IAMGOLD Reports Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2024 Results

by ahnationtalk on February 21, 202526 Views

Toronto, Ontario–(February 20, 2025) – IAMGOLD Corporation (NYSE: IAG) (TSX:IMG) (“IAMGOLD” or the “Company”) today reported its financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2024. Preliminary operating results for the fourth quarter and year ended 2024, alongside operating guidance estimates for 2025, were previously disclosed on January 14, 2025.

“Last year was a monumental year for IAMGOLD, as the Company achieved key milestones to position the Company as a dynamic, modern multi-asset mid-tier gold producer that is poised for potential free cash flow expansion while retaining significant growth opportunities,” said Renaud Adams, President and Chief Executive Officer of IAMGOLD. “IAMGOLD finished 2024 with total attributable gold production of 667,000 gold ounces, a 43% increase from the prior year and in line with our previously raised guidance estimates. This strong performance was driven by the start of production at Côté Gold and the outperformance of Essakane and Westwood. ”

“The Côté Gold team had a very strong year, as the mine achieved among the quickest ramp-ups to commercial production for a large-scale open pit gold mine in Canada. Our efforts continue to be focused on the ramp up of the processing plant towards achieving the nameplate throughput rate of 36,000 tpd at a steady, sustainable rate. We are prioritizing stability and operating consistency, while refining and balancing our maintenance schedules for wear and tear. The plant has demonstrated its ability to operate above nameplate over multi-day periods, and with an additional secondary crusher scheduled to be installed in November, we look forward to determining the potential of the plant to sustainably achieve over nameplate with minimal capital spending in the near term. Longer term, we will continue to pursue improvements in mining and processing activities and investigate the potential options to bring into the mine plan the full resource base estimate of the Côté and Gosselin zones – which combine for over 16.5 million ounces of measured and indicated and 4.2 million ounces of inferred resources – to define Côté Gold among Canada’s largest gold mines in operation.”

“At Essakane, the mine achieved the top end of guidance with strong, stable operations through the year. While the cost of operations in country have risen over the last two years, Essakane is positioned to generate strong cash flows as waste stripping is scheduled to decline year over year. The exploration team has done an amazing job with the updated Mineral Reserves estimate announced today in which we saw Essakane more than replace reserve depletion, thereby implying the potential for further mine life extension within the secured perimeter of our operations.”

“Finally, the transformation of Westwood has been among the top mining success stories in 2024, as the last few years of redevelopment and rehabilitation resulted in the successful turnaround of the mine where it finished the year generating $94.4 million in mine site free cash flow. Further, this achievement was during a transitional year as our teams completed the safe rehabilitation of the mine and began standard underground development and mining operations.”

HIGHLIGHTS:

Operating and Financial

Attributable gold production for the year was 667,000 ounces, the mid-point of the Company’s increased production guidance of 625,000 to 715,000 ounces. Fourth quarter attributable production was 177,000 ounces.
- Côté produced 124,000 attributable ounces (199,000 ounces on a 100% basis) during its initial nine months of operation and 62,000 attributable ounces (96,000 ounces on a 100% basis) in the fourth quarter as it continued to ramp up to nameplate capacity, close to the bottom end of the attributable production guidance range of 130,000 to 175,000 ounces (220,000 to 290,000 ounces at 100%).
- Westwood produced 134,000 ounces for the full year and 35,000 ounces in the fourth quarter, exceeding the top end of the production guidance range of 115,000 to 130,000 ounces.
- Essakane produced 409,000 attributable ounces for the full year and 80,000 attributable ounces in the fourth quarter, achieving the top end of the attributable production guidance range of 380,000 to 410,000 ounces.

Revenues for the year were a record of $1,633.0 million from sales of 699,000 ounces at an average realized gold price¹ of $2,330 per ounce and $469.9 million from sales of 185,000 ounces at an average realized gold price of $2,525 per ounce for the quarter.
Cost of sales per ounce sold, excluding Côté¹, was $1,181 for the year, at the low end of cost guidance of $1,175 to $1,275 and $1,397 for the fourth quarter. Including Côté, cost of sales per ounce sold was $1,156 for the year and $1,298 for the fourth quarter.
Cash cost¹ per ounce sold, excluding Côté, was $1,176 for the year, at the low end of guidance range of $1,175 to $1,275 and $1,393 for the fourth quarter. Including Côté, cash cost¹ per ounce sold was $1,152 for the year and $1,294 for the fourth quarter.

AISC¹ per ounce sold, excluding Côté, was $1,725 for the year, trending toward the low end of guidance range of $1,700 to $1,825 and $2,071 for the fourth quarter. Including Côté, AISC¹ per ounce sold was $1,716 for the year and $1,949 for the fourth quarter.
Net earnings and adjusted net earnings per share attributable to equity holders¹ of $1.52 and $0.55 for the year, respectively; for the fourth quarter, net earnings and adjusted net earnings per share attributable to equity holders¹ of $0.15 and $0.10, respectively. The 2024 net earnings were adjusted for a $455.5 million gain on the reversal of the previously recorded impairment at Westwood.
Net cash from operating activities was $486.0 million for the year and $102.6 million for the fourth quarter. Net cash from operating activities, before movements in working capital and non-current ore stockpiles¹, was $600.4 million for the year and $127.2 million for the fourth quarter.
Earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”)¹ was $1,323.0 million for the year ($259.5 million for the fourth quarter) and adjusted EBITDA¹ was $780.6 million for the year ($215.4 million for the fourth quarter). The 2024 EBITDA was adjusted for a $455.5 million gain on the reversal of the previously recorded impairment at Westwood.

Mine-site free cash flow¹, excluding Côté Gold, was $344.9 million for the year and $61.3 million for the fourth quarter. The mine-site free cash flow from Côté Gold was $40.2 million for the initial five months of commercial operations and $16.9 million during the fourth quarter.
- The Company has available liquidity¹ of $767.0 million, mainly comprised of cash and cash equivalents of $347.5 million and the available balance of the revolving credit facility (“Credit Facility”) of $418.5 million as at December 31, 2024.
- In health and safety, for the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company reported a TRIFR (total recordable injuries frequency rate) of 0.63, an improved trend since last year and third successive year of improvement.

Outlook for 2025

Attributable gold production of 735,000 to 820,000 ounces, driven by the ramp-up of Côté to nameplate production later in the year and continued strong production levels from Essakane and Westwood.
- Production at Côté in its first full year, on a 100% basis, is expected to be between 360,000 to 400,000 ounces for the year (250,000 to 280,000 ounces on an attributable basis).
Cash cost¹ guidance of $1,200 to $1,350 per ounce sold and AISC¹ guidance of $1,625 to $1,800 per ounce sold. Costs are expected to be lower in the second half of the year as Côté progresses towards nameplate production.

Mineral Reserves and Resources

Proven and Probable (“P&P”) Mineral Reserves (100% basis) total 10.7 million ounces of gold in 296 million tonnes (“Mt”) at 1.12 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”) (8.2 million ounces attributable). P&P Mineral Reserves decreased 3%, or 367,000 ounces, from the year prior. P&P Mineral Reserves at Essakane increased 5% net of depletion, offset by a 4% decrease at Côté due to depletion.
Measured and Indicated (“M&I”) Mineral Resources (100% basis) increased 3% to 26.7 million ounces of gold in 846 Mt at 0.98 g/t Au (21.2 million ounces attributable). Inferred Mineral Resources (100% basis) increased 27% to a total of 12.8 million ounces (11.4 million ounces attributable).
Updated Mineral Resources for the 100%-owned Nelligan Project of 3.1 million Indicated gold ounces in 102.8 million tonnes (“Mt”) at 0.95 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”), and 5.2 million Inferred ounces (166.4 Mt at 0.96 g/t Au). This represents a 56% increase in Indicated ounces, or 1.1 million ounces, with an accompanying 13% increase in grade; as well as a 33% increase in Inferred ounces, or 1.3 million ounces, with a similar 14% increase in grade. Nelligan mineralization remains open along strike and at depth.

Corporate

On December 2, 2024, the Company announced the return of its ownership in Côté to a 70% interest effective November 30, 2024, following the repurchase of the 9.7% interest of the Côté Gold Mine for $377.7 million. The interest that was transferred to Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. (“Sumitomo” or “SMM”) as part of the JV funding and amending agreement entered into on December 19, 2022.
On December 23, 2024, the Company announced that it executed an amendment to its secured revolving credit facility (“Credit Facility”). Under the amendment, the term has been extended to four years with a new maturity date of December 20, 2028, and the Credit Facility size has been increased from $425 million to $650 million. The Credit Facility will be available for general working capital purposes and provides flexibility as the Company looks to lower the cost of its debt and improve its capital structure in 2025.
On December 23, 2024, the Company announced that it closed the sale of its 100% interest in the Karita Gold Project (“Karita”) and associated exploration assets in Guinea (together, the “Guinea Assets”) for gross cash proceeds of $35.5 million. The sale of the Guinea Assets is part of the previously announced transactions with Managem (see news release dated December 20, 2022).
During the second half of 2024, the Company delivered 75,000 ounces into the 2022 gold prepay arrangements (37,500 ounces in the fourth quarter), and a further 12,500 ounces during January 2025, reducing the outstanding balance of all prepay arrangements to 62,500 ounces as at January 31, 2025.

On November 26, 2024, the Company received an updated credit rating from Standard and Poor’s which upgraded the corporate credit rating from B- to B with a stable outlook. On January 13, 2025, the Company received an updated credit rating from Moody’s which upgraded the corporate credit rating from B3 to B2 with a stable outlook.
On November 20, 2024, the Company consolidated corporate functions to better align with current asset base and initiated the closure of the Brossard office in Quebec.
On February 3, 2025, Annie Torkia Lagacé joined as the Chief Legal and Strategy Officer to lead the Legal, Business Development, and External Affairs teams. As part of this strategic realignment, two long-tenured executives, Tim Bradburn, SVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary and Stephen Eddy, SVP, Business Development departed IAMGOLD.

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