa Berardi gold mine and a portfolio of exploration assets in Quebec. This is a strategic and transformational acquisition into a Tier 1 jurisdiction for Orezone and positions us as a diversified multi-asset producer, adding material scale production, free cash flow and we believe significant upside in the exploration front as well.

At our operating mine at Bomboré in Burkina Faso, we completed a 2.5 million tonne per annum Stage 1 hard rock expansion, again, on time and on budget. And we also achieved commercial production in January, the 16 of this year and we're already 10% above nameplate, which is really a tribute to the Orezone design and construction team here. Stage 2 hard rock expansion has been initiated and is scheduled to be completed in Q3 of 2026, and this will further optimize the hard rock throughput and recovery.

We also were included in the VanEck Junior GDXJ exchange-traded fund added on March, the 20, which has significantly improved our liquidity, which is very important for our shareholders. And we've strengthened our management team. We just recently announced the 3 key appointments to the senior leadership team, a COO, a VP of Exploration and a VP of Investor Relations, which I will expand on in the next slide.

Obviously, as we grow, it is extremely important to attract high-quality people to the team, and we have definitely done that here. Marc-Andre Pelletier will be joining us as Chief Operating Officer. Marc is a mining engineer with greater than 30 years' experience, most recently as President and CEO of Bonterra.

Prior to that, most importantly, he was COO at Wesdome Gold Mines, where he was instrumental in restarting the Kiena mine nearby Casa Berardi and increased production at the Eagle mine to approximately 100,000 ounces a year in a very short period of time, all done with an extremely exemplary safety record. Prior to that, he was VP of Operations at St Andrew Goldfields until its acquisition by Kirkland Lake Gold, and he brought 3 underground mines and 1 open pit into production in under 5 years. So, another great achievement. So, we're very happy to welcome Marc-Andre on to the team, and he will be joining us on June, the 1st.

Jean-François or JF Ravenelle, he's a Ph.D. in structural geology. He will be our VP of Exploration. He is already on the team, started this week. Over 20 years' experience, formerly VP, Geology of New Gold, where he was instrumental and led the team in the discovery of the New Afton K Zone and the expansion of the Rainy River mine prior to New Gold sale to Coeur Mining. Prior to that, he held senior positions at BHP in Yamana Gold and SRK Consulting, and has an excellent track record of discovery. His Ph.D. in structural geology will be very, very important here as we really start to continue to unlock the value at Casa Berardi.

Amanda Mallough, VP, IR, over 10 years of Investor Relations and corporate communications experience within the mining sector. Most recently Director of IR at Andean, where she led the company's Investor Relations function during a very hectic period in corporate transformation, exchange uplisting and actively increased institutional market visibility. A lot of you guys on the call might remember Amanda, where she held Senior Investor Relations roles at Marathon and prior to that at New Gold, and we welcome all 3 to the team. Amanda will be joining us on May, the 18. I'm obviously very pleased to welcome all 3 to the team, and I know that they will add significant value as we continue to grow.

I'd now like to hand over to Peter Tam, who will walk through the financial and operating highlights for the quarter.

Thanks, Patrick.

As Patrick had mentioned, first quarter of 2026 was an impactful quarter with 2 major accomplishments that will help drive improvements in company revenue and earnings in future periods. Firstly, we achieved commercial production on our brownfield hard rock expansion at the Bomboré mine, allowing the mine to now process hard rock reserves. The mine is no longer an oxide-only operations as both the oxide and hard rock plants are operating in parallel, contributing to the production and sale of more gold ounces.

Secondly, we closed on our acquisition of the Casa Berardi mine in Quebec, Canada. This new mine into Orezone's portfolio will result in a step increase in the company's consolidated production on a go-forward basis. Q2 will mark the first quarter of production from Casa Berardi under Orezone's ownership, and we look forward to sharing those results with you next period.

In terms of financial results, we recognized record earnings and operating cash flows this quarter, with net earnings attributable to Orezone shareholders of $39.6 million and operating cash flow of $175.6 million, aided by a $100 million gold stream deposit from Franco-Nevada. In addition, we had 2 positive developments with our Bomboré operations. In Q1, we received $5.1 million in VAT refunds, with further refunds in April and May, increasing VAT refunds received to $23.9 million year-to-date.

With our major capital programs behind us, we have also commenced earnings repatriation back into Canada with $52.5 million repatriated so far in 2026, with more repatriations planned later this year. Reported all-in sustaining cost was $2,245 per ounce sold, which is within our 2026 guidance range despite lower head grades and production and was entirely attributable to Bomboré as gold sales from Casa Berardi only commenced starting in April.

Next slide. On Bomboré operations in Q1, the company produced 38,789 gold ounces, with 37,563 ounces from Bomboré and 1,226 ounces from Casa Berardi. Bomboré production in Q1 was held back by the shortfall in emulsion deliveries that commenced in late 2025, which necessitated a change in our short-term mine plan as mining access to higher-grade ore at P17 and other pits have been delayed, with mining redirected to lower grade transition material.

Emulsion deliveries are now more consistent and matching our needs with better grade ore within reach. Hard rock gold production for the remaining quarters of 2026 is forecasted to rise from the Q1 levels. For Casa Berardi, the mill operated for 5 days post-acquisition in Q1, producing 1,226 ounces. We plan to provide our 2026 guidance for Casa Berardi in June.

With hard rock operations, the harder nature of the ore requires full drill and blast, more crushing and grinding and higher consumption of cyanide. This will result in higher processing cost per tonne when compared to our oxide-only operations. And this was seen in Q1 when cash cost per tonne processed jumped from $19.64 per tonne in Q1 of 2025 versus $23.22 per tonne in Q1 of this year.

With that, I'll hand it back to you, Patrick.

Thanks very much, Peter.

Just before we walk into the Casa Berardi operations summary, I really want to tip my hat to the team at Bomboré despite significantly lower grades due to the emulsion delays in Q1, which we've now essentially resolved. We were able to keep our costs under control and keep our all-in sustaining costs within guidance. So, I think a real testament to the team. We are looking to continue to look at costs, and we are in advanced studies to look at the installation of a fairly large solar plant, which will give us more reliable power at significantly lower cost going forward. And I expect to provide some data on that later in the year.

Casa Berardi, as Peter said, gold production was 1,226 ounces, just essentially 5 days of production post-acquisition. But since then, we've really ramped things up. We've got an underground mine contractor has mobilized the site, not fully, but certainly well up there to increase the development rates and really ramping up underground production. We've more than doubled our development rate since we started. So again, a testament to the team there.

We have placed purchases for some strategic mining equipment, which will start getting delivery. I think one piece has already been delivered. Several more will be delivered during the year, which will also add to our productivity underground. We've commenced mill optimization studies to improve throughput and recovery, and we are seeing the benefit of those already and that's been very encouraging. So, you expect to see some of that in the near future.

We've also advanced permitting process for additional open-pit expansions at the F160 and the F134 pit, and they'll come in line in 2027 and 2028. And we have reinitiated exploration drilling. As we said, JF has come on board as VP of Exploration. But in the meantime, I tip my hat to Kevin here. He's been driving the team on site who are really not an exploration team. They're the mining geology group. But we've now got 4 rigs turning on site. We'll have a fifth rig in early June and a number coming after that. We expect to rapidly ramp up to 80,000 to 100,000 meters per year.

I will say that you should expect drilling results in the very near term as we have been drilling for the past month. And we'd also like to say we'll be commencing a life-of-mine production cost summary for Casa Berardi, which we will expect to initiate in the coming weeks and have out into the market later this year, which will really set the platform for where we see Casa going to in the coming years. So it should be quite exciting doing that as well.

So production guidance, we just -- 2026 production and cost guidance is reiterated. As we previously stated, gold production is weighted towards the second half of 2026, and that remains our lowest gold production in Q1 2026, and that was due to those temporary shortage of explosives deliveries. But again, we are happy to see we kept the costs well within our target. Stage 2A hard rock expansion is well in hand, and all growth projects are on budget and that will enhance the hard rock operation.

And all-in sustaining guidance is based on an assumed gold price of $4,500, which makes the royalties at approximately $540 per ounce. So if you really look at that and how we're operating, we're around $1,700 per ounce all-in sustaining without royalties. Casa Berardi, we will issue guidance in June, followed up by a life-of-mine summary. And Casa Berardi guidance will include capital expenditures and our drilling plan for 2026.

So, our outlook 2026, gold production forecast, 220,000 ounces to 240,000 ounces. Casa Berardi operations, we're doing a mine plan rescope and optimization, really centered on increasing underground production, which will be tied in with open-pit production as we go forward. Updated life-of-mine plan, as I stated, Q4 2026. Exploration is ongoing with 4 rigs turning, 2 of which are really focusing on near-term mine plan and the other 2 on exploration. We expect to ramp that up to around 7 rigs, with an incremental ramp up to about 80,000 to 100,000 meters per year.

Stage 2A will be completed in late Q3 2026 at Bomboré. An ongoing exploration is targeting higher-grade centers of mineralization and again, expect drill results coming out of Bomboré here in the near future. We're also looking at adding to our oxide portfolio target there as well. So, we will also, importantly, evaluate the exploration portfolio that we acquired with the Quebec assets, and I would expect to issue some updates on that in the coming weeks and months. We're quite excited about some of the other acquired assets within that portfolio.

With that, I'll hand it back to the operator for questions.

[Operator Instructions] We will take our first question from the line of Jeremy Hoy from Canaccord Genuity.

Congrats to Marc-Andre, JF and Amanda on the new appointments and to Kevin and Peter on their promotions as well. Looking forward to working with everybody.

I guess my question is on Casa Berardi. You guys have now -- you've owned the operation for a short period of time. Is there anything that has surprised you to the upside or perhaps challenges that were unexpected that you could provide some detail on? And also with -- appreciate that you got your guidance coming out in June, but that initial estimate of 80,000 to 90,000 ounces from underground, does that still sound about right to you guys? And are you able to give us any sort of preview on what numbers we might expect with guidance in the mine plan coming later in the year?

Yes, I would stick to that guidance at this point. I think we've been very pleased with the ramp-up of how we've gone, particularly around development. We definitely needed to get into that quickly, and we were lucky in a lot of ways to locate a contract or just coming off another contract in the region so we can mobilize equipment and get us team to the site quickly. So, we've been able to -- we were sort of aiming for sort of 12 meters per day. We're getting above that now in many days.

We're opening up new areas. We're able to drill other areas, which has been quite pleasant to see that were areas that we thought stoping would likely end is definitely not the case. So near term, that's been great. I really, really like the team there. They're very engaged. They're very enthused. They really want to show that they can -- that this is a mine that's going to remain open for many, many years. They've jumped on board with how we want to do things. And even the exploration team, I mean, they truly are mining geologists.

And we've sort of transformed them into doing other things for us and testing other targets while we awaited JF's appointment. And we're excited about what we're seeing already. So yes, I'm really, really pumped about Casa. And I think now we're starting to unlock and unfold some of the other assets in the portfolio. I'm, again, very excited about what we're seeing there. So, expect some news in that in the near future.

You're referring to [ Hecla ]?

I didn't say that. But yes.

Just noting it because they had the resource there, but okay, we'll look forward to more detail there. If I could ask one more, Patty. It's on the Stage 2 expansion at Bomboré, the full expansion. What's the latest in thinking there? I saw the disclosure. It said the timing of it is still under review.

Yes. I think we -- obviously, you saw the WAF announcement. I was down there 2 weeks ago. A lot of the feedback from our shareholders, our major shareholders is to hold back and defer that until all the dust truly settles. And the other key thing is we were awaiting VAT refunds, which we are now getting -- and there's -- a lot of the explosives and sort of supply issues was because of this new Faso transportation and logistics setup by the government.

We basically said to them unless we see steady-state deliveries, which we -- again, we are now seeing, how can we build a bigger mine if we can't get all our supplies for our smaller mine. So, I think we'll wait for all of those things to settle. It's still a great expansion, and we will continue to work on. But let's get Stage 2A under our belt, see where we can go with that, see what happens and then we'll figure it out probably early next year.

Okay. Patty, appreciate the color, even though I wasn't able to beat you into giving me more numbers for my Casa Berardi model.

The next question comes from Mohamed Sidibe from National Bank.

That was an easy question.

Sorry, Patty. I was on mute there. I'm at the airport, and I've been on mute in order to not disrupt your conference call.

No problem.

Jeremy asked my question on the Bomboré and your thinking around Stage 2A given what happened in Kiaka. But on the Bomboré grade profile and how we should think about the sequence going into the rest of the year, could you maybe help us a little bit on the modeling front at that asset? That would be pretty appreciated.

Yes. Well, the real juice to this hard rock is P17, where obviously significantly higher grades more than double the average. We haven't really got down to the hard rock there yet. We had to do a fair amount of stripping at the top end, and we had to dedicate whatever exposures we had to that. But I would say you will start to see significant uptick from that going forward. The actual to date overall is 0.75 in Q1 -- sorry, Q1, I mean, 0.75, and our budget was 1.14. There's nothing wrong with the reconciliation. I can tell you we're doing very, very detailed grade control.

It's coming out the way it should do. It's just the fact that we were delayed. We were getting 1 delivery a week instead of 4 deliveries a week. And now we've got 2 suppliers. Now that we've sorted things out with the Faso Transportation and Logistics group, things are starting to ramp-up fairly quickly. I think we're blasting 3, 4 times a week right now. So it's basically 0.75 versus 1.14. That's a massive difference once we get there.

There are no further questions in the queue. I will now turn the call back over to Patrick Downey, President and CEO, for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much.

Okay. Well, again, I want to just tip my hat to the team for a great quarter under a lot of circumstances and getting an asset, put to bed and started up and integrated and ramping up our hard rock expansion. Welcome our 3 new employees to the team. Looking forward to a very busy 2026 and to 2027. And I'm sure we'll all speak later, but look out for a number of press releases and announcements in the coming weeks.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. This concludes today's call, and thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

Thank you for standing by. My name is Kate, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Orezone 2025 Year-End Results and 2026 Guidance Webcast and Conference Call.

[Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the call over to Patrick Downey, President and CEO. Please go ahead.

Many thanks. And welcome to the Q4 and year-end 2025 Orezone Results Presentation. I also want to say this is an exciting day for Orezone as we just announced the completion of the transformational acquisition of the Hecla Quebec assets, including the producing Casa Berardi mine, which I will touch on later in the presentation. With me today is Peter Tam, EVP and CFO; Ryan Goodman, SVP and General Counsel; and Kevin Mackenzie, VP, Corporate Development and IR, who will be available to answer questions, and Peter will be presenting with me today.

There are some forward-looking statements, so I ask that you carefully read those through in your own time. And I'll go straight into the Bombore Q4 full year and 2025 highlights. Gold production for the quarter was 30,407 ounces, a 30% increase quarter-over-quarter, full year of 110,014 ounces, which was slightly below guidance, which was really due to the delay of the hard rock high grade with explosives deliveries in Burkina. Gold sales in the quarter were 31,526 ounces at an average realized price of $4,129 per ounce, resulting in $130.5 million in revenue.

Full year was 109,084 ounces at an average realized price of $3,444 per ounce, resulting in revenue of $376.6 million. All-in sustaining costs for the quarter were $1,942 per ounce sold and for the year, was $1,776 per ounce sold within revised guidance despite the lower production in the quarter, which is a great achievement for the team.

This all resulted in record net income in Q4 of $27.6 million and full year of $64.9 million attributable to shareholders. We have -- remain a strong balance sheet and a strong financial position at the end of the year of cash and gold bullion of $111.9 million and senior debt of $85.9 million, which we continue to pay down at more or less $1.6 million per month. We also completed the Stage 2 2.5 million tonne hard rock expansion on time and on budget, again, another great achievement by the team.

I'll now hand over to Peter Tam, EVP and CFO, to go through the financial and operating highlights.

All right. Thanks, Patrick. Financial and operating highlights, both Q4 and the year 2025 saw record revenue and earnings from mine operations, driven by higher gold prices and the start-up of our new hard rock plant. We realized a gold price of $4,129 per ounce in Q4 and $3,444 per ounce for the full year. Gold prices are below today's spot price of $4,500 per ounce and with expanded gold production expected for this current year, we expect to see another record year of revenue and mine earnings in 2026.

All-in sustaining costs per ounce sold for both Q4 and 2025 were higher when compared against the respective periods in 2024, attributable to increased government royalties from both better prices and a new royalty structure introduced in April of 2025, a stronger local currency and lower head grades.

In terms of cash flow, free cash flow was negative in 2025 as the company invested heavily for its future with $131 million in growth capital with $80 million spent on the Stage 1 hard rock expansion and $22 million on the permanent backup power plant. With these 2 major expenditures now behind us, growth capital is expected to decline by over 60% in 2026.

With more ounces and less capital requirements, 2026 is shaping up to be a year of strong free cash flow generation for the Bombore mine. Our liquidity remains strong with $98 million of cash at the end of 2025, combined with cash flow generated by our Bombore mine in 2026 to date. We maintain a healthy cash position even after today's closing on the Casa Berardi acquisition.

Next slide. On production and unit cost summary for mining, we moved 22.5 million tonnes in 2026 and in accordance with our mine plan at a relatively low strip ratio of 1.67. For processing, our oxide plant continues to deliver with over 6.2 million tonnes processed, another record year for throughput. For the hard rock plant, 146,000 tonnes were treated in December during its ore commissioning period. Overall, cash cost per tonne processed exclusive of government royalties rose 7% in 2026 from $20.61 per tonne to $22.09 per tonne in 2025. The increase is explained by stronger local currency, slightly higher strip ratio and the start of hard rock processing, which carries with it higher per tonne treatment cost for greater unit consumption of power, grinding media and consumables. With that, I'll hand it back to you, Patrick.

Thanks, Peter. So just into our 2026 production and cost guidance. This is really exclusively for Bombore. Please note that. So gold production of 160,000 to 180,000 ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $2,100 to $2,300 based on a $4,500 per ounce budget, which would contribute approximately $540 to the all-in sustaining costs. So we still remain on cash cost of very, very competitive operation. Sustaining capital, $21 million to $23 million explained below at $15 to $18 for the hard rock and $9 to $11 for the TSF expansion.

Growth capital of -- sorry, growth capital of $44 to $52, which is the $15 to $18 of the Stage 2 expansion, the tailings Cell 2 expansion of $9 to $11 and the resettlement action plan of the RAP at $20 to $23. Sustaining capital, as I said, is essentially tailings lifts.

So operations will show a 45% to 64% increase to 2025 gold production, which is really attributable to the full year of hard rock operations. This gold production will be weighted towards the second half of 2026 when we really get into the meat of the hard rock, the higher grades in P17 and Maga -- sorry, P8P9, lowest gold production in Q1 due to adjusted mine sequence and temporary shortage of explosives deliveries during that period. Our explosives area is now permitted, and we are getting deliveries from 3 separate explosive suppliers. So these things are being sorted out as we speak.

As I said, the assumed gold price is $4,500 an ounce to which royalties will contribute $540 to the all-in sustaining cost for every $500 increase or decrease in the gold price, that goes up by 1% or down by 1%. We are advancing Stage 2A of the hard rock expansion to include the installation of a rock breaker, thickener and an oxygen module, which will optimize recovery and throughput and will be used in the next stage when we go to the 5.5 million tonnes per annum. So this will be used as optimization and part of the build up Stage IIb.

Casa Berardi will issue guidance in Q2 of 2026 and that will include our planned production and cost, capital expenditures, drill programs, et cetera, for the asset post-2026 acquisition.

So it's been quite a busy 12 months for Orezone. As you can well imagine, it's repositioned the company. We have certainly improved our liquidity in the past 12 months, completed a secondary listing on the ASX, which has expanded our investor base and further enhanced our capital markets profile.

We've now been included as of March 20, 2026 in the VanEck Junior Gold GDXJ Exchange traded fund. At Bombore, we completed the 2.5 million tonne per annum Stage 1 hard rock on time and budget and achieved commercial production. We continued exploration success, which as I said, will be released in the coming months. We also acquired Casa Berardi and a portfolio of exploration projects, some of which are advanced, all located in Quebec, really a strategic and transformational acquisition for us in a Tier 1 jurisdiction, positions us as a diversified multi-asset producer, material scale production and free cash flow. And I look forward to bringing further news on that throughout the coming years.

So Casa Berardi in Quebec, the assets are all in Quebec. We closed the acquisition today. Last year's gold production was 91,160 ounces. We expect roughly the same in 2026, of which 9 months will be attributable to Orezone's bottom line. Reserves of 1.2 million ounces and a further measured indicated resources of 1.2 million ounces. This excludes Heva-Hosco, which has got another 1.2 million ounces of measured indicated, and across the board and about another 1.2 million of inferred. So quite a robust reserve and resource base at these operations and exploration projects.

Bombore, Stage 1 complete, guidance of 160,000 to 180,000, reserves of 2.4 million ounces, resources of 2.1 million, and we are completing a 43-101. So we will update those numbers later this year.

So gold production consolidated. We believe this year will be about 220,000 to 240,000, including Casa Berardi. Medium-term target should be around 350,000 ounces a year, which is really focused on: a, the Casa Berardi mine as we rescope the mine plan and optimization. We are -- and very soon we'll be contracting a mine contractor to come on the site very soon. We will be updating all of that mine plan and economic study later this year, probably around Q4 with a PEA. We want to reestablish the high-grade stope inventory there.

It was -- historically, it was a 7-gram per tonne underground mine, and that's where we want to get back to. And to do that, we need to really incrementally ramp up the exploration. We hope to do something in the range of 30,000 to 40,000 meters this year, but the goal is to get up to about 100,000 meters a year.

We're very excited about the exploration potential, and we look forward to delivering those results to the market over the coming months and years.

At Bombore Stage 1 completed, Stage 2A in progress and well in hand, ongoing exploration, as I said, targeting higher grid, which we expect to release again for the results later this quarter. So we really have now established ourselves as a mid-tier producer going forward. With that, I'll end the call, and I'll hand it back to the operator for any questions.

[Operator Instructions]

Your first question comes from the line of Jeremy Hoy with Canaccord Genuity.

Congrats on getting Casa Berardi over the line. On Casa Berardi, you've now had a bit more time with the team. Are you able to update us on how thinking has evolved, if at all, on the plans going forward there. I'm wondering if potentially you could give us some -- a general range of what you might expect CapEx to be going forward? And also, if you can remind us what the plans are for the open pits because most of the discussions so far have been on the extension of the underground. And so a reminder of what to expect there on the open pits would be helpful as well.

Yes. Thanks very much. Yes. No, we don't really know exactly what the CapEx would be. We're looking at how can we bring forward some equipment so we can expand the mine plan and get some further development done from both the underground drilling and the optimization of the underground as we see it in the West and later on in the East. So I can't really give you phone numbers, but we are bringing the contractor on very, very soon. I expect to announce that in the coming weeks that we have finalized a contract and we're bringing the contractor on to do a lot of that development for us in the short term because we want to get at this really quickly. We see a lot of exploration upside, both from surface and underground, but starting with the underground drilling.

So hard to say exactly what it's going to be at this point in time. In regards to the open pits, we are -- we continue to advance that permitting. That was being done by Hecla. We will take that on and continue that work with the consultants. So I would expect the same sort of timeline that sort of 2033 type of permit timeline would be sort of what we see.

They're very, very important part of this acquisition going forward. But in the meantime, the focus will continue to be the exploration in the underground. Two open pits that we have existing in operation would be the 160 and we will likely do an expansion on that. The last reserves were done at [ 1900 ], I believe. So we will relook at that. There is some further drilling beneath that pit, so we'll go after that.

There is another pit called the F134. Again, smaller pit, but very valuable to us, was done at 1900. We look at that and optimize that as well with our team, and we'll make some announcement on that as part of the studies going forward. So it will be a fair amount of news. I really can't tell you what the capital is because we need to see what equipment deliveries we could get and what sort of terms you can get. But in the meantime, I would expect we'd be bringing the contractor on spending probably about $1 million a month once he's fully up to speed on development.

Okay. Really appreciate that. On Bombore, is there -- I guess, with the explosives and the situation with the permitting of the storage facility, can you update on the potential timing there? And is there any slack built into the guidance for potential delays in explosive delivery similar to what was seen earlier?

Yes. So the perm is not the issue any longer, we got that. So that's not our issue. It's just delivery. So what we're looking at, we had 1 group, and they bring something up, then we have to get an escort to that. So what we're looking, we've got 3 separate groups now that we're bringing in. So we want to keep a rolling delivery into site. That's the key for us.

So the -- it's not the magazines or anything like that anymore. So really getting the -- emulsion, unfortunately, has become a designated product in Burkina, so needs an armed escort now. So those are the sort of things. You've got one guy supplying the delivery. Then you're sort of behest and waiting for him and then for his delivery to come in through that armed escort. So we've branched out. I think we're signing the third contract now, I believe, it's...

We're bringing on 2 new suppliers and they should start delivery probably for us in -- at the start of April. So we'll see the benefit of that going into Q2.

Okay. That's helpful color. Last one was there was commentary on the timing for the completion of Stage 2 hard rock expansion. Understandable there's a few things up in the air there. Do you have any idea when you might sort of be able to finalize the schedule there on that second stage of expansion?

Well, to be frank, we would love to do it today. Just as you see it, this makes total sense to get moving today. But we know there are ongoing discussions right now with WAF and the government, and we expect to hear something very soon. I just don't think it would be prudent for us to start something where those discussions are being finalized. I think they're going well as far as I understand. I don't know, we're not in the room, but we just want to see a final resolution to that, and then we can push the pin on that. That's really -- we don't want to be sort of silly here where we start something and then find out that the resolution wasn't to everybody's satisfaction. So we wait and then hopefully get started very, very soon after that.

[Operator Instructions]

I will now turn the call back to Patrick Downey for closing remarks.

Okay. Well, thank you very much for attending. Obviously, a bit of a red-letter day for us today announcing the closing of the Casa Berardi transaction. We look forward to keeping you all updated on that as we go forward and also updated on our progress as we advance the hard rock into the higher grade in -- throughout 2026, should be very busy and exciting year, lots of free cash flow and lots of exploration and development. So busy year for the team.

I wanted to thank the team. It's been a very, very busy number of months getting this across the line. So you can't do this on your own. You need a group of people that you can trust and I'm really, really happy that we have that here. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you for joining. Have a great day.

Thank you for standing by. My name is Jordan, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the Orezone Third Quarter 2025 Results Webcast and Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

I'd now like to turn the call over to Patrick Downey, President and CEO. Please go ahead.

Thank you, and welcome to Orezone's Q3 2025 Conference Call and Webcast. Today, I am joined by Peter Tam, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I'd just like to draw your attention to the forward-looking statements and then we'll move straight into the conference details.

So gold production for the quarter was 23,371 ounces. Always in Q3 is stated to lower production, and we'll walk through that later on, and on track -- but we are on track to meet our 2025 guidance of 115,000 to 130,000 ounces. Gold sales were 20,350 ounces for the quarter at an average realized price of $3,375 an ounce, resulting in $68.9 million in revenue. This was somewhat affected by the late sale of about 4,000 ounces of gold -- 4,942 ounces of gold into Q3 due to weather event, which caused a late shipment of that gold.

All-in sustaining costs were $1,958 per ounce sold. And they were really impacted by external factors such as the royalties and FX and also obviously, the late sale of the ounces into Q4 and somewhat by the weather, which we always see in Q2 and Q3.

On our balance sheet, very, very strong financial position, cash and bullion at the end of the quarter of $104.2 million, undrawn senior debt of $11.1 million, senior debt of $80.1 million and we continue to add to the balance sheet with our strong Q4 production to date into a rising gold price and our diminishing CapEx in the quarter. And very importantly, our hard rock expansion is on schedule and slightly under budget, which is a great achievement, which I'll talk about later in the presentation, with the first gold expected in early December. And that is really a testament to the team once again delivering our project on time and on budget.

So really a great outlook for Orezone and Stage 1 major CapEx is now essentially complete. Our gold production will increase approximately 45% with the start-up of Phase 1 hard rock into 2026. Q1 2026 should be a major free cash flow inflection point as we mine the higher grade hard rock from 2026 onwards.

So I'll now hand over to Peter Tam, who will go through the production and cost data for Q3.

Thank you, Patrick. Yes, our production and unit cost summary, during the third quarter of 2025, mining was affected by the longer-than-average rainfall event, which slow pit operations. 4.5 million tonnes were mined in the quarter as access to higher-grade zones were delayed, which impacted feed grades to the mill. Higher mining rates have now resumed in the fourth quarter as the rainy season has now ended. The mill treated 1.52 million tonnes in the quarter as the plant continues to perform well and above nameplate.

Operating hours were reduced by 2.5 days for the annual ball mill reline in July, which should lead to greater tonnes processed in the fourth quarter. When comparing costs to the prior year, cash cost per tonne was higher due to the strengthening local currency, which impacted costs across all departments.

Similar to the pattern in 2024, grid utilization improved to 88% this quarter, a significant improvement from 50% in the second quarter, helping to reduce processing costs. We are already seeing better gold production in Q4 with 13,296 ounces produced in the first 42 days with a further uptick expected before the end of the year from the start-up of the new hard rock plant and the processing of higher-grade hard rock reserves.

Next slide. For financial and operating highlights, Q3 was another profitable quarter with earnings from mine operations of $26.5 million and net earnings attributable to Orezone shareholders of $5.4 million. Earnings were impacted by the lower-than-planned gold production and from the delayed export and sale of a quarter end gold shipment into early October. Had the shipment sold in September, a higher average realized price and lower all-in sustaining cost per ounce would have been achieved in Q3 from the sale of more ounces at a better gold price. Q4 metrics will benefit from the sale of these additional ounces. Overall, liquidity remains healthy at quarter end with cash of $85.3 million, which is expected to increase from current levels by year-end from the sale of more ounces at better gold prices.

With that, I'll hand it back to Patrick.

Thanks, Peter. So into our 2025 outlook. Our all-in sustaining cost guidance has been revised to reflect essentially external factors and the balance, but all the balance of our guidance remains unchanged. Our revised all-in sustaining costs go from $1,700 to $1,800 from previously $1,400 to $1,500. And this really reflects the impact of higher government royalties as a result of the higher gold price and higher royalty rates. Our original guidance was based on $2,600 per ounce gold price at the beginning of the year.

Our stronger XOF currency has been impacting costs as well to approximately $80 to $90 per ounce over the year. And we had some reduced power availability due to a fire in a substation with our grid supplier, which did affect costs somewhat in Q2. So our guidance for the year remains at 115,000 to 130,000 unchanged. All-in sustaining costs, as I said, what we expect up to the 9 months was $1,709, and we expect it to be within $1,700 to $1,800 for the remainder of the year. Sustaining CapEx, growth CapEx, et cetera, all remain unchanged, which again is a testament to the team and how we control costs.

And really, over the past 3 years, despite inflationary pressure and exchange rate issues, et cetera, I want to really emphasize that our cost per tonne has barely changed year-on-year. So we really remain focused on our cost -- input cost into the production of our ounces. So 2025 has really become a really significant transition year for us stage 1 hard rock is essentially complete. I'll show you some photographs of that. Commissioning has commenced, and we expect to feed ore to the crusher this week.

2026 production will be approximately between 170,000 to 185,000 ounces. And I also want to emphasize that once you go into the hard rock mining, we will generally eliminate those production lumpiness that we see in Q2 and Q3 due to the wet season because we were transitioning from a purely oxide mine to an oxide hard rock where you can work in the pit bottoms, et cetera. So that will reduce that lumpiness that we see year-on-year.

Stage 2 hard rock, which will bring us to 5.5 million tonnes per annum and a production rate of about 220,000 to 250,000 ounces. Detailed engineering has commenced. Key long lead items have been ordered. We are adopting a measured capital investment strategy as we wait for the outcome of the WAF government negotiations on the Kiaka transaction. But once complete, it will be one of West Africa's largest mines. So it will be with a long, long. So really a very, very significant cash flow producer in the years ahead.

So Stage 1, a bit of a graphic on what it looks like. The oxide is to the right in gray. Again, on schedule and likely under budget. We've essentially completed all of our CapEx. We're really just into the final stages of commissioning. So again, a testament -- we built the oxide on time, under budget. We built this one on time, under budget. So again, a testament to the team that we have on site and how we look after our cost and look after our schedule, et cetera, going forward. One of the few companies out there capable of doing that.

Hard rock mining has commenced, and we have a significant amount of stockpile ready to go. I expect first ore into the crusher either today or tomorrow, which will be a big event for us. We will then start making our stockpiles for feed to the mill. First gold is expected in early December, and we expect to announce commercial production in early Q1 2026, which will put us at that run rate of 170,000 to 185,000 ounces per year.

So a few photographs here. That's the dump pocket with a large ROM pad. We will have a lot of stockpile there. We'll have ore coming from various pits, so we'll be able to blend and get the best feed to the plant. As I said, I expect the first dump into that dump pocket today or tomorrow. We'll then start building up our ore stockpile. And then from there, we will start feeding ore to the mill. Mill, all liners are in. We've energized the mill. The key there will be commissioning the variable frequency drive, which really gives you the operational optimization around the mill throughput. That will happen this weekend, and then we'll start feeding ore to the mill and straight into the leach circuit. The leach circuit is 24 hours. So we do expect first gold very, very soon after feeding ore into the leach and start loading carbon onto the gold onto the carbon for stripping.

We will continue to feed tailings into TSF Cell 1 for the next year or 2. But TSF Cell 2 now, earthworks are essentially complete. That is designed for the life of mine Phase 1 and Phase 2. So we align that in the coming months before the start of next year's rainy season. So we'll have a full platform for tailings for the life of mine. And as you can see, the hard rock mining fleet is on site, and we'll start hauling ore from P17. We've done the drill and blast -- drill for the drill and blast. We expect to start blasting next week, and that will be the high-grade ore feed to the mill once we've got commissioning complete. So outlook. 2025 has really been a great year for us, completed Stage 1, done all of our major growth projects. Again, a lot of exploration this year, a lot more to come. We expect to put out a lot of exploration results at the end of this year.

We've just completed a geological structural interpretation of the whole ore body, which will open up more exploration for us. I think our team speaks for itself in terms of how we've delivered both on cost and on schedule on budget. Excellent near-term growth and cash flow, a very, very strong balance sheet. As I said, $88 million at the end of Q3. And with Q4, with the strong production that we have to date, plus a strong gold price and diminishing CapEx going to the end of Stage 1, we expect to exit 2025 with a very, very strong balance sheet. We remain very undervalued to our peer group. Our PNAV in terms of consensus is 0.3 versus our peers of 0.7. Our EV to EBITDA, again, consensus for 2026 is 1.5 versus our peers of 4.4. We are well positioned for index inclusion, and we do continue to look for growth opportunities as we have significant cash flow coming out of Bomboré in the coming years. So a very exciting year for us, strong year for us, and I expect it to be a very strong finish. Thank you.

I will pass the mic to the operator.

[Operator Instructions] Your question comes from the line of Jeremy Hoy from Canaccord Genuity.

First one for me, just wondering on the spending for Stage 2 and this WAF, the ongoing WAF agreement or the ongoing WAF discussions. To me, it sounds as though suspending on Stage 2 might be suspended until they come out with a resolution. Is that the case?

No, it's not the case. We are spending, and we are doing some critical items. What we really have done, Jeremy, is focused on areas that we know will add value to Stage 1 very soon. So things like an oxygen plant, thickener, et cetera. So we're going ahead with that. We've still got the ball mill in order, and we haven't canceled that at this time. So we still have all that in place. We just slowed down the engineering a bit. We are doing work. So we will keep the contractor on site for some of that work going forward. We expect a resolution very soon, and that will give us the mandate to make that decision, I would expect very soon.

Okay. Got it. So you're not really anticipating any major disruptions to the schedule there for Stage 2 then?

Yes. I think it will definitely affect schedule somewhat. But what that quantum is, I don't know. Our guys are pretty magical at doing things. If you really look at Stage 1, we started digging out the foundation for the concrete in November of last year. And here we are putting ore through the ore body in November of this year. So 12 months later, we're feeding over to a mill. So we're pretty good at it as how we do it. But I would expect if it continues that longer that it will have some effect on schedule, yes.

Yes. Okay. We'll watch for a resolution there. Are you able to share your level of optimism on discussions there? Or is that just out of your purview?

That's out of my purview at this point, really. So it's really -- I'm glad there are discussions. It seems to be going on. So it means there are discussions, and that's positive, but we'll have to wait for the final resolution here when it happens.

Yes. Okay. Totally appreciate that, Patty. Okay. Well, looking forward then, we had discussed when we were on site a few months ago, the structural work that you guys were doing and the hope that it might result in some new targets, particularly for some higher grade shoots within the mineralized zone. Are you able to share any details on what you guys have seen from that, if there are any particularly promising targets that you guys are looking to drill out and we might see results from in the near future?

Yes and yes. So yes, we are. And yes, you will see results in the near future.

That concludes the question-and-answer session. I will now turn back the call over to Patrick Downey, President and CEO, for closing remarks.

Well, thank you. We're happy to get Q3 completed, and we're into Q4, another strong quarter looking like in Q4. And we're really looking forward to 2026 as to when we get into a very, very strong free cash flow year and growth beyond that. So it should be a very, very exciting future for Orezone. Thank you.

This concludes today's meeting. You may now disconnect.