29Metals Limited (29M) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Fiona Robertson, and I am an independent nonexecutive director of 29Metals. As it likes to continually remind us, COVID-19 is still very much ongoing. And unfortunately, the Chair of the Board, Owen Hegarty, OAM is unable to be with us today in person. Owen is going to join us online and will address the meeting shortly. To assist with the smooth running of the hybrid meeting, I will be the Chair of that meeting from the venue here in Melbourne. On behalf of Owen and the rest of the Board, I'm delighted to welcome you, our shareholders, both online and here in the room, to take part in this 29Metals' first AGM as a publicly listed company. Today's AGM is being conducted as a hybrid meeting, designed to maximize the opportunity for our shareholders to participate. I'm pleased to see that shareholders are using the virtual online platform and also joining us here in person in Melbourne. I will ask our company secretary in a moment to take us through some of the logistics for participating online. Before we begin the meeting, we acknowledge all First Nations people and pay our respects to their elders, past, present and emerging. In particular, I want to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which we're conducting this meeting here today and where our head office is located a short distance away. Also, the Badimaya people and the Widi mob, the traditional custodians of the land where the Golden Grove mine is located, and the Kalkadoon people, the traditional custodians of the land where Capricorn Copper mine is located. As always at 29Metals, safety is our highest priority. Please note the following emergency and evacuation procedures for people here in the room. In the event of an emergency, the Westin will sound an alarm. Please remain seated unless a fire warden comes to the room and directs us to evacuate. The nearest exit for the room is the doors to the rear where you entered today. The nearest fire exit for the building is the fire exit stairwell located on this floor. If we are asked to evacuate, please follow the fire warden's instructions and make your way to St. Paul's Cathedral car park, which is the nominated muster point. For those joining online, in the event of an evacuation, the AGM will be immediately adjourned. Please monitor the ASX announcements platform and our website, where updates will be provided regarding the scheduling of the recommencement of the AGM. Joining me at the front of the meeting today are the other independent directors of 29Metals, Jacqui McGill, AO; and Martin Alciaturi. And to Martin's left is Clifford Tuck, the Chief Governance and Legal Officer and Company Secretary. Also present or joining online are members of the executive -- other members of the executive leadership team. Peter Albert will introduce the other members of the executive leadership and senior management during his presentation. Fiona Drummond, the company's independent external auditor from Ernst & Young, is also joining the meeting online. We do unfortunately have quite a number of people who've succumbed to COVID. It's rather unfortunate. I am advised that there is a quorum present, and therefore, I declare the meeting open. The agenda for today's AGM is as follows: We will begin by briefly outlining some of the voting and other procedures for the meeting, including to ensure that shareholders joining via the online platform have an opportunity to participate. After that, Owen will present his address to the meeting. I will then invite Peter Albert to present to the meeting. And after Peter's presentation, we will commence the formal business of the meeting. For each item of formal business, there will be an opportunity for shareholders to ask questions. Representatives of our external auditor, Ernst & Young, are available to respond to questions regarding the conduct of the audit of 29Metals' financial statements and of the auditor's opinion. Following completion of the formal business of the meeting and as time permits, there will be an opportunity for shareholders to ask general questions regarding the company. The details of the formal business of the meeting are set out in the notice of meeting for this AGM, which was released to the ASX announcements platform on 21st of April 2022 and is taken as read. A copy of Owen's address and Peter's presentation have been lodged with the ASX prior to the AGM's commencement and are available on 29Metals' website. I refer you to the important information regarding forward-looking statements, non-IFRS financial information and ore reserves and mineral resources set out on Slides 2 and 3 of the presentation. Following completion of the AGM, for those able to be with us here in person today, please do join management and the Board outside for refreshments. So with the formalities commenced, I will now ask Cliff to explain the procedures for today's AGM.

Thank you, Fiona, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. As Fiona mentioned, today's AGM is being conducted as a hybrid meeting, whereby 29Metals shareholders have the opportunity to participate in person here in the room or via the online platform run by our registry and the AGM telephone line to provide an opportunity for all shareholders to ask questions in any of those 3 forms. For those joining via the online platform and telephone line, if you experience any technical difficulties during the AGM, please dial the numbers shown on-screen now for assistance. This number is also provided on 29Metals' dedicated AGM page on our website and in the online meeting guide. In relation to voting, a voting on each of the resolutions at this AGM will be conducted by way of a poll, as set out in the notice of meeting. The results of the poll will be released to the ASX and will be available on our website as soon as possible after the AGM has concluded. As we move through the items of formal business, valid proxies received for and against each resolution will be displayed on your screen for those participating in the meeting online and on the screen at the front of the room for those here in person. The proxy figures shown are as at the closing time for receipt of proxies, which was 11:00 a.m. Melbourne time on Sunday, the 22nd of May. As set out in the notice of meeting, the Chair will vote all directed proxies in accordance with directions provided by shareholders, and the Chair will vote all open proxies in favor of all resolutions. This includes proxies held by the Chair, which will be voted in favor of Resolutions 1 to 5, which are the items of business that are related to remuneration matters, unless specifically directed otherwise. In order to provide shareholders with enough time to vote, the Chair will shortly open voting on all resolutions, at which time voting on each of the resolution will commence and be available to shareholders online. For shareholders and proxy holders joining online, you may enter your votes for each resolution by selecting the Get a Voting Card icon at the bottom of your screen at any time after the Chair opens voting until the Chair declares voting closed towards the end of the meeting. Shareholders and proxy holders joining online are able to edit your votes up until the Chair closes voting, but please ensure that you click the Submit button -- icon to ensure that your votes are counted before you disconnect from the AGM. For those joining in person here in the room, you will have received an admission card at registration. Attendees voting at the AGM will have received a yellow admission card. Your voting instructions for the business of the meeting should be completed on the back of your yellow admission card. Please complete the voting instructions on the back of your yellow admission card, and these will be collected at the -- towards the end of the AGM, when requested by the Chair. If you need assistance, please see the registration desk staff located at the entry to this room. In relation to questions, there will be an opportunity for shareholders to ask questions relating to each item of formal business and, as Fiona mentioned, if time permits, more general questions regarding the company following completion of the formal business. In order to maximize the opportunity for all shareholders to participate in the meeting, questions will generally be addressed in the following order: written questions submitted by shareholders participating online will be addressed first, followed by questions via the telephone or online platform for the shareholders participating remotely, then we'll move to questions from shareholders here in the room. For those attending in person, when invited by the Chair of the meeting, please ask you -- please raise your yellow or blue admission card. A roaming microphone will make its way to you to ensure that as you ask your question, those joining online can also hear the question. Shareholders joining online may submit written questions at any stage during the AGM by selecting the Ask a Question icon at the bottom of your screen. If you have a question already prepared, please submit it now so that as many questions as possible can be answered. We will then address them at the appropriate time as we work through the business of the meeting. Please note that questions may be moderated or if we receive multiple questions on a similar topic, we may choose to respond to the questions collectively for efficiency. For shareholders participating in the meeting online who wish to ask a question verbally, you will need your unique pin provided by our share registry. This can be obtained using the telephone number shown on-screen now. Once you have your pin, please dial into the dedicated AGM shareholder telephone line also shown on-screen. If you wish to ask a question during the AGM, dial star 1 on your telephone keypad. A reminder to all shareholders speaking at the meeting or via the telephone line, this webcast is being recorded, and a copy will be publicly available on our website after the meeting. Thank you, Fiona.

Thank you, Cliff. I will now invite Owen to make his address to the AGM as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Owen, over to you.

Thank you, Fiona. And thank you so much, Fiona, for stepping up to the plate here at the very last minute with respect to taking the Chair of the meeting. And thank you to everybody for joining whether online or in person, and I'm sorry I can't be with you in person physically today. It's my pleasure to be here with you, our shareholders, for the 29Metals Limited 2022 Annual General Meeting, 29Metals' first -- very first AGM. 2021 was a landmark year for 29M with the company formed in May and successfully undertaking an initial public offering, IPO, and listing on the ASX in July, the culmination of an enormous amount of work by a lot of people, many of whom are with you there today, and we thank them very much for that. The year started with the well-thought-through idea to bring together 3 privately-held, copper-focused assets and to form a new ASX-listed, copper-focused mining company, offering investors an opportunity to gain exposure to copper and other metals that will drive the global energy transition. With that idea, we confirmed the team and the assets to form 29Metals and launch this new company, combining 2 Australian long-life producing assets and a pipeline of organic growth opportunities at those assets as well as the Redhill exploration project in Chile. The Board and I were very pleased with the response to the IPO and particularly the support from Australian institutional and retail shareholders, many of whom are well and truly represented here today. 29Metals' share price performed strongly for the balance of the year, reflecting delivery against the plan and strategy and a positive market backdrop. Overall, the IPO was a very clear case of having the right assets, right team, right market and at the right time. 29Metals' strategy was outlined in our prospectus, a strategy for delivering sustainable growth, underpinned by a highly experienced Board and the management team, high-grade and long-life assets located in Tier 1 mining jurisdictions, a substantial pipeline of organic growth opportunities, a commitment to sustainability and ESG, a positive market dynamic for copper and other energy transition metals, a strong balance sheet, and considerable pre-IPO investment in our assets. Our strategy is simple: Execute our operating plans and deliver our growth opportunities. The 29Metals portfolio is blessed with a substantial pipeline of organic growth opportunities comprising identified productivity and operational improvements, in-mine and near-mine expansions, extensions and growth, and the regional exploration opportunities surrounding both our operating sites and at Redhill. Peter's presentation will highlight the progress made against this strategy in 2021. External growth opportunities may also play a part in 29Metals' future growth. But it must be the right opportunity, an opportunity that enhances the 29Metals portfolio and where the Board is confident that we can add value and realize value for the owners of our business, our shareholders. Performance for the full year on a pro forma basis was strong with significant improvement in operating performance post-IPO, delivering copper production and production in copper equivalent terms ahead of our prospectus forecast along with improvement in unit costs. Together, these results delivered pro forma EBITDA well ahead of the prospectus forecast. Full year performance was pleasing against the backdrop of challenging labor market conditions, particularly in WA, and the continuing challenges of COVID-19. The management team did an excellent job of managing costs and, importantly, managing COVID-19 with no cases recorded at our operating sites in 2021. The direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 remain a challenge for the sector and across the community in 2022. Those impacts, combined with tight labor markets and supply chain disruption, will remain a focus for management. Most importantly, managing the risk of transmission of COVID among our workforce on-site is the highest priority, keeping our people safe and supporting our local communities as you well and truly expect us to do, the safety of our workforce and supporting local communities very much part of our commitment to sustainability and ESG. The Board and management team are as one in recognizing that strong sustainability and ESG performance are key to a successful business. We published our first sustainability and ESG report earlier this year in our 2021 annual report. Recognizing that it is early in 29Metals' journey as a listed company, the report sets out our approach and commitment, our performance in '21 and our priorities for 2022. The report also includes our road map to reporting aligned with the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (sic) [ Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures ], or TCFD, recommendations, which Peter will speak to in his presentation. Earlier this year, we also implemented a formal link between action on climate change and executive remuneration in the vesting conditions for the 2022 long-term incentive award. 29Metals, our approach to sustainability and ESG also provides a catalyst for further engagement with our stakeholders: First Nations, regulatory stakeholders, business partners and local communities alike, to ensure that our actions deliver meaningful outcomes. It is also a catalyst for engaging with our workforce. Our workforce, our most important asset in delivering sustainable business performance and returns for our shareholders. Before I hand over to Peter for his presentation, I just wanted to touch upon governance. The Board is committed to ensuring 29Metals conduct its business in a responsible and ethical manner. Through the IPO process, we had the rare opportunity to design a robust governance framework from scratch, overseen by your Board. The role of the Board is supported by outstanding Board committees, each of which is chaired by one of our independent nonexecutive directors. These committees started their work quickly following the listing and have supported the Board by diving more deeply into important issues such as key business risks and our approach to our people and remuneration. The Board takes its oversight responsibilities very seriously. This oversight ensures that your Board is across the issues that matter and holds management accountable for performance. Our governance framework works alongside our values, and together, they set out the standards we expect for behavior in the workplace. During 2021, everyone in the mining sector received a stark reminder of the importance of ensuring that everyone understands that unacceptable workplace behavior cannot be tolerated. As importantly, the much-publicized events reminded all of us, as leaders, of the importance of ensuring that everyone in the workplace has the confidence to call out or report inappropriate behaviors and to expect action. There is always room for improvement in this area. And speaking on behalf of the Board, we are committed to ensuring 29M fosters an environment where all of our people have the opportunity to succeed. In closing, on behalf of the Board, I want to congratulate Peter and the management team on what was a -- on most measures, a very good start to 29Metals' life as a listed company. We extend our thanks to all of our workforce, including our contractors, for their continuing contribution to 29Metals' future success. On a personal note, I would also like to thank my fellow directors. It is a privilege to chair this Board, and I look forward to working with you all, assuming I get reelected today, of course, as we look to consolidate on the foundations laid in 2021 and realize the potential of our company. Thank you for your participation in the AGM today. And I will now hand back to you, Fiona. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Owen. Sorry, you can't be with us today, but it's good to hear you being bouncy from home. For shareholders, there will be an opportunity to ask questions of the Chair, of Owen and of Peter Albert and management later in the meeting. But in the meantime, I will now invite Peter Albert to address the meeting. Peter, over to you.

Yes. Thanks, Fiona, and thanks, Owen. I will try to be -- also be bouncy, Fiona. Like Owen, I also have COVID. Nonetheless, I'm delighted to be able to present to you here at our first AGM, even though I can't be there in person. First of all, I'd like to introduce the executive and management team here with us today. Owen has already introduced Cliff as a Company Secretary -- or sorry, I should say, Fiona has, as Company Secretary and General Counsel. Cliff was involved with the development of the 29Metals IPO process before any of us, some 2 years before we actually listed, and was heavily involved in that process. Cliff also has a strong interest and capability in the ESG space and was assisting putting our first sustainability and ESG report together. So earlier this year, I asked Cliff to take on executive responsibility for sustainability and ESG. We have also recently recruited a group manager in this space, and she will start with us in July. Ed, Ed Cooney, if you're there, stick up your hand in the audience there. Ed and I go back a few years when we were working together in Indonesia when he was EGM of Operations. In early 2021, I asked Ed if he wanted to join 29Metals as a COO, and he jumped at the opportunity and has made a great impact on our operational capability at both Golden Grove and Capricorn Copper. Peter Herbert. Peter, like me, has COVID. So unfortunately, you won't be able to meet him today, but he is online. 2.5 years ago, I was recruiting for a CFO for 29Metals, then COVID came and everything was put on hold. In the following year, Peter and I worked closely together through that very challenging COVID uncertainty time. I realized very quickly that the best CFO of the 29Meters was actually sitting right next to me. Fortunately, Peter, like Ed, jumped at the opportunity and joined 29Metals and I couldn't have made a better choice. Also here with us today in the audience is Grace, Grace Fong. Stick up your hand, Grace. Grace ex-KPMG and who joined Peter's team about 9 months ago and got thrown straight into the deep end with our first ended financial year accounts. And of course, Mike Slifirski, there in the auditorium today. Mike, well known, I'm sure, to many of you. Mike was the Managing Director at Credit Suisse analytical division for many years and probably the most respected analyst in the Australian market at that time. I'm delighted that Mike is part of the team. I'm also told by Cliff that Scott Jones is on the line. Scott, welcome, Scott. Scott was our General Manager at Capricorn Copper for a number of years and always intended to seek other opportunities after the IPO. But in the meantime, he did a great job training up Josh Moran, the current General Manager at Capricorn Copper. Now Owen has already referred to our sustainability and ESG commitments, and I would like to expand a little. As I said and as Owen said, we have now produced our first sustainability and ESG report, which can be found on our website. As we develop this document, we need to strategically think about how to describe sustainability and ESG in the context of our culture and the company we want to be. With the support and guidance of the Sustainability Committee chaired by Jacqui McGill, Cliff and I developed this 3-pillar model: Safe and inclusive workplace, responsible environmental stewardship and partnering with stakeholders, with those 3 pillars supported by the principles of responsible and ethical business practices and continued improvement, all underpinned by our company values of teams, transparency, excellence, accountability, mutual respect and safety first. These values define our culture who we are, how we recruit, how we measure performance and they provide the framework for decision-making. This is our model, but it is only a model, although it enables us to describe our commitments and priorities to our stakeholders. One of the challenges we have today is that there is no common reporting framework across the industry and there are consultants around every corner wanting to advise us. I take a simplistic view. We have been committed to the principles of good governance, environmental stewardship, proactive community and stakeholder engagement all of our careers and certainly, Owen and I for the past 25 years on the many projects and businesses we have worked on together all around the world. It is a bit of a cliche these days, but it is in our DNA, and it will be in the DNA of every person who works at 29Metals. Just like how safety has become part of every person's responsibility, sustainability and ESG is and will be a part of every job at 29Metals and is being woven into the fabric of the company. Now at this juncture, I want to talk about sexual harassment and bullying. Owen has already mentioned this matter. This has quite appropriately had a lot of airplay in recent months. As soon as 29Metals was formed, I initiated a workplace health survey, recognizing, of course, that any survey is only as good as the honesty of the respondents and the number of persons that respond. This survey did not throw up major concerns of sexual harassment or bullying at 29Metals sites. However, we would be naive to think that working on a remote mining camp does not provide an environment where these sorts of things can happen if the leadership and culture is not right. In recent months, we have undertaken a number of activities to address any potential issues or concerns. For example, only mid-strength alcohol is sold on-site. Alcohol and inappropriate activities tend to go hand-in-hand. We've undertaken lighting surveys around the camps to ensure that all areas are well-lit and safe. We've provided and continue to provide appropriate gender-related ablution facilities on surface and underground. With the establishment of a company-wide employee-led inclusivity and diversity working group, established and refreshed workplace behavior policies reinforce the need for strong leadership at our sites and identifying and addressing unconscious bias, something actually we're all guilty of from time to time, and done much more. We're absolutely committed to ensuring a safe workplace for all of our employees and contractors. Inappropriate behavior at 29Metals is simply just not tolerated. In our sustainability and ESG report, we have described our performance in 2021 and set out our road map for the next 3 years for reporting aligned to TCFD recommendations, that acronym that Owen's already talked to, Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures. We are a new company without a long history of track record. Therefore, we have effectively said that 2022, this year, is a year for us to collect all relevant data, ensure that we have the systems in place to collect the data such that our next sustainability and ESG report we will be at on, for example, our emissions and thereafter be able to set realistic targets for reduction. This is a journey we are committed to but we won't make the mistake of setting targets too early, which cannot be backed and supported by good science and engineering. The 29Metals strategy. We described this in our prospectus and it effectively remains unchanged, i.e., 3 layers or 3 onion rings, as we previously described it. Execute and deliver on our plan. We did that in 2021, and I'll come to that shortly. Deliver organic growth. We've come down that pathway much, much faster than I had expected since mid last year, really pleasing. And again, I'll come to that shortly. And consider external growth with our good sensible opportunities which are value accretive to the business. The next 2 slides are just a quick refresh of our operating assets. Golden Grove located only 1 hour north of Perth by plane, and we fly in our teams by charter aircraft up until the site. We're about 3 to 4 hours by road east of Geraldton. We had great location, very easy to get into, and that enhances our workplace in terms of our ability to attract our teams and employees. And we provide a very attractive camp. On this slide that you can see here, it's what we call a long section of the mines that we have at Golden Grove. But there are 2 mines, Gossan Hill and Scuddles on the right-hand side of that slide. Garden Grove has been going for 30 years. Today, we have 60 million tonnes in resource we've got approximately and approximately 13 million tonnes in reserve and we have a 10-year mine life. In my opinion, we're probably likely to be going for another 30 years. We have the 2 operating mining fronts, Gossan Hill and Scuddles. And there on the left-hand side is Gossan Valley, the third potential mining front. And I'll talk to that a little while later. Back to -- in the middle there, Gossan Hill. Just want to touch on that orebody, reminding in multiple fronts at Gossan Hill that the orebody there called Xantho Extended, just a fantastic orebody. 9 million tonnes, approximately at 8% zinc, 2% copper, a couple of grams per tonne gold, we're stoping there. We're mining there from December last year, got into the top reaches of that orebody. And this orebody will support the growth from Golden Grove for the next 5, 6, 7 years. Just a tremendous orebody. And indeed, you can see Europa underneath Xantho Extended, so the potential to continue to extend that orebody there at Gossan Hill. To the right there, Scuddles. Scuddles was the first mine, the historical mine that was opened up 30-some years ago. Last year, we committed 14 drill holes at Cervantes, an orebody underneath Scuddles. Just fantastic results from Cervantes and some -- I'll give you some context. These have all been reported in the public domain, but 19.5 meters at 3.6% copper, 24 meters at 4% copper, 10.5 meters at 20.8% zinc, 8.6 meters at 15% zinc, just absolutely fantastic set of results, so encouraging that we're currently undertaking a prefeasibility study at Cervantes. Moving on to Capricorn Copper. Capricorn Copper located 140 kilometers north of Mount Isa in the so-called Mount Isa Inlier, one of the best geological environments on the globe probably, multiple orebodies, multiple mines, multiple operations, all in that part of the world, and we have a tremendous asset there, Capricorn Copper, in that environment. At Capricorn Copper, numbers are actually not too dissimilar to Golden Grove, approximately 60 million tonnes in resource, 13 million tonnes in reserve and 10-year mine life. The orebody on the left-hand side there called Esperanza South, that provides about 60% to 70% of the feed to our -- well, it's a sublevel cave and I'll come to that in a moment and the importance of that. So it provides, as I said, 60% to 70% of the feed to the mill now and for some period to come. On the second -- moving on to the next slide, I assume we're there. I can't really see from here. But on the 2nd of July 2021, we came on to the ASX. And as we did so, we needed to state the performance outcomes of the company on a pro forma basis for the full year 2021, not a range but we had to provide specific outcomes. And as you can see and as mentioned by Owen previously, we met or exceeded most of those key parameters. For example, 68,000 tonnes of copper equivalent, $254 million of EBITDA against the forecast of $221 million. And through the IPO, we reshaped the balance sheet, paying down project finance debt and 2021 copper hedges. We also completed a refinancing of remaining debt during the year on more favorable terms, ending the year with a net drawn debt of only $3 million. And we advanced those growth opportunities, especially at Golden Grove, which I've already referred to, i.e., Xantho Extended and Cervantes and Gossan Valley. Golden Grove is a polymetallic system. We produced 3 concentrates: a copper concentrate, a zinc concentrate and a high precious metals concentrate from Golden Grove. In 2021, there are a number of derisking milestones as well as progress on organic growth, referred to in those blocks on the right-hand side of the slide, but I will move on to the next slide because pictures tell a -- talk to a thousand words, as they say. Bottom left-hand picture there on this slide. This is a core from Xantho Extended. It shows you massive drill core burrow, indicating and demonstrating what a tremendous orebody this is at Xantho Extended. The picture above that core is the existing evaporative cooling system. Recognizing Xantho Extended is getting deeper, we are -- we will be changing out that evaporative cooling system for a chilled air cooling system, which will be commissioned by the end of this year in readiness for the next hot summer season. So committed to the infrastructure to support the long-term development and extraction of ore from Xantho Extended. And to the right of that picture, we've got the paste-fill plant at Golden Grove. This paste-fill plant under construction at the moment, almost complete, will be completed this quarter, and we will commission it in the next quarter. And again, this paste-fill plant provides paste-fill that we will be pumping down to Xantho Extended to, again, support the exceptional development of the ore from Xantho Extended. So tremendous commitments we have made to the long-term growth of the -- at Golden Grove underpinned in the early years by the Xantho Extended orebody. To the right of that picture is the Scuddles winder. The Scuddles winder was out of commission for some time and had to be upgraded, quite a considerable task. And now the Scuddles winder is recommissioned and back at full production and a great outcome there by the team to achieve that. Back to the bottom slide there in the middle, there's triple sequential float. This is a process initiative, in-house process initiative, completed last year, designed in-house, which enables -- because we have zinc and copper and mixed zinc and copper ores, the triple sequential flow enables us to treat any ore that presents itself to the mill and produce the 3 concentrates simultaneously, just a fantastic initiative and a great demonstration of the innovation that we have embedded in our teams. And the last picture there is a shot of the tremendous Cervantes drill core and I referred already to some of the great results we've had from Cervantes. Moving on to Capricorn Copper. Again, similarly to Golden Grove, a number of derisking milestones as well as progress on organic growth. And interestingly, Capricorn, a little different in terms of the orebody. We produce copper at Capricorn with a silver byproduct, but we also have cobalt in our orebodies, and we will be looking at the opportunity to extract that cobalt in the periods to come. But I'll move straight on to the next slide, which, again, pictures tell a thousand -- give a thousand words, so to speak. Top left-hand picture there is a picture you don't see very often. It's a breakthrough of a raise bore at Esperanza South that's providing a ventilation shaft for the long-term development and growth from that significant orebody at Esperanza South. So that was completed earlier on this year. And to the right of that picture, I talked about the sublevel cave, the Esperanza South sublevel cave. Sublevel caves needs to propagate the surface. It needs to express that surface. We had anticipated that we would have to assist in that propagation. This happens as autonomously, self-propagated, so to speak, just a fantastic outcome and really supporting that long-term opportunity to continue developing that mining front at depth. Bottom left-hand picture there is a shot of the expansion to a tailings facility that we recently completed at Capricorn and now in operation. Right-hand picture is -- it's a water management infrastructure. Over the years at Capricorn Copper, there have been a number of prior owners, and they effectively left the mine with some challenging water management issues. 29Metals has been working with the regulator, the Department of Environment and Science, to address these issues very proactively, and some great results, tremendous progress over the last 20 -- 12 to 18 months. And this is a picture of a pumping system we installed at Capricorn Copper to assist in the water management that existed there that we are currently dealing with. On the left-hand side, just to point out the exploration tenement ground that we have at Capricorn. The blue star in the middle there is the mine. And we have 1,800 square kilometers of tenements surrounding Capricorn Copper, just a tremendous landholding that we have up there in that Mount Isa Inlier. You couldn't wish for a better address, you couldn't wish for a better landholding. Recently, last year, with the support of the Queensland government, they contribute 50% to a Falcon magnetic survey over that bottom right-hand corner tenement area. So we're assessing that and assessing the outcomes of that in terms of targets for drilling in the future. On the left-hand side, you can see a tenement area there, Eagles Nest and Grey Ghost. We'll be out drilling on those targets this quarter and next quarter. So we're on the ground and drilling in the tenements surrounding Capricorn Copper. Just as I say, it's just a fantastic asset that we have in terms of the -- having that sort of a tenement package in this very prospective region of the part of Australia and one of the best, as I said, in the world probably. So looking ahead to 2022. The start of 2022 has been challenging for the whole industry. We've had some fairly strong headwinds and Owen referred to some of those. Just to touch on a little bit more detail. COVID-19 last year -- well, the last 2 years, probably, just really, really great management systems, protocols implemented at both sites. We didn't have a single case on either site right through until beginning of this year. With the borders coming down, firstly, in Queensland and then in WA, COVID getting into the community, of course, as was expected, we did start to see some COVID on-site. However, through the last 4, 5 months, at either site, we've only ever had somewhere between 0 and maybe 10 to 12 cases on-site, at any one time, so demonstrating that the management systems we have in place have been really effective. What has been a bigger impact, not just for us but across the whole industry over this period, has been the regulatory requirement in terms of close contact -- management of close contact. So if you're a close contact, up until very recently, then you were excluded from working places for anywhere between 7 and 14 days. And that absenteeism certainly had an impact on the mining industry as a whole. That combines -- if we talk about labor market pressures, that combined with border closures, inability to bring in international workforces and the 4% unemployment rate, unprecedented in the Australian market, significant labor market pressures, again, affecting the whole industry. As I mentioned earlier on, Golden Grove located where it is, the good camp facilities we have, that does help to mitigate those sorts of pressures to some degree. The recent geopolitical risks at Ukraine, Russia, of course, leading to supply chain challenges in some areas, oil prices, higher freight costs have certainly been affecting the whole industry. And in terms of supply chain, we have experienced, in the West and East, significant weather events, which have had some impact on supply chains during the first -- early part of this year, specifically in regards to cement and ability to provide cement to paste-fill plants. But that's behind us now and going well. Notwithstanding those sort of headwinds, our quarter 1 results were quite -- not quite where we had planned them to be but still pretty good. We feel very happy with what we achieved in Q1 and setting ourselves up for success for the balance of the year. So looking ahead, again, in terms of 2022, and we got in terms of the first onion ring, i.e., executing on our plan. I won't refer to all of these points, but just call out a couple here. The focus on continued strong copper and zinc production, noting that zinc, as we've said, is weighted to the back half of 2022 but going very well in terms of production. We've recently broken through what we call the HOX link at Golden Grove. This is a -- the linkage of deep lines underground, enabling a one-way traffic system, enabling enhanced ventilation controls, supporting that tremendous Xantho Extended orebody. And we'll continue to manage COVID at our sites, and we see these days as the regulations have come off in respect of the close contact, we're seeing absenteeism rates have dropped off very significantly in Queensland. And we're starting to see that now in Western Australia as well. So that's something positive that we're anticipating that is coming very shortly. Process improvement projects. I talked about the triple sequential float, great innovation there and also the teams at Capricorn Copper, likewise, focus on innovation opportunities. And at Capricorn today, we have a Jameson cell up there in trial at Capricorn. This going very well, and we would anticipate if we install the Jameson cell permanently, then we will see improved recovery, improved concentrate grades and looking at a number of other process improvements across both sites. So again, the progress and the commitment we're making in terms of achieving the goals we've set ourselves for 2022. In terms of the organic growth, again, a few key points to call out. We will be starting that paste-fill operations at Golden Grove in the next quarter. The Cervantes and Gossan Valley, referred to those earlier on a couple of times and the great results at Cervantes that we've achieved and now in prefeasibility study there. Gossan Valley, the feasibility study confirming the pre-feasibility study work. We've been working on optimization of that feasibility study. And over the recent weeks and months, we have -- we're looking at evaluating the optimal integration of both of these projects into our long-term mine plan, which one, how, when they come in, et cetera, but really, really exciting to be having these -- blessed with these opportunities, not only Xantho Extended, which we're now into, but also Cervantes and Gossan Valley coming at us in the not-too-distant future. At Redhill, some really encouraging work at Redhill in recent months. We've been out on the ground there with the teams for the last 3, 4, 5 months. That exploration decision just coming to an end now. I think we're into our last shift on-site at the moment. The results of the materials we have collected through drilling not through yet. We would expect to see them coming through in the next quarter. But certainly, the materials that we've collected and the extent of what we've been able to do, very encouraging at Redhill. So looking forward to being able to report on that in coming quarters. And of course, testing those regional targets, especially at Capricorn Copper that I talked about just now, especially at Eagles Nest and Grey Ghost. So that sort of brings to the end my presentation. Thank you very much for listening to me this morning and being in attendance. I'll now hand back to Fiona and I look forward to responding to any questions from shareholders as we move through the balance of the meeting. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Peter, and you sound -- you too sound pretty bouncy back there at home. I'm sorry you can't be here with us, but I hope you're back on deck properly pretty soon. We will now move on to the formal business of the AGM. The first item of business is the receipt and consideration of the 31 December 2021 financial report for the company and the reports of the directors and the auditor. No vote is required on this item of business. A copy of the 2021 annual report has been made available on the company's website and was sent to those shareholders who requested a copy. I will take the 2021 annual report as having been received by the meeting and invite questions regarding the 2021 financial report. I note that no questions were received for the auditor prior to the meeting. Cliff, do we have any questions received online?

Fiona, no questions received online.

Okay. Thank you. Are there any questions from shareholders on the phone lines?

No questions at this time.

No. Okay. Thank you. In that case, I will open to questions in the room. If you have a question, please raise your yellow or blue card. [Operator Instructions] Are there any questions? No. That's good. Okay. Since we have no questions on this item, I will now move to the 8 resolutions being put to this meeting. And at this point, I will formally declare the polls open. A reminder to those joining online, please record your votes using the icon at the bottom of your screen. To those joining in person, please record your vote on the back of your yellow admission card as we move through the resolutions. I will give you advanced warning before I move to close voting at the end of the AGM, so you'll have plenty of warning when you need to make your final decisions. I will now deal with Resolution 1, the adoption of the remuneration report. The resolution is shown on the screen. The remuneration report was included in the directors' report for the year ended 31 December 2021, a copy of which is included in our 2021 annual report. The remuneration report outlines the company's approach to remuneration, including -- the word comes again, including remuneration for key management personnel and included information regarding matters presented to this meeting for shareholder approval in Resolutions 2, 3 and 4. Please note that a vote on this resolution is advisory only and is not binding. However, any discussion on this resolution and the outcome of the advisory vote will be taken into consideration by the Board. As set out in the notice of meeting, a voting exclusion applies to this resolution and in the interest of good governance, the directors have abstained from making a recommendation regarding this resolution. The proxies received are shown on the screen. I will now invite questions regarding this item. Cliff, any questions online?

No, Fiona. No questions online at this time.

And any questions from shareholders via phone?

There are no telephone questions at this time.

Okay. And I take it we haven't received any written questions?

No written questions received here.

Okay. In which case, I will open to questions in the room. If you have a question, please raise your yellow or blue card. Okay. No questions. In that case, we will move to Resolution 2. Issue of securities under the 29Metals equity incentive plan. The resolution shown on-screen seeks shareholder approval for the 29Metals equity incentive plan which provides a framework to award employees with equity-based remuneration and the issue of securities under 29Metals' equity incentive plan for a period of 3 years. A voting exclusion applies to this resolution, as set out in notice of meeting. The proxies received are as set out on the screen and the directors unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the resolution. I will now invite questions regarding this item. Cliff, any online questions?

No online questions at this time, Fiona.

Thank you very much. And any written questions?

No written questions here.

And any questions via phone?

No telephone questions at this time.

Thank you for that. I'll now open to questions in the room. If you wish to ask a question, please raise your yellow or blue card. No yellow or blue cards in evidence. So in that case, we'll move to Resolution 3. The issue of the 2021 LTI performance rights to the CEO and Managing Director, Peter Albert. The resolution shown on-screen seeks shareholder approval for the award of performance rights to Peter Albert under the company's 2021 long-term incentive plan as described in the notice of meeting. A voting exclusion applies to this resolution as set out in the notice of meeting, which primarily excludes, I think, Mr. Albert and his close associates. The proxies received are set out on the screen. The directors, with Peter abstaining unanimously -- sorry, the directors, with Peter abstaining, unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. I'll now invite questions. Online questions, Cliff?

No online questions, Fiona, and no written questions before the meeting.

Okay. Are there any questions from shareholders via the phone?

There are no telephone questions.

Thank you, moderator. Now open to questions in the room. If you have a question, please raise your yellow or blue card. No yellow or blue cards, in which case, we will move to Resolution 4. The issue of 2022 LTI performance rights to Peter Albert. The resolution shown on-screen seeks shareholder approval for the award of performance rights to Peter Albert under the company's 2022 long-term incentive plan as detailed in the notice of meeting. A voting exclusion applies to this resolution as set out in the notice of meeting. The proxies received are set out on the screen. The directors, with Peter abstaining, unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. I now invite questions. Cliff, online?

No, Fiona, no questions online and no written questions before the meeting.

Thank you, Cliff. Moderator, are there any shareholders wishing to ask questions via phone?

No telephone questions at this time.

Thank you. In the room, if you have a question, please raise your yellow or blue card. [Operator Instructions] Are there any questions in the room? Okay. This is so far, so good. Resolution 5, the approval of the nonexecutive director salary sacrifice share plan. The resolution shown on-screen seeks shareholder approval for the issue of 29Metals shares to eligible nonexecutive directors, who have agreed to salary sacrifice a portion of their annual cash director fees, the details of which are described in the notice of meeting. A voting exclusion applies to this resolution as set out in the notice of meeting obviously for the relevant parties. The proxies received are set out on the screen. The directors, with each of the participating nonexecutive directors abstaining, recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. I will now invite questions. Cliff, any online?

No online questions and no written questions before the meeting, Fiona.

Thank you, Cliff. Any questions from shareholders on the phone?

There are no telephone questions.

Thank you. Are there any questions in the room? No cards, okay. Thank you. We might then move to the next resolution, an important one here. Resolution 6, the reelection of Owen Hegarty as a Director. Ladies and gentlemen, this item of business seeks shareholder approval for the reelection of Owen as a Director. Owen's background and qualifications are included in the notice of meeting on our website and in the 2021 annual report. The proxies received are as set out on the screen. The directors, with Owen abstaining, unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the resolution. I will now open up to questions. Cliff, have we received any questions online?

There are no online questions and no written questions before the meeting, Fiona.

Thank you. Are there any questions shareholders wish to ask via the phone?

There are no telephone questions.

Thank you. I will open to questions in the room. If you have a question, please raise your yellow or blue card. No questions. So we will move to the next resolution. As this one relates to me, I will ask Martin, the Chair of 29Metals' Rem & Noms Committee to chair this item of business. Over to you, Martin.

Thank you, Fiona. Good afternoon, everyone. Next item of business, Resolution 7, seeks shareholder approval for the reelection of Fiona as a Director. Fiona's biography was included in the notice of meeting and on our website and in the 2021 annual report. Proxies, again, are as shown on the slide on the screen. And once again, the directors, this time with Fiona abstaining, unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. Cliff, can you -- are there any questions online?

Martin, no online questions and no written questions prior to the meeting.

Thank you. And moderator, are there any questions on the telephone?

There are no telephone questions.

Thank you. Okay. I'll put the question open to the room. Anyone in the room have any questions on this? No? Okay. No questions. I'll pass the meeting back to Fiona. Thank you.

Thanks, Martin. We will now move to the final resolution, #8, the appointment of Ernst & Young as auditor. The resolution shown on-screen seeks approval for the appointment of Ernst & Young as the company's external auditor. The proxies received are as set out on the screen. And the directors unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the resolution. I invite questions regarding this item. Cliff, online?

Fiona, no written questions prior to the meeting and no online questions at this time.

Great. Thank you, Cliff. Are there any questions shareholders wish to ask via telephone?

There are no telephone questions.

Thank you. I will open to questions in the room. If you have a question, please raise your yellow or blue card. No questions. Okay. So with that, that brings us to the end of the formal business of the meeting. We have some time now for general questions not related to the formal business of the meeting. Before I open up to further questions, a reminder to shareholders and proxy holders in the room to complete the voting instructions on the back of the yellow admission card, which will be collected shortly. So please make sure you have completed your cards. And a representative of the share registry will come around and collect those cards. For shareholders and proxy holders participating in the meeting online, please complete your voting and remember to press submit before you disconnect from the meeting, most important, otherwise, your votes will not be recorded. Following general questions, I will declare the poll closed for the resolutions at this meeting. So while we have general questions, please complete your voting. I now invite shareholders to raise general questions not specifically related to the formal business of this meeting. Shareholders present in the room, please raise your yellow or blue admission card, if you wish to ask a question. Before I proceed to closing the AGM, I would like to provide a further opportunity over the next couple of minutes and invite shareholders to ask any additional questions. For those joining online, please ensure you submit your questions now. Those using the telephone line, as a reminder, can dial star 1 to ask a question. So we'll start with questions online. Cliff, at this stage, do we have any online questions?

No online questions at this stage, Fiona.

Okay. And do we have any written questions?

No written questions, Fiona.

Righty ho. All right. Do we have any questions via the telephone lines?

There are no telephone questions at this time.

Okay. I will allow a couple more minutes for any final questions online that might be in the process of being typed out. But in the meantime, I will open to questions in the room. Are there any questions or comments from shareholders in the room? And if you would like to speak, please raise your yellow or blue card. [ Mr. Lyle ]?

I'm [ Rob Lyle ], representing [ Bradley ], a very happy shareholder coming in through the IPO. Thank you. Thank you, [ Marina ]. First of all, I'm sure I speak on behalf of many as evidenced by the voting results. Congratulations to the Board. Congratulations to the management team on a very successful IPO in the first year. The team is very close. That's obvious by our Chairman, our CEO and our CFO concurrently having COVID, obviously a very close-knit team. My question is delivered with a very supportive and patient background. What is the outlook and the philosophy of the Board towards dividends in the future?

Thank you. I might pass that question in the first instance to the Chairman of the Board. Owen, are you online? And would you like to respond to that one?

Yes. Thank you, Fiona. I am here and responding to the question on dividends, and thank you for the question. And our attitude to dividends is very positive, I can assure you, at the Board level and the management level and I'm sure it also a very positive at the shareholder level because it's a very important way that the company can return capital, provide returns, provide cash back to shareholders and provide growth in shareholder value effectively. So we have a very positive attitude to dividends. And we talked to that in the prospectus, and that is the -- that's in the, as Peter mentioned earlier, the DNA. It's certainly in the DNA of the directors and management. All qualified, of course, as usual, as you would expect, by the availability of cash, the organic and inorganic growth profile that we have, the balance sheet and multiple other considerations, including market volatility. And market volatility, of course, cuts both ways. You do get volatility in the upward and northerly direction as well as volatility in the southerly direction, so you've got to be cautious about all that. But I can assure you that the Board and senior management take a thoroughly conservative approach there. But at the same time, you can see that we're not conservative when it comes to looking to grow shareholder value by the growth opportunities that are in front of us and particularly exciting in an environment of very good copper prices. And the outlook for copper and other energy transition metals is as strong as we've ever seen. And under those circumstances, we're looking forward to continued growth, and we're looking forward to continuing to reward shareholders. As whether that's through market growth in terms of the share price or dividends or share buybacks and all of those sorts of things, all of those levers are available. So a bit of a long-winded answer there, Fiona. But back to you if you needed -- if you wanted to add anything on top of that.

I think that was a very comprehensive answer. Yes, [ Mr. Lyle ] is nodding in agreement. Thank you very much for the question, and thank you for the comments for the benefit of management and the Board. Are there any other questions in the room? No more questions in the room. All right. One last check back. Any questions online, Cliff? And any last questions on the telephone lines?

There are no phone questions.

Okay. All right. Well, it sounds like management got off easily. So if there are no further questions, I will move towards the closing of the AGM. So I will, in a couple of minutes, declare the polls closed, including close the online voting system. For those online, please ensure that you have now completed your voting and that you have clicked the Submit button on each of the 8 resolutions. For those joining in person, please ensure that you have submitted your yellow admission card, with all the resolutions voted on, to representatives of the share registry. [Voting]

Okay. We seem to have completed the voting in the room. So I will now formally declare the polls closed. As mentioned earlier, the results of the AGM will be announced to the ASX as soon as the votes have been counted and verified. With that, I will bring this AGM to a close. I thank all shareholders for joining, whether online or in person. Appreciate your time, your questions and your continued engagement and support. And I would also like to thank Cliff, [ Naomi ], [ Marina ] and the team for conducting a very smooth-running AGM. I know there were a few last-minute hurdles, so thank you very much. Thank you to the other support people in the room and the share registry. Thank you very much indeed. Please, ladies and gentlemen in the room, we have refreshments outside and very happy to chat. I'm sorry that we won't have Owen, Peter and Peter with us, but you can scrutinize Cliff, Ed, Mike and Grace and the directors who are present. So look forward to seeing you outside. Thank you very much.