Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Equinox Gold first quarter 2026 results and corporate update. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may reach out to an operator by pressing star, then zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ryan King, Executive Vice President, Capital Markets for Equinox Gold. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to join the call this morning. Before we begin, I'd like to direct everyone to our forward-looking statements on slide two. Our remarks and answers to your questions today may contain forward-looking information about the company's future performance. Although management believes their forward-looking statements are based on fair and reasonable assumptions, actual results may turn out to be different from these forward-looking statements. For a complete discussion of the risks, uncertainties, and factors that may lead to actual operating and financial results being different from the estimates contained in our forward-looking statements, please refer to risks identified in the section titled Risks Related to the Business in Equinox Gold's most recently filed annual information form, which is available on SEDAR+, on EDGAR, and on our website.
Finally, I should mention that all figures in today's presentation are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise stated. With me on the call today are Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Pete Hardie, Chief Financial Officer, David Schummer, Chief Operating Officer, Daniella Dimitrov, Chief Strategy and Risk Officer, and Matt MacPhail, SVP of Technical Services. Today, we will be discussing our first quarter 2026 financial and operating results and provide an update on Greenstone and Valentine ramp-up progress, and then we'll take questions. The slide deck we're referencing is available for download on our website at equinoxgold.com. With that, I'll turn the call over to Darren.
Turning to slide three, thanks, Ryan. Good morning, thank you for joining us today on the call. Firstly, I'd like to thank the entire Equinox Gold team, including all of our business partners across the Americas, for their commitment to safety, operational excellence and disciplined execution, which delivered another strong quarter. There is no better demonstration of the team's capability and commitment than responsibly delivering more than 197,000 oz of production with no material environmental events and a 25% reduction in our reportable injury frequency rate. Well done, thanks to the entire team for a great quarter. We continue building on the positive momentum established in 2025, which reset the foundation of the business, strengthened the balance sheet, and established a clear path to a long-term value creation.
Today, we are executing against our foundation with a focus on operational excellence, cost discipline, and delivering on our organic growth profile. We delivered a solid start to 2026, producing 197,000 oz of gold with cash costs of $1,633 an ounce and AISC of $1,950 per ounce. Importantly, our Canadian platform continues to ramp up, contributing over 87,000 oz during the quarter. While the quarter reflected a level of variability, not unusual with ramp-ups and winter conditions, based on performance to date and expected improvements through the year, we remain on track to achieve our full-year production and cost guidance. Turning to slide four.
During the quarter, we sold more than 199,000 oz of gold at a realized price of just over $4,600 an ounce, generating $527 million in adjusted EBITDA. We reported net income from all operations of $310 million or $0.39 per share, and adjusted net income of $234 million or $0.30 per share. We ended the quarter with $363 million in cash and net debt of approximately $80 million, excluding our in-the-money convertible debentures. Additionally, we completed the sale of our Brazilian assets, repaid $990 million of debt, initiated a share buyback, and paid our inaugural dividend.
Subsequent to quarter end, following meaningful deleveraging and improved financial strength, we refinanced our revolving credit facility on improved terms, which enhances liquidity, flexibility, and our overall cost of capital. As of April 30th, the company has nearly $1 billion in available liquidity, providing significant financial flexibility. We also declared our second quarterly dividend of a $0.015 p er share, reinforcing our commitment to disciplined capital returns. Turning to slide five. Let me take a moment to focus on our Canadian operations, which are central to our long-term value proposition. At Greenstone, we produced just over 60,000 oz in the quarter. Mining rates averaged 180,000 tons per day, marginally lower than Q4, primarily due to heavier than normal snowfall, while mill throughput averaged 24,600 tons per day, a 6% increase over Q4.
Plant performance continues to improve quarter-over-quarter, with 51% of the days exceeding nameplate capacity in the quarter, compared to 36% in Q4. With April mining rates increasing to approximately 200,000 tons per day and the underlying productivity metrics continuing to improve, the [mella] mine is well positioned to deliver on 2026 material movement expectations, which will result in increasing grades through the balance of the year. At Valentine, we completed our first full quarter of operations, producing over 27,000 oz. The plant performed well. Despite some significant weather challenges, the team delivered 90% of nameplate capacity for the full quarter. Importantly, we actually exceeded nameplate capacity over the combined period of February and March. Mining performance was impacted by a severe winter in Newfoundland, which hampered material movement and delayed access to planned ore zones.
In addition, early-stage mining practices and sequences impacted mill feed grades. We have identified a number of opportunities to improve performance, including enhancements to blasting practices, better utilization of mine control systems, and tighter control around dig lines to positively impact dilution. We are seeing progress in April with improving grades, supported by a continued exceptional process plant performance. To highlight this progress, following a planned seven-day total shutdown at the start of April, the mill has averaged 8,488 tons per day or 124% of nameplate since coming out of the shut. Looking ahead, we expect steady quarter-over-quarter improvements through 2026 as mining productivity increases at our Canadian operations ramp up to steady state performance, underpinning our robust outlook of over 500,000 oz of annual production for the next decade. Turning to slide six.
Beyond our current operations, we continue to advance a strong organic growth profile that underpins our long-term production profile. At Valentine, we announced details of our plan two, planned Phase 2 expansion as part of the updated technical report published at the end of the quarter. We are currently committing funds to long lead time items and progressing detailed engineering to secure schedule. We expect to initiate early site works in the second half of the year, following full funds approval anticipated in the coming months. At Castle Mountain, we continue to advance engineering and permitting activities with the project on track to receive a Federal Record of Decision before year-end. In anticipation, we have hired an experienced project director to lead all aspects of the project and have engaged Worley, an engineering professional services firm, to progress the detailed engineering.
I anticipate committing at-risk funds to secure long lead time items in early Q3. At Los Filos, we have made important progress strengthening relationships with our host communities and government stakeholders. With fully ratified new long-term access agreements in place with two of the three communities and continued constructive dialogue with the third, I am convinced that all stakeholders are aligned on identifying a path forward to a restart of operations and realizing the full potential of the world-class mineral endowment which exists at Los Filos. Turning to slide seven. I'm confident that Equinox Gold is well-positioned to deliver top quartile valuation based on our portfolio of long-life assets and T ier 1 jurisdictions, a clear and executable organic growth pipeline, strong and growing free cash flow generation, a disciplined approach to capital allocation and shareholder returns, and importantly, with the right team in place to deliver on those commitments.
In closing, our priorities for 2026 are clear. Ramp Greenstone and Valentine to nameplate capacity, maintain cost discipline and operational consistency, advance our growth pipeline, continue strengthening the balance sheet, and return capital to shareholders. With a stronger portfolio, improving operations, and a clear path forward, we are entering 2026 from a position of strength. Before passing to the operator, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the team's efforts in Nicaragua, which delivered a record 81,000 oz of production for the quarter, which is a testament not only to the team, but the prolific and enduring nature of those assets. With that, I'll turn it back to the operator for questions.
Once again, to join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. We ask that you please limit your time to one question. If you have additional questions, the Equinox Gold team would be happy to offer a call to go into more details. Thank you. The first question is from Wayne Lam with TD Securities. Please go ahead.
Oh, man, one question's kinda tough. Let's go with Valentine. Grade in the early years of the mine plans well above 2 g ton, I guess supported by the Berry Pit. Just wondering how the grades have reconciled the plan to date, and should we be expecting a big step change on the grade profile into Q2, or is that more weighted to the back half of the year?
No, Wayne, and thanks for the support. Thanks for the question. You know, if I sit back, I look at, you know, our reconciliation above and all waste cutoff, and we are, we're very comfortable with what we see out of Valentine, and we've, you know, we've articulated that over the last couple of years of infill drilling. You know, Q1 was really our first quarter of how do we reconcile against the selectivity, and we saw some challenges, right? You know, because we didn't have that reconcilably with respect to the mill because it was the first quarter of taking that run-of-mine material in. We've seen some deficiencies in that we need to focus on, and that's in and around mining control, utilizing the high precision. Again, that was, you know, impacted further by the weather.
We'll see improvements into Q2 and we'll see improvements as we work through the balance of the year. As we said today, we are comfortable with how we've guided the year, and we'll continue to see improvements through the year. I think we're comfortable with where we've positioned ourselves. I think that the importance of the Phase 2 of the process to get us to 5 million tons is critical in that value proposition as well. We've got a significant resource here with great opportunity to expand, as we've highlighted with flank drilling. This property will continue to deliver for a long, long time, and it'll evolve as it goes.
I think it's going to evolve to the positive, and that, you know, kinda highlights the criticality of Phase 2 and, you know, why we're committing today to get those funds in place so we can ensure a schedule to get us into a, you know, a build as soon as we possibly can, which will take out the variances you see in trying to predict two, you know, a grade in a quarter and take out some of the lumpiness. You know, long-winded answer, Wayne, but no. Comfortable with, it's an evolution of, and there's, you know, there's nothing that concerns me at this point.
Very great. Look forward to the ramp-up ahead.
Cheers, buddy.
The next question is from Anita Soni with CIBC World Markets. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning. I just wanted to ask actually about grade reconciliation at Greenstone as well. I just wanted to first clarify that in the technical report that the new MRE already includes the reduction as a result of the voids and all that.
Yes. Hi, Anita. Yeah, and
Well-
I guess there's two questions in that. From a technical report perspective.
Well.
It refle-
Sorry. The follow-up was going to be.
No.
Go ahead.
Sorry. It reflects the technical report reflects the model update going forward. If we think about again, the questions in and around voids and the experiences that we've had to date is reflected in that model revision. In terms of the quarter, we saw some turnover issues in and around the glory hole, which is that shrink stope in the center of the pit and maintaining focus, but that's where Dave and the crew have brought in some additional resources so we can get that bench turnover rate, which negatively impacts our performance of grade against plan. From a reconciliation perspective, if we take the last couple of quarters, the model is actually reconciling very well above a cutoff against the model that we've used to predict the longer term. I mean, Matt, is there anything you'd add to that, bud?
No, that's correct.
Okay.
I'll just add one item if I might. We included all that information with respect to our guidance for the year as well.
Yep.
Yeah.
Does that cover the grade issue there, Anita?
Almost. The question was just in terms of the technical report, it does also talk about sort of a negative ounces, and, you know, tons and also on the grade a little bit, but combined a slight negative on the ounces. I'm just wondering if the reserve estimate already includes that as well, or the commentary in the technical report says basically that, you know, it's typical for this early stage, and it's not necessarily included in the reserve estimate yet.
No, again, the technical report is congruent with the reserves. They all exactly tie together. Matt?
That's right. Yeah. Best available information was utilized in that technical report. The most up-to-date void model is included, so the reserve and resource are depleted for that void model. As Pete and Darren alluded to, Q1, we're reconciling nicely to that model.
I think the underlying question there, Anita, is the reserve reflective of what's in the forward-looking plan? Yes, the same model is used for the forward-looking plan as used in the reserve. There's all those things are congruent.
Okay. Thank you.
Cool.
The next question is from Mohamed Sidibé with National Bank. Please go ahead.
Hi, Darren and team, thanks for taking my question. Maybe, going back to Valentine, on your grade tonnage and recovery there. I know that production was probably impacted by inventory in circuit. Is there more inventory in circuit left that could potentially impact Q2? Or how should we think about, you know, that going into the next quarters?
No. I mean, the inventory, we're not managing inventory. It's not like an AP sort of issue. I mean, there is, there's pinches and swells in inventory depending on grades going through. No, there was no drawdown of inventory at the end of the quarter. We play a straight bat at it. We actually saw a little bit of inventory build up in the April period as grades improved. No, there's no noise in there associated with inventory.
Sounds good. Yeah. Just asking 'cause trying to get back to your produced results with the tonnage grade and recovery. I'm slightly off, but maybe I can take that offline if that's there. On the cost at Valentine, I think the tech report highlighted lower, you know, processing costs, mining costs versus what you deliver in Q1. Understanding that you were impacted by the severe weather, what's the plan to get back to costs that were highlighted in the tech report there? What are some of the initiatives that you guys will be working on to get us back to that?
No, Mohamed, it's a good question, and I'll pass it over to Pete, and we can talk specifically about some of the nuances in Valentine. I will take a step back and look at the business holistically. I know we don't guide quarter-on-quarter against budget, but I'll use that as a basis of, keeping in mind that all of our guidance, it's prefaced off or based in the budget. Of course, you know, you take a budget, you lower it a little bit, and that becomes the guidance. If we look at Q1 spend, you know, we were within 1% on non kind of capital costs. When I say capital, I'm talking about the capital that was capitalized inventory and those sort of things are all in that total spend number.
We were within 1% of spend. You know, from an outgoings perspective, we're very, very consistent with where we see. We're actually underspent on some of the capital during the quarter, which we'll work on over the balance of the year, but that's the typical people being a little bit more aggressive about what they can get done at the outset of the year. Now specifically into Valentine. You wanna give a bit of color, Pete?
Yeah. Thanks, Darren. Thanks, Mohamed, for the question. Yeah, as Darren mentioned, across the board, we're within 1%. Very pleased with the control that the team and operators are showing over spend. At Valentine itself, we're a little above expectation, not in a way that we're concerned about. You know, largely, any spend that's above expectation is due to the severe winter and mitigating and mitigations we put in place go forward. That's on the numerator side, we're pretty happy with what's happening total spend side. It's the denominator, as Darren has already highlighted, on bringing unit costs back into line with expectations. We have to focus on the denominator side, that's the mining and the processing and grade management that Darren already alluded to.
Thank you. I'll get back into the queue.
The next question is from John Tumazos with John Tumazos Independent Research. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much, and congratulations on net cash day, whichever day that's gonna be this week or last week or next week. Could you elaborate on your definition of gold production versus inventory versus in-circuit? We know you're generating cash, and we know you're really selling gold, but it's kind of amazing that 20,000 oz fell out of the circuit's extra in Nicaragua this quarter. It's also equally amazing that Greenstone only had a 12,000 oz drop from the December quarter when the grade fell by 1/3 and the recovery fell by 1/4, and the recovery fell by 3%. It seems like the gold in solution is somewhat extraordinary.
Okay. No, John, thanks for your question. Thanks for the support. I'll start with the definition of what we use as gold production. Gold production is bullion, right? It's poured. We'll have a recovered gold, which represents the kind of the in-circuit changes. There's not a lot of noise between gold poured and gold recovered for the better part. If we think about Nicaragua, the drawdown in inventory was all not in process. It was stockpiles, right? You know, we ended up at the end of the year with a significant inventory that we then got into the process plant in Q4. Oh, sorry, in Q1, that was built in Q4 because we ran out of capacity. That was the inventory change in Nicaragua. It was just a build in inventory outside of the process plant.
Yeah, it's not an in-process inventory per se. Talk about inventories on Q4 to, or Q1 to Q4 at Greenstone. I'll ask Matt, from my recollection, I don't think there was a significant change in in-process inventories in-circuit Q1 over Q4.
Yeah. There's a little bit of variation Q- on- Q, but it's nothing planned. It's just based upon timing of pour at the month end, and it's a natural ebb and flow. Yeah, as to what Darren said, I didn't think there was a huge change of in-process inventory Q- on- Q.
But we'd be happy to-
You might have had an extra pour at Greenstone, like having an extra ship go off for a copper mine shipping concentrate or something.
Yeah. I mean, because what we'll typically do is that, we won't, we won't, kind of, you know, pour on the last day of the month, right? We'll just pour on a specific day every week or two days a week. Wherever they happen to fall, you might see some, you know, some inventory ups and inventory downs. No, happy to, happy to get on a, on a chat and walk through the specifics at Greenstone as well to make sure you're comfortable.
Congratulations on all the cash. Thank you.
No, appreciate it, bud. Thanks for all your support. I know it's been a journey, and you've been a supporter of the product for a long time, so thank you very much.
Thank you.
The next question is from Jeremy Hoy with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.
Thanks, Darren and team. Appreciate you taking my question. I'm gonna talk about Los Filos. Could you give us any detail on, I guess what's pending or needs to be negotiated on with the third community? Any update on how you're thinking about that operation. I know you guys internally have been going through some iterations of what that operation could look like if it restarts, and just a refresh on your thinking there would be helpful. Thank you.
Thanks, Jeremy, and thanks for your and Canaccord's support over the years. Los Filos is, you know, we're very, how do you say, optimistic about what we see at Los Filos, partly because, you know, there's 16 million ounces in all category. It's, you know, clearly a world-class asset. It has demonstrated ability to be able to produce. Our view of Filos is really looking to what the long term looks like. We're not in any hurry to restart operations in what was the previous form. It's really about, you know, the value proposition of birthing something that's in that, you know, potentially 300,000 oz-400,000 oz a year with a 20 year-30 year life within the current resource base. I mean, it's an outstanding asset.
What we're working, you know, very constructively with all of our stakeholders, including the third community, is getting comfortable with a commercial arrangement that's gonna ensure that that product is durable and resilient in all gold price environments and can maximize value for all stakeholders. We're working with that third community. The dialogue is, suffice to say, has been very constructive. It's clear in my mind that everyone is aligned behind wanting that to work, and we're gonna make sure that what we put in place ensures that people can have a level of confidence about our ability and our, I mean, us and the stakeholders working together over the long term to ensure that that investment we put into a CIL plant and reinvest back in that property is secure. That's our value proposition.
Again, the dialogue has definitely changed over the last year. Again, we're very, very comfortable with the discussions we're having, you know, the agreements will be had and the time they had and whether it's in two weeks time or two months time or, you know, three months time. I mean, again, I would anticipate something this year, it's not important as to whether it happens this year. It's about making sure we get the right agreements. In the background, you know, we're actually working with an EPC company to look at scale and scope in around, you know, what could this asset look like and what that capital size relationship is.
Our ability to be able to restart this asset is not impacted by the timing in which we have an agreement with the communities. Again, they're all happening concurrently, and the communities are aware of it. They're happy that we're doing that work. They see the value. No, I think this is a win-win, and we'll end up with a world-class asset that delivers for a long, long time.
Great. Thanks [audio distortion]. L ooking forward to seeing the progress there.
Yep. Thank you.
Once again, if you have a question, please press star then one. The next question is a follow-up from Anita Soni with CIBC World Markets. Please go ahead.
Hi. I just wanted to follow up on the tailings CapEx, like the remediation that you're gonna be doing there with the shear keys. Can you just give me an idea of the capital budget for that over the life of mine?
Sure. This is the Greenstone, right, Anita?
Yeah. Yeah. No, Greenstone.
Yeah. Okay, cool. Yeah, Matt's probably best poised to be able to talk about that. So Matt?
Yeah. I don't know if I'd classify it as remediation. It's kind of initial construction of the shear key, and it's baked into our CapEx profile for 2026. Yeah, I wouldn't call it remediation per se. I think some maybe bleeds into 2027 as well, it's all baked into our estimates and our guidance figures.
Yeah.
We can dive into more detail on the call if you wanna go through.
Yeah.
Dollars and cents.
Yeah. I was gonna add, Anita, that I think working off memory, we've got $80 million in there for the year 2026, but we'll take offline maybe the life of mine costs, if that's all right.
Okay. Thank you. Yeah, definitely I'll connect with you offline. Thanks.
Thanks.
Appreciate it. Thanks, Anita. Yeah, no, reach out and we'll fill in any blanks that need to be filled in.
This concludes the question- and- answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Darren Hall for any closing remarks.
Yeah. I'd just like to thank all our shareholders and for their continued support and everyone's participation and questions this morning. It is appreciated. It is valued. As always, Ryan and I and the entire executive team are always available if you have any further questions. With that, you know, take care, be well, and back to you, operator.
This brings to a close today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.