Hello everyone, and a warm welcome to the Sierra Metals First Quarter 2022 Financial Results Call. My name is Bethany, and I will be your operator today. If you would like to ask a question after the speaker's prepared remarks, you may do this by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. I will now hand the floor over to Christina Papadopoulos, Manager of Investor Relations at Sierra Metals. Christina, over to you. Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Sierra's first quarter 2022 results conference call. On today's call, we are joined by Luis Marchese, our CEO, and Ed Guimaraes, our CFO. Today's call will be followed by a question-and-answer period. The accompanying presentation for today's call is available to download through the webcast or from the company's website at sierrametals.com. Yesterday's press release, the financial statements, and the management's discussion and analysis are also posted on the company's website. I'd like to note that this earnings call contains forward-looking information that is based on the company's current expectations, estimates, and beliefs. The forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors. Actual results could differ materially from our conclusions, forecasts, or projections as reflected in the forward-looking information. Additional information about the material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the conclusions, forecasts, or projections in the forward-looking information and the material factors or assumptions that are applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection as reflected in the forward-looking information is contained in the company's annual information form, which is publicly available on SEDAR, EDGAR via Form 40-F or the company's website. Please note that our total dollar amounts mentioned on today's call are in US dollars, unless otherwise noted. I'd now like to turn the call over to our CEO, Luis Marchese, for an overview of the quarter's highlights as well as a summary of what's ahead for the remainder of 2022, followed by Ed Guimaraes, our CFO, for financial highlights. Thank you, Christina, and good morning, everyone. Looking at slide four, during the first quarter, the company's operations continued to feel some impact from COVID-related issues. In particular, at Yauricocha, we had a significant reduction in mine and service personnel, which prompted further delays in mine development and affected preparation of areas to be mined. These restrictions, coupled with the expected reduced ore grade due to limitations on accessing high-grade ore areas, meant a 38% decrease in copper equivalent production during the quarter. With continued efforts to safeguard the health of our employees and operate safely, we have seen a significant improvement in consistent staffing. Vaccination efforts continue with 100% of personnel at Yauricocha now fully vaccinated with three doses. At Bolivar and Cusi, most personnel are vaccinated with at least two doses, with plans to achieve full vaccination by the end of Q3 2022. During the second quarter and beyond, at Yauricocha we expect to be able to make up for the lower production we experienced early in the year due to the personnel challenges. Now we plan to operate at throughput levels that will allow us to target our permitted capacity of 3,600 tonnes per day. The discovery of a new high-grade Fortuna zone will help boost our throughput levels as well as grades. The new zone is adjacent to the current mining operation, located laterally between the Cachi Cachi and Esperanza zone and can be easily incorporated into the mine plan. We expect to access this ore body as early as Q3 2022. At Bolivar, the full turnaround program continues, and as we progress, we expect to see some improvement throughout the year. The first quarter was particularly difficult as we reached the tail end of the Bolivar West zone and the usable ore zone within Mina Escondida. With a 60% reduction in throughput and a 64% decrease in copper equivalent production. With the backlog in drilling and mine development we have experienced during the previous quarters and years, both throughput and grades have suffered. As we move into the full turnaround of operations, we were expecting that performance may worsen before we saw improvement. However, by the end of this first quarter, mining began at the Bolivar Northwest zone and is expected to provide ore for the next several quarters, which will support our plans for incremental production increases with improved grades at Bolivar and up to 5,000 tonnes per day by year-end. While production increases at the mines, further investment is done at the mines to correct the drilling and development backlog, update the operating facilities and auxiliary services, improve processes, and upgrade housing facilities, among several other initiatives. Finally, we have seen a substantial improvement at our Cusi operations so far this year with investments into the mine's infrastructure last year, improved ventilation with the addition of a raise bore, alleviating high temperatures at depth where most operations are taking place. A 15% increase in throughput during the first quarter, coupled with the mining of slightly higher grades, resulted in a 37% increase in silver equivalent production over the same period last year. Cusi's performance has no doubt helped support the consolidated production profile of the company during the quarter, especially as we continue our operational recovery at Bolivar. We had anticipated a timeline of at least two quarters before our Bolivar operations saw improvement, and we planned our guidance accordingly. We can report that despite a 38% decrease in consolidated copper equivalent production during the first quarter, we are on track to reach the company's first half production guidance of 34-39.5 million copper equivalent pounds. Looking ahead into 2022, turning to slide five. At Yauricocha, despite the permitting restrictions to mining lower levels of the mine where higher grades exist, we are focused on meeting maximum levels of throughput at 3,600 tonnes per day. Higher throughput, along with mining the accessible ore from the new high-grade Fortuna zone, will positively impact our ability to reach yearly targets. Our focus at Yauricocha remains the same, finding new innovative ways to produce and deliver at full capacity within our current mining constraints, especially with the continued strength in metals price. We expect that we will make up for reduced production during the early part of the first quarter at Yauricocha, and are on track to meet our guidance of between 45 and 49 million copper equivalent pounds. While the new Fortuna zone is expected to provide an increase in ore grade for the next year, our exploration drilling campaign continues with a focus on additional high-value targets. Moreover, a drilling program of at least 1,500 additional meters is proposed for Fortuna to further analyze the ore body and potentially find correlations between its structural patterns and geophysical information that may lead to finding additional high-value targets. Infrastructure projects also continue at Yauricocha, including work on the Yauricocha shaft, ventilation infrastructure, and the required expansion of the tailings dam. At Bolivar, we continue toward our plan to increase throughput on a quarterly basis with an end-of-year target of 5,000 tonnes per day. Improved production is anticipated in the second half of the year, with the Bolivar Northwest zone supporting the bulk of production. Additionally, with the reduction of the development backlog at the mine and installation of a mill already in our possession, the objective is to get Bolivar to a point where it can achieve a rate of 6,000 tonnes per day in 2023. However, our strategy is fluid, and the actual timing may change as priorities in our operational turnover shift. For the time being, our focus is to continue our infill drilling program to upgrade the classification of ore and improve the quality of resource estimation. We continue with additional mine development to regain access to ore and provide mining flexibility. We continue with critical infrastructure projects, including ventilation, communication, facilities, the integration tunnel connecting the mine to the plant, development ramps, and plant improvements. In terms of exploration, the company is focused on three areas. Bolivar East, an area of high-grade zinc, silver, and gold, where we expect to initiate a drilling campaign later this year, and La Sidra, a high-grade epithermal system of silver and gold, which can provide mineral value to support the Bolivar Mine. With improved operating efficiencies, a ramp-up in production, and continued strength in metal prices, we are optimistic that we will see a stronger revenue contribution from Bolivar by the end of the year and into 2023. At Cusi, the focus is on continued mine development and processing optimization to target a throughput of 1,200 tonnes per day. Infill drilling continues in order to support the development of the Santa Rosa-Elina vein and Northeast trend. Additional projects include equipment replacement and tailings dam development. We can report that the mine is on track to meet its production guidance within 1.75-1.85 million silver equivalent ounces, and that we expect that it will continue to provide a positive contribution towards the company's EBITDA. With that, I will now turn to Ed to review this quarter's financial highlights. Thanks, Luis, and good morning, everyone. Turning to slide 6. With the continued impact of COVID-19 on our employees and operations during the early months of the year, we reported a 24% decrease to our consolidated throughput. With a decline in all grades except for copper, this equated to a 38% decrease in consolidated copper equivalent production compared to the first quarter of 2021. Although strong metal prices continued, they were not able to fully offset the decline in production and revenue from metals payable, which decreased 18% when compared to Q1 2021. Adjusted EBITDA was $60 million, a 43% decrease resulting from lower revenues and lower gross margins when compared to Q1 of 2021. We reported a net income attributable to shareholders of $0.4 million or 0 cents per share, and adjusted net income of $5.9 million or 4 cents per share. We finished the quarter with approximately $19.5 million in cash. Our three-month revenue mix by metal continues to be led by copper, followed by silver and zinc at 41%, 28%, and 19% respectively. Lead and gold continue to contribute revenue in line with previous quarters at 7% and 5% respectively. Looking at the average realized prices compared to Q1 2021, we continue to see an improvement in copper driven by global infrastructure supply demands and the green energy revolution. Silver realized prices lagged slightly with a 9% decrease, while gold increased a modest 5%. Zinc and lead saw a strong increase with 36% and 15% respectively. Turning now to slide seven. Compared to Q1 2021, a 48% increase in cash costs and a 41% increase in all-in sustaining costs were driven by a 37% decrease in copper equivalent payable pounds at Yauricocha. Given our inability to mine in higher grade zones over the past few quarters, we have seen a downward trend in grades at Yauricocha, which continued to result in increased costs when comparing Q1 2022 to last quarter. In addition to lower grades, throughput in the first quarter of 2022 was also impacted by poor performance of a mining contract. Mine tons were below targets, and the mine had to resort to stockpiles, which also negatively impacted grades. Costs were also impacted to some extent by a nationwide transportation strike during the last week of March that resulted in an increase in unsold concentrate inventory at quarter end. Had this event not developed, cash costs would have been closer to $2 per pound. At Bolivar, cash costs increased by 187% and all-in sustaining costs by 152%, driven by a 56% decrease in copper equivalent payable pounds, which resulted in higher operating costs per ton. When compared to Q4 2021, Bolivar's cash costs have improved by 14% and all-in sustaining costs by 15%. While tonnage decreased by 18%, higher grades this quarter, while still significantly lower compared to Q1 2021, compensated slightly and improved costs. Overall, this is a positive trend for our turnaround program as we are seeing improvements quarter over quarter. At Cusi, as mentioned earlier, investments into the mine last year have provided for increased operating efficiencies so far this year. A 49% increase in silver equivalent payable ounces resulted in a decline to both cash costs and all-in sustaining costs by 28% and 34% respectively when compared to Q1 2021. Looking at a comparison to Q4 2021, cash costs increased 14% while throughput increased by 4% quarter-over-quarter. The cost of inputs also increased. Global inflation and the impact of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the cost of fuel, explosives, and drilling equipment, have also increased. Silver equivalent payable ounces reported during the quarter are in line with the previous quarter. However, the increase in cash costs resulted in higher cash costs per unit. On the other hand, all-in sustaining costs decreased by 5% when compared to Q4 2021. Costs related to treatment and refining charges and general and administrative costs, as well as sustaining capital expenditures decreased, resulting in a lower all-in sustaining cost per ounce. In conclusion, on slide eight, the company reported $19.5 million in cash as of March 31, 2022. Our total debt at the end of the first quarter was $81.1 million, with a net debt of $61.6 million. Cash and cash equivalents decreased during the quarter due to $3.9 million used in operating cash activities, $10.7 million used in investing activities, and $0.9 million used in financing activities. The company has further access to available credit lines with local banks as well as other short-term lines and prepayment facilities with its commercial off-takers. For the remainder of 2022, the company's focus will be on improved operating cash flows through improved production and cost reduction, supported by a strong base metals price environment. Management will continue to review metal prices and retains the option to adjust the capital expenditures should metal prices experience any dramatic changes within the year. With that, I will now turn the call back to Christina. Thanks, Ed. That ends the presentation section of this call. We'd now like to open the call to questions from participants. In the interest of time then, we ask participants to keep their questions limited to the call participants and operators. Please, operator, you may open the line. Thank you. To ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad now. The first question comes from Mark Reichman from Noble Capital Markets. Mark, please go ahead. Thank you. Good morning. Just had two questions. First is, with the recovery and production over the balance of the year, do you still expect to meet the cash and all-in sustaining cost by mine guidance? Hi, Mark. Thanks for the question. Yes. We expect to still meet those guidance numbers. Okay. Yeah, 'cause it's a little hard to tell because sometimes, you know, if you experience some inflation in some of the particular line items, I was just thinking, well, you know, I think Cusi was fine for the first quarter, but Bolivar and Yauricocha were quite a bit higher than the guidance. I thought, well, you know, maybe there might be some stickiness, you know, to some of those costs, but it sounds like it's really just a function of production. Just the second question is if you could provide just a little more clarity. You know, in your corporate presentation, you've got slides 11 and 12 and 22 that talk about the Yauricocha, you know, production growth and brownfield opportunities. If you could just maybe provide a little more clarity on Fortuna, kinda what that means in terms of a grade uplift, and then, you know, kinda longer term plans to bridge to the mining at depth, you know, after 2023 once you get the permit. Hello, Mark. This is Luis. Fortuna is, we've been double increasing all the areas up above the 1120 level mark, which is our current mining restriction. By doing that and doing some reinterpretation, we were successful in finding the Fortuna area, which is within the Cachi Cachi and Esperanza. There is a large open area there in the levels above 1120 level. This is a very good development because we've found these high-grade zone, and we are, as we said in the presentation, looking into hopefully finding other areas like that. Now, what does this mean in terms of the mine production? As you are aware, over the years, Yauricocha has benefited from what has been called the Cuerpos Chicos, which are small bodies, smaller bodies with high grade. These smaller bodies with high grade would usually mix with the lower grade, larger ore bodies, and that would give you the mix that make Yauricocha so or have made Yauricocha profitable over the years. What happens is that most Cuerpos Chicos now are below the 1120 level. Okay? Actually, almost all of them. To an extent, by finding Fortuna above 1120 level, we are replacing the high grade that we would usually mine from the Cuerpos Chicos below the 1120 level. This is very good news. The other very good news is that it's at the 720 level, which is where we have our main extraction tunnel. It's very easy to access. We've got all the facilities there. We've got ventilation. We've got power. We are now developing, and we can put it into production in a few months. This is very good news, as we've highlighted in our presentation. Thank you very much. That's really helpful. Our next question comes from Heiko Ihle from H.C. Wainwright & Co. Heiko, please go ahead. Hey, it's Heiko from H.C. Wainwright & Co. I saw some news, you know, with protests arising from food, energy costs in Peru, just given, you know, commodity price spikes and obviously, you know, inflation is an issue we have just about anywhere when it comes to every single earnings call I've been on so far. What are you seeing and what are you doing to mostly or if at all mitigate it as much as you can? Also how much have your fuel costs actually gone up? Yeah. Well, inflation is a concern, Heiko, as well as exchange rate. Now the exchange rate when we doing the budgeting process was slightly about 4 soles per dollar, and now it's closer to 3.80 soles. Around 65% of our costs are in soles. We are having a bit of a spike from exchange rate. We're also having some on fuel. We are not so fuel intensive as much as power intensive. Power has remained fairly similar. That hasn't affected us so much. We are looking at explosives and other items that we are price takers to a large extent. Certainly we can manage, but if the market is moving you know, up, there is so much we can do about it, but certainly we are trying to improve the effectiveness of the use of those you know, as usual. Early on this call, you talked about the exploration of Bolivar East, and obviously high-grade zinc is very good in this market. How much are you actually spending on exploring this area? And I guess that's an impossible question to answer, but how much material do you think there might be located in this area, please? We're starting to. We have some guidance on what we can expect with high gold, but certainly we are just starting to do that really. One is called La Sidra. That has been in the works for some time, but it wasn't comparable to what we could get from in terms of volume and grade from copper. Now it's become quite relevant. We are targeting that. The other is the Bolivar East, which was before called La Arizona, actually, because it's a vein-type deposit. How much we are going to spend? So far, I think we have close to $1 million there. Depending on how good we get, we might increase it and try to bring it into production quite soon. We would have to batch it with the processing plant together with our copper for it. Got it. That's it for me. Thanks so much. I'll get back to you. Thank you. The next question comes from Leon Cooperman at Omega Family Office. Leon, please go ahead. Yeah, thank you. Thank you very much. Hope everybody is safe and healthy. Maybe, Ed, this is directed to Ed Guimaraes. Maybe you could help us tie this together. Give us a range that you're comfortable with EBITDA for this year and your range of CapEx, and therefore, where we could look towards free cash flow. That'd be my first question. Second, I think we're a much better company than $0.78 stock price. I think that the price of stock kind of gives it a cheapened image. Have we thought about the virtues of a reverse split, as a way of elevating stock price and maybe getting us out of the category of a cigar butt? Finally, based upon your budgets, last year you went to a dividend with the hope of the dividend being sustainable. I know this is determined by the board rather than management, but do you think you'll be in a position to pay a dividend at the end of this year based upon your budgets if things go along with your expected lines? Thank you, and wish you good luck. Thanks, Lee. Thanks for those questions. In terms of EBITDA, we're maintaining our guidance of between $90 million and $105 million. In terms of Q1 EBITDA, that was a little bit better than expected. We're definitely tracking well things. CapEx guidance was $71 million. Now, depending on really the turnaround at Bolivar, we will have the option to reduce that. I believe we'll probably come under CapEx, the $71 million, probably somewhere between $50 million-$60 million. Again, wanting to ensure that we have sufficient liquidity to meet any production shortfalls that we may have. We're still not out of the woods yet with respect to the turnaround, but we hope to be over the next couple of months. In terms of NAV, there's no question, Lee, that our share price has gotten hammered. More so even though if you look at the whole mining space, I think it's fair to say that mining companies globally have seen depressed share prices. Sierra has definitely suffered more than most than the rest. I don't really want to speculate on in terms of what an NAV is. I would again, I believe our analysts have done a really good job, and you can, and I encourage everyone on the call to really review the analyst coverage research reports where they do provide the target and provide NAV and target share price. In terms of the reverse split. May I ask you about the reverse split, the dividend intentions? Oh, yeah. Yeah. No. I'll get to that now. We just wanted to mention that as well. In terms of the reverse split, yes, that's something. You know, it is a little bit of, you know, it's really from an arithmetic perspective. There's really not a lot going on there, but it is something we can look at. It's more cosmetic than anything else, but it is something, and I'm happy to speak to you more about that in terms of, you know, the best way to go about that and really the advantages of doing that. It is something that I know we have discussed in the past. In terms of the dividend, the dividend really will depend on the turnaround, on the strength of the metal prices. It's not a big dividend, but given where we are now, I think it's too early to make that call. We'll be in a much better position when we get through close to, let's say, August, September, to make that call. But for now- Remind me in terms of your debt, you have a quarterly amortization of debt? That's correct, Lee. It's $6.25 million per quarter, so $25 million a year. We're in the process of refinancing the $25 million for 2022. We have very good relations with our Peruvian banks, and those discussions are going very well, and we hope to make an announcement soon. They've been extremely supportive. All right. Thank you very much for your responses. I appreciate it. Thank you, Lee. A final reminder to press star one if you would like to ask a question. The next question comes from Jim Young at Midwest Investments. Jim, please go ahead. Yeah, hi. I have a couple questions here. Number one is, can you just give us an update as to what the status is with Cusi, please? It was my impression that the management team was focused on divesting its asset. Yeah. Thanks, Jim. Yeah, Cusi, we are in a process for Cusi. But I, you know, as you know, Cusi really is, it represents, you know, 10% of our revenue. It's not our focus, our primary focus right now. Cusi, the investments that we made last year on infrastructure really paid off. You can see that in Q1 results. From our perspective, there would have to be a buyer with good financial wherewithal, willing to pay cash, willing to, you know, to continue to invest in Cusi, because I think it does need investments yearly given the epithermal, you know, pinch and swell vein characteristics. We'd also be looking for some sort of a royalty. All these things need to play out. Whether we're gonna find... Even though we are in a process, again, it's really not our priority. We're certainly happy to retain Cusi, especially with the financial results that we're seeing this year. We should be able to provide an update during our next conference call. The process should be done by then, for sure. Okay, thank you. Secondly is, regarding your EBITDA, I think, Ed, you said that, first quarter EBITDA of $16 million was a little bit ahead of your expectations. Is that correct? Yes. Yeah, that certainly metal prices helped as well, the spot metal prices. Okay, could you please give us the quarterly progression for the remainder of 2022 for the June quarter, September and December, that would get to the low end of the $90 million guidance range? I think you should see Q2 being somewhat in line with Q1. You're really just gonna see the significant uptick in the second half, Jim. Really, it's still sticking to guidance broken by first half and second half. If you look at the guidance broken by first half and second half, I believe we'll be in those ranges for sure. Okay. Well, if you're looking for a similar level of EBITDA for the second quarter, that suggests that the third and fourth quarter should show significant ramp ups. Not quite clear as to what's gonna drive the significant ramp up in the third quarter and the fourth quarter. Can you help us understand what's going to drive that improvement, please? It's really scale. Bolivar being at the 5,000, working up to the 6,000 tons per day, that's gonna be significant. Okay, thank you. Mm-hmm. Steve, yeah. The next question comes from Chen Lin at Lin Asset Management. Chen, please go ahead. Hi. Thank you for taking my questions. Most of my questions has been answered. I'm just curious, one of the issue for Peru is the water levels. How challenging do you see to get the permit to mine below the water level, and then how long that would take? Thank you. Thank you, Chen. The issue that initially limited the permitting for Yauricocha was the fact that there is underground water at the mine site. In order to reach into those levels, you've got to do a full environmental impact statement. That process is a fairly robust and complicated and lengthy process, which can take up to three years, as history has told us. We started that process last year, and we expect that process to finish late into next year. Then we would apply for the mining permit, and that could allow us to go into these new areas. We don't foresee any major issues on accessing those areas because Yauricocha has been mining in wet areas for quite a number of years. We just have to follow the process and keep up with the communities and with the government on this. Okay, great. Thank you. For the congratulations for your recent high-grade discovery in underground. Do you have the size, relative size, of that discovery? Or is it right now too early to tell? It's still early, James. Thank you. Thank you for your congratulations. Yeah, it is still early. As I said, we believe that it's more about the grade than the tonnage. That's what's going to help us replace these high-grade Cuerpos Chicos that we've been mining over the years, which are below the 920 level. It's going to give us some relevant tonnage, but more particularly the high grade. I don't want to understate that we are still looking in that area, and we are still hopeful that we might be able to find some other similar ore bodies, but nature will tell. Okay, great. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, that's major question. Maybe the others I'll take an offline. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. We have a follow-up question from Leon Cooperman at Omega Family Office. Lee, please go ahead. Thank you. I was just curious, any insight into latest moves in the government in Peru? You know, are they company-friendly, industry-friendly, industry-negative? What's going on in terms of leadership of the country? Thanks, Lee. That's a difficult question, Lee, because the government has shown different faces on how they deal with extractive industries. On one hand, they state that they are supportive, but on the other hand, that has not necessarily been the case. It's a moving target. Our concern is more now with the experience of the people that is now in the Ministry of Energy and Mines particularly, and other ministries. These are very technical entities, and our concern is that the new appointees don't have that required experience. They've been only a few months on the job, so we'll see how it works. It's a difficult question to answer, Lee. Thank you. Gotcha. You have an easy question you want me to ask you? Good luck. Thank you for your response. I appreciate it. Okay, good luck. Thank you. Thank you for that. We have no further questions, so I'll hand it back for any final remarks. Thank you, operator. That concludes today's call. On behalf of the management team, I'd like to thank all participants for joining us today. A replay of the webcast and all materials can be found on our website at sierrametals.com. If there are any further questions or concerns, you may reach out to us after today's call. Our contact information can be found in today's presentation as well as on the company's website. Thank you, operator. Please conclude the call. This concludes the Sierra Metals first quarter 2022 financial results call. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.