Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, ladies and gentlemen, depending on where you are today. Welcome to the 2023 annual general meeting of stockholders of Coronado Global Resources Inc. Our 5th annual general meeting as a listed public company. My name is Bill Koeck, and I'm your chairman. Today's meeting is being held in a virtual meeting format via webcast using Computershare's online platform. We've decided to run a virtual meeting again this year as it enables increased stockholder participation and access across the countries in which our stockholders reside. Security holders and proxies have had the ability to ask questions and submit votes. Every effort has been made to ensure the meeting runs smoothly. If you do experience technical difficulties, this meeting is being recorded and will be available on our website.
While our annual general meeting of stockholders is being held virtually today, I would like to begin with the customary acknowledgement in Australia of the Turrbal traditional owners of the land on which offices in Brisbane are located. I pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging. I have been informed by Kerry Shenkin from Computershare, the Inspector of Elections for this meeting, that there are represented in person or by proxy, a majority of all the common shares and the holder of the preferred stock Series A entitled to vote at this meeting. In accordance with the company's certificate of incorporation and bylaws under Delaware law, I am advised that the necessary quorum is present here today. I declare the meeting open at 10:01 A.M., Australian Eastern Standard Time. I'd like to begin by introducing my fellow directors, some of whom are attending virtually today.
Firstly, our Independent Non-Executive Directors, Greg Pritchard, who's also the Chairman of the Audit Committee, and Philip Christensen, who's the Chairman of the Health and Safety and ESG Committee. They are here in the Brisbane office. Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Gerry Spindler, and Non-Executive Director, Laura Tyson, are joining us from the United States. In addition, Chris Meyering, our Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary, is in the United States. Susan Casey, our General Counsel, Australia, is in the Brisbane office with me and will be acting as secretary for this meeting. We are joined by members of our executive team in Brisbane and the United States, including Douglas Thompson, the Chief Operating Officer, Australia, and the Chief Executive Officer-elect. Gerhard Ziems, the Group Chief Financial Officer, and Jeff Bitzer, the Chief Operating Officer, who is in the United States.
Also joining us today is Andrew Carrick from Ernst & Young, the company's auditors. This meeting is convened to consider matters specified in the notice of annual general meeting of stockholders dated the 13th of April, and I will be conducting this meeting in accordance with the order of business contained in that notice. As Coronado is incorporated in Delaware in the United States, today's agenda reflects these requirements of Delaware and U.S. law and procedure and will be followed in accordance with the company's certificate of incorporation and bylaws. The proxy statement and the notice of meeting provide explanatory notes. The notice of meeting included a form for security holders to submit questions of the company's board or its auditors.
In addition, Coronado's security holders or their appointed proxies had the opportunity to appoint themselves or another person as their proxy in order to vote and ask questions at the meeting today. We didn't receive any questions from security holders relevant to the proceedings of the meeting in advance of this meeting, and no security holder has elected to appoint themselves or another person as a proxy. As usual, registered guests will be able to listen to this webcast, but not to vote or ask questions. While we haven't received any questions, if any security holder wishes to submit questions after this meeting, they can be submitted to Andrew Mooney, our Vice President, Investor Relations, whose details are included in the presentation pack. Just go to the ASX website and you'll find his details.
Following my report, I will hand over to Gerry Spindler, who will deliver a brief Chief Executive Officer presentation covering current met coal markets and Coronado's 2022 performance. He will then hand over to Douglas Thompson, our Chief Executive Officer-elect, who will discuss our projects and plans for the future. I'll now commence my address. I'm very pleased to report that 2022 was a really successful year for Coronado.
While global financial and metallurgical coal markets continued to experience volatility, our company remained focused on doing what we do best, supplying world markets with high-quality met coal and delivering on our mantra, which is, "Steel starts here." Coronado plays a key role in the global value chain that delivers the everyday items that underpin our standard of living and our new and emerging technologies, whether that be the steel beams in your house or, new buildings, the knives and forks in your kitchen, the cars you drive, the infrastructure you use, or the wind and solar farms contributing to the energy transformation. Steel is fundamental to our future. At Coronado, we are ever conscious of the vital role met coal plays in steel production and the huge benefits that steel provides. We are mindful of minimizing the environmental impact of our activities wherever practically possible.
During the year, we continued to strengthen our position as a leading international producer of high-quality met coal by developing our strategic advantages, which include, 1, the geographic diversity of met coal production and markets. Two, producing a range of high-quality met coal products from our long life operating assets. Three, excellent customer relationships with exports to five continents. Six, a solid balance sheet with strong cash flow and a flexible capital structure. Fifthly, a great workforce that brings together the best of U.S. and Australian know-how. They really are a great team that we've got. Turning to 2022 and our record financial results. Strong global demand, combined with ongoing limitations on met coal supply, continued to generate positive prices for met coal throughout 2022, and this enabled Coronado to achieve record financial results.
The company's excellent financial performance allowed us to return over $700 million to our shareholders during the year, itself another record. I might add that we've had our ups and downs. That was a fantastic year, we always contribute to our shareholders when the markets are up. In addition to generating record financial results in 2022, Coronado continued to make meaningful contributions to the local communities in which we operate. That's through the creation of jobs for employees and employees of contracting partners and associated services. Our total economic contribution includes taxes, third-party royalties, government royalties, levies, salaries and wages, and payments to contractors and suppliers, which exceeded US$3.3 billion in 2022, a substantial increase from the prior year. A component of this increase comes from the new Queensland royalty rates that were introduced in mid-2022.
This increase in coal royalties was disappointing news for our Australian operations and we believe has the potential to have negative impacts more broadly. The Queensland Resources Council has articulated the risks of raising royalties without industry consultation and the negative impact that these higher royalties may have on investment decisions over time. In 2022, the Curragh Mine alone paid to the Queensland Government and the Queensland government-affiliated Stanwell Corporation, a total of $494 million in royalties and rebates. That's well over AUD 600, AUD 650. This was more than three times higher than in 2021. Turning now to strategy and risk oversight. Our approach to strategy is based on four key elements: a strong balance sheet, shareholder returns, organic growth, and mergers and acquisitions or inorganic growth. Each of those is important.
I'd like to focus on these strategic elements for a few minutes to give shareholders some idea of how the board thinks about each of these fundamentals. A strong balance sheet is important for Coronado, given the volatility and uncertainty which is a normal thing in our industry. It encompasses all financial management, including prudent debt levels, enhanced liquidity, solid cash flows, and it's the foundation for all strategic initiatives. Total shareholder returns. Since listing in October 2018, Coronado has distributed $1.5 billion in dividends. In 2022, our dividend yield was high, it was 49%, outperforming our peers, and total shareholder returns were high at 110%, outperforming the ASX 200 and S&P 500 industries. Organic growth has been a focus, an important focus since listing.
Our Chief Executive-elect, Douglas Thompson, will talk about some initiatives in that area. Last year, we announced expansion plans for our Buchanan mine in Virginia, USA, and we are now looking at the next round of expansion at Curragh, including underground mining at Curragh North in Queensland. Douglas Thompson will speak about that later. Mergers and acquisitions or inorganic growth is an area that requires great discipline. In 2022, we disclosed to the market that we had some merger opportunities with Arch Resources and Peabody Energy Corporation, which after very careful evaluation, the company decided not to pursue. Recently, we advised the market of the cessation of discussions on the potential purchase of the Crimson Oak Grove Resources mine. Market commentary continues regarding our participation in the well-publicized Blackwater and Daunia asset sales by BHP Mitsubishi Alliance.
The company continues to evaluate potential met coal acquisitions from time to time. Our solid balance sheet and ability to generate strong cash flows allows us the flexibility to acquire new assets should the right opportunity arise. Any potential acquisition must be value accretive and located in well-regulated markets with low sovereign risk, such as North America or Australia. Moving on to safety and sustainability. Safety remains the key focus of our company. Everyone who comes to work must go home at night to their families. That's our mantra. The group Total Recordable Incident Rate of 1.41 at 31st December 2022 was slightly higher than 1.37, only slightly, recorded at the end of 2021. That reportable incident rate is a mathematical computation which is measured over 200,000 hours.
We have implemented a range of new and revised health and safety initiatives across our operations with promising results, and our Chief Executive-elect, Douglas Thompson, will speak about that shortly. Notably, the Logan Complex recorded a 25% improvement in its reportable incident rate over the prior year. Thankfully, the threat presented by COVID-19 pandemic seems to have receded in the U.S. and Australia. While we've scaled down some of the more restrictive travel and preventative measures, we continue to emphasize workplace hygiene and remain vigilant in monitoring developments. Sustainability, particularly the environment and carbon reduction, remains an important area of focus for the board. In 2022, Coronado completed 209 hectares of rehabilitation work across all the operations. Recorded zero significant environment and cultural heritage issues.
Reduced Scope one and Scope two greenhouse gas emissions by 11%, commenced key gas decarbonization projects at both our Buchanan and Curragh mine sites. Increased diversity with female participation across our business, up by 14% globally. We have pre-prepared a sustainability report which is on the ASX. I'd encourage you to look at that. The chairman of that committee is here, Phil Christensen. I think it is a very useful document. That brings me to board changes and management succession. In January 2023, this year, we announced a number of changes to the board and senior management that were presented in some detail in the proxy materials, the notice of meeting materials you will have received prior to today's AGM.
These comprise the re-retirement of Gerry Spindler from the role of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer after today's AGM, and his appointment to the position of Executive Chair of the board. The second initiative is the promotion of Douglas Thompson to Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer from after today's meeting, and his appointment to the board. The third item is the retirement of Sir Mick Davis from the board at the conclusion of today's AGM. I will remain on the board as Deputy Chair and Lead Independent Director, and I look forward to working with Gerry and Douglas on the leadership transition process, which is already proceeding very smoothly. I should say that one of the great things about this board is the and the executive team, is the way we work together.
It's a very harmonious board, a very hardworking board, and I'm very pleased to be part of that team. The record financial results and shareholder returns Coronado delivered in 2022 were due in no small part to the leadership of Gerry Spindler in recent years. These have been particularly tough years for Coronado and the industry in general, with a range of challenges: a trade dispute between China and the U.S., a trade dispute between China and Australia, COVID-19 and the impact on our workforce, global commodity prices and balance sheet, wet weather impacts of La Niña on operations at Curragh, and global energy security issues following regional conflicts and disputes in Europe and Asia. Gerry's leadership has been exemplary throughout this testing period, and we're very fortunate to have a CEO of his caliber and global experience.
The board faced a number of very difficult decisions. Gerry's logical, calm, and reasoned approach to solving problems made the board's deliberations more effective. His deep industry knowledge encouraged flexibility and innovation, which continues to deliver positive performance gains across our business. His deep understanding of global markets gained over several decades in the more than several decades in the industry, made his market commentary compelling and was always well-received by our investors. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Gerry for his outstanding contribution to Coronado and wish him well in his new role as Executive Chair. Douglas Thompson has been Coronado's Chief Operating Officer, Australia since September 2021. He brings with him over 25 years' experience, including as Managing Director and CEO of Tenix.
He has extensive knowledge of open cut and underground mining operations and is an excellent addition to our team. Douglas will be ably supported by Gerhard Ziems, the Group Chief Financial Officer, who assumes responsibility for sales and marketing as well as strategy. I'd also like to thank Sir Mick Davis, who retires from the Coronado board at the conclusion of this meeting to focus on his other professional activities. His vast knowledge of mining, steel, and energy industries was of great benefit to our board, and his counsel and insight were always greatly appreciated. Following today's meeting, Coronado will retain a board comprised of three independent directors and three non-independent directors, as it did prior to the AGM. We are investigating introducing another board seat in 2023 and will provide further details of possible new board appointments once those discussions have concluded.
If we do appoint an independent director, a new director, that will be an independent director. Board diversity will, of course, be a key consideration in that appointment. I now want to look to, just briefly to our outlook. Looking to the future, your company is in a good position with a strong balance sheet, stable cash flows, experienced board and management, quality long-life assets, and a range of organic and inorganic growth opportunities. In 2023, we are targeting increased saleable production, lower mining costs, and higher reinvestment in our existing business through a sizable increase in capital expenditure. It's mining, and in mining there are always challenges, whether it's new taxes and royalties, inflation, wet weather impacts, global conflicts or market demand, or things we haven't even thought about.
However, those things are all part of mining, and we continue to manage our assets as effectively as we possibly can to produce the best outcome for our shareholders. Of course, in that process, the community should always remember how critical steel production is for the economy and will remain so, including for the transition to a lower carbon economy. In closing, I would like to thank all my fellow directors for their support during my tenure as Chair over the past five years. I'd also like to acknowledge once again the hard work and commitment of all the employees, contractors, and management whose efforts and dedication continue to inspire me. I now hand over to our Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Gerry Spindler.
Thank you, Bill. Thank you to all of Coronado's shareholders for their investment and continued support of the company during the past 12 months. I would also like to thank all of our employees for their hard work, dedication, and professionalism over the past year. They truly are the best in the business, and it has been a privilege working with them. As Bill commented on earlier, Coronado ended 2022 with record financial results, delivered record dividends to shareholders, and continued to maintain a very strong and secure balance sheet. Excellent 2022 shareholder returns were in part due to the improved market conditions, but also due to the significant work undertaken by our board, management, and employees in progressing strategic initiatives that are coming to fruition.
Our record 2022 results have occurred despite the impacts to production from considerable wet weather conditions in Queensland, which has impacted all Bowen Basin producers and global economic circumstances that have driven significantly higher inflation. The expectations are that weather patterns will be more favorable in 2023 and global inflationary impacts will ease in the second half of the year, which should translate to improved production and costs for our business as outlined in our market guidance. At Coronado, the health and safety of our people is our number one priority. Injury frequency rates in both Australia and the U.S. are coming down since year-end 2022 as we continue to implement new and revised safety initiatives each quarter. Recently, I announced with pride that the Buchanan Mine preparation plant achieved one million hours and 10 years injury-free in the first quarter of 2023.
This is a tremendous effort by the team and demonstrates their continued strong commitment to safety. In addition, several of our U.S. operations received the West Virginia Homes Safety Association Awards and the Mountaineer Guardian Safety Awards for strong safety performance in 2022. During the prior year and into 2023, the Curragh team has been working on a dragline proximity awareness project to devise and implement technology solutions to improve proximity awareness in the operating area of its dragline fleet. The technology utilizes radar and lidar imagery to alert a dragline operator when personnel or equipment enter the operational areas of the machines. The outcome of the project has been to effectively reduce the risk of personnel and equipment interactions with the draglines and to promote an enhanced, safe work environment. A rollout of the technology on all of Curragh's dragline fleet is expected by Q1 2024.
Turning to metallurgical coal markets and steel demand. We reiterate that met coal has a long-term future. Wood Mackenzie forecast to show that global steel production is forecast to grow by 17% to 2.2 billion metric tons by 2050. The majority of which will continue to come from blast furnace production, primarily in Asia. Undoubtedly, electric arc furnace and other steel production methods will grow over time. The overwhelming production method for steel in 2050 will continue to come from blast furnaces. Coronado exports met coal to five continents, with 57% of sales in 2022 being exported to Asia. In 2022, Asia produced 1.4 billion tons of steel. 80% of this production was via blast furnace. This percentage is forecast to still remain above 60% by 2050.
This therefore underpins the need for met coal for some time to come. From jurisdictions with high-quality reserves, such as Australia and North America, the location in which Coronado operates. Turning to the next slide, the global steel demand outlook remains firm, led by India, which continues to grow year-over-year and is projecting GDP growth north of 6%. At the beginning of the year, the Indian government announced its budget for 2023/2024, which is extremely positive for the steel sector. The government is prioritizing investment-driven growth with spend focused heavily on steel-intensive projects, which in turn will fuel the demand for met coal. Over the long term, the Indian steel growth is projected to increase by 203% to 374 million tons by 2050.
These growth projections bode well for Coronado, given our large, long life reserve base and given India remains one of Coronado's largest export customers. AME forecasts indicate a 67% increase in global export demand for met coal by 2040. As you can see in the charts, the majority of demand growth is planned to come from blast furnace steel production in India. India export demand is forecast to increase by 226% by 2040. The majority of which, again, will need to be filled by supply growth from Australia. It is difficult to see how that supply will materialize and match demand, given the limited approvals for new mines in the high-quality met coal regions of Australia and North America.
A lack of supply should ensure higher prices for longer, which places more emphasis on companies like Coronado to continue operating and developing long-term, long-life assets. Recently, we have seen both met and thermal coal prices fall as supply has improved following recent wet weather. The short-term economic environment and steel demand outlook continues to be impacted by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and persistently high inflation rates. Coronado expects met coal prices to continue to remain above long-term historical averages, given the removal of Russian met coal from key markets and the anticipated improvement in steel demand in the second half of 2023. I'll now hand over to Douglas.
Thank you, Gerry. I'd like to add my appreciation to all stockholders who've made the time to dial into our AGM today. It's an honor and a privilege to lead this company, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Gerry and the board for the trust placed in me and the executive team to lead the business in the next exciting chapter of the Coronado story. We are blessed to have Gerry stay on in the business, and I look forward to working with Gerry and Bull and the rest of the board as we shape the future. Before I commence, we'd like to play you a short video. For those stockholders who have dialed in through the portal, you'll see a tab called Clip.
To view the video that we'll play for you, if you could please toggle across, to the Clip tab and watch the video, and at the end of the video, toggle back to the slides so you can see the rest of the slideshow.
Coronado Global Resources is a leading international producer of high-quality metallurgical coal, an essential element in steel production. Our coals, transformed in the steelmaking process, support the manufacture of everyday steel-based products, including renewable energy infrastructure that enrich lives around the world. We are one of the largest metallurgical coal producers globally, serving customers on five continents from our operations in Australia and the United States. Our company has grown from humble beginnings, producing less than 0.5 million tons from our Greenbrier acquisition in 2013 to producing more than 16 million tons in 2022, and with plans to organically grow to 20.5 million tons by 2025. Coronado has a proven track record of successfully integrating, operating, and developing new assets and has delivered more than $1.5 billion in distributions to shareholders since listing on the ASX in 2018.
In 2014, Coronado acquired the Logan Complex in West Virginia, U.S.A., for $175 million, marking our second acquisition. Logan is a long-life asset with resources of 253 million tons of premium quality, high-vol metallurgical coal. Currently, the Logan Complex operates four underground mines and one surface mine. The recently developed Winifred underground operation commenced in the third quarter of 2022 and has proven to be a real success. In 2016, Coronado undertook its third acquisition by purchasing the Buchanan Complex in Virginia, U.S.A., for $427 million. Since its acquisition, Coronado has developed the Buchanan mine to be one of the largest and lowest-cost metallurgical coal operations in the Central Appalachian Basin, producing 30 million product tons and earnings exceeding $1.7 billion.
With resources of 208 million tons, Buchanan is a long-life asset producing low-vol hard coke and coal and premium low-vol PCI coal. It is a very well-capitalized mine with two longwall mining systems, underground storage facilities, and a workforce second to none. Coronado has announced further expansions to the mine with work commencing on the construction of a new surface raw coal storage area and the construction of a second set of skips to increase the mine's hoisting capacity to the surface. These expansion works help deliver our U.S. segment production target of seven million tons per annum by 2025. The Curragh Mine, located within the Bowen Basin of Queensland, Australia, is a large open-cut mine producing high-quality, low-ash metallurgical coal products that are exported globally to leading steel makers.
Coronado acquired Curragh in 2018 for AUD 700 million, making it the company's largest acquisition to date. The Curragh acquisition has proved to be a highly successful investment. Since acquisition, the mine has produced 57 million tons of product and generated earnings exceeding $1.4 billion. Strategic plans are in place to grow Curragh to 13.5 million tons by 2025. A key project within that plan is the Curragh North Underground Project. Following the completion of pre-feasibility study works in late 2022, it is envisaged that the underground project will achieve first coal in late 2024 and produce a quality of met coal similar to the existing Curragh North open cut operations. This project is incremental to the existing Curragh North open cut operation, thereby delivering more coal from the mine and optimizing existing preparation plant capacity.
A bord and pillar operation that utilizes the final open cut high wall to gain direct access to the coal seams will significantly reduce upfront complexity, capital expenditure and startup risk. Future phases will also exploit coal reserves under open cut waste dumps. Coronado has extensive experience as underground miners, having operated longwall and bord and pillar operations in the U.S. An exploration program to shore up operational design has commenced, and operational readiness team established. Coronado is dedicated to operating in an ethical and sustainable manner and supporting the communities in which we operate. In 2022, we committed to a 30% reduction in Scope one and two greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. A target we have tangible projects in place to meet. The Buchanan Ventilation Air Methane project was commissioned in July 2022.
This project uses the latest technology to convert fugitive methane gas emissions to carbon dioxide and is substantially reducing the mine's carbon footprint. In 2022, the VAM project achieved a 94% emission destruction efficiency. Overall projections from the VAM unit show a reduction in Buchanan emissions by approximately 60% by 2030. If these projections are achieved, this project alone will meet Coronado's 30% reduction target. Plans to install another VAM unit in 2024 are currently being engineered, given the success of the original unit. At Curragh, significant progress is being made on the gas pilot project, targeting the capture and use of waste mine coal gas as a diesel substitute for our operating fleets. Drilling works have commenced, and it is envisaged that a fleet of five to six trucks utilizing the extracted gas will occur in the first half of 2024.
It is anticipated that this project will realize a reduction in emissions at Curragh, but also realize a reduction in costs given the substitution of diesel for gas to power the fleet. Coronado continues to embrace the following principles as part of its strategic plans: to maintain a strong balance sheet, deliver shareholder returns, prioritize organic growth projects, retain flexibility for inorganic growth opportunities. These underlying principles have been established to ensure we continue to maintain a sustainable business for our customers, employees, community and shareholders. As a company like no other, we are committed to maintaining our position as the world's leading metallurgical coal producer. The global demand for steel continues to grow, and while that demand continues, Coronado, with its strong balance sheet, long life assets and growth potential, has a long-term future. Steel starts here.
As you would have seen from the video, our business has come a long way from our humble beginnings to now being one of the world's largest met coal producers. We have a proven track record of creating more value for the mines that we have acquired. We are progressing organic projects at all our mines. In the U.S., work at Buchanan and Logan to target the 7.5 by 2025. Well, the project at Buchanan is progressing well. We're on program, on time, and on budget to deliver this project. The new mine at Logan, Winifred, it commenced late 2022 and has already set new production records in Q1 2023. In Australia, we're targeting 13.5 for our operations. This will include the expansion of the mine by a new underground mine at Curragh North.
The underground mine in phase one is planned to deliver 1.5-two million product tonnes of high-quality metallurgical coal. Our start-up capital at this stage is estimated to be between $85 million and $100 million, and our mining costs, $60-$70 per product tonne, this making it a highly value-accretive project. Since the announcement of succession, I've traveled around all of our operations and engaged our people. This has reinforced my belief that we have exceptional people and a culture where authentic people form an aligned team and by their combined passion, skills, effort, and value placed in each other, make a difference every day. This sets us up to be a business like no other.
My team and I, supported by the board, are focused on creating an environment of success for our clients, for our employees, and resultantly the business, and this will ensure shareholder value and stronger returns. Coronado's value proposition is supported by three strong pillars. Firstly, the fact that metallurgical coal is a critical material. It touches everyday needs. It enables our dreams for the future. For example, renewable energy transition, be it wind, solar, hydro, EVs, they all need met coal because they all need steel. This critical material is in a market that has structural shortfall in supply. As Bill and Gerry spoke to, there is a strong forecast for growth in met coal into the future, and we see this only being exacerbated by the pace of change that we're seeking in the energy transition.
Coronado is extremely well-positioned by our long life, high-value assets to take advantage of the supply-demand imbalance and the resultant price environment. Our team have a proven track record of making more from what we've been given. This is driven by people who are empowered to maximize every opportunity and ultimately drive excellence. We are executing our organic growth plans. Our commitment to prudent financial management are ensuring a sustainable business and our commitment to be a responsible custodian of the resources we own, well, this is evident in our track record. Our business is poised for continued growth. I'm excited to lead this team, and as we write the next chapter of our story, steel starts here. With this, I'll hand over to Bill so that he can undertake the formal part of the meeting.
Thanks, Douglas. We now move, as Douglas said, to the formal part of the meeting. I'd like to begin by explaining the order and processes for this part of the meeting. First, I will explain the voting and how to cast votes, your votes. There are two forms of resolutions in today's notice of meeting. The first is a resolution of the holder of the preferred stock Series A in relation to the re-election of Laura Tyson as non-executive director. Secondly, five resolutions of common stockholders and holders of our CHESS Depositary Interests or CDIs. As set out in the notice of meeting, the CDI stockholders must have completed 1 of the following actions in order to vote at today's meeting.
Instructed CHESS Depositary Nominees as the shareholder of record to vote the common shares underlying the CDIs pursuant to your instructions in the CDI voting instruction form. Inform the company that you wish to nominate yourself or another person to be appointed as CHESS Depositary Nominees' proxy with respect to the common shares underlying your CDIs for the purpose of attending and voting at the meeting. I stress that this is in accordance with Delaware law and these proceedings are everything that's been done is in accordance with those processes. Valid proxies must have been received if they've been provided to CHESS Depositary Nominees no later than 10:00 A.M. Australian Eastern Standard Time on Monday the 22nd of May, 2023 or 8:00 P.M. U.S. Eastern Time on Sunday the 21st in order for the vote to count.
As required by the company's bylaws, a list of stockholders entitled to vote at today's meeting is available for inspection on the company's website. Voting on all resolutions at today's meeting will be conducted by way of ballots, written ballots submitted by electronic transmission via the Computershare online platform as authorized by the Board of Directors by the notice of meeting in accordance with the bylaws. That's a bit of a mouthful. Just says that we are doing everything strictly by the rules in our constitution and bylaws. In order to provide you with enough time to vote, I will shortly open voting for all resolutions. At that time, if you are eligible to vote at this meeting, a new polling icon will appear on your screen. Selecting this icon will bring up the resolutions and present you with voting options.
To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There's no need to hit a submit or enter button as the vote is automatically recorded. You do, however, have the ability to change your vote up until the time I declare voting closed. I now declare voting open on all items of business. If you are using the Computershare online platform, the voting icon will now appear. Please submit your votes at any time. I will provide a warning before I move to close that voting. No ballot, proxy or vote, nor any change or revocation will be accepted after the close of these polls as announced by me during the course of the meeting.
As chair, any undirected proxies given to me in relation to any item of business will be voted in accordance with the unanimous recommendation by the board of directors in favor of all resolutions. The proxy vote tally indicates all resolutions will be passed. The proxy votes cast for each resolution will be displayed on the screen when each resolution is formally put to the meeting. Computershare will tally the results of the ballot and details of voting results, which will then be provided to the SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S. and the Australian Securities Exchange in Australia after the meeting. In respect of any open votes a proxy holder may be entitled to cast, please cast your vote using the Computershare online platform in accordance with the instructions provided. That covers the procedure. I'll now move on to the formal business of today's meeting.
Firstly, I take the notice of meeting as read. Copies are also available on our website and were disclosed to the SEC and the ASX along with all of the presentations. Well, as were the presentations which we have given today. The items of business to be considered today are now displayed on the screen. I'll pause to allow you to read them. Item one is the election of Ms. Laura Tyson as director by the holder of the preferred stock Series A. Laura is a Series A director nominated by Coronado Global LLC, the Energy and Minerals Group, EMG Group, for election to the board. She has been a valued member of our board since 2018 when the company was listed on the stock exchange. Full background and details of Ms. Tyson are outlined in the proxy statement.
The series A holder is being asked to consider and if thought fit pass the ordinary resolution shown on your screen. It goes without saying that the board of directors unanimously recommends that the series A shareholder vote in favor of resolution in this item one. The proxy vote of the series A holder was received before the meeting, and the series A holder has voted for this resolution in item one, as is now displayed on the screen. The next item is the election of directors of the company by the holders of common stock. Again, I emphasize that Coronado is incorporated in the state of Delaware in the United States and is bound by the requirements of the Certificate of Incorporation and bylaws, which require that all directors seek election at each annual general meeting.
A little bit different to Australian public companies, where generally you hold for three years. The specific experience, qualifications and skills considered by the Compensation and Nominating Committee and the board of directors in assessing the appropriateness of each of the directors to be elected are outlined in your proxy statement. In assessing the independence of each of Mr. Pritchard, Mr. Christensen and myself, the board considered the independent standards of the Australian Securities Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. The board considers that each of these nominee directors continues to be independent. The ordinary resolution is now shown on the screen. I will now ask that those eligible to vote on this resolution, please do so now.
The proxy votes received before the meeting on this resolution should now be displayed on your screen, setting out the summary of proxies received for the resolution and any proxy votes withheld. On the basis of proxies received, the election of all these directors, while details of the voting results will be provided to the SEC and ASX after the meeting closed, the results of the poll indicate the resolution will be approved. I now move to item three, the non-binding advisory vote on named executive officers. This is the so-called Say on Pay. Now this is required pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of the Securities and Exchange Act. We provide security holders with the opportunity to cast a non-binding advisory vote on the compensation of the company's named executive officers, as disclosed in the proxy statement.
The company seeks to provide compensation to each named executive that is designed to attract and retain suitably qualified executive officers to incentivize them and to create sustainable performance aligned with the interests of security holders. The vote on this proposal is not intended to address any specific element of compensation, but relates to overall compensation of named executive officers. Security holders are being asked to consider, and if thought fit, pass the ordinary resolution now shown on the screen. The directors unanimously recommend that the securities holders eligible to vote for this item. I will ask you to vote on this resolution now. The proxy votes received before the meeting should now be displayed on your screen. I'll now move to Item four, ratification of appointment of the independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023.
As outlined in the proxy statement, the Audit, Governance and Risk Committee has appointed Ernst & Young to serve as the independent registered public accounting firm to audit our financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. Although not required to seek stockholder approval of this appointment, we intend to seek ratification of the appointment. Representatives of Ernst & Young, Andy Carrick, the partner, the auditor responsible, is present here at our meeting today. Security holders are being asked to resolve on a non-binding advisory basis. I ask those eligible to vote, please do so now. Proxy votes received before the meeting on this resolution are now displayed on the screen. I now move to item five, approval of up to 25 million securities under the company's 2018 Equity Incentive Plan.
This seeks approval from stockholders to adopt the Coronado Global Resources Inc 2018 Equity Incentive Plan for the purposes of Listing Rule 7.2, Exception 13 of the ASX Listing Rules. For the issue of securities in the three years following the date of the annual general meeting. This is under the 2018 plan. A summary and a full copy of the terms of the plan were set out in the proxy statement. That plan is designed to align compensation for key executives with the performance of the company. In connection with completion of the IPO in 2018, a copy of the 2018 plan rules was released to the ASX on October 23, 2018.
That provides for the grant of awards of CHESS Depositary Instruments, CDIs, and stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted units, and restricted stock and performance stock, as we referred to in that proxy statement. The listing rule provides that the company cannot, without the approval of stockholders, agree to issue during any 12-month period, equity securities if the number of those securities exceed 15% of the number of CDIs on issue at the commencement of the 12-month period. There is an exception for pre-approved issue of securities, and what we're seeking is the approval of stockholders to pre-approve issues under the plan so that they won't be included in the 15%. I now put the resolution that security holders are being asked to consider.
The Board of Directors unanimously recommends voting for this resolution. I ask those eligible to vote, please do so now. The proxy votes received before the meeting are now displayed on your screen. I now move to approval to adopt the company's Employee Share Purchase Plan. For our next and final resolution, we're requesting that stockholders approve this Share Purchase Plan. Our Board approved the ESP in April 2023, and it will continue in effect through and including April 10, 2033, until the 10th anniversary of the effective date. The purpose of this plan is to provide employees, both in the U.S. and Australia, an opportunity to purchase CDIs through employee contributions and the company's matching contributions. Employees can purchase CDIs, or if applicable, shares of our common stock, on the open market through after-tax payroll deductions. They will also receive some company matching contributions.
The board views this plan as a positive development for our stockholders as it more closely aligns the interests of employees with the interests of stockholders. Approval of our stockholders is not required with respect to the plan under the listing rules of the Australian Securities Exchange. The board decided to seek shareholder approval, stockholder approval, in order to ensure that the stockholders are completely happy with this initiative. The board fully recommends this. This is a fantastic initiative to get our employees to become stockholders in our company. The amounts of stock are relatively small, but for these employees, it is a major initiative to get them on board. I put the resolution up now. The board of directors unanimously recommends in favor of this, and I ask those eligible to vote to do so now.
Proxy votes before the meeting on this resolution are now on the screen. That concludes our discussion on the, on the items and then concludes the formal part of the business. Thank you. Please ensure you have cast your votes on all resolutions. I have confirmed with the secretary for this meeting and Computershare that there has not been any notice of revocation of any proxies submitted by our common stockholders. Now I will pause to allow you time to finalize your votes. I confirm that the polls are now closed, and voting has closed. Computershare will tally the results of the poll, and details of the voting results will be provided to the SEC, that's the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States, and the Australian Securities Exchange after the meeting close. That concludes the formalities of today's meeting.
On behalf of the board and management of Coronado Global Resources, I would like to thank you for your attendance and participation in our virtual annual general meeting today. I thank you for your continuing support of the company and reinforce our commitment to delivering long-term value to our security holders. If there are any questions, I'd recommend that you direct them in the first instance to Andrew Mooney, the Vice President of Investor Relations, whose details are on our website and the ASX. I now declare the annual general meeting of stockholders of Coronado Global Resources Inc. closed.
This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.