Ariana Resources plc (AAU) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Ariana Resources PLC Investor Presentation. [Operator Instructions] Before we begin, I would like to submit the following poll. And if you could give that your kind attention, I'm sure the company would be most grateful. I'd now like to hand you over to Chairman, Michael de Villiers. Good morning, sir.

Good morning. Welcome to you all to this Ariana's first update meeting of 2023. We've had a lot of news out lately, and we'd like to take this opportunity to take you through our new developments. Without any further delay, I'd like to hand over to our Managing Director, Dr. Kerim Sener. Kerim, over to you.

Thank you, Michael, and good morning to everyone. It's a pleasure again to be presenting to you all. What I'd like to do is run through our standard corporate presentation but take a slightly different approach. I won't necessarily be going slide by slide. The presentation will be made available on our website. And of course, there will be a recording of this presentation through the IMC website itself. So most of you are obviously familiar with the company. And for that reason, I won't dwell on some aspects of the corporate structure as perhaps I have done in prior presentations. So without any further delay, I'll move straight into a summary slide that deals with our -- some aspects of our core strategy. What it is about the company that positions us so uniquely amongst our peer group? And I think fundamentally, this is a question about how we manage our risk across the various projects across the jurisdictions and utilizing all those techniques, technologies and of course, the reliance that we place on an exceptional team, both in Turkey and elsewhere.  Over the years, and we have been operating for many years now, almost 2 decades, we've diverted what has become a proven exploration track record across the projects that we've been working in primarily in Turkey. This has led to industry-leading exploration costs in terms of dollars per ounce unit costs as well as production costs through our operations that we hold in partnership with our local Turkish partners in country. And it's really these partners, both our local partners in Turkey as well as international partners that really help reinforce the strategy of the company going forward. And of course, we have got a very strong cash position that sets us up nicely for the years ahead. Through the use of technology, such as the box can unit that we show in the photograph on the top right-hand side there, we have continued to rely on the development of these technologies, implement those technologies and clever ways to maximize the return that we get from our exploration programs.  I won't dwell on this particular slide. This is just a summary of some of those aspects that I've been speaking about drawing particular attention perhaps to the partners that we have, both internationally Newmont Mining Corporation as well as Resort Holding and Presley Construction in Turkey. Again, this is not a slide I dwell on. That's there for people to review in due course. As is this slide, again, it's perhaps just worth emphasizing 2 of our significant shareholders being our partners, Newmont Mining, and Holding just over 4% of the company and in Turkey, Presley Construction Holding about 1.5% of the company. Now since our operations commenced in Western Turkey through our -- what was the joint venture with Presley Construction at the Kiziltepe mine back in 2017. We brought that asset into commercial operations that year. And we've demonstrated consistent guidance beating production of gold and silver from that deposit since that time. Last year was our record performance, both in terms of gold produced as well as the revenue at about $58 million.  Also, in addition to that, the company has continued to grow its resource base across its assets, primarily in Turkey, but also further afield now. Starting in 2007 with the very first resource estimate at Kiziltepe and then continuing to grow that as well as other assets and their resource bases, we now stand at just over 2.5 million ounces of gold equivalent. And of course, we've set our sights high in terms of future targets, and we're continuing to pursue opportunities both in Turkey with our existing projects to grow those resource bases, but also to look at new opportunities as well in Turkey and elsewhere. And considering some of those other jurisdictions that we're working in, this slide really speaks to the way that this diversification of the company has helped grow our relative value effectively across the jurisdictions in which we're operating. So we started off as a largely Turkish focused company, operating a couple of assets in the country. We've added to that over the years, initially with Australia, with a lithium strategy. We then continued into Cyprus develop the Cypress venous portfolio. And then more recently, we've added Kosovo and the broader Eastern European region in partnership with Newmont into the fold as well. So effectively, what we've seen is that, that pie has effectively grown over time as those individual components of the business have grown.  And just very quickly to touch on a point that I made earlier, this is really where we pride ourselves. And it's also absolutely critical to the way that we continue to run our business. We're absolutely focused on ensuring that we continue to maintain a discovery cost per ounce gold ounce in the lowest quartile internationally. And if you compare the international cost of Discovery running at over USD 62 per ounce, we're in very, very good shape. And that's absolutely critical from a shareholder perspective in terms of creating value. This also -- this philosophy really flows into our operations. obviously, running in partnership in Turkey. But in this case, our operating cost per ounce of gold, so the production cost per ounce around USD 650 per ounce. Again, very low international standards. But also we're measuring ourselves in other ways. We're obviously very focused on various ESG metrics. And one of those is our carbon emissions. And again, it's very pleasing to see that we're operating below 50% of the rest of the industry. Now just to speak very quickly about our project pipeline. This is absolutely central to the strategy of the company going forward. At the apex of this project pipeline pyramid is the Zenith operations, which contains the operating positive gold and silver mine. It also includes the Tushan, what is now in the construction stage of our second mine and also the Salinbas gold silver deposit in Northeastern Turkey. So they basically represent the highest value and the lowest risk projects within the broader portfolio. Sitting beneath that is the portfolio developed for venous minerals in Cyprus. So largely copper gold asset base there as well as Western Turkey resources operating in Kosovo, again, with a more copper-gold focus and a more regional exploration approach. Sitting on tier below that is the Asgard Metals Fund here in Australia, and I'll come on to talk about that in further detail later on in the presentation.  But all of these activities are supported by our geological team and the broader team within what we refer to as the Project Generation division. And we're constantly evaluating projects, project opportunities and as well as, of course, developing the existing projects that we hold within the project pipeline. And the idea is to continuously increase value incrementally across the pipeline by decreasing risk as our knowledge of those particular assets improves through drilling through other technical studies and so on. This map shows how the company is spread across the various jurisdictions in which we're working. Turkey is clearly the ongoing focus region for the country and surrounding territories such as Eastern Europe and Cyprus. And then through the Asgard entity here in Australia, we have project interest both in Australia, in Las and in Kazakhstan at this point in time.  Focusing in now on the European region. This shows the spread of current projects, those that I've already referred to, Kiziltepe in Western Turkey and Tushan, also in Western Turkey. Both of those, of course, held by the Zenit partnership. And then in Northeastern Turkey, the Salinbas and Ardala, copper gold and adult silver deposit project. In Eastern Turkey, in a more broader sense, we have for the project leper exploration region, and I'll talk about that further later on. Our Eastern European operations are run through Kosovo through the Pristina office and our Cypress operations are run through the Nicosia head office of Venus Minerals. Looking to the scale of the advanced projects that I've referred to. This gives a good indication of their relative size to one another in terms of resource size as well as the footprint of the individual deposits. So there's little squiggles at the top of the slide there show the geological footprint in aerial view of each of those deposits to give a sense of scale and how that compares to the scale of the resource itself.  So because we kept our operating mine having produced $235 million in production revenue over the years that it's been operating is actually interestingly our smallest deposit among that -- the other projects that sit within the project pipeline. Tushan is the next largest and next most well developed, and that will be the second mine operating within the company. Then there's the Salinbas and Ardala deposits, and I treat those actually as a whole, but we have to give consideration to the variable mineralogy of Ardala, the fact that it contains copper as well as molybdenum. So it's a more complex geological environment. And Magellan, of course, copper gold being volcanogenic massive sulfide type system. So in Turkey, Kiziltepe, of course, are producing mine and very successful performer. It's continuing to do very well. This last year, as I said, it was guidance beating and record breaking. The company had taken on through Zenith project debt through Turkish banks for just shy of $50 million. Almost all of that is paid off. There's one tiny payment left in June of this year, but it's inconsequential over the years that we've been operating at Kepez, we've demonstrated very low operating costs. And they are typically $650 per ounce or less, in fact, over the years.  In 2021, we completed a processing plant expansion. This has enabled an effective doubling of mill throughput. And as a result of that, plus the development of some of the surrounding prospects, particularly Kepez, which is high grade, which was high grade. We have now completed the extraction of the Kepez ore body in large part but that certainly contributed to that record-breaking guidance breaking production from last year. Overall, if you look at the feasibility forecast of Kepez compared to actual production, we have now exceeded by 50% the total gold output expected from the feasibility study as a whole. And we have further reserves to tap into over the course of the next couple of years. We have an active drilling program that's been running for some time now. That drilling program will inform further resource and reserve estimation work going forward. And importantly, the project is effectively the cash cow of the company, and we have received regular profit share distributions from Zenit to the parent over a number of years now.  Moving on to Tushan. Tushan is in construction stage. Just last week, we had the unfortunate news that the Tushan operations were temporarily going to have to shut down, pending the discovery process for further investigation, certain aspects of the environmental impact assessment that was ordered by a local court in Turkey. This is a process that's probably going to take a few months to sort through, but we're working on having that expert committee appointed and then from there, we can then go through the remaining part of the core process and hopefully, come out the other end to continue construction. That photograph shows the current state of part of the site. The buildings shown in there and some of the key infrastructure office buildings that's associated with the mine build. The leach pad areas are actually off towards the right-hand side of that photograph, so out of frame. But the leach lines we have on site as well as a number of other bits of important kit like the crushers ready for installation.  So some work is continuing around the Tushan mine site that doesn't relate to the EIA, so that we can keep the project moving going forward. Importantly, the development of Tushan is being funded entirely by Zenith through available cash reserves. So there's no debt associated with this. And as a result of that, from a risk management perspective, we're in very, very good shape particularly given the temporary halt on construction activities. Last year, we were able to demonstrate a much improved resource estimate for Tushan, taking it over 300,000 ounces of gold and a substantial part of that in measured and indicated resources. So the deposit is substantially derisked from a geological perspective. We are working towards a plan for an 8-year mine life, producing at around 30,000 ounces of gold per annum. But there is further drilling underway at the site, which is continuing. We're nearing the end of that program now. And that program will further inform another resource and reserve estimate in conjunction with final optimization of the pits, design of the pits and the final feasibility work.  That chart on the right-hand side there shows the production profile as recorded from Kiziltepe and Blue and its projected future life, Tushan production. We have now pushed back effectively a year into 2024 for first production because of the delay that we've now encountered. And then later on, we've got provision there for the Salinbas deposit going into production as well. So there'll be a growing gold output for the Zenit venture going forward. So moving on to Salinbas and Ardala, the next most advanced project was committed to the project, specifically by Ozaltin Holding. That capital is being used to fund an ongoing drilling program that's still working away at Salinbas itself and Ardala, but also at the newly discovered Azalea area in the south of the Salinbas project area. The total resource of Salinbas and Ardala combined is about 1.5 million ounces in Germiston indicating inferred resources. And we have a scoping study that outlined the potential to mine at the Salinbas deposit itself at a rate of about 50,000 ounces per annum over a 10-year mine life.  So that's the sort of the macro view of what's Salinbas could be, but there's a lot of work yet to do, obviously, with the drilling program still underway. Other work that's underway includes the environmental impact baseline study and other aspects of the environmental and social work that's being undertaken in the region. The next most exciting development for the company, and this is something that we announced just yesterday. This relates to the project levered region. So project Leco is specifically focused on greenfield exploration across Eastern Turkey across those 3 broad metallogenic arcs shown in the map there. These metallogenic arcs contain a variety of mineralization styles, some very much gold dominant, others copper-dominant. The northern most hosts, what we've now referred to as the Bulge project is the first licenses that we've secured in Turkey since the last 10 years.  So these are the first licenses contained within the broader project ever region, and we're looking to make further license applications through this region in due course. It's a region that's highly underexplored contains a large number of very large gold and copper deposits, including chuckled over 11 million ounces of gold in Eastern Turkey and Moloco 3 million ounces in the Far East as well as a number of other major deposits, which, of course, includes Salinbas, our own project in that northern belt. So it's a highly prolific metallogenic province and worthy of considerable exploration effort going forward. Moving on to some other aspects of the company's developments, and I'll cover these off very quickly. So there's plenty of time for questions because I think it's beneficial to spend more time on the questions than me going through the presentation. But in the case of Cypress, we're continuing our plans to list venous entity and taking our holding up to 58% following the conversion of a recent loan to Venus. The planning for the Venus IPO is very much advanced. We're just waiting for a window -- a market in of opportunity so that we can strike. In the background, all other work is underway in country, including on the exploration front, but also we're continuing our dialogue through Venus with the Akava Group on the Aplite advanced project. And that project, in particular, it benefits from the fact that it contains the SFCW processing plant that was previously operational at [indiscernible] in that processing plant. Photographs shown there is as it was operating in 2019.  And then in Kosovo, again, I won't dwell on this too much. I've already spoken about this earlier. But the key recent development on this is the completion of the due diligence for the Kosovo Gold project, which is currently owned by Arup Minerals and TSXV listed company. And we're looking to conclude the definitive documentation so that we can commence our earn into 85% of the project going forward. This entity in Kosovo and Western Turkey resources is also the focus of a strategic exploration partnership with Newmont being funded by Newmont to the tune of $2.5 million for greenfield exploration across Eastern Europe. In Australia, we have the Asgard Metals entity that holds a number of investments in junior companies, particularly Panther metals here in one that's working in the Laverton region primarily on a nickel cohort project. Panas Resources in Kazakhstan, copper-gold portfolio and Animit resources focused on copper gold porphyry in LAS. And there's a slide there that just details Panther Metals is a case study for our investments through that entity.  So again, I won't dwell on that particular slide. I think I'll just prefer to sort of wrap up quickly here on the broad strategic direction of the company and really to reiterate what I said at the beginning, the [indiscernible] of the company is really to leverage the use of cutting-edge technologies and processes to continue our efficient exploration and development work across the jurisdictions in which we're working. And in terms of those jurisdictions to utilize good in-country teams that have the exposure to a successful operational environment within those countries. And all of this being funded, of course, by an ongoing income stream through our investments and production in Turkey. And that image there really speaks to this strategy, both in a retrospective sense in that, that shows the development of the company going back to the time of its IPO and the development of its asset base and with an increasing resource base going forward, therefore, increasing value of the company.  We've also utilized the capital made available by project partners over a considerable part of that time as well as bank finance -- the last capital raise that we did by the market was back in 2017. So we haven't tapped the market for 6 years now, having only raised GBP 20 million or so over the past 20 years. But really, it's that additional capital that we've sought from project partners and from bank finance that's enabled us to develop our asset base in a way that we have as efficiently as we have. And this, of course, culminated ultimately in the conclusion of the deal that we did in Turkey that enabled us to pay out the first of our dividends. So we paid out over GBP 7.7 million in dividends so far. And this is something that we plan to repeat going forward across the whole portfolio. You can just imagine that sort of project development come, if you like, playing out multiple times across multiple projects. And that's very much the strategy we plan to carry on going forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Kerim. We've got quite a few questions that have come in.

Michael, Kerim, absolutely. And thank you very much indeed for your presentation this morning, if I may, we'll just bring back up your caters there. Ladies and gentlemen, please do continue to submit your questions just by using the Q&A tab that situates on the top right-hand corner of your screen. But just while the team take a few moments to review those questions that were submitted already. I would like to remind you that a recording of this presentation, along with a copy of the slides and the published Q&A can be accessed via your invested dashboard. Michael, Kerim, we did obviously receive a number of pre-submitted questions ahead of today's event, which you have kindly already added written response. And of course, we'll publish those responses out on the platform where it's appropriate to do so. And as you can see there, the Q&A tab, we've also received a number of questions throughout your presentation this morning as well. So firstly, thank you to all of those on the call for taking the time to submit their questions. And Michael, Kerim, if I could just hand back to you to respond to those where it's appropriate to do so, and then I'll pick up from you at the end. Thank you.

Kerim, could we just talk back through a few presentation slides where I wanted to make a comment and ask a question. Corporate share price and volume goes down to shares in issue, option and warrants none. And it's worth pointing out that all options and warrants have lapsed, and that we're not in any position to be issuing any more. That's not our intention.

Correct.

So if there is a questions come up, I haven't seen it. We can answer that in advance.

Well, I am seeing that particular question, but that's...

I have a recollection of on Project Leopard it's important to note that we acquired this through a license application process. And I think it would be worth noting that Project Leopard's approach is to do that through using our 20 years of experience in the country, an extensive database collaboration with our industry partners who share data with us. And that licensing is not just the case of popping into the licensing office. And it might be worth talking through how long that took and what we put into it to get that, what is, in my opinion, an outstanding destination for our exploration team.

Definitely. And I think it's worth just pointing out or reemphasizing the importance of not only our data, the data that we've put together over many years, but much more rapidly at more recent times, but also the reliance that we place on 2 decades worth of Newmont's exploration that was conducted in the country from the 1980s through to the early 2000s. So we have access to the Newmont database under a license agreement that runs until 2031. That database is extensive containing geochemical data, structural data, remote sensing data, geophysics, you name it, it's there. And so we've drawn heavily on that database, but also we're able to tap into the memory of some of the people that were involved in this exploration in particular. They've got a very good relationship with the exploration and indeed country manager of Newmont in Turkey over a larger part of that time. So that's a more intangible aspect to it, but it's very important. People have actually been on the ground in some of these key areas and can sort of reflect on what some of that data means because they've seen it with their own eyes.  So we put a lot of efforts in recent times to improving our understanding of the geology of that region. We've acquired new data sets as well, in particular, geophysics, and we're still going through the process of properly analyzing all of that along with the thermo sensing data to further refine targets on which we will then make further license applications. But yes, this was the first time that we were going through this process, I should say, revised process for free ground applications in Turkey, which was something that was not possible to do a few years back following a change in the mining law and some uncertainty that occurred in around sort of mid -- from around 2012, '13 through to 2019 or so, there was a bit of uncertainty about this. But anyway, we've done it for the first time, and we've done it successfully. So we plan to repeat that process.

So in summary, what we've spent on the licensee is immaterial compared to what we've spent over quite a long period of time. We can't really put a number on it, and it's not worth really comparing it to what people pay next door for an auction price because it's just -- it's not -- they're not the same thing. What is important is we chose that ground, not the government licensing department choosing that ground and offering it for auction. And therein is the big difference in my opinion.

Yes, that's right. And yes, I mean, it's worth again pointing out the fact that the ground immediately adjacent to the ground that we picked up was auctioned in January for GBP 5 million. So it kind of gives an indication of the potential value that could be placed on our ground, which is equally prospective. It's the same geology that runs through for that.

And I think there's a similar order of magnitude in size, which is roughly, I think, about 60 square kilometers.

Yes, that's right.

Okay. Somebody has asked a question about arrangements with Newmont with regard to the discovery on new licenses. So this is relevant to what we've just discussed.

Yes. So in the case of the arrangement that we have with Newmont on the license database -- sorry, on the exploration database for the country. That is a right of first refusal and a 1% net smelter return royalty. So the way that, that works -- I mean, that's effectively what we paid for it. We've given away certain rights to Newmont to potentially come back into the project on a right of first refusal basis. And we've offered them a 1% net smelter return royalty should a project go into production. There was no cash involved in that transaction with Newmont. So that -- those payments effectively are only contingent on a project advancing to a certain stage in the case of the right of first refusal. And really, a project would need to be quite sizable. You're talking about multimillion ounces before Newmont would potentially exercise their right of first refusal over it. And even if they did exercise their right of first refusal, that's a good thing because a 5 million ounce deposit needs a lot of money to develop. So we'd rather do it in partnership with a company like Newmont, not at all. And the other point is that if it's smaller than, let's say, 5 million ounces, so it's not a Newmont size, they don't exercise their right of first refusal, then the 1% net smelter return effectively comes into play. And so we just pay that royalty in the event the project is producing gold.

It's worth noting that the neighbors are multimillion ounce deposits, what I would call Tier 1 assets in the country. And it's also worth noting that Newmont at current, I forget, it's 7 million to 8 million ounces a year, can't possibly replace those ounces with this existing portfolio of exploration. It has to buy new assets. So it's not something that would have made that you are very likely to be interested and we progress from there.

Yes, exactly. So just having a look at some of these other questions. I'll start. There's a follow-up question regarding the cost of the licenses in Eastern Turkey. I think the point needs to be made is that the cost of going through the application process and then the payment of the annual fees is not material to our business. But we don't need to say anything more than that at this stage. Okay. So there's a question about the price option in Cyprus. We have actually provided a written answer to that. So I think it's probably best to rely on the written response once it's published. There's a question about the Asgard fund or whether we'll be increasing our position in current investments, so whether this will be via capital raises or through services provided. That's something that, yes, is quite likely, I would say, and it would be the combination of both the capital raise and participation in that and all services provided.  There's a question here about production guidance and -- so yes, the production guidance is actually -- we've demonstrated yet again that Kiziltepe is the gift that keeps giving. So in comparison to where we would have found ourselves if we were operating according to the feasibility plan because Kiziltepe, we'd probably be producing half that amount this particular year. So that guidance again is extraordinary. It's a very good result. Yes, grades have come down, but this is natural as we've moved to the lower grade pits as we planned. So we are now mining exclusively out of the North pit and Delia. We're also going to be moving on to the Banu pits later this year. So these are some of the outlying and lower grade areas of the broader Kiziltepe operation. And also bearing in mind, as I pointed out in the presentation, last year was exceptional because we were able to bring that very high-grade gold mineralized pod at Kiziltepe into the mining schedule. So that lifted the grades and we were able to increase throughput. So it's a combination of factors that made last year absolutely extraordinary, not least a high gold price as well. So we're very pleased with the guidance that we put out today for the year ahead.

Well, if I could comment on that as well, that the planned rate of mining is enough to fill the planned mill throughput. The stockpile is extra. The view behind me is Asenov. And we remind the South pit for a good reason to have the best gold in it and we found more than we expected. And I think we might just talk a little bit about the additional exploration that we're doing in the region that will ultimately turn into something we're feeding into the plant. And in particular, the press release we've just put out on Kepez Main.

Yes, exactly. So Kepez Main and the broader Kepez area, while we have mined out that part of mineralization of Kepez North, the latest geophysics have shown that there is a potential extension of even that and we do require a further drilling program to test the southern extensions of the R2 North area to see if we can encounter further zones of that high-grade mineralization. That would be a game changer in its own right, if we can start moving some high-grade ore as the Kiziltepe plant. But there are other areas. So Kepez Main you've mentioned, that's -- we're really excited by that, again, based in part on the geophysics results announced recently, but also other indications that we've got in the geology, the alteration, the geochemistry as well as some other things that we understand of how that mineral system developed. And it does look like Kepez Main represents a fully preserved so non eroded, low-sulfudation epithermal vein system. So it represents a really good drilling target, and it will be a deep target.  But we've got Kepez Main flanked on either side by Kappa's North high-grade zone kept their South high-grade zone. And the hill just forms a topographic expression over the top of these things effectively. So we know that the gold zone is down there. It's just a question of can we find mineralization that would be amenable to what would almost certainly be an underground operation at that stage if we were able to find it. I'll just say one more thing about Kepez. So we've also drilled at Kepez West recently. So there's further news to come out on the Kepez West region as well.

The analogy I want to use is if you've been looking for a pirate treasury test, it's been broken up the golden scattered all over the sea floor. That's a broken system. What you're describing is the lead is still on the pirates treasury test. We founded under a pile of rocks. We have to still get down to it and find out if there's anything in that treasure test. Is that a reasonable way of describing it?

It's a very descriptive way of describing it never that. I'd like to take a [indiscernible]

Yes. Okay. But I think the point of all of this is some people have commented in the questions that we might be focusing too much on exploration as opposed to maximizing reduction to the already known Kissle depo operation. Well, exploration is the future and many mines run on drilling out just ahead of their production schedules and many mines run on resources and not necessary reserves. We don't have to drill it out to a resource level to know that it's worth putting through the plant.

Correct. Yes. So on your -- at the operational stage, you can start making those sorts of operational calls. So you don't necessarily have to go through the process of formally upgrading a resource to reserve. And I think that's something that happens naturally as you do grade control in a pit. There's quite often mineralization that never made it into the geological model, the mineral resource estimate, but you identify it in the grade control, and then you mine it anyway because you know that it's going to carry...

And that's what we [indiscernible] yourself.

Yes. Yes, exactly. So there's a further question following the point about Kiziltepe guidance, just regarding whether comparing guidance to an out-of-date feasibility study does not seem all relevant investors will compare it to last year's production. Well, that's -- so yes, the feasibility study sets out the plan for the project from day 1 from the start of the project's mining life. But what's happened since in the case of Kiziltepe as we continued to drill. And we've continued to expand the resource and indeed, the reserve. In addition to that, we've done things that were never envisaged in the feasibility such as increase the mill throughput following the construction of the process plant expansion in 2021. So we doubled mill throughput. So those factors, coupled to some others have enabled us to consistently perform way above what was expected in the feasibility study. And as a result of that, as I said in the presentation, we're now -- we've produced 50% more gold than envisaged on day 1. And that's an extraordinary performance. And we expect this process to obviously continue with incremental discovery through further drilling programs. This year, the plan was to move to production of lower grade ore from the satellite pits, particularly in the aftermath of the Kepez high-grade area coming to an end of life in December of last year. So it's completely natural.

Okay. Just looking to see if we have any further questions. So further question on Tushan and the delay...

Yes, Tushan and the delay. So the question is, you mentioned you moved production projections back a year at Tushan because of local court order yet stated expected a few months delay. Please clarify I appreciate the situation is fluid. Yes, that's exactly the point. The situation is fluid. That graph that I showed is on an annual basis -- so there's no point slicing and dicing and trying to squeeze in production into a year that it might not fall into because of a few months delay of construction. It's supposed to be a graphic that provides overall guidance. It's not a firm prediction of the future. It can't be. There are certainly factors at play that are not in the company's control, but it's the way that we see things developing going forward based on the best available information to us at this point in time. So rather than sticking firm on the previous situation of that graph and saying that we're going to be producing gold in 2023. We just pushed it into 2024.

I'd like to comment on my nearly 30 years of experience in this industry, that the sort of situation we've encountered at Tushan is not unprecedented. I cannot think of any operation that I've ever been involved in, where we haven't had some sort of a delay that's something similar to this. And just looking at the history of Turkey, I think every gold mine, you can point out and say, well, they have this incident until that incident or that delay? And some have gone into production with these matters still being discussed in various administrative processes and court hearings. Yes, that might be worth just commenting on that, Kerim, because you've got something more recent in your mind than I have.

Yes. So these sorts of things have happened in Turkey. Every now and then, it seems to be the way that things happen. And as Michael said, it's not unusual. These sorts of things happen all around the world. And if you look at Turkey as a jurisdiction in the broadest sense, it's one of the better jurisdictions that you could be focused on in this particular industry in gold mining. We've gone from a country that had no gold mines over 20 years ago to about 20 operating mines today. And some of these are very large operations such as Kisladag owned by Eldorado and Chepeta we discussed previously in the sort of plus 10 million ounce to even 20 million ounce range. So the substantial deposits, substantial operations operated by both foreign companies as well as local companies. And whether you're foreign or you're local, these sorts of hurdles are encountered from time to time, and it's just a matter of working through the issues in the way that is required. There's a court designated process that you have to run through. We do things according to the law. That's all we can do.  There was a question here about the stockpiles. I just lost the question now.

I can't see a question on stockpiles...

Yes, there's a question on the tonnage and grade of the Kosovo stockpile. So this sort of varies between about 1.5% to about almost 2 grams per tonne of gold. Actually, there's one stockpile in particular, that's just over 2 at the moment. So it's the sort of grade that we're -- that's our run-of-mine ore grade. And so it's a good stockpile to rely on. Should we have shutdowns or slowdowns in production from the pits. So there's a question here about the questions. The main questions from investors, the ones that were pre-submitted. Why are these being addressed here so we hear Kerim's actual comments. They -- almost all of the pre-submitted questions have been answered in written form, but they can only be made available through the IMC platform once the session comes to an end. And then it's formally published and it accordingly.

I'm going to cherry pick 1 or 2 that I think of a broader interest and the one is the situation in Turkey following the earthquakes. And if you could just briefly summarize what has happened to us as a team and our operations, what we've done and that's at all.

So the -- obviously, the earthquakes were terrible for the country. And while the official death toll might be 50,000 people. So there is a view that, that might reach 100,000 plus. So it's totally devastating and there are over 1 million -- perhaps even 1.5 million people with our homes at this point in time. So it's affected pretty much everyone in the country in some form. We did what we could to provide support, the Zenit emergency response team volunteered to go and assist with the emergency operations in Southeast Turkey. And it was pleasing to see that they were successful in saving a number of people lives from under the ruble. So they did an incredible thing. And they were joined, of course, by a number of other mining companies. I would say that almost all mining companies with their emergency response teams voluntarily going to the East to help out during that critical phase. For those emergency teams are no longer active. The time has gone on. And now it falls to largely other charities to provide shelter and food and water to the people in that region. So we've done what we can in terms of support to some of those charities.

I think it's also worth pointing out that all of us personally have made contributions and the company has made financial contributions as well. And that's really the one point that I thought was worth mentioning is that we have been able to help both financially and in presence and materials and teams.

Yes.

I think we've discussed the point about where we're allocating resources and that actually exploration is the feeder for production. And there is nothing more to it. If you don't keep exploring, you can't maintain production and you can't and grow production.

Yes, exactly. And the question...

$11 an ounce at our discovery cost. We spend money very well. We actually do better than most other operators in our space.

Very much so. And that's critical in this business. If it costs you $80, $100 to discover an ounce of gold, you're not really doing very well for your shareholders. You're doing that at about $10 an ounce. That's where you need to be. There's a question here about whether we can quantify the delays that we anticipate for the Tushan developments. I suppose we can provide some further indications as to what steps we need to go through. In terms of timing, we can't be so clear. But what we do know is around the middle of next month, the expert panel once appointed, would start the process of their report preparation. And the report preparation process can run for 30 days. That's the requirement. So within 30 days, the report has to be submitted to the court. That can be extended under certain circumstances by a further 30-day period. So we're already talking about 2, 2.5 months before court submission. So beyond that, we really can't say any more at this stage. I mean it does then fall into the balls very much in the court of the court. And that process itself shouldn't take too long is our expectation.

Okay. There's a question around the expected impact of May elections. We don't know. You might want to say more than that, but hopefully, it's a peaceful fair election will you wish for.

Yes. So I suppose the important point here is that it is a presidential election. So it is the incumbent president against primarily a candidate that has been fielded from the opposition. So a coalition of opposition parties have elected an individual, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, as the joint representative. It will be interesting to see how the elections in Turkey play out in May. There was some debate as to whether they would go ahead in May and the aftermath of the earthquake and the fact that infrastructure has been so badly affected in 10 provinces in Turkey and whether it was appropriate to proceed with an election under those circumstances. But the view now has settled down and it will be going ahead in mid-May. So we can't say what we expect the outcome to be. I think it's a bit of an unknown. If you look at the popularity of the 2 major parties, they're pretty much neck and neck.

Yes. I think we're coming up for time.

Yes, we are. There are a few more questions. But actually, some of these questions we've already answered in some form within the pre-submitted question. So I think investors shareholders will be able to review those and get a good sense of our thinking on those.

Kerim, Michael, if I may, then just jump back in and thank you very much indeed for being so generous of your time then addressing all of those questions and that came in from investors this morning. And of course, if there are any further questions that do come through, and we'll be able to give you those back. Just to review to then add any additional responses, of course, where it's appropriate to do so, and we'll publish those out on the Investor Meet Company platform. But Michael, just before redirecting those on the call to provide you their feedback, which I know is particularly important to yourself and the company. If I could please just ask you for a few closing comments to wrap up with, that would be great.

Yes. Thank you very much, and thank you, Kerim, for that comprehensive update. And to all of you who have participated in our presentation today. Just to mention, we'll be hosting an in-person presentation in London at the beginning of April. I'm not sure if we've published the date, Kerim. And we'd like to invite you all to join us for a chance to meet in person. Thank you once again, and goodbye for now.

Thank you, anyone?

Michael, Kerim, that's great. Thank you once again for updating investors this morning. Could I please ask investors not to close this session as you'll now be automatically redirected for the opportunity to provide your feedback in order that the management team can better understand your views and expectations. It's going to take a few moments to complete, but I'm sure it'll be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of Ariana Resources PLC, we would like to thank you for attending today's presentation. That now concludes today's session. So good morning. See you all.

Thank you.

Thank you.