TSE:DPM Dundee Precious Metals Q1 2024 Earnings Report C$19.63 -0.26 (-1.31%) As of 04/17/2025 04:00 PM Eastern Earnings HistoryForecast Dundee Precious Metals EPS ResultsActual EPSC$0.24Consensus EPS C$0.27Beat/MissMissed by -C$0.03One Year Ago EPSN/ADundee Precious Metals Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$166.90 millionExpected RevenueN/ABeat/MissN/AYoY Revenue GrowthN/ADundee Precious Metals Announcement DetailsQuarterQ1 2024Date5/7/2024TimeN/AConference Call DateWednesday, May 8, 2024Conference Call Time9:00AM ETConference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckInterim ReportEarnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by Dundee Precious Metals Q1 2024 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrMay 8, 2024 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 8 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Dundee Precious Metals First Quarter 2024 Earnings Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question and answer Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand over to our first speaker for today, Jennifer Cameron, Director, Investor Relations. Operator00:00:46Go ahead, Jennifer. Speaker 100:00:48Thank you, and good morning. I'm Cameron, Director of Investor Relations, and I'd like to welcome you to the Dundee Precious Metals First Quarter Conference Call. Joining us today are members of our senior management team, including David Ray, President and CEO and Navin Dyle, Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that all forward looking information provided during this call is subject to the forward looking qualification, which is detailed in our news release and incorporated in full for the purposes of today's call. Certain financial measures referred to during this call are not measures recognized under IFRS and are referred to as non GAAP measures or ratios. Speaker 100:01:24These measures have no standardized meanings under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The definitions established and calculations performed by DPM are based on managing its reasonable judgment and are consistently applied. These measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. Please refer to the non GAAP financial measures section of our most recent MD and A for reconciliations of these non GAAP measures. Please note that unless otherwise stated, operational and financial information communicated during this call are related to continuing operations and have generally been rounded. Speaker 100:02:02References to 2023 pertain to the comparable periods in 2023 and references to averages are based on midpoints of our outlook or guidance. I'll now turn the call over to David Ray. Speaker 200:02:12Thanks, Jennifer. Good morning and thank you all for joining us. As you would have seen from our news release circulated last night, our Q1 was a solid start to the year, a result of strong production, our low cost structure and the benefit of higher metal prices improving our already robust margins. This morning, Nevin and I will provide a brief update on our Q1 results and discuss why we believe that DPM continues to be well positioned to deliver value to all of our stakeholders now and over the long term. Since the beginning of the year, we've had a significant amount of news flow, and I'd like to take a few moments to provide some strategic context about those developments in our portfolio. Speaker 200:02:54First, at the beginning of March, we announced the sale of the Tsumeb smelter to cyanamide, including all assets and liabilities for $49,000,000 Since we acquired the smelter in 2010, it was viewed as a strategic asset in our portfolio, providing a secure processing output for the complex concentrate produced by Chelopech. However, with the developments in our global smelting markets, we've been able to place Chelopech at several other third party smelters providing secure and reliable processing at favorable commercial terms without the need to own and operate the smelter. Therefore, Tsumeb is no longer strategic to our portfolio and this transaction simplifies our portfolio going forward and is consistent with our strategic objective of focusing on our gold mining assets. We're extremely proud of the investments that we have made to transform SIMET's operational and environmental performance into a specialized custom smelter with a highly skilled workforce. And we'll be working closely with Sinamine to ensure a smooth transition as we advance towards closing the transaction, which is expected in the Q3. Speaker 200:04:062nd, last week, we were excited to announce a significant milestone with respect to the Choka Rokita project in Serbia, sharing the results of the preliminary economic assessment, which we completed during the quarter. I'll touch on the results of the PEA and next steps for the projects in more detail in a minute. But at a high level, the results from the PEA confirm our view that Choka Riquita is a highly attractive project and demonstrates the project's potential to add very high margin gold production growth to our portfolio and generate robust economic returns. Finally, at the end of February, we decided to walk away from an opportunity we saw in the proposed transaction of Ascino Resources after Ascino received a superior bid. While it was a disappointing development, we firmly believe it was the right decision, one which demonstrates our disciplined approach to M and A and how we prioritize value accretion to our shareholders. Speaker 200:05:02We continue to prioritize M and A opportunities that we see as accretive on a NAV per share basis with high quality assets in prospective regions and where we see a strong strategic fit with our portfolio and our capabilities. DPM has really strong fundamentals, 2 producing assets, strong free cash flow generation, a low cost structure, a high quality growth asset in Choca Ratita, which we will continue to fast track for development and a strong financial position to fund our internal growth pipeline while paying a dividend. We are therefore in a position to be very disciplined as we assess opportunities. Turning now to our results. Highlights from our Q1 include solid production of approximately 63,000 ounces of gold and £7,000,000 of copper, all in sustaining costs of $8.83 per ounce, in line with our guidance for the year, Strong free cash flow generation of $62,000,000 and continued financial stress as we ended the sorry, strength, as we ended the quarter with a consolidated cash balance of $626,000,000 With higher grades and recoveries expected at both operations over the balance of the year, I'm pleased to say that both mines are on track to achieve the 2024 production and cost guidance. Speaker 200:06:24Looking at our operations in more detail, Chelopech continued its track record of strong performance in the Q1, producing approximately 37,000 ounces of gold and £6,700,000 of copper with an all in sustaining cost of $8.49 per gold ounce sold within our expectations for the quarter. With improved grades and recoveries forecast for the balance of the year, Chelopech is on track to meet its 2024 guidance for production and costs. We continue to focus on extending Chelopech's mine life through its successful in mine exploration program and an aggressive brownfields exploration program. I'd like to highlight the Charladieri prospect, which is located within the Chelopech mine concession and proximal to existing Chelopech underground development, where we saw positive results from drilling last year that highlighted potential for further mine life extensions at Chelopech. We plan to follow-up on those drilling results with further in full drilling in the Q2 to support potential inclusion in a mineral resource Bon Port Charlotte here in the Chelopech Petchlizer mine plan. Speaker 200:07:31Adatepe produced approximately 25,000 ounces of gold in the 1st quarter, in line with our expectations, all in sustaining cost of $5.93 per ounce of gold sold, which was below the low end of our Adatepe guidance range for the year. Adatepe has consistently outperformed our expectations since commissioning in 2019, and we are confident that Atatepe will continue to deliver strong results. Turning to our development projects, I'll start with our activities in Surby. At the beginning of 2023, we were pleased to announce this new high grade discovery at the Choka Riquita prospect located 3 kilometers southeast of the Timok project. In the 16 months since that announcement, we have continued an aggressive interphiloskalp drilling program, completed an initial mineral resource estimate demonstrating a high grade 1,800,000 ounce resource and published the results of the PPA. Speaker 200:08:29This rapid progress is not only a testament to the quality of the Chota Rekita project, but also to our exploration and technical teams. The PEA assumes the start of construction in mid-twenty 26 with the first production of concentrate targeted for the first half of twenty twenty eight. We have initiated a PFS and we are advancing project permitting activities in support of this timeline with good support and engagement key regional and national authorities. This includes preparations for the EIA, which we expect to submit in the Q1 of 2026. What makes Choca Riquita particularly exciting is that not only is it an attractive project on a standalone basis with an IRR of 33 percent at a $1700 gold price, but that it's also got significant exploration potential that we see across our 4 licenses. Speaker 200:09:21We are continuing our SCOUT drilling program, which is focused on aggressively pursuing additional SCOUT targets and following up on the positive results we published at the end of February. Overall, we're very excited by chokerikita's potential in a region where we have had a presence for many years and where we've developed strong relationships with local stakeholders. Turning to Loma Larder in Ecuador, we continue to progress activities related to permitting and stakeholder relations and to support the government in fulfilling the requirements of the August 2023 ruling. During the quarter, the government commenced the environmental consultation process, completed the informal phase of the process in April. An interim procedure for the prior free and informed consultation process for the LomaLog project has been outlined by the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the baseline ecosystem and water studies are currently in progress and expected to be completed by August 2024. Speaker 200:10:20At the Tierras Colorados concession, which is located 200 kilometers south of Loma Largo in Ecuador's Loja province, the 10,000 meter drilling program is nearing completion. This program is designed to further assess the extension and geometry of the Aperisida and Cedar and Latuna vein systems and to test other additional epithermal veins. We will continue to take a disciplined approach with respect to future investments and activities in Equitable, which will be based on the project achieving key milestones, the overall operating environment in the country and other capital allocation priorities. Before closing, I'm pleased to share that we will be publishing our 20 sustainability performance data supplement in the next few weeks, which will provide a view into our performance in this key area of our business over the past year. Highlights include our progress towards our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, environmental performance and what we've engaged with in terms of human rights. Speaker 200:11:21We look forward to sharing the report, which will be published on our website. To wrap up on the quarter, results demonstrate the strength that caused DPM to stand out in the gold industry. We are in a unique position in the industry with a strong base of production, attractive all in sustaining costs, significant free cash flow generation and the financial strength to fund our growth pipeline and exploration prospects, while at the same time continuing to return capital to shareholders. I'll now turn the call over to Navin for a review of our financial results and the outlook, following which we will open the call to questions. Speaker 300:11:58Thanks, Dave. I'll be touching briefly on the financial highlights from the quarter, provide an update on how we are tracking in terms of our guidance for the year and conclude with some commentary on our balance sheet and return of capital program. All of my remarks will focus on results from continuing operations and unless otherwise noted will not include results from discontinued operations, that being the results from Tsumeb. Looking at our financial highlights from the quarter, we achieved solid performance with both mines on track to achieve the respective 2024 production and cost guidance, and we continue to deliver strong financial results supported by a favorable commodity price environment. Highlights for the quarter include revenue of 124,000,000 dollars comparable to the prior year with lower volumes of metals sold and lower realized copper prices, largely offset by higher realized gold prices and lower treatment charges at Chelopech as a result of securing better commercial terms. Speaker 300:12:58Cost of sales of 62,000,000 dollars were also comparable to the prior year with higher labor costs and the timing of maintenance activities at Adatepe, largely offset by lower royalties at Adatepe, reflecting lower contained ounces mined and lower prices for power and direct materials. Adjusted net earnings of $33,000,000 or $0.18 per share was 25% lower compared to the prior year due primarily to lower volumes of gold and copper sold and higher exploration and evaluation expenses mainly related to the Choka Raquita gold project, partially offset by higher realized gold prices and lower treatment charges at Chelopech. Cash flow from continuing operations of $36,000,000 was $30,000,000 lower than the prior year due primarily to the timing of collection from customers, partially offset by timing of payments to suppliers. At March 31, 2024, we had approximately $30,000,000 higher than normal receivable balances at Chelopech, which related to sales made in the latter half of the quarter and all of which were collected by the end of April. Free cash flow from continuing operations of $62,000,000 was 6% lower than the prior year due primarily to the same factors impacting earnings, partially offset by the timing of cash outlays for sustaining capital expenditures. Speaker 300:14:15Taking a closer look at our cost metrics for the quarter. All in sustaining cost of $8.83 per ounce of gold sold was comparable to the prior year with fewer ounces of gold sold and lower byproduct credits, largely offset by lower treatment charges at Chelopech and lower prices for power and direct materials. In terms of our capital spending for the Q1, sustaining capital expenditures were $6,000,000 compared to the prior year of 7,000,000 dollars due primarily to the completion of the planned upgrade of Chelopech's sailings management facility, which was completed in the Q2 of 2023. Growth capital expenditures of $8,000,000 compared to the prior year of $6,000,000 due primarily to a $4,000,000 expenditure for electric mobile equipment received at Chelopech in the Q1 of 2024, partially offset by lower planned export expenditures related to Loma Larga. Our 3 year outlook remains unchanged from that reported in February, except for evaluation expenses in 2024 related to the Chocquiquita project, which is now expected to range between $30,000,000 to $35,000,000 up from the previous range of $10,000,000 to 13,000,000 dollars as we advance to the PFS space for Chokebaquita, which is expected to be completed by the Q1 of 2025. Speaker 300:15:30We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet and cash position with a consolidated cash balance of 626,000,000 dollars which includes the cash held at Tsumeb, no debt and a $150,000,000 undrawn credit facility. We have the financial flexibility to fund growth opportunities to generate additional value for stakeholders, while continuing to return a portion of our free cash flow to our shareholders. Turning to shareholder returns. We continue to deploy our capital in a disciplined manner that balances our desire to reinvest in growing and optimizing our business with our commitment to returning capital to our shareholders. The company renewed its share buyback program towards the end of March, which includes the purchase of up to 15,500,000 of the company's shares, representing approximately 9.8% of the public float as of March 6, 2024 and over a period of 12 months commencing March 18, 2024. Speaker 300:16:26And we continue to pay a quarterly dividend, which currently offers an attractive 2% yield based on last night's closing share price. During the Q1, the company repurchased 253,000 shares at a total cost of $1,900,000 under the share buyback program and paid $7,200,000 or $0.04 per share of dividends, representing an aggregate return of 15% of our free cash flow to shareholders. In closing, we continue to deliver strong performance from our mining operations and are on track to achieve our full year guidance. We have a solid cash position and we expect to continue our track record of generating significant free cash flow. With that, I will turn the call back to the operator for Q and A. Operator00:17:09Thank you. At this time, we will conduct our question and answer And our first question comes from Wayne Lam of RBC. Go ahead, Wayne. Speaker 400:17:49Hey, good morning, guys. I was just wondering at Choca Requita, in terms of the permitting timeline that you guys have set forth and I guess the 6 months between YIA submission and intended receipt. Just wondering if there's any precedence in country in terms of that permitting timeline that kind of informs your confidence on that timeframe? Speaker 200:18:19Hi, Wayne. Good to talk to you. So it's what we've done is we've been working with the government pretty closely in terms of the timeline. So the comment was that we'll submit the EIA in the Q1 of 2026 and anticipate moving forward with construction sort of midyear is sort of the thinking. We're working actively with the government and there's a good intent to try and advance these things. Speaker 200:18:43So it's not that at this point drifting later. We're looking at the opportunities to advance. The other thing is that we're in conversation with the authorities right the way through the activities that Speaker 400:18:52we're doing and the work that is Speaker 200:18:53required in order to have a positive decision. So I wouldn't sort of read too much into the 6 months between those 2 and does that then push us back to later in the year in 2026. Our intent is, as early as possible in 2026, make that construction decision. Are there precedents? There's been precedents in terms of timing from pre feasibility through to production with the last mine that was built in country. Speaker 200:19:25So as a consequence of that, we're quite confident that we can achieve an accelerated path to a construction decision. But like I said, we're working with the authorities to make sure there are no surprises and we're well prepared and ready. Speaker 400:19:42Okay, great. Thanks. And then maybe just wondering in terms of health terms given the tightness in concentrate supply, I was just curious what kind of cost savings you guys are seeing on treatment charges? And then I guess more broadly, it seems like a number of factors seem to be going your way on the cost side. I'm just wondering if in the coming quarters when you guys see higher grades, if you guys might be seeing any upside or improvement versus where guidance would set? Speaker 300:20:20Sure. Hi, Wayne. Yes, with respect to treatment charges, certainly, when it comes to Chelopech and as we look forward to their treatment charges that they incur or Chelopech incurs, we're definitely seeing a benefit for the market. The way we typically price or contract out with our customers, we start the process late the previous year and then we continue that through the current year and as we look forward to shipments later in the year. So certainly, as we look to the second half of the year, we expect to see a greater benefit of treatment charges, lower treatment charges as we progress through the year. Speaker 300:21:00On the flip side, when it comes to Tsumeb, obviously, it's being challenged because of the same market, as Dave mentioned earlier. When it comes to cost benefits, certainly, as I mentioned, we are seeing the benefit of lower power costs and we are seeing some of the benefit of lower costs for certain direct materials, particularly with respect to cement and certain of our other reagents as well. And so yes, we could end up seeing a bit of a benefit on our all in sustaining costs as we progress through the year. But for now, we're maintaining our guidance just in light of everything else that's going on globally. Speaker 400:21:40Okay, great. Thanks. And then maybe just last one for me. Just given the amount of cash you guys are putting on the balance sheet, at what point do you guys consider an increase in the dividend here? Or is there any potential to even provide a special dividend given the amount of cash building on the balance sheet? Speaker 400:22:00Or are you guys kind of saving that for any future CapEx needs or potential M and A? Speaker 300:22:10Yes. We think about that all the time, especially in light of this current commodity price environment. Certainly, that's a question that's top of mind for the management as well as the Board. We've currently maintained this dividend. We've doubled it actually since we initiated it back in 2021. Speaker 300:22:29But as we look forward to our capital allocation and we remain disciplined around ensuring that we have enough cash within the business to for our projects, for exploration programs, especially with in light of Choke Waquita, but we also have a view of returning a certain amount of that cash to our shareholders. So that is something we consider as we meet with our Board and discuss that with management. Speaker 400:22:56Okay, great. Well, certainly a great position to be in. Thanks for taking my questions. Thanks. Speaker 100:23:29Operator, is there another question? Operator00:23:34I'm sorry. Our next question comes from Raj Ray of BMO. Go ahead, Raj. Speaker 500:23:39Thank you, operator. Good morning, Dave and team. My first question is a follow-up on Wayne's question on capital returns. So, Dave, so Q1, the share buybacks were a little bit on the lighter side compared to what you did over 2023. Is there a reason, I just want to know that you still see value in the stock at these current prices and whether you expect to keep buying. Speaker 500:24:07So that's my first question. My second is on your growth pipelines. Great to see Trokariquita coming online in 2028. Still have the gap from 2026 to 2028 in terms of potential production drop once Atateklaer runs its course. Are you still thinking of filling the gap and then is there any potential you see in terms of extending Adatepe? Speaker 500:24:35I know you had said in the past maybe a few months, but has anything changed? Those are my 2. And I do have a third one. With respect to the Sweta Petska commercial discovery license that you received in Jan 2024. Can you touch upon what are the next steps for that? Speaker 500:24:52Thank you. Speaker 300:24:54Thanks, Raj. I'll start with the first one. So the buyback program started in late March. We only reinstalled our program in March 18. So that's why the share buybacks were a bit lighter. Speaker 300:25:12As well, the reason we didn't have like an automatic repurchase going on during the year, January, February months as well is we were in essentially working towards the Tsumeb sale during that time as well. So we were essentially prohibited from making those types of transactions during that time. So the buyback is a little bit lighter in Q1 because mainly because we reinitiated that NCIB program late in March. So that's an answer to that. And then Dave? Speaker 200:25:40In terms of your question about Svetapetco, we'll take that one first before the growth pipeline. So Svetapetco, what's happened is we've received the commercial discovery, just projecting that forward with what's necessary to complete. So there's an EIA conversation now, but ultimately, there's conversation about receiving the concession. We would anticipate that being late 2025. Now just coming back to the last point, you're asking about the growth pipeline. Speaker 200:26:09So we see that as pricing to the stock. So that's the first thing. But having said that, we know from the conversations that we have with the different stakeholders that this is a question that keeps coming up. Now Ascena would have been a great fit for It's definitely one of the things that we would keep in mind, but it's not the overriding priority. So at the end of the day, we are looking for those options which are a great fit with the organization and which amount per share accretive. Speaker 200:26:34Sorry, Raj, just Speaker 300:26:35coming back, latter part of your question on the buyback. So yes, we would expect to continue the buyback program this year. Again, now that we've restarted it at the end of March, we would expect to start making repurchases given where our share price is relative to what we think value is. Yes. Speaker 200:26:51I think what you heard previously remains, which is that we project forward the build in cash and then look at cash use. Obviously, we've had the good fortune of having success with exploration and putting some money into that. We, of course, continue the dividend and it is a conversation, is this at an appropriate level? Should we be thinking about doing more? The buyback remains an option for us. Speaker 200:27:12We're not thinking about doing anything in terms of any special purchase on that. We buybacks and options for 2. But as we're building cash at a rate higher than we need, the intent is to use the buyback facility in order to provide additional return to shareholders. Speaker 500:27:32Okay, that's great, Dave and Navin. Thank you. That's it for me. Speaker 300:27:37Okay. Operator00:27:38Thank you. One moment for our next question. And our next question comes from Don DeMarco with National Bank Financial. Go ahead, Don. Speaker 600:27:55Thank you, operator. Good morning, David and team. So first question, with the buildup in accounts receivable in Q1, did you say you expect to have this unwound in Q2 potentially lift in the cash balance? And can you reiterate what this consisted of? Speaker 300:28:10Sure. So our production for the quarter was essentially back end weighted towards the tail end of the quarter. And so when we have our we ship our concentrate out to our customers, typically what ends up happening is when it's shipped, it's 15 days before we collect we can collect the cash on that shipment. We get to recognize the sale at the time it's shipped, but then the collection of cash is typically 15 days. And with the production being heavily tilted towards the back end of the quarter, We end up seeing a lot of our sales recognized towards the back end of the quarter, but then the receivables weren't collected until the following month. Speaker 300:28:55So that's the main reason for that. It's not expected to reoccur in the coming quarters. So it's your question around whether or not we might expect to see essentially most of the cash coming in from Q1 as well as the Q2. There will be some of that, but at this point, I wouldn't comment on whether or not there would be essentially a double up in the second quarter. Speaker 600:29:21Okay. Thanks, Navin. So shifting to the Cocaquita PEA, it looks strong. I see ASIC is 7.15 and out. So this looks like another high margin mine, good replacement for Adatepe. Speaker 600:29:34But can you provide some of the assumptions that support the low cost outlook? Speaker 200:29:40So what we've done here, Don, is we're in the fortunate position that we have an operating asset with a long operating history just 5 hours away. So basically, the way we've done this, all of the assumptions for underground, when we look at things like development and more specifically, we talk about mining cost in terms of what you've asked. All of those are coming from what do we do at Chelopech, what do we compensate for in terms of new asset, new place, training development, some amount of build in efficiencies over time, that type of thing. If you look at some of the other numbers, you didn't particularly ask this question, but for instance, if you have a look at the ramp development, those are actually external costs, not our costs. So underground, it's all based off Chelopech corrected for scale corrected for new location, some opportunity for efficiencies. Speaker 200:30:28But in terms of a lot of the surface stuff at this point, as mentioned, we still got some trade off studies. So there's some potential optimization or certainly offsets to any additional inflationary pressures that we might see. I don't know if that answered your question, John. Speaker 600:30:45It does to a degree. I think it lends for certain confidence in those costs because you have Chelopech not far away. But in terms of perhaps maybe mining method or grade, any color on either of those? Speaker 200:31:00Yes. So mining method at this point, everything that we've done, including the block size in the ore body is leading to a similar practices at Chelopech, which is long hole open stoping. Nothing really out of the ordinary at the mill at all except it has gravity concentration as a bigger part than we typically have another operation. So anything further to close? Speaker 600:31:26No, that's fine. Thank you. And I get it that the resource is still evolving. It's You're doing more exploration. So is there opportunities to potentially upsize the throughput? Speaker 600:31:37I think the PEA had 2,300 tons per day. Speaker 200:31:40So the way I would look at it at the moment is that we've got one particular type of material at Choca Riquito. And if you go back to February, we announced something that was 1.1 kilometers away in an area slightly it was north northeast of Choca Riquita. And that was looking at the marbles, which are at a level below the scone, which Choka Riquita is primarily formed on. And that is a 26 meters of 3.5% copper and just over 3 grams sold. So that could be something that might require a slightly different circuit. Speaker 200:32:13So then coming back to your question, can we actually scale Choka Riquita? The way we would see it is being built in modules. So if there is some expansion, it's quite likely that, that may require a slightly different flow sheet, perhaps crush mill flows as opposed to crush mill gravity separation flows in this type of thing. What we find is more of the same and we're very optimistic there's more than that same modular approach could be used to actually increase the capacity on the same Operator00:32:58And our next question comes from Eric Windmill of Scotiabank. Go ahead, Eric. Speaker 700:33:04Great. Thank you. Good morning, David and team. Thanks for taking my question. Just a follow-up on the Chelopech brownfield. Speaker 700:33:12Apologies, I missed it earlier, but do you have any details in terms of number of rigs? Is this from surface or underground? And maybe sort of what next steps are, how much drilling you think is going to be needed to advance some of those resource targets? Appreciate it. Thank you. Speaker 200:33:30Yes. So, so far with the activity that we reported in Q1, the bulk of that work has been underground. So the plan is to put some surface rigs on now in Q2. As we mentioned, Charlotte area we'll be doing more work on at this point. I believe we said 2 rigs, Hilla, we're going to put in place primarily, but it will depend on what exactly we're finding and what the opportunity is. Speaker 200:33:51So there's a couple of things that we're still working on in and around Chelopech, but primarily over the concession, we'll have 2 weeks. That's the intent at this point. And that's an addition area because I mentioned to the underground work, which is typically about 45 meters per year. So there's 2 different sets of activities going after this. Speaker 700:34:13Okay. Fantastic. Appreciate the added color. I'll hop back in the queue. Thanks. Speaker 700:34:18Cheers. Speaker 500:34:19Thanks, Eric. Operator00:34:22Thank you for your question. At this time, we are showing no further questions. And I'd like to turn it back to Jennifer Cameron. Please go ahead, Jennifer, for closing. Speaker 100:34:39Great. Thank you all for joining us. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out, and we look forward to speaking to you over the coming weeks. Thanks, and take care. Operator00:34:48Thanks, everybody, for your participation in today's conference call. This now does conclude the program. You may disconnect.Read morePowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallDundee Precious Metals Q1 202400:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2x Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckInterim report Dundee Precious Metals Earnings HeadlinesDundee Precious Mtl (DPM) Receives a Rating Update from a Top AnalystApril 17 at 11:23 AM | markets.businessinsider.comJefferies Sticks to Their Buy Rating for Dundee Precious Mtl (DPM)April 6, 2025 | markets.businessinsider.com[Action Required] Claim Your FREE IRS Loophole GuideThis shouldn't surprise anyone who's been paying attention, but... Pres. Trump may be about to unleash the biggest "dollar reset" since 1971.April 19, 2025 | Colonial Metals (Ad)Dundee Precious Metals' (TSE:DPM) investors will be pleased with their splendid 300% return over the last five yearsApril 4, 2025 | finance.yahoo.comDundee Precious Metals, Inc.: Dundee Precious Adopts Shareholder Rights PlanMarch 18, 2025 | finanznachrichten.deRBC Capital Remains a Buy on Dundee Precious Mtl (DPM)March 14, 2025 | markets.businessinsider.comSee More Dundee Precious Metals Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Dundee Precious Metals? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Dundee Precious Metals and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About Dundee Precious MetalsDundee Precious Metals (TSE:DPM), a gold mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, mining, and processing of precious metals. The company primarily explores for gold, copper, and silver deposits. It holds a portfolio of projects located in Bulgaria, Namibia, Serbia, and Ecuador. 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There are 8 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Dundee Precious Metals First Quarter 2024 Earnings Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question and answer Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand over to our first speaker for today, Jennifer Cameron, Director, Investor Relations. Operator00:00:46Go ahead, Jennifer. Speaker 100:00:48Thank you, and good morning. I'm Cameron, Director of Investor Relations, and I'd like to welcome you to the Dundee Precious Metals First Quarter Conference Call. Joining us today are members of our senior management team, including David Ray, President and CEO and Navin Dyle, Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that all forward looking information provided during this call is subject to the forward looking qualification, which is detailed in our news release and incorporated in full for the purposes of today's call. Certain financial measures referred to during this call are not measures recognized under IFRS and are referred to as non GAAP measures or ratios. Speaker 100:01:24These measures have no standardized meanings under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The definitions established and calculations performed by DPM are based on managing its reasonable judgment and are consistently applied. These measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. Please refer to the non GAAP financial measures section of our most recent MD and A for reconciliations of these non GAAP measures. Please note that unless otherwise stated, operational and financial information communicated during this call are related to continuing operations and have generally been rounded. Speaker 100:02:02References to 2023 pertain to the comparable periods in 2023 and references to averages are based on midpoints of our outlook or guidance. I'll now turn the call over to David Ray. Speaker 200:02:12Thanks, Jennifer. Good morning and thank you all for joining us. As you would have seen from our news release circulated last night, our Q1 was a solid start to the year, a result of strong production, our low cost structure and the benefit of higher metal prices improving our already robust margins. This morning, Nevin and I will provide a brief update on our Q1 results and discuss why we believe that DPM continues to be well positioned to deliver value to all of our stakeholders now and over the long term. Since the beginning of the year, we've had a significant amount of news flow, and I'd like to take a few moments to provide some strategic context about those developments in our portfolio. Speaker 200:02:54First, at the beginning of March, we announced the sale of the Tsumeb smelter to cyanamide, including all assets and liabilities for $49,000,000 Since we acquired the smelter in 2010, it was viewed as a strategic asset in our portfolio, providing a secure processing output for the complex concentrate produced by Chelopech. However, with the developments in our global smelting markets, we've been able to place Chelopech at several other third party smelters providing secure and reliable processing at favorable commercial terms without the need to own and operate the smelter. Therefore, Tsumeb is no longer strategic to our portfolio and this transaction simplifies our portfolio going forward and is consistent with our strategic objective of focusing on our gold mining assets. We're extremely proud of the investments that we have made to transform SIMET's operational and environmental performance into a specialized custom smelter with a highly skilled workforce. And we'll be working closely with Sinamine to ensure a smooth transition as we advance towards closing the transaction, which is expected in the Q3. Speaker 200:04:062nd, last week, we were excited to announce a significant milestone with respect to the Choka Rokita project in Serbia, sharing the results of the preliminary economic assessment, which we completed during the quarter. I'll touch on the results of the PEA and next steps for the projects in more detail in a minute. But at a high level, the results from the PEA confirm our view that Choka Riquita is a highly attractive project and demonstrates the project's potential to add very high margin gold production growth to our portfolio and generate robust economic returns. Finally, at the end of February, we decided to walk away from an opportunity we saw in the proposed transaction of Ascino Resources after Ascino received a superior bid. While it was a disappointing development, we firmly believe it was the right decision, one which demonstrates our disciplined approach to M and A and how we prioritize value accretion to our shareholders. Speaker 200:05:02We continue to prioritize M and A opportunities that we see as accretive on a NAV per share basis with high quality assets in prospective regions and where we see a strong strategic fit with our portfolio and our capabilities. DPM has really strong fundamentals, 2 producing assets, strong free cash flow generation, a low cost structure, a high quality growth asset in Choca Ratita, which we will continue to fast track for development and a strong financial position to fund our internal growth pipeline while paying a dividend. We are therefore in a position to be very disciplined as we assess opportunities. Turning now to our results. Highlights from our Q1 include solid production of approximately 63,000 ounces of gold and £7,000,000 of copper, all in sustaining costs of $8.83 per ounce, in line with our guidance for the year, Strong free cash flow generation of $62,000,000 and continued financial stress as we ended the sorry, strength, as we ended the quarter with a consolidated cash balance of $626,000,000 With higher grades and recoveries expected at both operations over the balance of the year, I'm pleased to say that both mines are on track to achieve the 2024 production and cost guidance. Speaker 200:06:24Looking at our operations in more detail, Chelopech continued its track record of strong performance in the Q1, producing approximately 37,000 ounces of gold and £6,700,000 of copper with an all in sustaining cost of $8.49 per gold ounce sold within our expectations for the quarter. With improved grades and recoveries forecast for the balance of the year, Chelopech is on track to meet its 2024 guidance for production and costs. We continue to focus on extending Chelopech's mine life through its successful in mine exploration program and an aggressive brownfields exploration program. I'd like to highlight the Charladieri prospect, which is located within the Chelopech mine concession and proximal to existing Chelopech underground development, where we saw positive results from drilling last year that highlighted potential for further mine life extensions at Chelopech. We plan to follow-up on those drilling results with further in full drilling in the Q2 to support potential inclusion in a mineral resource Bon Port Charlotte here in the Chelopech Petchlizer mine plan. Speaker 200:07:31Adatepe produced approximately 25,000 ounces of gold in the 1st quarter, in line with our expectations, all in sustaining cost of $5.93 per ounce of gold sold, which was below the low end of our Adatepe guidance range for the year. Adatepe has consistently outperformed our expectations since commissioning in 2019, and we are confident that Atatepe will continue to deliver strong results. Turning to our development projects, I'll start with our activities in Surby. At the beginning of 2023, we were pleased to announce this new high grade discovery at the Choka Riquita prospect located 3 kilometers southeast of the Timok project. In the 16 months since that announcement, we have continued an aggressive interphiloskalp drilling program, completed an initial mineral resource estimate demonstrating a high grade 1,800,000 ounce resource and published the results of the PPA. Speaker 200:08:29This rapid progress is not only a testament to the quality of the Chota Rekita project, but also to our exploration and technical teams. The PEA assumes the start of construction in mid-twenty 26 with the first production of concentrate targeted for the first half of twenty twenty eight. We have initiated a PFS and we are advancing project permitting activities in support of this timeline with good support and engagement key regional and national authorities. This includes preparations for the EIA, which we expect to submit in the Q1 of 2026. What makes Choca Riquita particularly exciting is that not only is it an attractive project on a standalone basis with an IRR of 33 percent at a $1700 gold price, but that it's also got significant exploration potential that we see across our 4 licenses. Speaker 200:09:21We are continuing our SCOUT drilling program, which is focused on aggressively pursuing additional SCOUT targets and following up on the positive results we published at the end of February. Overall, we're very excited by chokerikita's potential in a region where we have had a presence for many years and where we've developed strong relationships with local stakeholders. Turning to Loma Larder in Ecuador, we continue to progress activities related to permitting and stakeholder relations and to support the government in fulfilling the requirements of the August 2023 ruling. During the quarter, the government commenced the environmental consultation process, completed the informal phase of the process in April. An interim procedure for the prior free and informed consultation process for the LomaLog project has been outlined by the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the baseline ecosystem and water studies are currently in progress and expected to be completed by August 2024. Speaker 200:10:20At the Tierras Colorados concession, which is located 200 kilometers south of Loma Largo in Ecuador's Loja province, the 10,000 meter drilling program is nearing completion. This program is designed to further assess the extension and geometry of the Aperisida and Cedar and Latuna vein systems and to test other additional epithermal veins. We will continue to take a disciplined approach with respect to future investments and activities in Equitable, which will be based on the project achieving key milestones, the overall operating environment in the country and other capital allocation priorities. Before closing, I'm pleased to share that we will be publishing our 20 sustainability performance data supplement in the next few weeks, which will provide a view into our performance in this key area of our business over the past year. Highlights include our progress towards our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, environmental performance and what we've engaged with in terms of human rights. Speaker 200:11:21We look forward to sharing the report, which will be published on our website. To wrap up on the quarter, results demonstrate the strength that caused DPM to stand out in the gold industry. We are in a unique position in the industry with a strong base of production, attractive all in sustaining costs, significant free cash flow generation and the financial strength to fund our growth pipeline and exploration prospects, while at the same time continuing to return capital to shareholders. I'll now turn the call over to Navin for a review of our financial results and the outlook, following which we will open the call to questions. Speaker 300:11:58Thanks, Dave. I'll be touching briefly on the financial highlights from the quarter, provide an update on how we are tracking in terms of our guidance for the year and conclude with some commentary on our balance sheet and return of capital program. All of my remarks will focus on results from continuing operations and unless otherwise noted will not include results from discontinued operations, that being the results from Tsumeb. Looking at our financial highlights from the quarter, we achieved solid performance with both mines on track to achieve the respective 2024 production and cost guidance, and we continue to deliver strong financial results supported by a favorable commodity price environment. Highlights for the quarter include revenue of 124,000,000 dollars comparable to the prior year with lower volumes of metals sold and lower realized copper prices, largely offset by higher realized gold prices and lower treatment charges at Chelopech as a result of securing better commercial terms. Speaker 300:12:58Cost of sales of 62,000,000 dollars were also comparable to the prior year with higher labor costs and the timing of maintenance activities at Adatepe, largely offset by lower royalties at Adatepe, reflecting lower contained ounces mined and lower prices for power and direct materials. Adjusted net earnings of $33,000,000 or $0.18 per share was 25% lower compared to the prior year due primarily to lower volumes of gold and copper sold and higher exploration and evaluation expenses mainly related to the Choka Raquita gold project, partially offset by higher realized gold prices and lower treatment charges at Chelopech. Cash flow from continuing operations of $36,000,000 was $30,000,000 lower than the prior year due primarily to the timing of collection from customers, partially offset by timing of payments to suppliers. At March 31, 2024, we had approximately $30,000,000 higher than normal receivable balances at Chelopech, which related to sales made in the latter half of the quarter and all of which were collected by the end of April. Free cash flow from continuing operations of $62,000,000 was 6% lower than the prior year due primarily to the same factors impacting earnings, partially offset by the timing of cash outlays for sustaining capital expenditures. Speaker 300:14:15Taking a closer look at our cost metrics for the quarter. All in sustaining cost of $8.83 per ounce of gold sold was comparable to the prior year with fewer ounces of gold sold and lower byproduct credits, largely offset by lower treatment charges at Chelopech and lower prices for power and direct materials. In terms of our capital spending for the Q1, sustaining capital expenditures were $6,000,000 compared to the prior year of 7,000,000 dollars due primarily to the completion of the planned upgrade of Chelopech's sailings management facility, which was completed in the Q2 of 2023. Growth capital expenditures of $8,000,000 compared to the prior year of $6,000,000 due primarily to a $4,000,000 expenditure for electric mobile equipment received at Chelopech in the Q1 of 2024, partially offset by lower planned export expenditures related to Loma Larga. Our 3 year outlook remains unchanged from that reported in February, except for evaluation expenses in 2024 related to the Chocquiquita project, which is now expected to range between $30,000,000 to $35,000,000 up from the previous range of $10,000,000 to 13,000,000 dollars as we advance to the PFS space for Chokebaquita, which is expected to be completed by the Q1 of 2025. Speaker 300:15:30We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet and cash position with a consolidated cash balance of 626,000,000 dollars which includes the cash held at Tsumeb, no debt and a $150,000,000 undrawn credit facility. We have the financial flexibility to fund growth opportunities to generate additional value for stakeholders, while continuing to return a portion of our free cash flow to our shareholders. Turning to shareholder returns. We continue to deploy our capital in a disciplined manner that balances our desire to reinvest in growing and optimizing our business with our commitment to returning capital to our shareholders. The company renewed its share buyback program towards the end of March, which includes the purchase of up to 15,500,000 of the company's shares, representing approximately 9.8% of the public float as of March 6, 2024 and over a period of 12 months commencing March 18, 2024. Speaker 300:16:26And we continue to pay a quarterly dividend, which currently offers an attractive 2% yield based on last night's closing share price. During the Q1, the company repurchased 253,000 shares at a total cost of $1,900,000 under the share buyback program and paid $7,200,000 or $0.04 per share of dividends, representing an aggregate return of 15% of our free cash flow to shareholders. In closing, we continue to deliver strong performance from our mining operations and are on track to achieve our full year guidance. We have a solid cash position and we expect to continue our track record of generating significant free cash flow. With that, I will turn the call back to the operator for Q and A. Operator00:17:09Thank you. At this time, we will conduct our question and answer And our first question comes from Wayne Lam of RBC. Go ahead, Wayne. Speaker 400:17:49Hey, good morning, guys. I was just wondering at Choca Requita, in terms of the permitting timeline that you guys have set forth and I guess the 6 months between YIA submission and intended receipt. Just wondering if there's any precedence in country in terms of that permitting timeline that kind of informs your confidence on that timeframe? Speaker 200:18:19Hi, Wayne. Good to talk to you. So it's what we've done is we've been working with the government pretty closely in terms of the timeline. So the comment was that we'll submit the EIA in the Q1 of 2026 and anticipate moving forward with construction sort of midyear is sort of the thinking. We're working actively with the government and there's a good intent to try and advance these things. Speaker 200:18:43So it's not that at this point drifting later. We're looking at the opportunities to advance. The other thing is that we're in conversation with the authorities right the way through the activities that Speaker 400:18:52we're doing and the work that is Speaker 200:18:53required in order to have a positive decision. So I wouldn't sort of read too much into the 6 months between those 2 and does that then push us back to later in the year in 2026. Our intent is, as early as possible in 2026, make that construction decision. Are there precedents? There's been precedents in terms of timing from pre feasibility through to production with the last mine that was built in country. Speaker 200:19:25So as a consequence of that, we're quite confident that we can achieve an accelerated path to a construction decision. But like I said, we're working with the authorities to make sure there are no surprises and we're well prepared and ready. Speaker 400:19:42Okay, great. Thanks. And then maybe just wondering in terms of health terms given the tightness in concentrate supply, I was just curious what kind of cost savings you guys are seeing on treatment charges? And then I guess more broadly, it seems like a number of factors seem to be going your way on the cost side. I'm just wondering if in the coming quarters when you guys see higher grades, if you guys might be seeing any upside or improvement versus where guidance would set? Speaker 300:20:20Sure. Hi, Wayne. Yes, with respect to treatment charges, certainly, when it comes to Chelopech and as we look forward to their treatment charges that they incur or Chelopech incurs, we're definitely seeing a benefit for the market. The way we typically price or contract out with our customers, we start the process late the previous year and then we continue that through the current year and as we look forward to shipments later in the year. So certainly, as we look to the second half of the year, we expect to see a greater benefit of treatment charges, lower treatment charges as we progress through the year. Speaker 300:21:00On the flip side, when it comes to Tsumeb, obviously, it's being challenged because of the same market, as Dave mentioned earlier. When it comes to cost benefits, certainly, as I mentioned, we are seeing the benefit of lower power costs and we are seeing some of the benefit of lower costs for certain direct materials, particularly with respect to cement and certain of our other reagents as well. And so yes, we could end up seeing a bit of a benefit on our all in sustaining costs as we progress through the year. But for now, we're maintaining our guidance just in light of everything else that's going on globally. Speaker 400:21:40Okay, great. Thanks. And then maybe just last one for me. Just given the amount of cash you guys are putting on the balance sheet, at what point do you guys consider an increase in the dividend here? Or is there any potential to even provide a special dividend given the amount of cash building on the balance sheet? Speaker 400:22:00Or are you guys kind of saving that for any future CapEx needs or potential M and A? Speaker 300:22:10Yes. We think about that all the time, especially in light of this current commodity price environment. Certainly, that's a question that's top of mind for the management as well as the Board. We've currently maintained this dividend. We've doubled it actually since we initiated it back in 2021. Speaker 300:22:29But as we look forward to our capital allocation and we remain disciplined around ensuring that we have enough cash within the business to for our projects, for exploration programs, especially with in light of Choke Waquita, but we also have a view of returning a certain amount of that cash to our shareholders. So that is something we consider as we meet with our Board and discuss that with management. Speaker 400:22:56Okay, great. Well, certainly a great position to be in. Thanks for taking my questions. Thanks. Speaker 100:23:29Operator, is there another question? Operator00:23:34I'm sorry. Our next question comes from Raj Ray of BMO. Go ahead, Raj. Speaker 500:23:39Thank you, operator. Good morning, Dave and team. My first question is a follow-up on Wayne's question on capital returns. So, Dave, so Q1, the share buybacks were a little bit on the lighter side compared to what you did over 2023. Is there a reason, I just want to know that you still see value in the stock at these current prices and whether you expect to keep buying. Speaker 500:24:07So that's my first question. My second is on your growth pipelines. Great to see Trokariquita coming online in 2028. Still have the gap from 2026 to 2028 in terms of potential production drop once Atateklaer runs its course. Are you still thinking of filling the gap and then is there any potential you see in terms of extending Adatepe? Speaker 500:24:35I know you had said in the past maybe a few months, but has anything changed? Those are my 2. And I do have a third one. With respect to the Sweta Petska commercial discovery license that you received in Jan 2024. Can you touch upon what are the next steps for that? Speaker 500:24:52Thank you. Speaker 300:24:54Thanks, Raj. I'll start with the first one. So the buyback program started in late March. We only reinstalled our program in March 18. So that's why the share buybacks were a bit lighter. Speaker 300:25:12As well, the reason we didn't have like an automatic repurchase going on during the year, January, February months as well is we were in essentially working towards the Tsumeb sale during that time as well. So we were essentially prohibited from making those types of transactions during that time. So the buyback is a little bit lighter in Q1 because mainly because we reinitiated that NCIB program late in March. So that's an answer to that. And then Dave? Speaker 200:25:40In terms of your question about Svetapetco, we'll take that one first before the growth pipeline. So Svetapetco, what's happened is we've received the commercial discovery, just projecting that forward with what's necessary to complete. So there's an EIA conversation now, but ultimately, there's conversation about receiving the concession. We would anticipate that being late 2025. Now just coming back to the last point, you're asking about the growth pipeline. Speaker 200:26:09So we see that as pricing to the stock. So that's the first thing. But having said that, we know from the conversations that we have with the different stakeholders that this is a question that keeps coming up. Now Ascena would have been a great fit for It's definitely one of the things that we would keep in mind, but it's not the overriding priority. So at the end of the day, we are looking for those options which are a great fit with the organization and which amount per share accretive. Speaker 200:26:34Sorry, Raj, just Speaker 300:26:35coming back, latter part of your question on the buyback. So yes, we would expect to continue the buyback program this year. Again, now that we've restarted it at the end of March, we would expect to start making repurchases given where our share price is relative to what we think value is. Yes. Speaker 200:26:51I think what you heard previously remains, which is that we project forward the build in cash and then look at cash use. Obviously, we've had the good fortune of having success with exploration and putting some money into that. We, of course, continue the dividend and it is a conversation, is this at an appropriate level? Should we be thinking about doing more? The buyback remains an option for us. Speaker 200:27:12We're not thinking about doing anything in terms of any special purchase on that. We buybacks and options for 2. But as we're building cash at a rate higher than we need, the intent is to use the buyback facility in order to provide additional return to shareholders. Speaker 500:27:32Okay, that's great, Dave and Navin. Thank you. That's it for me. Speaker 300:27:37Okay. Operator00:27:38Thank you. One moment for our next question. And our next question comes from Don DeMarco with National Bank Financial. Go ahead, Don. Speaker 600:27:55Thank you, operator. Good morning, David and team. So first question, with the buildup in accounts receivable in Q1, did you say you expect to have this unwound in Q2 potentially lift in the cash balance? And can you reiterate what this consisted of? Speaker 300:28:10Sure. So our production for the quarter was essentially back end weighted towards the tail end of the quarter. And so when we have our we ship our concentrate out to our customers, typically what ends up happening is when it's shipped, it's 15 days before we collect we can collect the cash on that shipment. We get to recognize the sale at the time it's shipped, but then the collection of cash is typically 15 days. And with the production being heavily tilted towards the back end of the quarter, We end up seeing a lot of our sales recognized towards the back end of the quarter, but then the receivables weren't collected until the following month. Speaker 300:28:55So that's the main reason for that. It's not expected to reoccur in the coming quarters. So it's your question around whether or not we might expect to see essentially most of the cash coming in from Q1 as well as the Q2. There will be some of that, but at this point, I wouldn't comment on whether or not there would be essentially a double up in the second quarter. Speaker 600:29:21Okay. Thanks, Navin. So shifting to the Cocaquita PEA, it looks strong. I see ASIC is 7.15 and out. So this looks like another high margin mine, good replacement for Adatepe. Speaker 600:29:34But can you provide some of the assumptions that support the low cost outlook? Speaker 200:29:40So what we've done here, Don, is we're in the fortunate position that we have an operating asset with a long operating history just 5 hours away. So basically, the way we've done this, all of the assumptions for underground, when we look at things like development and more specifically, we talk about mining cost in terms of what you've asked. All of those are coming from what do we do at Chelopech, what do we compensate for in terms of new asset, new place, training development, some amount of build in efficiencies over time, that type of thing. If you look at some of the other numbers, you didn't particularly ask this question, but for instance, if you have a look at the ramp development, those are actually external costs, not our costs. So underground, it's all based off Chelopech corrected for scale corrected for new location, some opportunity for efficiencies. Speaker 200:30:28But in terms of a lot of the surface stuff at this point, as mentioned, we still got some trade off studies. So there's some potential optimization or certainly offsets to any additional inflationary pressures that we might see. I don't know if that answered your question, John. Speaker 600:30:45It does to a degree. I think it lends for certain confidence in those costs because you have Chelopech not far away. But in terms of perhaps maybe mining method or grade, any color on either of those? Speaker 200:31:00Yes. So mining method at this point, everything that we've done, including the block size in the ore body is leading to a similar practices at Chelopech, which is long hole open stoping. Nothing really out of the ordinary at the mill at all except it has gravity concentration as a bigger part than we typically have another operation. So anything further to close? Speaker 600:31:26No, that's fine. Thank you. And I get it that the resource is still evolving. It's You're doing more exploration. So is there opportunities to potentially upsize the throughput? Speaker 600:31:37I think the PEA had 2,300 tons per day. Speaker 200:31:40So the way I would look at it at the moment is that we've got one particular type of material at Choca Riquito. And if you go back to February, we announced something that was 1.1 kilometers away in an area slightly it was north northeast of Choca Riquita. And that was looking at the marbles, which are at a level below the scone, which Choka Riquita is primarily formed on. And that is a 26 meters of 3.5% copper and just over 3 grams sold. So that could be something that might require a slightly different circuit. Speaker 200:32:13So then coming back to your question, can we actually scale Choka Riquita? The way we would see it is being built in modules. So if there is some expansion, it's quite likely that, that may require a slightly different flow sheet, perhaps crush mill flows as opposed to crush mill gravity separation flows in this type of thing. What we find is more of the same and we're very optimistic there's more than that same modular approach could be used to actually increase the capacity on the same Operator00:32:58And our next question comes from Eric Windmill of Scotiabank. Go ahead, Eric. Speaker 700:33:04Great. Thank you. Good morning, David and team. Thanks for taking my question. Just a follow-up on the Chelopech brownfield. Speaker 700:33:12Apologies, I missed it earlier, but do you have any details in terms of number of rigs? Is this from surface or underground? And maybe sort of what next steps are, how much drilling you think is going to be needed to advance some of those resource targets? Appreciate it. Thank you. Speaker 200:33:30Yes. So, so far with the activity that we reported in Q1, the bulk of that work has been underground. So the plan is to put some surface rigs on now in Q2. As we mentioned, Charlotte area we'll be doing more work on at this point. I believe we said 2 rigs, Hilla, we're going to put in place primarily, but it will depend on what exactly we're finding and what the opportunity is. Speaker 200:33:51So there's a couple of things that we're still working on in and around Chelopech, but primarily over the concession, we'll have 2 weeks. That's the intent at this point. And that's an addition area because I mentioned to the underground work, which is typically about 45 meters per year. So there's 2 different sets of activities going after this. Speaker 700:34:13Okay. Fantastic. Appreciate the added color. I'll hop back in the queue. Thanks. Speaker 700:34:18Cheers. Speaker 500:34:19Thanks, Eric. Operator00:34:22Thank you for your question. At this time, we are showing no further questions. And I'd like to turn it back to Jennifer Cameron. Please go ahead, Jennifer, for closing. Speaker 100:34:39Great. Thank you all for joining us. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out, and we look forward to speaking to you over the coming weeks. Thanks, and take care. Operator00:34:48Thanks, everybody, for your participation in today's conference call. This now does conclude the program. You may disconnect.Read morePowered by