DPM Metals Inc. (DPM) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the DPM Metals Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker for today, Jennifer Cameron. Please go ahead.

Thank you, and good morning. I'm Jennifer Cameron, Director of Investor Relations, and I'd like to welcome you to DPM Metals Second Quarter Conference Call. Joining us today are members of our senior management team, including David Rae, President and CEO; and Navin Dyal, Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that all forward-looking information provided during this call is subject to the forward-looking qualification, which is detailed in our news release and incorporated in full for the purposes of today's call. Certain measures referred to during this call are not measures recognized under IFRS and are referred to as non-GAAP measures or ratios. These measures have no standardized meaning under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The definitions established and calculations performed by DPM are based on management's reasonable judgment and are consistently applied. These measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. Please refer to the non-GAAP financial measures section of our most recent MD&A for reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures. Please note that unless otherwise stated, operational and financial information communicated during the call are related to continuing operations and have generally been rounded. References to 2025 pertains most to the comparable period in 2025 and references to averages are based on midpoints of our outlook or guidance. I'll now turn the call over to David Rae.

Good morning, and thank you all for joining us. I want to start by recognizing the dedication of our teams across all operations whose commitment to safety, operational excellence and responsible mining continues to drive our success. We delivered exceptional results in the second quarter, generating free cash flow and earnings while continuing to, sorry, record free cash flow and earnings while continuing to advance our growth strategy. The ongoing ramp-up of the Vares mine and continued advancement of our growth pipeline, including the major discovery of the Brevene South Porphyry have further demonstrated DPM's position as a growing European-focused precious metals producer. Moving to the highlights of the second quarter. We produced approximately 103 ounces gold equivalent and remain firmly on track to achieve our 2026 production guidance for the 12th consecutive year. We continue to deliver strong margins with an all-in sustaining cost of $1,214 per ounce gold equivalent sold compared to an average realized gold price of $4,375 per ounce. We generated a record $227 million of free cash flow, driven by strong operating performance as the ramp-up of Vares drives production growth. We continue to return capital to shareholders, returning $58 million or 25% of free cash flow through our share buybacks and dividend payments. And we ended the quarter with $761 million of cash and $1.2 billion of total liquidity. Let me now turn to our operations and growth projects in more detail, starting with Vares. We're making significant progress at Vares, and we're on track to achieve the ramp-up to full production by year-end. We are achieving development rates over 400 meters per month and have done so since October last year. We processed 117,000 tonnes in the quarter and a 48% increase quarter-over-quarter. The planned shutdown of the processing plant to complete tie-ins for the additional tailings smelter was completed in seven days and well ahead of schedule. This allows for reduced downtime in the second half of the year when we anticipate higher production rates. Vares produced approximately 35,000 gold equivalent ounces during the second quarter with an all-in sustaining cost of $563 per gold equivalent ounce sold. Navin will have some additional color on the all-in sustaining cost at Vares and our guidance expectations. We are on track to achieve the ramp-up to the 850,000 tonnes per year run rate by year-end. During the quarter, we started commissioning of the second water treatment plant. Construction of the paste backfill plant is well set and the second tailings continue to advance. Both of these are expected to be operational before the end of the year. We initiated our surface drilling program during the second quarter, drilling at priority targets at the Piatra Craiului area alongside advancing 3D models and conducting geophysical surveys to support target generation. Most importantly, we progressed the development of our future leadership for Vares, including key positions for mining, processing, technical services, finance, HR and legal and lay the foundation for our long-term success in the country. In short, Vares is exceeding our expectations, and we're excited about its contribution to our growth in the years ahead. Turning now to Chelopech. Our flagship operation delivered solid production of approximately 57,000 gold equivalent ounces in the second quarter with an all-in sustaining cost of $1,174 per gold equivalent ounce sold and it is on track to achieve its guidance for the year. We're very pleased with the progress of the Wedge Zone target. Delineation drilling continued during the second quarter and results confirmed and extended the high-grade mineralization. This mineralized zone is currently defined over approximately 170 meters along strike with 130 meters in width and 300 meters of vertical extent. The target remains open along strike and down dip with strong potential for further expansion. Initial metallurgical test work indicates that mineralization is amenable to flotation processing using the existing flow sheet at the Chelopech plant, supporting the Wedge zone's potential to augment the existing mine plan. We are planning to complete an initial mineral resource estimate for the Wedge Zone by year-end as part of our annual mineral resource and mineral reserve update. We're also actively evaluating decline contractors and advancing technical work to support an economic study for wedge. We continue to anticipate commencing the decline towards Wedge from existing operations by year-end using internal resources. In June, we announced a major new discovery of the high-grade copper gold porphyry mineralization at the Brevene South Porphyry target. This is our fourth significant discovery since 2023, continuing our remarkable exploration track record. Initial results from drilling, including 713 meters at 2.5 grams per tonne gold equivalent demonstrates the potential for scale and continuity with broad continuous intervals of high-grade copper gold porphyry mineralization. That particular hole, which was in progress as we reported, continued for over 1 kilometer and was terminated in mineralization. A large phyllic alteration envelope exceeding 1,000 meters by 1,500 meters indicates a substantial hydrothermal system with the BSP target remaining open in multiple directions and at depth. Given the significance of this discovery, drilling continues with five high-capacity rigs dedicated to the target and up to 15,000 meters planned through to the end of the third quarter. In parallel, we continue to progress the technical work required to support the conversion of the Brevene exploration license to a mining concession under the well-defined Bulgarian permitting process. On completion of the current phase of exploration work, which ends in September 2026, DPM plans to submit a final report in support of a commercial discovery certificate. At this point, and while the process to convert Brevene to a commercial discovery is underway, we will not be able to conduct drilling activities on the Brevene license. However, BSP remains open towards the southeast flank of the Chelopech mine concession and we intend to immediately move to testing the target from within the mine concession. Wedge and BSP are two great examples of how we have transformed our growth outlook, creating an exceptional project pipeline that sets DPM apart from other mid-tier producers. Today, we have several attractive growth opportunities, including Coka Rakita, where we are advancing permitting this year to support a construction decision. We continue to advance permitting in line with the well-defined Serbian process to support the start of construction in early 2027. The special purpose spatial plan, which was initiated in November 2025 and is a key permitting milestone continues to progress well and is expected to be approved and adopted in the second half of 2026. Following that, we anticipate submission of the exploitation field application. Most of the baseline studies required for the environmental and social impact assessment have already been completed, and it is expected to be submitted at year-end. We are maintaining close and proactive engagement with the relative authorities and stakeholders to support the permitting process, and we remain confident in the overall progress at Coka Rakita. Project execution readiness and operational readiness planning continue, leveraging the project's proximity to our Chelopech underground mine and our new Vares underground mine, to support training and development of key personnel and practices for future operating roles. We initiated a 20,000-meter drilling program at the Coka Rakita license during the second quarter. A significant component of the drilling program is allocated to infilling and extending mineralization at Dumitru Potok and increasing the drill density. Upon completion of the drilling, we intend to update the mineral resource estimate for the Rakita. An additional drilling program is also underway at the Potaj Cuka license targeting the same Northwest geological trend of Coka Rakita and Dumitru Potok projects. With a significant gold, copper inferred mineral resource already defined at Dumitru Potok and the prospect open in several directions, we look forward to advancing the drilling program and continuing to define the potential of this organic growth prospect. As we reported earlier this month, production at Ada Tepe concluded as scheduled on July 15, 2026. As the first new mine in the Balkans in over 40 years, Ada Tepe has been a testament to DPM's ability to permit, build and operate a world-class asset and implement standards that go above and beyond what is required. I want to express my deepest gratitude to everybody who has been a part of this exceptional story. I particularly want to acknowledge the community for welcoming us, partnering with us and working with us to create a world-class example of how mining can be conducted responsibly with standards that go above and beyond those required and for the benefit of all stakeholders. We now have the opportunity to demonstrate responsible mine closure with 95% of the mine area expected to be returned back to the nature of 2000, the European Union's Nature Protection network. I'm proud of what we have accomplished at Ada Tepe, and I'm confident that we are leaving a positive legacy for future generations. Before handing the call over to Navin, I will summarize our 2026 priorities, delivering on the ramp-up at Vares advancing Coka Rakita to a construction decision and daylighting value from our discovery of 2 Tier 1 potential gold-copper deposits. We will continue to execute on these priorities and with the same commitment to responsible, efficient mining, financial discipline and value creation. I'll now turn the call over to Navin for a review of our financial results.

Thanks, Dave. I'll be touching briefly on the financial highlights for the quarter and conclude with some commentary on our balance sheet and return of capital program. Overall, DPM delivered record quarterly revenues, earnings and free cash flow, benefiting from higher metal prices and the addition of Vares to our portfolio. Looking at our earnings and cash flow, revenue of $362 million for the quarter was 94% higher than prior year due primarily to higher realized metal prices and the inclusion of Vares's pre-commercial production revenue of $110 million. Adjusted net earnings in the quarter of $211 million or $0.95 per share more than doubled compared to the prior year due primarily to higher realized metal prices and the inclusion of Vares, partially offset by higher income taxes and cost of sales. Adjusting items, which were not indicative of the company's operating performance primarily included a $33 million reversal of certain provisions at Vares and a $10 million loss on settlement of a previously recognized receivable related to the DPM tolling agreement. Cash flow provided from operating activities for the quarter of $271 million reflect an increase of $172 million compared to the prior year due primarily to higher earnings generated in the period and the timing of deliveries and subsequent receipts of cash, partially offset by higher annual cash redemptions under the share-based compensation plans, reflecting DPM's strong share price performance. The timing of payments to suppliers and higher income taxes paid. Free cash flow of $227 million for the quarter reflects an increase of $133 million compared to the prior year, due primarily to higher adjusted net earnings generated in the quarter. Taking a look at our cost metrics in the first half of 2026, all-in sustaining costs of $1,470 per gold equivalent ounce sold referred to herein as GEO compared to an average realized gold price of $4,6.35 per ounce, reflecting the high-margin, low-cost nature of our operations. All-in sustaining cost per GEO sold was comparable to prior year. At Vares, all-in sustaining cost per GEO sold was below the low end of its 2026 guidance range due primarily to the capitalization of certain pre-commercial production operating costs with commercial production anticipated by the end of the third quarter, all-in sustaining cost per GEO sold is expected to be within the guidance range at Vares. On a consolidated basis, all-in sustaining cost at Vares was largely offset by higher costs at Chelopech and Ada Tepe due primarily to higher labor costs, a stronger euro relative to the U.S. dollar and higher royalties reflecting higher metal prices as well as the impact of mark-to-market adjustments to share-based compensation expenses. Mark-to-market adjustments to share-based compensation expenses resulted in an increase of $95 per GEO sold for the first half of 2026 compared to an increase of $122 per GEO sold in the prior year. We are on track to meet our all-in sustaining cost guidance for the year, and we're closely monitoring the market dynamics outside of our control, which impact costs such as metal prices, foreign exchange rates and oil prices and their movements compared to our guidance assumptions. In terms of our capital spending, sustaining capital expenditures of $3 million for the quarter were lower than prior year due primarily to no capital expenditures at Ada Tepe as the mine reached the end of its life in July 2026. Growth capital expenditures of $28 million were higher than the prior year, reflecting capital expenditures at Vares, including the capitalization of certain pre-commercial production operating costs, partially offset by lower capital costs related to the Coka Rakita project due primarily to timing of expenditures. We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet and cash position with a consolidated cash balance of $761 million, no debt and a $400 million undrawn revolving credit facility. With our significant financial returns and robust free cash flow, we are well positioned to fund our growth opportunities and exploration prospects while continuing to deliver peer-leading capital returns, peer-leading returns to shareholders through our enhanced share buyback program. In the first half of 2026, we repurchased over 2.1 million shares at a total cost of $75 million under the company's normal course issuer bid, or NCIB, and paid approximately $18 million of dividends. From July 1 to July 30, 2026, we repurchased approximately 800,000 shares at a total cost of $27 million, bringing year-to-date repurchases to approximately 3 million shares for an aggregate cost of $102 million. We continue to deploy our capital in a disciplined manner that balances our desire to reinvest in growing and optimizing our business with our commitment to return capital to our shareholders. In closing, we continue to deliver strong performance from our mining operations and continue our track record of generating significant free cash flow. We remain in a strong cash position and are focused on growth. I will now turn the call back to Dave for his concluding remarks.

This is an exciting time for DPM. DPM today is a premier mining business with industry-leading margins, lower risk development assets due to their scale and quality and a disciplined capital allocation strategy that has delivered share price outperformance for several years. We remain focused on executing our strategy to deliver above-average returns to our shareholders as a mid-tier precious metals company with a clear path forward to drive value. I'd now like to open the call for any questions.

[Operator Instructions] First question of the day will come from the line of Fahad Tariq of Jefferies.

On Coka Rakita, can you talk a bit about just the level of dialogue between yourselves and the government as you think about getting the permit in the second half of this year and just the comfort level in starting construction in early 2027.

Yes. Thanks, Fahad. So with Coka Rakita, largely our main activities are with people in the administration of the different bureaus. So this would be Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Energy, Construction, Environmental, with the bulk of that being more towards the spatial planning activities at the moment, which are led by a sort of mix of discipline. So there's regular conversations going on there to understand the expectations on delivery. And I would say that, that is leading to our ongoing confidence in terms of delivering against expectations in terms of timing. So next things to watch for are the conclusion of spatial planning, the EIA and leading to the move to an exploitation permit. And just to reiterate, we're confident of being able to get the permission to go ahead with the construction early in the new year.

Okay. Great. And then just switching gears to maybe the balance sheet. The cash balance has grown substantially over the last year and is back to pre-Adriatic levels. Can you just talk a bit about just the use of cash? I mean, it sounds like Coka Rakita is easily well funded. The $200 million in buybacks, I mean, there could be an opportunity to go higher. Just any high-level commentary on potential use of cash on the balance sheet going forward?

Sure, Fahad. Yes, I'll take that one. As you know, we have got a great track record of being prudent capital allocators. The approach that we take is focusing on our balance sheet strength, capital returns and reinvestment in the business. And as you heard from Dave, we've got tremendous opportunities, we believe, within the business over the coming years. So that's definitely taken into consideration. And then when it comes to just the levels of buybacks and even the sustainable dividend that we have, discussions with our Board are, there's a healthy debate at the Board level in terms of capital returns and looking at our capital needs over the coming years and balancing that with a healthy returns. So our dividend is set at a very sustainable level, as you know. And again, we've had a tremendous success over the years of buying back our shares. And that's perhaps the avenue that we're going to continue to take to really ensure that we ensure a healthy capital return back to our shareholders.

Maybe just adding to that, if you consider our track record of exploration success, we clearly have the ability to direct some of our free cash flow generation into some pretty exciting projects. So you'll continue to see an increase, even if it's a relatively small number overall in terms of exploration. So we've gone from $50 million to $60 million to currently $70 million over the course of the last three years. We've said already that while we exploration while we wait for the commercial discovery, we're going to go aggressively after the porphyry and additional activities around Wedge Zone. Keeping in mind that there is a potential for additional opportunities around Whitestone given that we have very little drilling below Chelopech. So you're right about the ability to buy back more in terms of the NCIB at this point. We've talked about $200 million. But as you sort of indicated, there is a possibility of us increasing that.

Our next question is coming from the line of Eric Winmill of Scotiabank.

Congrats on a great quarter. Just wondering about Wedge Zone Deep. Obviously, great to hear that you want to start the decline efforts there possibly before end of this year. Just sort of curious, I know it's still early days there but wondering if you have any estimates in terms of CapEx or timing or how much drilling is required ultimately after you get the resource out in terms of being able to convert that into mineable areas.

Good question. So we obviously have intent to go after this with the idea being that this could influence what's going to happen in 2028. So the sooner we do that, the better certainly intend to commence the development before the end of the year. There is work that needs to be done ahead of the transition through to the group, the company, let's say, that is going to do that development on our behalf. And this is something that we've done and also considered for Coka Rakita and if you recall, counted into the increase in the capital cost for Coka Rakita. So the reason why we're doing this is we see an increasing requirement for capability that's been demonstrated at Chelopech and in fact, at Vares, but is becoming more in demand as we have success with Wedge Zone and as we prepare for Coka Rakita. So let's come back to your question about work that's planned. We do intend with our own team to commence that development. That will be largely intended to set up services and allow the separation of activities between mine operation and the contract work that's going to develop. A little bit of additional context. We have three ways to get at Wedge Zone and these things we are evaluating. We're in a period of engineering at the moment. So your other questions about capital spend and some other commentary, that's something we'll update as we get closer to the end of the year.

Okay. Fantastic. And then maybe just on BSP Porphyry. I know you're going to go through the permitting process there, converting it to commercial discovery. I know it's always tough to comment on regulatory time lines, but any thoughts here in terms of how long you're expecting the permitting process there?

Yes, it's a good question. And obviously, we'll keep people updated. There's two different dynamics to this. The one is that historically, it's taken some time. to get these it's well defined in terms of what has to get done. It can be a little bit more of an issue in terms of how long the government has actually committed itself to actually look at these time lines and do more to provide confidence and shorten. So we're in a dynamic where two things are going on. So, the one is there's a typical time line, but at the same time, the government is intent on trying to shorten these things. And as you know, there's a very big difference between timelines in, say, Serbia and time lines in Bulgaria. So, we'll update on this, but something like 15 to 18 months is not unusual to get to the point where we're going to be drilling again on Brevene. There will be a good amount of work, which we haven't commented on too much here, but we've got publicly on our website the commentary about where else we are drilling and we want to complete drilling before we actually complete the activity at the other thing Eric, as you know from the visits and for those who weren't on the visit recently, the information we have published on our website that comes from that visit, we are excited about the prospect that really this translates across that boundary into Chelopech actually towards zone deep and slightly below zone deep. So, we see lots of potential to Chelopech and the concession. And the reason why that's interesting is we're not waiting for anything in terms of timeline there. This will get straight into a question of what we need to do in terms of overall permitting within the existing concession and that's much more something within our control. So, we see the potential that those two could split, you could end up with an in Chelopech concession project on the porphyry, which will then grow into what we've already identified and are currently delineating within Brevene. So this is really exciting for us in addition to what we've identified and what we continue to develop at Wedge Zone.

Excellent. Maybe just one more quick one, if I can squeeze it in. But on the Coka Rakita camp, so clearly, big resource potential there, resource update, I guess, following the drilling. Any thoughts there in terms of how you prioritize that or maybe some of the areas that you see the greatest potential for additional resource growth?

You can expect to see additional news coming on this as we close out this particular phase of activity on drilling. So I would anticipate a number of news releases looking at what's happening in Serbia, particularly around Dimitrovgrad because we haven't really updated that since the end of last year. And we'll come back to what's happening at Brevene. We'll come back to what's happening elsewhere. So in the Potaj Cuka license and other considerations about what's been happening around Coka Rakita and so on. So we see a pretty active series of interactions on how this exploration is going and what our future plans are. But it's really exciting to now have two what we consider to be Tier 1 opportunities within the organization that one in Bulgaria, one in Serbia. And just another comment on Serbia. We still haven't got any further really than two kilometers out from Coka Rakita. So we still have another four to five kilometers north, south and a few kilometers east to west that we still have to go to. And we have targets of porphyries that we've identified that could be the sources of future material at depth, and alike and that ultimately resulted in the historical Timok discoveries at surface. So we're still looking at that connection but following that trend. At the current you'll see a number of different things. Serbia will be one, Chelopech will be another in terms of reporting Wedge Zone will be.

Our next question is coming from the line of Don DeMarco of National Bank.