US$214 Million of Net Cash at IAMGOLD as Its Third Quarter Closed

Ninety-two thousand ounces of gold came out of Côté Gold, the open-pit mine between Timmins and Sudbury in Ontario, in the three months to September 30. IAMGOLD Corporation (TSX: IMG, NYSE: IAG) owns most of that mine, and its third-quarter results, released on November 5, 2026, show a softer quarter at Côté and a stronger balance sheet for the group.

IAMGOLD's 70 per cent share of Côté came to 64,400 ounces, down from 74,600 a year earlier. Group production in the quarter was 186,900 attributable ounces, and by September 30 the company held more cash than borrowings. IAMGOLD also told the market it will buy back half of a royalty on Côté for about US$525 million.

A balance sheet that turned in nine months

The figure that changed most is the one at the bottom of the statement of financial position. At December 31, 2025, IAMGOLD reported net debt of US$344.4 million. At September 30, 2026, it reported net cash of US$213.9 million, according to the third-quarter release.

Net cash is cash on hand minus borrowings and similar obligations. Here it came from two movements on the condensed interim statement of financial position filed on November 5, 2026: more cash and less debt.

The net figures come from the November 5 release and also count lease liabilities and letters of credit, which is why they differ from cash minus long-term debt; excluding those items, the release gives net cash of US$317.6 million at September 30, 2026.

The US$850 million revolving credit facility was undrawn at September 30, 2026. The debt left at that date is US$450 million of 5.75 per cent senior notes due October 15, 2028. Total available liquidity, cash plus about US$845.8 million available under the facility, was US$1,613.4 million at September 30, 2026, according to the MD&A.

The mines behind it produced US$461.1 million of net cash from operating activities in the quarter to September 30, 2026, and US$1,476.1 million over the nine months.

Net earnings attributable to shareholders for the quarter were US$297.0 million, or US$0.52 a share, against US$139.4 million a year earlier. Adjusted net earnings, the company's measure excluding items it does not treat as part of ongoing operations, were US$237.0 million, or US$0.42 a share.

Where the ounces came from

IAMGOLD runs three mines. Essakane in Burkina Faso, 85 per cent owned, produced 94,000 attributable ounces and remains the largest contributor. Since November 1, 2026, Burkina Faso has required gold doré from Essakane to go to approved refineries in the country; the company reported a temporary exemption from that rule in its November 5 release. Westwood in Quebec produced 28,500 ounces, and the company now expects it at the upper end of its 110,000 to 130,000-ounce range for the year. Côté supplied the 64,400 ounces in the opening paragraph.

Côté had a harder quarter than the other two, and the company's filings give the reasons. Mill throughput was about 2.9 million tonnes, head grade averaged 1.10 grams per tonne and recovery averaged 90 per cent, all below the third quarter of 2025. The company attributed the lower throughput to an extended shutdown in August and the transition to owner-only crushing. The company tied the lower recovery to downtime on one of the mill's two Vertimills, the vertical grinding machines that reduce crushed ore to a fine powder, early in the quarter. It also reported that the plant ran above its nameplate capacity of 36,000 tonnes a day in September.

The company's guidance language on Côté is specific. It expects Côté production at the lower end of its 270,000 to 310,000-ounce range, with the fourth quarter the strongest of the year on higher grades and processing rates. For the group, chief executive Renaud Adams said the company is "on track to achieve our full-year guidance of 720,000 to 820,000 ounces." Nine-month attributable production was 558,600 ounces, so the low end of that range needs roughly 161,400 ounces in the fourth quarter, below the 186,900 just reported.

The strongest case against the quarter

The fair objection to a strong quarter like this one is that the gold price did the work and the mines did not.

Costs rose. All-in sustaining cost, the industry's measure of what it costs to produce an ounce and keep the mines running, climbed against the same quarter of 2025, and the company now expects two of its cost measures to land above their 2026 ranges.

For 2026, Côté's cash costs excluding royalties are also expected to exceed the top of their US$900 to US$1,050 range. Group production was slightly lower than a year ago, at 186,900 attributable ounces against 189,500. Earnings more than doubled on a gold price that averaged US$4,277 an ounce in the quarter, and a lower price would meet a cost base that is moving up.

That case has weight, and the release itself supports part of it: the cost guidance changed and the production guidance did not improve.

It is weaker on royalties. A gross margin royalty pays its holder a fixed share of a mine's revenue minus defined operating costs, so the payment grows when the gold price does. IAMGOLD's guidance assumed US$4,000 an ounce; its nine-month realized price was US$4,514. The company attributes the overrun in the royalty-inclusive figure to higher royalties, which is that price difference passing through to royalty holders, and the excluding-royalty measure is expected in the upper part of its range, inside it. Côté's cash costs excluding royalties are the exception, expected above their range.

The company's next decision bears on the same point: once the Côté royalty repurchase closes, expected in December 2026, the royalty on IAMGOLD's 70 per cent interest falls to 3.75 per cent, according to the release, so less of any further rise in the gold price passes to the royalty holder at that mine. Attributable production was slightly below the third quarter of 2025; operating cash flow was US$461.1 million.

Half a royalty on Côté

On November 5, 2026, IAMGOLD gave notice to Franco-Nevada Corporation (TSX: FNV) that it will repurchase 50 per cent of Franco-Nevada's 7.5 per cent gross margin royalty on Côté, for an estimated US$525 million. The purchase is of a royalty, a claim on part of the mine's margin, and carries no equity interest; IAMGOLD already owns its 70 per cent of Côté.

The terms are worth following through. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd., which holds the other 30 per cent of Côté, elected not to take part, so IAMGOLD funds the whole price and keeps the full benefit under its arrangements with Sumitomo. The company expects the royalty burden on its own 70 per cent interest to fall to 3.75 per cent; counting the portion it is buying on Sumitomo's behalf, it gives an effective rate of 2.14 per cent. Closing is expected in December 2026, with economic effect from January 1, 2027. Until it closes, the purchase is an agreed transaction, and the US$525 million is the company's estimate.

At the September 30 cash balance, the purchase would use about two-thirds of the company's cash, or about a third of its total liquidity.

Cash is also still coming in from Burkina Faso: Essakane declared a dividend of about US$500 million from its 2025 earnings, of which IAMGOLD's share after taxes is about US$400 million. The company had received US$223.6 million of it by the release date, US$135.8 million of that after quarter end, and expects the remaining US$176.4 million over the rest of 2026 and early 2027.

Buybacks, and a dividend under consideration

Since its normal course issuer bid began in December 2025, IAMGOLD has repurchased about 32.1 million shares for US$592.6 million, at an average of US$18.47 a share, according to the release. In the third quarter alone it bought about 7.6 million shares for US$134.7 million.

A normal course issuer bid is a TSX-approved programme that lets a company buy back up to a set share of its stock in the open market over twelve months. The current one ends on December 11, 2026, and the board has authorized the company to seek approval for a new bid of up to about 10 per cent of the shares outstanding.

Note 19 of the interim statements gives 566.7 million common shares outstanding at September 30, 2026, and the repurchased shares were cancelled. With the count falling, earnings per share rise slightly faster than total earnings. The company also said it is contemplating a dividend in 2027; none has been declared.

Trading in Toronto and Frankfurt

IAMGOLD shares closed at C$26.44 on the TSX on November 6, 2026, the first session after the results, up C$1.98 or 8.1 per cent on 3,516,318 shares, per end-of-day data read at 17:07 ET from TMX Money (QuoteMedia). The day ran from a low of C$24.53 to a high of C$26.57.

The shares also trade in Frankfurt under the symbol IAL (WKN 899657, ISIN CA4509131088), per boerse.de and onvista.de; Toronto is the reference price.

What the fourth quarter has to show

The quarter leaves IAMGOLD with three dated tests. Côté's updated mine plan and Mineral Reserve estimate are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026, with a technical report to follow; the mine's measured and indicated resources stood at 20.3 million ounces at 100 per cent as of March 31, 2026. The Franco-Nevada repurchase is expected to close in December. And the company's guidance needs about 161,400 ounces in the last three months, with Côté expected to deliver its best quarter of the year.

Further out, IAMGOLD plans a conceptual economic study on its Nelligan Mining Complex in Quebec in 2027, following the drilling results it released on October 27, 2026. The cash to pay for all of it is now on the balance sheet. Côté's fourth-quarter figures will show how much of the next year's cash flow comes from the mine and how much from the price.