Champion Iron Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
July 31, 2024

There are 9 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Champion's First Quarter Results of the Financial Year 2025. At this time, all lines are in a listen only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. This call is being recorded on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr.

Operator

Michael Marcotte, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Capital Markets. Please go ahead, sir.

Speaker 1

Thank you, operator, and thank you everyone for joining the call with us here today to discuss our quarterly results. Just for everyone's benefit, if you would like to see this presentation, it is available on our website at championiron.com under the Events and Presentation tab of our website. I'd also like to highlight that our team will be making forward looking statements throughout this call. She'd like to read more regarding our forward looking statements, risk and assumptions. Also, you can also consult our MD and A also available on our website.

Speaker 1

Joining me here today is our CEO, David Catterford, who will do the formal portion of this presentation our Executive Chairman, Michael O'Keefe, who will do closing remarks And I'm also joined here by other executives, including Alexandre Belot, our COO and our CFO, Donald Tremblay. With that, I'll turn it over to David for the formal portion of the presentation. David?

Speaker 2

Thanks, Michael. Thanks everyone for being here today. I'm happy to be able to discuss our Q1 fiscal year 2025 results. If we look at the highlights, one of the highlights for the quarter is definitely the fact that we've managed to produce roughly about 3,900,000 tonnes during the quarter and have record sales as well of just over 3,400,000 tonnes. So I'm very proud of what the team has been able to achieve and how we rebounded from the Q4 2024 fiscal year.

Speaker 2

In terms of cash costs, relatively flat quarter on quarter, we'll be able to get into that a little bit later at just shy of $77 per tonne. And these results allowed us to generate about $180,000,000 of EBITDA during the quarter. We did all of that with no significant workplace incidents and no major environmental issues. So again, producing clean tons out of Bloom Lake. In terms of community governance and sustainability, very proud to have hosted the Minister of Mines at our head office down in Montreal.

Speaker 2

The Minister was here to announce a new program to help local contractors step up their game to be able to work in areas or in companies like Champion. So good alignment for us to work with the government to help local suppliers, local contractors be able to increase the level their companies to be able to come and work with us. It allows us to strengthen our relationship with the local communities. In terms of our operations, as we mentioned, quarterly production of about 3,900,000 tonnes, an increase of 18% over the previous quarter. We also acquired additional mining equipment and railcars.

Speaker 2

The additional mining equipment is to be able to continue working on our current mine plan and at the same time preparing to be able to eventually increase our nameplate capacity beyond the 15,000,000 tonnes per year. The additional railcars do the same and they also add some added flexibility to be able to bring down not only the stockpile tons that we have at Bloom right now, but also potentially future tons that we'll be able to increase when one will be able to increase over our nameplate capacity. In terms of sales, about 3,400,000 tonnes of sales during the quarter, allowing us to achieve a record, but still shy of us matching our current production. So we'll continue to work with IOC, but we do see positive results in terms of the increased capacity on the rail. Now if we go back to subsequent events to the quarter, but you've all seen in recent press releases, there was a significant forest fire that came close to the operations of Bloom Lake that caused us to evacuate the mining site.

Speaker 2

We had to react pretty quickly, but I think a good testament of the one preparation that we had because following the forest fires last year in the region, we did build pretty significant contingency plans and emergency plans to be able to, 1, evacuate our people, 2, protect our infrastructure. And happy to report that even if the forest fires came close to the operations, there was no impact to any of our infrastructure. You can see a picture right there of someone hosing down some trees. We had to cut down bans around the site as well, bans around some critical infrastructure that we have, but very proud of the way that the teams reacted and how quickly we managed to evacuate significant portion of our workforce while continuing to work to protect the site. The impact roughly about 1 week's production when you look at the downtime and the ramp up.

Speaker 2

But happy to say that right now, we're back to pre sort of forest fire levels in terms of production. If we look at the operations overview, so moved quite a lot of tonnes during the quarter. Our iron recovery, a little bit shy of our targets. In quarters where we have significant shifts, if you compare Q4 to Q1, there was a pretty big increase in tonnage, very positive, but at the same time, more difficult to be able to tune in the recovery circuit when that happens. We're able to achieve our best results when we're fairly stable, fairly flat.

Speaker 2

So we should be able to increase that in the coming quarters and be able to go back to our over 80% iron recovery. In terms of the industry, we saw the P65 index decreased by about 7% during the quarter. And we did see some elevated exports out of Brazil and Australia, but still saw all the iron ore that was produced being consumed. So very happy that our material is still in high demand from our various customers. We saw also the premium for the P62 increase for the P65 or the P62 increase during the quarter.

Speaker 2

Still low compared to historical numbers, but a positive sign that fits with the correlation that when the iron ore price goes down, typically the spread for the P65 to P62 increases. If we turn to provisional price adjustments, there was a positive impact during this quarter. If you remember, we had 1,800,000 tonnes at the end of last quarter on the 31st March that were booked at $113 per tonne. We managed to realize about $124 for those tonnes, which makes a positive impact of about 21,000,000 dollars during the quarter. If we look at the 30th June, we had again about 1,800,000 tonnes on the water at the end of this quarter, and the expected price was around US119 dollars per tonne for those tonnes.

Speaker 2

In terms of the average realized selling price, so there was a negative impact when you account for the 1,800,000 tonnes that were on the water at a sub $120 per tonne compared to the US126 dollars average for the quarter. But we still managed to realize close to the P65 index during the quarter even with that element allowing us to achieve about US125 dollars per tonne, looking at the net realized price of about CAD136 per tonne. If we look at our cost, so we did see some improvements on our cost associated to the higher production and sales. So there was a positive impact there. It was a little bit reversed by the non cash items, non cash items being the reevaluation of the stock pile when we account for the cost.

Speaker 2

So spreading down the costs over the 3,000,000 tonnes that we have stockpiled and also an impact on the shutdown that was done in the Q4 of fiscal year 2024. If you remember, there was 2 major shutdowns that were done during that quarter and those costs are spread over 2 quarters as the shutdowns typically last for about 6 months. So when we look at the impact for the quarter, roughly about flat compared to the previous quarter. But if you're removing on cash items, we did about $5 per ton better. In terms of the financial In terms of the financial highlights, as we mentioned about $180,000,000 of EBITDA and when we look at the net income just over $80,000,000 allowing us to continue our growth initiatives and to reinvest in the assets.

Speaker 2

Looking at our cash change, so a little bit lower cash than what might have been expected in the market, mainly due to the fact that there was a change of about $100,000,000 in working capital. The bulk of that was mainly vessels that were that left the port at the end of June, which we've since gotten paid at the beginning of July. So more of a timing effect than a real long term potential issue. So we should see that change in working capital switch in this current quarter. In terms of our balance sheet, so if we include those receivables and include the working capital, we're in a net cash position of about $18,000,000 So very healthy balance sheet to allow us to continue our growth initiatives.

Speaker 2

In terms of growth initiatives, if we go to the DRPF project update, which is the main project that we're working on right now, Happy to report that we're still targeting on time, on budget. So the work is advancing as planned. Our main focus right now is to finalize all of the building to make sure that we are prepared to work inside for the winter. So that's going along very well. And as you can see on the next slide, we have most of our long lead items.

Speaker 2

So the equipment that is currently being built at our client our suppliers' facilities and everything is on track in terms of long lead items. So all in all, I feel very confident we'll be able to deliver the project in the second half of twenty twenty five calendar year and be within the budget of $470,000,000 that we've laid out. Now this project again is key for our growth and evaluation of our product. So the main goal is to be able to sell our material to steel makers that will eventually be making lower carbon steel. We can see that there's significant amount of these contracts that are being signed or that have been signed to be able to deliver tons starting 2025, 2026 of lower carbon steel.

Speaker 2

We have seen, as mentioned previously, that the various governments, if you look at Canada, Australia, U. K, U. S. Looking to build infrastructure with lower carbon steel. So we're seeing all of that start to materialize starting next year.

Speaker 2

So our project is going to be very well timed to be able to tap into that market in the future. So very happy of the way that the project is advancing and also the way that the various contracts for lower carbon steel are advancing as well. One other element that very big highlight for the previous quarter is the fact that high grade iron ore is now part of the list of critical minerals in Canada. If you remember last year, high grade iron ore was positioned in Quebec and in Labrador as a critical mineral. But now, we've also managed to include this in the list on the federal level.

Speaker 2

So we're continuing to evaluate the potential positive this has for our growth initiatives, being the current work that we're doing on our projects and also potential future work. But we see this as extremely positive that the government of Canada now recognizes high grade iron ore as critical for decarbonization and part of the list of the minerals they want to support to be able to achieve lower carbon economy. So again, very positive for our growth projects, and we'll be able to come back to the market once we finalize all the various elements and all the different impacts this can have on projects like what we have at Ken or others. And I'd like to thank all of our staff for achieving those results. I'd say the results for the quarter are very positive, but really the highlight is the way that we reacted during the forest fires.

Speaker 2

So very proud of the way that we all got together, not only our self, but helping local communities as well, strengthening our relationship with them, with First Nations and with the Quebec government, showing our credibility as well in the way that we react in various critical situations. So very proud of the way that the team has managed to navigate through that. And that being said, I'd like to turn it over to you for the Q and A portion of the call.

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer Our first question comes from the line of Lucas Pipes from B. Riley Securities. Go ahead please.

Speaker 3

Thank you very much, operator. Good morning. Good evening, everyone. My first question is related to the additional railcars. And I wondered if you could kind of give us a sense for when all of them will be online.

Speaker 3

And then from a cadence on the destocking side, what is a good run rate to use from here on going forward? Thank you very much.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks for the question, Lucas. So we were very fortunate to be able to secure a slot to build those railcars in calendar year 2024. So they're currently being built right now. The first railcars will to be delivered before the end of this calendar year.

Speaker 2

And then in January February is when we'll receive also the bulk of our railcars. So that should allow us to continue the strategy to look at solutions to destock the stockpile, but also allowing us to have that increased capacity when we get our production over and maintain capacity of 15,000,000 tonnes. So those have been ordered. They're being built. And again, it will be delivered a little bit in 2024, but mostly at the beginning of 2025.

Speaker 3

I appreciate that. Thank you very much. And on my second question, I wanted to follow-up on the addition of high purity iron ore on the critical minerals list. And to what extent could this benefit a project like Kami? I appreciate there is a spotlight and encouragement of high purity iron ore.

Speaker 3

But if you could maybe speak specifically to KAMI and how it might benefit from this designation of the mineral, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks for the question, Lucas. So I mean, it's positive to be on a list, but where it really impacts is a lot of programs in the federal level are sort of binary in the sense that if you're on the list, you can access them. If you're not on the list, you can't. There's special funds in the Infrastructure Bank of Canada that can help do infrastructure projects.

Speaker 2

And if you look at a project like Kami, there's roughly about $700,000,000 of the CapEx that is related to infrastructure that could benefit from a structure like the Canadian Infrastructure Bank. So those are all elements that we're currently evaluating and having discussions with to see how that could potentially help the project can. Still a bit preliminary to say what the real impacts could potentially be, but it puts us in a different position compared to where we were before because in the past, we just couldn't even have those discussions with the various groups because we were not part of the critical list.

Speaker 3

That's very helpful. Really appreciate it. And to you and to team, continue best of luck. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Thanks Lucas.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Craig Hutchison from TD Cowen. Go ahead please.

Speaker 4

Hi, good morning guys. I just wanted to circle back on the question of sales and just I think in your last conference call, you mentioned by June, you'd hope that sort of sales would align with production. And now they were basically going into August here, can you just give us an update on where that stands, whether you can give us a specific number of volume that's getting moved per week or per month or are your sales now matching production? And then maybe when these cars arrive, the 400 that you're ordering, do you expect them to be matched on the downstream side with IOC in terms of the locomotives to actually move these volumes? Thanks.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks for the question, Greg. So we were pretty close to matching production with the logistics side. The forest fires obviously put a little bit of a setback because even if we were able to restart operations fairly quickly, there was some limitations on the rail. If you remember, Labrador City was evacuated and our rail passes through that section.

Speaker 2

So we're very fortunate to have the green lights from the local mayors and also the Newfoundland province to be able to continue bringing down trains during the forest fires. But there was some limitations in terms of how much we could actually do. And then when the town was, I don't know how you say de evacuated, but when people returned to Labrador City once the emergency evacuation was lifted, well then there was some ramp up portion. But I'd say that generally speaking, we're pretty close now to have the operation match the logistics. Now the next step is to be able to focus on the destocking.

Speaker 2

And that's where the railcars that are coming, the new local operators will help and also the new locomotives that IOC has ordered. So IOC has ordered extra locos and we do have some new train operators that have started, some more that are coming in September and some more that are coming before the end of this calendar year. So we could see everything aligning for us to start destocking some tons from the stockpile in the coming quarters. Okay. And then just

Speaker 4

on development costs, I mean, you guys have settled your labor contract and I know you guys trying to kind of get recoveries up above 80%. But is the intention still with all those factors to kind of get costs on a long term basis down into sort of the mid-60s range? Or should we just think about costs probably moving closer to maybe the $70 range, given some of these factors that have impacted your cost structure with labor, etcetera?

Speaker 2

Yes. If we look at just this quarter now, if we didn't have these non cash items, it would be closer to $71 So trending down towards the sub-seventy mark. Now where will we land? As we had mentioned, there was the increase with the union contract negotiations contract negotiation that was roughly about a buck a tonne. But realistically, I do think that we'll be able to get to that sub-seventy dollars number.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Julio Mongecao from BMO Capital. Go ahead please.

Speaker 5

Thanks, operator. Thank you. Good morning, David and Michael. So just a couple of questions. The first one will be on production.

Speaker 5

So you reached 3,900,000 tons of concentrate production this quarter, getting close to the 16 1,000,000 tons per annum capacity that you target as a or you just target before. So the question is, this is the result of the debottlenecking of your operations? Or we or should we expect maintenance in the coming quarters? And also related to this, do you have a ballpark number figure for the investment in the bottlenecking of the operations or this still under study?

Speaker 2

Yes. So the debottlenecking project, because it's not one simple project that just allows us to add one machine, let's say, and then the production increases. It's really a synergy between many different things. So that's why it's taking a bit of time for us to evaluate the full picture. But as we had mentioned in the past, it's not going to be one big project.

Speaker 2

It's going to be some of many smaller projects that we'll do from quarter to quarter that will allow us to get to that level. If you look at the production of 3,900,000 tonnes during the past quarter, very good achievement, but we have to be mindful this was in a quarter that there was no major shutdowns. So in a quarter that if you put that on a 6 months basis with 2 major shutdowns, well then that reduces the annual run rate a little bit. So realistically, we're not at the 16,000,000 ton run rate yet. We do feel that we're we've achieved the sort of nameplate capacity run rate and we'll continue to work to be able to increase towards that 16,000,000 tonnes and beyond in the coming quarters.

Speaker 5

Thanks a lot. So just going back to the concept achievements, you already said that you are looking for or you're expecting a better performance in the coming quarters. But how would you see the pace or the pace of volumes of sales improving? Or what will be your optimal level in the next year of the stockpile or the concept of the stockpile like from 3,000,000 tons to let's say 1,000,000 in 1 year, year and a half. Do you have any idea of these timelines or numbers?

Speaker 2

Yes, we currently don't have an official timeline on those numbers. We're working with IOC to try to maximize the tons we get down. Obviously, once we get those railcars, we get the new locals and the train operators are in position, Well, we should be in a much better situation to be able to destock the stockpiles. We're also looking at other alternatives with IOC to see if there's other synergies that we can have to be able to destock that quickly. But we don't have an official sort of number on one that will be destocking now.

Speaker 5

Perfect. Thank you very much.

Speaker 6

Thank you, sir.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Brian MacArthur from Raymond James. Go ahead please.

Speaker 7

Good morning and thank you for taking my questions. Maybe I can ask the last few questions differently because you sort of said you your sales might have caught up to the production if we didn't have boats being delayed and the forest fires and we've talked about destocking. But when you're talking about catching up the production level, should I think about at a 15,000,000 ton annual rate to get around this problem of 3.9 versus 3.4. Is that what you're talking about? Or will the rail actually have a capacity with these extra cars to go over the 15,000,000 tonne a year, right?

Speaker 7

And as you said, therefore, help the destocking?

Speaker 2

Thanks for the question, Brian. So we have a contract for 2016. So our main target is to be able to get to that full sort of 16 run rate. That's the main goal that we have. We do know that there'll be some small inefficiencies and so what, but that's the ballpark target that we have when we talk about getting to the right level.

Speaker 2

So that should allow for fluctuations in the quarters that we have shutdowns and quarters that we don't have shutdowns.

Speaker 7

Great. Thanks. That's very helpful. And my second question relates to another thing you mentioned in the quarter, which I think is quite a good achievement is getting additional power. Could you maybe talk about with all the power you have access to now, what it will actually be able to do in your growth initiatives?

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks for the question, Brian. So when we look at the achievement in the past quarter, we managed to be one of the only companies to get access to a more green hydroelectric power here in Quebec. I think the only company that actually got 2 blocks of energy. So very proud of being able to achieve that.

Speaker 2

And this is mainly due to the fact that the government recognizes the impact that we have in terms of decarbonization and the impact we have on the local have to get our material or half of our material to 69%. And now we access another block to continue in our various growth initiatives. Could that be the plant number 1, convert to 69% or other initiatives to continue decarbonizing? We're very proud to already be the lowest CO2 intensity high grade iron ore here in Canada, but I think we can continue to do better and that will eventually materialize in the price. So we've got a few potential initiatives to be able to use that power, but again, very proud that we've managed to secure it then.

Speaker 7

Thanks very much for taking my questions.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Brian.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Dalton Baretto from Canaccord. Please go ahead.

Speaker 8

Thanks. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for taking my questions. David, I want to stay on this incremental capacity, what happens if there are further disruptions, whether forest fires or otherwise? Really two questions.

Speaker 8

Number 1, how much more finished goods inventory can you stockpile on-site before you have to curtail production? And then number 2, how does the rail operator allocate the capacity between the different users if there is a curtailment? Thank you.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks for the question. So typically, the rail operator has to deliver on its contracts. Now realistically, we see when you own your own infrastructure, that's not always what happens. But realistically, we have seen a lot of improvements as of late on the rail.

Speaker 2

So we do see a lot of positive elements. And we do know that IOC is working to be able to deliver on their contract. So I'd say that there's no sort of official guideline on how that gets allocated. But realistically, I haven't seen a scenario even last year when you remember there was the forest fires that halted the rail. We did see once it started back up, there was a split in terms of capacity when the rail was operating at a lower level between all the various clients.

Speaker 2

So it's not as if IOC was only moving their ton and not moving ours. So there is some arrangement to make sure that everybody is able to bring down tons. Now in terms of our actual stockpile capacity, it gets down to a cost down because as we continue to stockpile, we have to go further and further away from the plant and that increases the cost to be able to move the material around the mine. So there's no fixed number as to what is the maximum capacity. But as the stockpile gets higher, then the cost to be able to manage that increases as well.

Speaker 2

So there would theoretically be a point where we would see if it's still worth producing and stockpiling so far away from the plant. For now, we're still in a territory where the costs are significant, but not impacting our profitability. So we're still continuing to move those tons

Speaker 8

Great. Thanks for that color, David. And then maybe switching gears, I wanted to talk about your projects a little bit and just try and sort of understand what are next steps now for Kami for the pellet plant as well as for upgrading the rest of your capacity product? Thank you.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks for the question. So when you look at Cami, the next steps for us, well, as you might have seen, we applied for the environmental process to begin. It was approved by the Newfoundland government. So we're now starting the permitting process of the Kami project.

Speaker 2

So that's going to bring us till 2026 to be able to get a permit. So I don't see significant CapEx being invested in the Canu project until then. And that will allow us the time to be able to finalize the work that we're doing to bring in a partner for this project. So we do have some pretty significant discussions with various groups to be able to have a partnership for the Cami project and have to admit as well that being on the list of critical minerals here in Canada has definitely helped in that sense. So that project, quite a lot of work for the permitting process, but not significant dollars that will be invested.

Speaker 2

In terms of upgrading our material, I'd say the main focus for us now is delivering the flotation plant on time, on budget and being able to realize the price that we believe we'll be able to get from this type of material. So that's the work that we're currently doing on this now. We are evaluating other potential upgrades, but right now the main focus is really the DRPF, plant number 2. And when we look at the pelletizing portion, not necessarily the project that is getting the most traction on our side, so finalizing the feasibility study on this. But when we look at the pelletizing capacity and the current pricing environment, difficult to see that project making sense in the short term.

Speaker 2

Still happy that we secured probably the best land in Canada to be able to build a facility, but not something that we would be investing CapEx in the short term for the for that. So when we look at our balance sheet, the main focus for us is really, 1, continuing to improve our actual operations, increasing the nameplate capacity, because I think that's where we're going to create the most value for our shareholders, getting the DRPF project up and running and then continuing the permitting process on Canyon.

Speaker 8

Thanks, David. That's great color. If I can ask just one quick follow-up. Based on your discussions so far, can you give us a sense for what sort of DRPF product?

Speaker 2

Yes. Right now, the main focus is really to have a formula that exposes us to the Doctor pellet. So the main discussions that we're having is to slowly remove ourselves from that P62, P65 sort of environment and really get closer to the Doctor pellet. I think that in the future, there should be a disconnect between typical iron ore and iron ore that is used in this DRIEAF process. And we want to make sure that we're not exposed to more tons of P62 coming into the market.

Speaker 2

So that's the main way that we're discussing the pricing formulas with the various clients and we have been getting quite a lot of traction to be able to do that.

Speaker 8

That's great. So just to confirm, so you're going to move from sort of a discount to pellet pricing as opposed to a premium to the current concentrate benchmark?

Speaker 2

Yes, the Doctor pellet pricing, correct. And there might be a mix of both, but the intent is to eventually move away from the P60 2 or P65 market.

Speaker 8

Yes, that's great to hear. Thank you very much, David.

Speaker 2

Thank you,

Operator

sir. Thank you. There seems to be no further questions at this time. I'd now like to turn the call back over to Mr. Michael O'Keefe for any final closing comments.

Speaker 6

Thank you very much, operator. And I'm sitting here reflecting and listening to David talk. And as a major shareholder, I try and put myself outside of the day to day goings on with the company. I mean, David and I talk every couple of days whether I'm in town or out of town. So I know intimately what's going on and obviously involved in the strategy of how we go forward.

Speaker 6

But as a major shareholder, I like to just sit back out and look back into the company and say, what are the elements that are facing us today? Well, first of all, it's the effect of China. I mean, China coughs and everyone else gets a cold, especially none more evident than that than in the iron ore business. So if I was sitting there thinking, what should I be doing? Should I be in iron ore?

Speaker 6

Or should I be looking at other commodities, diversifying the self? Well, we effectively are. And if I was sitting in Australia in the Pilbara with low grade iron ore going to China all the time to their blast furnaces, I would be concerned. And as I discussed in the last quarterly report, it was how in the hell they're going to microwave the pill. But it may happen eventually, but it's not I don't think I'm going to see it in my lifetime.

Speaker 6

And I hope I've got a long time to go. But so I look at the elements in the company and say, what are the indicators for me? The indicators are obviously people. So close representation of that was the forest fires we've just had. The fact that we mobilized the teams, we secured the area, we evacuated, I think, up to 500 people.

Speaker 6

We're on standby with 737 airplanes. We will work with the local community. And I think we had 300 people mobilized to fight those fires and be prepared for them. And that was done efficiently. One of the things that David didn't mention, these little things I look at is that we've just completed a new workshop for and quite a large infrastructure for the trucks and maintenance on trucks and maintenance, what we call a shed, but it's more of a massive building, take on welding and everything else.

Speaker 6

That was completed on time and budget just recently. It sort of doesn't get a mention. I think that we as operators need to sometimes reflect back. And one of our board directors said, listen, would you have a path or anything for that? I mean, our problem is today, we're taking that as norm where other people get quite surprised that they bring on an operation or they bring on a project on time on budget.

Speaker 6

For us, it's becoming the norm. And I think we probably have to stop and look back at ourselves and say, okay, start rewarding the people a bit more for what we're doing, what we're achieving as we're going along. But highlighting for me the fact that if I'm sitting there as a shareholder, I'm very excited that people can deliver on these projects. And the fact we've got the people delivering on the projects and we're setting down the road map of the journey we want to go on to and that is not looking at other commodities because as David said, our pricing system for the product that we're going to produce is going to be separated from the index and it's not going to be reliant on China. Now we're talking about a pretty narrow time frame and that we're talking about commissioning the high grade plant in under 12 months or around about 12 months' time.

Speaker 6

So we're going to endure a pricing system, but that's everyone else is in that boat. But however, we're fortunate that we have a high grade 66.2 product and now you're seeing the spread for that because obviously the steel makers want if they can buy high grade, they always need to want it because it brings their unit cost down. It also helps them with their pollution issues. So let's just take that as a given and then look at the road map. The fact that David's been able to and his team have been able to achieve this critical minerals for iron ore is bloody significant.

Speaker 6

And I say that because it does give us access to government funding on growth in projects, currently what we're doing. The fact that we've got power ready for the next phase of this, all that's done. And again, it seems to be taken as a given. Now that allows us to be able to look at the growth opportunities and we have the cash to be able to do it. And it will be a different company as we get into that process.

Speaker 6

So I'm very excited about where we're going. We're totally focused on where we need to get to and we have the people to do that. So also we've got very supportive shareholders and I'd like to thank you for that. And we're always available to talk. We're always available to take people up to site to see what's happening at the port, what's happening on the with the railcars, what's happening with the growth in our development there.

Speaker 6

So you could be tempted to go out and say jump on the lithium band or jump on some other commodity, which detracts you from what you're doing. But at the same time, I'm trying to leave you with a message and that is this. We totally believe in the commodity and we believe in the commodity as such that it will be going to a market that is going to be supportive of green steel. So for that, we will get a premium. For that, we're putting our eggs into this basket.

Speaker 6

And we will look at opportunities as they come along in other areas. And if they're low cost and they're good opportunities, we will no doubt investigate them. But in all, we're totally focused on being in 12 months' time into a position where we're selling into a total different market. So all this emotion that you're seeing today about China and iron ore prices is we're going to be isolated from that. So exciting times for everyone and we'll continue over the next 12 months.

Speaker 6

And in that time, we've been able to, again, give dividends and we'll continue to do that while the iron ore price is where it is and we can keep our cost structure coming down. So on that note, thank you everyone and I'll sign off and wish you all a very nice evening or day wherever you'd be. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your line. Have a lovely

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Earnings Conference Call
Champion Iron Q1 2025
00:00 / 00:00
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