Hello, welcome to the annual meeting of shareholders of First Quantum Minerals Ltd. 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. At the end of today's meeting, we'll have a question and answer session. You can submit questions or comments at any time during the meeting by clicking on the message icon. It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Philip Pascall. Chairman Philip, the floor is yours.
Thank you, Ryan. Welcome to the 2023 annual general meeting of First Quantum Minerals, which I will now call to order. I'm Philip Pascall. I'm the chairman of the company. I will act as chairman of the meeting. Before I begin with the formalities of the meeting, I'd like to acknowledge this year that the annual general meeting, like last year, will be held virtually via the Computershare platform. Joining me on the call today is Tristan Pascall, our Chief Executive Officer. Robert Harding, Lead Independent Director of the company. Our remaining directors, Andrew Adams, Kathleen Hogenson, Kevin McArthur, Simon Scott, Peter Buzzi, Joanne Warner, and Alison Beckett, are also present at the meeting. We also have other members of our management team attending today.
Ryan MacWilliam, the CFO, Rudi Badenhorst, the Chief Operating Officer, Alison Quinn, Group Manager, HR, Bonita To, Director, Investor Relations, and John Gregory, Director of Mining, to name but a few. As the company's chairman, I will chair the meeting. Later on, we'll have briefly review the company's performance over the last year. Please be advised that if you are a registered shareholder or duly appointed proxy holder who have properly logged in with your control numbers or invite code, you may ask questions through the Computershare chat function, and we will answer any questions you may have asked after the main business of the meeting has concluded. I will ask that Mrs. Sarah Robertson act as secretary of the meeting, and I appoint Computershare Investor Services, Inc., through its representatives, to act as scrutineer at the meeting.
I have before me a copy of the affidavit of mailing from Computershare, confirming that the notice and access document, combined notice of meeting and management information circular dated March 14, 2023, where applicable, form of proxy, voting instruction form, AGM guide for virtual meeting, annual report, and financial statement request form were mailed to security holders on March 28, 2023. I have before me a preliminary scrutineer's report indicating that 111 shareholders have voted 592,646,424 common shares of the company by proxy, representing about 85.58% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the company.
As the articles of the company require the presence of 2 shareholders, and we have 111 in person or by proxy, for a quorum to exist at shareholder meeting, I declare that a quorum is present and that the meeting is regularly called and properly constituted for the transaction of business. I would ask that the scrutineer compile the report regarding the results of the voting on all business matters. Results will be published by the company on SEDAR and by press release. For the purpose of meeting today, voting on all matters will be conducted by electronic ballot. Registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders who properly logged in with their control number or invite code will be able to vote after the presentation of the items of business to be put forth at today's meeting.
When you're invited to vote, you will receive a message on the Computershare virtual interface requesting you to register your vote for each item of business. If you're a registered shareholder or duly appointed proxy holder and have already voted by submitting your proxy form in advance of the meeting, it's not necessary for you to vote again today. The last general meeting of the company was held on May the 5th, 2022. I have the minutes of that shareholders meeting before me and ask for a motion.
I move that the reading of the minutes of the 2022 annual general meeting held on May 5, 2022 be dispensed with and that the minutes of the said meeting be taken as read and approved.
Thank you, Sharon. I'd now like to move to the formal business of the meeting and the resolutions for consideration before the meeting today. Number 1, I present the consolidated financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31st, 2022, and the report of the auditor thereon, copies of which have been mailed to each shareholder of the company who's requested. Electronic copies of the consolidated financial statements are also available for viewing on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Next item of business, Number 2, is to fix the number of directors to be elected to the board of directors. The management information circular provided for the number of directors to be fixed at 10. Next is the election of the 10 directors of the company for the ensuing year.
The company has nominated the following persons for election as directors: Andrew Adams, Alison Beckett, Geoff Chater, Robert Harding, Kathleen Hogenson, Kevin McArthur, Philip Pascall, Tristan Pascall, Simon Scott, and Dr Joanne Warner. Please note that in accordance with the company's majority voting policy, this resolution requires you to vote for each individual director and not a slate of directors. The next item of business is to appoint the auditors for the ensuing year. It's proposed that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Chartered Accountants be reappointed to serve as auditors of the company for the ensuing year, and the directors of the company be authorized to fix the auditors' remuneration. The next is to accept the company's approach to executive compensation as described in the management information circular. It should be noted that this is an advisory vote and the results will not be binding on the company.
However, the board will take results of the vote into account, as appropriate when considering any future compensation policies, procedures, and decisions. The final item of the business is to approve the continuation, amendment, and restatement of the rights plan dated January 6, 2020. Specific details of the shareholder rights plan are set out in the management information circular. The plan was adopted to ensure, to the extent possible, that our shareholders are treated fairly in the event of a takeover bid for the company. May I have a motion for each of these resolutions?
I move that the consolidated financial results of the company for the year ended December thirty-first, twenty twenty-two, be received. That the number of directors to be elected be fixed at 10. That each of Andrew Adams, Alison Beckett, Geoff Chater, Robert Harding, Kathleen Hogenson, Kevin McArthur, Philip Pascall, Tristan Pascall, Simon Scott, and Dr Joanne Warner be elected as directors to hold office until the conclusion of the next annual meeting of the company. That PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Chartered Accountants be appointed as auditors of the company to hold office until the close of the next annual general meeting of the company, and that the directors be hereby authorized to fix the remuneration to be paid to the auditors. That it be resolved on an advisory basis and not to diminish the roles and responsibilities of the board of directors of the company.
That the shareholders accept the approach to executive compensation as disclosed in the company's management information circular, delivered in advance of this annual general meeting of shareholders. That the rights plan resolution described and set out on pages 9 and 10 of the company's management information circular dated March 14, 2023, be adopted as an ordinary resolution of the company.
Thank you, Sharon. The poll is now open for approximately 1 minute. I ask that you cast your votes. Thank you. I now declare the poll closed. Given that it will take some time for the scrutineer to determine the results of the ballot and prepare their report, I'd like to involve Tristan Pascall, our Chief Executive Officer, to make a short presentation on the company's performance over the past year.
Thanks, Philip. Thank you for joining us today at First Quantum Minerals 2023 annual general meeting. My name is Tristan Pascall, and I'm the chief executive officer of the company. It is certainly a privilege to address you today. I would first like to thank Peter St. George, who has retired from the board this year. Peter has been on the board since 2003, and has been a vital member with his broad business experience and extensive knowledge of the financial markets. I am also pleased to welcome Geoff Chater to our board of directors. Jeff brings with him a strong background in mining and investor relations. 2022 was a volatile year with several events that impacted the global economy and our business.
While the restrictions from the global pandemic largely eased early in 2022, the wider global economic mood shifted from recovery to concerns of inflation resulting from the Ukraine crisis. Quickly followed by concerns of a global economic slowdown brought about by China's zero COVID policy and rising interest rates. This series of events saw large fluctuations in commodity prices, input costs, and interest rates in 2022, which had a knock on impacts for our customers, supply chains, and indeed the cost of capital. Notwithstanding these challenging macroeconomic conditions, First Quantum was focused on delivering from operations, improving our balance sheet, and sanctioning disciplined growth opportunities. Consistent performance and continuous improvement across each of our operations successfully allowed us to navigate the volatile market conditions. Our in-house project teams continued to execute our series of brownfield growth projects successfully.
I'm very proud of the entire team at First Quantum for their swift adaption and for their pragmatic approach for delivering these results across the year. Financial strength continued in 2022, with the company reporting sales revenues of $7.6 billion, gross profit of $2.2 billion, and net earnings attributable to shareholders of $1 billion. The company delivered on its interim commitment to reduce net debt by $2 billion and announced a target of further reducing net debt by $1 billion in the medium term. For our shareholders, we implemented a new dividend framework whereby the company would pay the greater of an annual base dividend of CAD 0.10 per share or a performance dividend of 15% of available cash flows generated after our planned capital spending and distributions to non-controlling interests.
Under this new policy, it was pleasing to announce a total dividend of CAD 0.29 per share for the financial year ended December 31, 2022. Over the 2022 year, First Quantum produced approximately 776,000 tons of copper. Cobre Panama set a new annual production record of 350,000 tons of copper, highlighting the excellent operating performance of the mine. The result was driven by continuous improvement projects across the operation, from improved blasting fragmentation to improvements in SAG milling rates. I'm pleased to update the market that commissioning work for the CP100 expansion was completed ahead of schedule in the first quarter this year. We achieved first ore through the new facilities during the quarter and throughput benefits were realized immediately.
We remain on track to achieve 100 million tons per annum throughput rate by the end of this year. These performances were achieved whilst negotiations to reset the taxation and royalty arrangements for the mine with the government of Panamá were ongoing. The agreement of a final draft contract in early 2023, while subject to final approval by the National Assembly, provides a pathway to continue our ongoing substantial investments in the country. The Kansanshi mine produced 146,000 tons of copper in 2022. The mine faced challenges of lower grades due to narrow vein regions and depleting oxide and mixed ores, which was exacerbated by limited flexibility in the operation's selected mining methodology as the pit continues to deepen. In the last several months, the team has been enhancing the reconciliation of these mine areas, which has led to more consistent pre-grades.
Sentinel produced 242,000 tons of copper for the full year 2022. With the fourth in-pit crusher fully commissioned, Sentinel achieved its design capacity of 62 million tons per annum ahead of schedule and exited the year setting records in mill throughput. Also, during the year, we announced several projects which will support our ongoing development towards 1 million tons of annual copper production at First Quantum. In May 2022, the board approved the Kansanshi S3 Expansion and the Enterprise Nickel project at Trident. These approvals mark the reinvigoration of our investment into Zambia following constructive engagement with the government of Zambia as part of its efforts to reform the mining sector and improve the investment climate in the country.
The S3 Expansion, when completed in 2025, will comprise of a 25 million ton per annum processing plant with a new larger mining fleet that will increase Kansanshi's total annual throughput to 53 million tons per year and return Kansanshi to an approximate 200,000 tons per annum copper producer for its remaining life to 2044. I'm pleased to update you that we've had first ore through the Enterprise Nickel plant this year, and we're on track for first nickel production in the second quarter. This operation, along with our Ravensthorpe mine in Australia, will place First Quantum as one of the top nickel producers in the world, which complements our position as a leading copper producer and further increases our exposure to energy transition metals. Responsible growth remains a core value of the company.
We understand the impact of mining on the environment and the importance of mining in a responsible manner which fits with the communities around our operations. We recognize the need to extract metals in ways that continue to be cleaner, more environmentally responsible, and in a manner that allows the local communities to benefit and thrive. Working with our local communities continues to be a core value at First Quantum, and we embrace the responsibility to invest in the communities that host our projects. I'm very proud of our operations commitment to these programs. Our team in Mauritania continues to support our annual female empowerment program, which targets improving literacy, numeracy, and livelihoods in Akjoujt. At Trident, the team successfully launched the EDGE program with a goal to enhance each girl's access to education and training opportunities by helping them to stay in school.
At the launch of this program, we donated thousands of essential feminine hygiene projects at Jiendu. In Panama, our national school support program provides food and nourishment for over 5,300 children every day. In 2022, we made the first important step in our pathway to decarbonize power in Panama. This is central to our greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets of 30% by 2025 and 50% by 2030. We were pleased to receive annual approval from the National Dispatch Center in September to source 64 megawatts of renewable power from AES Panamá for 20 years for the CP100 expansion. We also formed a technology partnership with Hitachi for development of Hitachi's first battery dump trucks at the Constancia mine.
As many of you are aware, we have made a commitment to significantly expand the trolley assist networks at our mine over the coming years. When our trucks are connected to trolley assist and powered by electricity, it can reduce our diesel consumption by up to 90%. This initiative with Hitachi represents an important milestone towards the future commercialization of battery technology and the decarbonizing of our mining operations. With our confidence in the strengthening long-term prospects for copper, we continue to advance our development projects at Taca Taca in the Salta province in Argentina and Haquira in Apurímac in southern Peru. Adding to our pipeline for growth, early this year, we formed a partnership with Rio Tinto to move forward the La Granja project, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper ore bodies.
Adding this to our portfolio will give First Quantum one of the leading copper growth profiles in the industry. As I look ahead, the future for First Quantum remains bright. This is an exciting time for First Quantum with our portfolio of copper and nickel assets, two metals that are critical for the future. First Quantum is uniquely positioned as a copper-focused producer with exceptional operating teams and optionality in our pipeline with an in-house projects team to execute these projects. I believe First Quantum is the right company to deliver the energy metals needed for the 21st century as the world transitions to the greener economy and where responsible mining will be the only acceptable way to produce these metals. Thank you.
Thank you, Tristan. I've been advised that the scrutineer has completed the tabulation for each of the items of business. Based on provisional results, I declare that all resolutions have been approved and that the requisite majorities have been obtained. I would ask the scrutineer to compile a report regarding the voting results on all business matters, and I direct that the results be included in the minutes of this meeting. The results of the voting will be announced in a press release in accordance to the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange and filed on www.sedar.com under the company's profile. Before I terminate the meeting, I'd just like to add my comments and remarks in respect of the retirement of Peter St. George.
He's worked with us and with me on the board for the past 20 years, and that contribution has been of great significance and great importance to the welfare that this company now finds it in, itself in. Thank you, Peter. There being no further business, I would ask for a motion to conclude the meeting. May I have a motion?
I move that the meeting be concluded.
I hereby declare that the formal business of the day is concluded and the meeting terminated. I will now respond to any questions you may have. Okay. No questions. There are no questions no more, I would like to comment on the director changes. I've said a few words of thanks to Peter St. George, who retired from the board. I also take this opportunity to thank Peter for his outstanding service to the organization and wish him all the best. I'm pleased that Geoff Chater has been now elected to join the board as an independent director, effective immediately. Geoff is a long-standing employee from many years ago with First Quantum, has a wealth of experience and knowledge in positions that include the roles he had in our company and leadership roles in many prominent organizations over the years.
I'm confident that Geoff will be a valuable addition to the board. On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank you for attending today.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.