Page 54 By Gregory Reynolds After a great year in 2017 North American Palladium Ltd NAP is looking forward to more of the same this year Jim Gallagher president and CEO of NAP said 2017 was a year in which the Lac des Iles Mine locate d 90 km north of Thunder Bay Ontario began to demonstrate its full potential W e met and exceeded the tar geted under ground production rate of 6000 tonnes per day ahead of the original 2017 production plan The mill returned to fulltim e opera tions in the fourth quarter at an aver age rate of 1 1270 tonnes In 2018 we look forward to capital izing on the operational and fnancial improvements we have already made and on the additional opportunities we have identifed W e expect to increase our payable palladium production again to be tween 230000 and 240000 ounces This increased production combined with palladium prices at record levels suggests a very good year for North American Palladium in 2018 added Gallagher These excelle nt production results combined with strong palladium prices resulted in fullyear earnings of just over 30 million and an adjusted EBITDA of over 86 million In 2017 we invested over 60 million of capital in equipment infrastructure and development setting the opera tion up for longterm success W e also paid down 23 million in debt during the year paying attention to the balance sheet as well as opera tions The fourth quarter results of 152 million in earnings and 369 million adjusted EBITDA are strong indicators of the fnancial perfor mance to be expected in 2018 The mill will continue to operate on a fulltime basis at a rate that is expect ed to rise to approximately 12000 tonnes per day Mill feed will come from under ground production at a rate just above 6000 tonnes per day Contd on pg 54 supplemented by the small Sherif open pit which has already started production Guidance for 2018 is 230000 240000 payable ounces at an aver age AISC of US640 to US660 per ounce 2018 will be the frst full year where the true value of the Lac des Iles mine will be demonstrate d con tinued Gallagher NAP is a Canadian company with over 20 years of production at Lac des Iles Mine North American Palladium is the only pure play palladium producer in the world W ith over 500 employees Lac des Iles feature s a unique worldclass Ofset High Grade Zone Shaft Complex under construction Photo Nordmin Resources Industrial Engineering NAP