Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the NovaGold 2023 Third Quarter Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast. 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. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference over to Melanie Hennessey, Vice President, Corporate Communications. Please go ahead.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. We are pleased that you have joined us for NovaGold's 2023 Third Quarter Financial Results and also for an update on the Donlin Gold Project. On today's call, we have Greg Lang, NovaGold's President and CEO; and David Ottewell, NovaGold’s Vice President and CFO. At the end of the webcast, we will take questions by phone. Additionally, we will respond to questions received by e-mail. I would like to remind our listeners, as stated on slide three, any statements made today may contain forward-looking information, such as projections and goals, which are likely to involve risks detailed in our various EDGAR and SEDAR filings and forward-looking disclaimers included in this presentation. I now have the pleasure of turning the presentation over to our President and CEO, Greg Lang. Greg?

Thank you, Melanie. Before we begin, I would like to note that Dr. Thomas Kaplan, our Chairman and largest shareholder, sends his regrets for not being able to be on the call this morning as he is in transit back to the US after several weeks abroad. Ahead of going into our third quarter activities, I'd like to begin today's call by providing a brief overview on slide five on why both us and our shareholders view Donlin Gold as a Tier 1 asset. With approximately 39 million ounces of gold at an impressive grade of 2.25 grams more than twice the industry average and a projected mine life of almost 30 years Donlin Gold has the potential to become a significant and cost-effective producer. In addition, excellent exploration potential exists beyond the known resource area, which covers less than 5% of our extensive land holdings. And importantly, the project is situated on private land designated for mining in Alaska, a world-leading jurisdiction known for responsible mining practices and enduring partnerships with Calista and TKC that position the project favorably on a path toward development. It is important to put into context, the company's accomplishments since the reorganization over 10 years ago, especially for those who are new investors and less familiar with NovaGold. We have been focused on executing a strategy that was sent in motion by our Chairman and me in 2012, namely to unlock the value of NovaGold's high-quality assets for our shareholders and dedicate all of our energy toward creating a maximum leveraged pure gold play on unique endowment that is the Donlin project as shown on slide six. Looking at slide seven. Alaska offers an excellent environment for mining and is in one of the world's safest jurisdictions. It ranks the second largest gold producer…

Okay. Thank you, Greg. Slide 20 highlights our operating performance. We reported a net loss of $11.1 million in the third quarter, a $5 million decrease from the prior year quarter primarily due to lower field expenses at Donlin Gold with fieldwork and geotechnical drilling for the Alaska DAM Safety certificate applications and hydrological drilling to support mine planning and design completed in July this year. During the prior year quarter, the large exploration drilling program was progressing towards completion. Increased interest expense on the promissory note was offset by increased interest income on cash and term deposits. Third quarter cash flows are highlighted on slide 21. Cash and term deposits increased by $21.1 million, with $25 million received from Newmont, $3 million used for G&A and $2.5 million to fund our share of Donlin Gold. The decrease in cash used in the third quarter of 2023 compared to 2022 was due to a reduction in the required Donlin Gold funding and increased interest received on cash and term deposits due to higher interest rates. On slide 22, for the full fiscal year 2023, we expect to spend approximately $13 million on G&A costs, $18 million to fund Donlin Gold and $1 million on remediation costs at the former New Gold House property near Nome, Alaska. Our forecast funding of Donlin Gold through November 30th is $1 million higher than originally planned due to additional mining studies. Back to you, Greg.

Thank you, Dave. Donlin Gold, with support from the owners and various third-party consultants completed numerous trade-off studies and extensive analysis on all project assumptions, inputs and design components such as mine engineering, metallurgy, hydrology, power and infrastructure. This recently completed work provided valuable information for the Donlin Gold board and its owners. These were discussed in depth at the most recent joint workshop we held in Alaska with Barrick and are helping to define the next steps in the advancement of the Donlin Gold project and a work plan for the coming years. We look forward to providing an update in the next month. There are many different conflicting economic wins that are causing turbulence which I believe ultimately will be very positive for gold. We're seeing right now gold test the $1,800 support level. And after this test is done, I think we can expect a sharp move upwards in the not-too-distant future. The chart on slide 24 provides a history of gold cycles from 1970 onward. The cycle we find ourselves in currently has several distinguishing factors that were not seen in past cycles, such as central banks accumulating gold at unprecedented rates, government debt and historical highs, lack of new discoveries and rising globalization trends just to name a few of the things which are predicted to have a positive impact on gold escalating demand and supply limitations underscore the value of mining equities with top-tier preproduction assets. Donlin Gold's steadfast commitment to advancing this extraordinary project carefully up the value chain is reflected in our increased investments in extensive and expanded partnerships. The work done on the project had added considerable value in a responsible manner for all stakeholders, including Alaska Residence and NovaGold shareholders. Donlin holds status as a true Tier 1 asset in a world-leading jurisdiction and it is anticipated to provide exceptional gold leverage and economic benefits for all stakeholders. As one of the top development gold projects in the world, Donlin Gold, when built, is expected to serve as a cornerstone for economic, sustainable growth in the region for many years to come. I wish to thank all of our dedicated shareholders for choosing to invest in NovaGold as well as their engagement, patience and valuable insight over the years. We also look forward to providing updates and developments on Donlin Gold. With that, operator, we will now open the line for questions.

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Lucas Pipes with B. Riley Securities.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. This is Nick Giles asking a question on behalf of Lucas. Congratulations on the recent progress. Greg, last quarter, you touched on the fine-tuning on the metallurgical side as part of the comprehensive work. And with the trade-off studies now completed, I was wondering if you could maybe expand on some of the optimization done as it relates to input assumptions et cetera? And then maybe a second question, a follow-up there. You said working to define these next steps. So I was wondering if there's a particular bucket here, whether inputs or assumptions that's really driving that process? Thank you very much.

Sure. Thank you for joining the call this morning. Give our best to Lucas. I think the feasibility study and hence the infrastructure concepts for Donlin are somewhat dated now. And I think it was important for us to revisit them and make sure that the assumptions on how to fuel the project, how to generate power, how to access it, to make sure they were still valid. And as we've wrapped up all of these studies, I think the original concept was validated, and that was very important that it stood the test of time. A lot of the work you mentioned specifically metallurgy, very much of a fine-tuning process cautioning the grind a little bit to save on power and some fine-tuning to the flotation cells to increase the recovery of a couple of percent. So very in-depth work that enhances the project, although it hasn't really -- it's not significantly changed it. And I think that's the same with all of the infrastructure and our general assumptions on the project that the project has conceived and permitted remains the best approach to take forward.

Great. That's really helpful. I appreciate all the color there. Maybe just one more from a macro perspective. We have a strong dollar rising yields, inflation that seems to be sticking around with regard to some project costs. What do you think we need to see here to bring some resource investors off the sidelines?

Well, I think, you're absolutely right. Resource investors are completely off on the sidelines and we're not seeing any new institutional investors coming in. And I think it's very much not just in the gold markets, but really throughout the equities, people are taking a wait and see, look, what's going to happen with interest rates? Is it higher for longer? And the strength of the dollar is also playing into gold and gold equities. So I think what we need to see to really break this is, you know, the Fed is going to signal sooner or later that they can't keep raising interest rates. And if you look at gold prices in pretty much every major currency other than the US dollar, they're trading at record high prices. And I think once we -- once the Fed signals that the rate hikes are over with, I think, the dollar will stabilize, if not drop, and that will be very good for gold. I think gold is just coiling to significantly break out when the economic turbulence caused by the rising rates settles down.

Greg, as always, we really appreciate your perspective. So to you and the team continue best of luck.

Thank you.

We also have a question coming from the webcast from one of our shareholders, David Lesinski. Can you strike a deal with an energy company to supply the pipeline to the mine at their cost?

Well, David, thank you for your question and your interest. Now that I think we've settled that bringing gas to the site is the most viable option. And in the future, perhaps using Donlin as a hub for energy for the region. I think now that we've settled that the conversations with other interested parties will take on a new life and it would be our preference to bring in a third-party to own and operate that pipeline and we would end up as customers. So it's certainly something that is on our minds as we continue to advance the project.

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Greg for any closing remarks.

All right. Well, thank you, everyone. On behalf of NovaGold, our Chairman and our Board, thank you for your continued interest in the company and taking the time to get a third quarter update and we look forward to additional updates as we lay out the plans for next year. Thank you.

This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.