IGO Limited (IGO.AX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

So good morning, shareholders, colleagues and guests. My name is Michael Nossal. And on behalf of the Board of Directors, it's my pleasure to welcome you to the Annual General Meeting of IGO Limited being held here in Perth today. Today's meeting is being live webcast via the Computershare platform, and I'd also like to welcome all of you who have joined online. I'm advised by the Company Secretary that a quorum of members is present. I therefore declare the meeting open. I'd like to begin by acknowledging... [Technical Difficulty] ... 2025 financial year held its share of challenges. We reported a net loss of $955 million, reflecting both the subdued markets for our commodities, nickel and lithium and some difficult but necessary decisions designed to reset IGO for the future. These included recognizing impairments to our stake in the Kwinana refinery and across parts of our exploration portfolio, restructuring our corporate and exploration functions and the process of Board renewal that we announced in June. Despite these challenges, our Greenbushes lithium operation demonstrated why it is considered world-class, maintaining a 66% EBITDA margin and generating $1.5 billion in operating cash flow even as we are close to the bottom of the lithium cycle. As Ivan will go into these in a bit more detail. Greenbushes' performance illustrates its position as the world's premier hard rock lithium asset, an asset which underpins the refocused strategy, which we announced in September '24. This strategy, taking us to 2035 reaffirms our belief in a clean energy future and outlines a clear pathway for value delivery. It focuses on quality assets, supplying battery materials essential to the energy transition, lithium, copper and nickel. The pillars of the strategy are sustainable growth, operational excellence and long-term value creation. Turning to safety. This remained a core focus for the Board over the past year, and I'm pleased to say we've seen strong safety leadership from our management team, including the rollout of taking control of my safety program. While our 12-month TRIFR reported during the financial year remains above the industry average, we're encouraged by the improvement in safety performance in the second half of the year, which was extended -- which has been extended now into the first months of FY '26. We reported in our recent September quarterly activities a TRIFR down to 8 and an achievement of over 90 days injury-free, showing that the site can achieve this. I'm confident that these improvements can be built upon in 2026, and I trust our safety performance will continue to trend in the right direction. At Nova, the team is dealing with the challenges of an end-of-life ore body. Thanks to their deep technical knowledge and expertise, we're continuing to deliver value from this asset. Nova will operate until the end of calendar '26, after which time it will undergo closure and rehabilitation. As you'd expect from IGO, this process will be managed safely. But later this year, we'll launch our second Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan, or wrap for the period 2025 to 2027. in delivering environmental outcomes in the resources sector. As we talked about strategy, environmental, social and governance factors are a key part of that strategy. In this regard, the Board fully supports the company's refined ESG framework, and Ivan will outline this a little bit in a little more detail when he speaks. We believe that our refined ESG pillars reflect the evolution of IGO, the expectations of our stakeholders and the ongoing commitment to our purpose. Our 2025 sustainability report outlines these and many other achievements, and I really would encourage all shareholders to review the report and share in our journey and successes in this domain. FY '25 marked the first full year for our CEO and Managing Director, Ivan Vella. Ivan's made a significant impact already leading the changes and especially the development and early execution of our new strategy. seen the team now having the skills and experience transition this year. In particular, I extend our thanks to our executives, Sam Retallack who left after 15 years with the company; and Kathleen Bozanic, Kathleen is in the audience somewhere who will be leaving in early 2026 to return to her. I'd now like to provide some comments on your Board's Board size, director skills and director skill sets with the current and future needs of the business. and transition the role of the Chair, Keith Spence and sharpen Yang in recent days. Keith retired from the IGO Board yesterday after 10 years of service, including as Chair of the Sustainability Committee, where he played a key role in enhancing safety, operational and environmental performance. [indiscernible] retired, having provided valuable strategic insights, particularly in downstream processing and international relations. We're actually delighted that Keith has joined us here today. And when Keith, we extend our deep gratitude to you for your significant contribution to Go over the last 10 years, and we'd also like to acknowledge and thank [ Justin Shaping ] for their respective important contributions. We've also appointed a Chair Elect announced earlier this month. Dr. Vanessa Guthrie AO, who I'm pleased to welcome to the meeting here today as well. Vanessa will begin as a Nonexecutive Director effective the first of December and succeed me as chair on the 1st of January 2026. With over 4 decades of experience in the resources sector and a distinguished record in sustainability in governments, Vanessa is highly credentialed and brings exceptional leadership and insight to IGO. She is an outstanding appointment to lead the Board, and we're very confident that she will help guide the company through our next exciting chapter in growth of growth and transformation. We do expect to make further announcements as the Board renewal process continues over the coming months. This is a pivotal moment for -- and I'm confident that the streamlined and refreshed Board will be well equipped to guide our future strategy and growth, aligned with our purpose to make a difference. From my personal perspective, it's been an honor to serve as your Director and Chair over the last 5 years. I now look forward to working with Vanessa to support a seamless chair transition and thereafter, to follow the company's progress and successes as a very interested shareholder. In closing, this year has been one of significant change and difficult decisions. The progress we've made in delivering our strategy provides a strong foundation for future value creation. I thank my fellow Board members for their support and commitment. I extend our appreciation to the executive leadership team. and all the IGO employees for their dedication and achievements to our wider group of stakeholders, including you, our shareholders, our host communities and traditional owners and partners thank you for your continued support, especially through the challenges of the past year. Looking ahead, though to FY '26, there are encouraging signs in lithium market. Demand has increased from the energy storage sector, inventory destocking is progressing and current lithium prices provide limited incentive for new supply. Together, these conditions are kind of ideal for market rebalancing. There will no doubt be more challenges, but we also see great opportunity with green bushes exceptional margins, our strengthened leadership team and clear strategy, IGO is well positioned to emerge strongly from this cycle and deliver long-term value safe and sustainable. Thank you. And I'll now ask Ivan to address the meeting.

Thanks, Mike. Good morning, everyone. Welcome. It's great to be here with you. Great chance to reflect on the last year or so since we met. A lot of change, a lot of hard decisions. We'll try and recap some of that. Mike's touched on some of it already. For me, IGO in its 25th year does stand at the pivotal point I think that we're very well positioned for shaping our role in the battery minerals sector looking forward, showing some real leadership there, and I'll talk more to that as we get into it. It is, of course, nice to see the lithium market turning. I'm sure many of you follow that. Only recently, a few people have told me. I mean, these are serious analysts that, well, maybe it will just be a flat price forever. And it turns out there are a lot of surprises with lithium. But 1 of the things that does seem to hold is that there is a commodity like every other commodity and does have a cycle, and we're going to see that move. How and when, who knows? I don't have that crystal ball, but it is certainly good to see some of that shift. Before I go on too far, I also want to acknowledge the [ Wadjuk ] people of the [ Noongar ] nation and recognize that we're meeting here on their lands and waterways Devil origin just across from us and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. I want to spend a few minutes just doing a quick recap of some of the highlights, and then we'll dig in a bit further. But just to reset some of the things that stand out for me. First of all is a significant progress we've made around safety. It's something -- as you know, since I was appointed, has been significant focus and passion for me, and I'm really pleased with the progress we've made there. Lots more to do it never ends, but starting to see that shift through our operations is very satisfying. Secondly, Nova, they're really delivering the team out there, and some of them I'm sure online. Thank you for your tremendous work. It's very difficult when you start taking a mine to the end of an ore body, it's very complicated, very technically difficult. They're doing an extremely good job. They hit their numbers last year. they're progressing well this year and all credit to them for managing the technical challenges. Forrestania, we put into care and maintenance. We're at the final stages of the transaction with Medallion metals. I think that's great to give that site another lease of life and equally transition with them so that they can make the most of their future business opportunities. Cosmos, we took the hard decision to stop dewatering recently, which is tough, right? That was really the core of the Western areas acquisition and growth agenda that has not played out, and we've checked it and tested it from all angles, looked at the economics don't stack up. As you know, the nickel market is under a lot of pressure, and we don't see that changing shortly. So the good news is it's a very prospective bit of ground that tenement package is outstanding, and so we're working hard on that to find other sources of value. Greenbushes, and I'm going to come and talk more, I mean, what amazing Tier 1 asset I've been in mining my whole career, I've not seen anything like it. Rob Telford, the CEO of Talison, has been there just over a year now, and he is unlocking enormous productivity improvements, just the basics the 101 of mining, but he's also looking at the optimization of that mine. And for me, it's something that I've not seen before that the level of opportunity. There are certainly -- some analysts who said to me, well, it's the lowest cost asset on the planet in lithium, how can it really get that much better. And I can assure you, I get delighted every time I look in further at the work they're doing, there's a lot of potential. Kwinana, I will talk more. I mean we stop Train 2, and I think that's a significant milestone that was an asset or an investment that would not have made sense, and we discussed that last year at the AGM. There were some very good questions on it. Train 1 we've done our homework, looked at the economics, we don't see a pathway. I think that's really hard to hear in a world where we need more downstream processing in Australia, the economics don't stack up. Now we're working through what that means with Tianji. That's a conversation that's ongoing. We have reset our exploration program was another area of discussion last year at the AGM, and we've done a lot of work to reset that. We've also continued to reduce and shape in a thoughtful manner. And we've also made some very good progress on our growth and on execution of our strategy. Extremely good people to our business, continue to offer a very strong value proposition. And just to mention who's here Kathleen, who many of you know well from the calls, our CFO, who has been my right hand incredibly supportive and done an amazing job. Fortunately, she's going off to do some other exciting things next year. But She's in the process as we finalize recruitment of a candidate to take over as CFO. Susie Retallack, at the other end of the spectrum has just joined recently about a month [indiscernible] development officer for Lithium. And deeply, basically driving our operations, both Nova and Greenbushes in focus, Conan and then the other assets as well. Cam Wilson, who's stepped in and acting capacity and he's continued -- he's done an outstanding job and working through some very big projects at the moment. Thank you, Cam, for your support. And Brett Salt, last but not least, who is our Chief Growth and Commercial Officer, who's driven the reset of exploration, but also doing a lot of work positioning and working through the improvements and the changes around our joint ventures and lastly, on growth. So a fantastic team around me, and thanks for all of your support and work in the last year and more broadly, the IGO team as well. I'm now coming up to nearly 2 years in my role. It's gone very quickly. And while I've had to work through a lot of challenges and hard decisions, I'm still very excited about and very confident about the prospects and the future of this business. I have a very firm belief in IGO's purpose and the quality of our core assets pre some tough times, but that is going to build our resilience, our strength for the future. The world's focus on critical minerals supply continues to intensify. Mr. Trump has certainly put it on the radar. That's a positive. But with that comes a lot of questions, a lot of challenges and a lot of work for us to do and think through. There are many different moving parts to that story. I think we stayed true to our purpose in contributing not just the supply of critical minerals, but also how we go about it. The kind of ethical and responsible sustainable mining practices that people expect that society demands ultimately. While we look for new opportunities where appropriate, our priority does remain clear on our high-quality assets. And obviously, the standout of that is Greenbushes and Nova and we'll only pursue projects where we really think we can bring some value to that and be competitive in the global markets. We've set out a clear strategy for growth, and we're pursuing that. We're executing very diligently. Before I dig into some more of that in some depth, I did want to talk a little bit about the Board. Last year, at the AGM, we talked about the change that was underway across the whole business. And there were questions raised about what does that mean for the Board what comes next. And I think through my tenure here with IGO, the Board has been tremendously supportive. They have been very caring for this business and very focused -- constantly focused very diligent on shareholders, shareholder value and our other stakeholders. And as they work through that -- they give huge contributions to this business. So working through that is difficult. Clearly, I'm delighted that Vanessa has chosen to join us. She's got an incredible background, wisdom and experience. And I really look forward to working closely with her has already made some comments on that, and I think we'll end up with a great source of support, guidance and mentor, very accommodating, very supportive and deeply invested in the business. He's been very helpful as I've worked through some of these difficult decisions. And he's always demonstrated our values. He lives them in every way, unwavering commitment to shareholder value and to the business and to our broader stakeholders. So I wish him well in what he does next. So thank you, Mike. Safety excellence is a core value for our business for me and a personal priority as well. And while our injury frequency rate has reduced and is continuing to I think the standout is the way that's stepping down. And I think the work ahead of us is still significant, but together with the team at Nova. And more broadly, we've had a very strong leadership focus on safety, and we're starting to deliver significant results. I went back to results over the past 5 years, and we haven't been anywhere near the sort of performance we are now. So it's a real step change in all credit to our people. Thank you for their dedication to it. Our headline financial results were dominated by major impairments. As you know, Mike just mentioned that. They stand out. They're hard decisions. but they're the right decisions and we look very carefully at each of those, obviously, Kwinana being the core of it. As much as that asset came as part of a JV transaction that was incredibly value accretive for shareholders. It's delivered enormous upside and will continue to grow. Okay. It would be great if it had worked. It would be great if we had found a pathway. We don't see that pathway. So we made the decision on Train 2, and we're working through Train 1 with TNT. That is complicated because they see the world differently. And we're doing that in a respectful way. The joint is very important to us. That relationship is key. We need to continue to step through the challenges there in an appropriate manner. All that aside, we delivered positive cash flow of $49 million last year in a very, very subdued nickel market, where practically every other nickel business in Australia has shut down, can't survive. We generated cash. We covered our corporate costs, we covered our exploration, our other growth activities. And we've still been spending real money on Forrestania and Cosmos just standing still. The care and maintenance is quite a burden in some respects. So I think that shows you the quality of that asset and the team that's been delivering at Nova. The challenge is just speaking to that of reducing grades, variability and then laid stopes, the challenge as we get into the processing on the edges of the ore body, really have tested them. They had a couple of tough quarters early in the year and then stepped up in the back end and really came home with a wet sale this year has started well as well. They're tracking to plan, and I'm really impressed with the way they're managing those issues as they come through. We are thinking about closure in a very serious way. We've got that study work underway. We've got dedicated resources -- and there's still a bit to do, but I expect that we will be one of the first mines in WA that goes straight to closure from operations. We won't be trying to hedge in care and maintenance. We will demonstrate to society to community to our stakeholders that we can be very responsible and professional in the way that we open a mine, operate a mine and close the mine and we need to work through that with the traditional owners, with the government, with various other community stakeholders, the local farmers in the region I really think this will be a great standout case study for the kind of responsible mining practices that you should expect. Greenbushes, let's, I guess, talk a bit on that. The JV partners there are working very, very closely to in asset. It's as good as gets as an ore body in lithium for sure, but 1 of the best of any mine I've seen An EBITDA margin through the bottom of the cycle of 66% is unbelievable and operating cash flow of $1.5 billion. As you know, CGP3 is just in its final stages getting ready for commissioning I think I called it like the Christmas gift we unwrap and get going. I also have remarked in my career, I've been involved in the start-up of several plants, never as the timing being so perfect into a rising market. So that's a joy. You don't get to plan that, but it's nice when it works out. As I said before, some people have questioned how can it get that much better. This is an asset that still can give up a lot. We are far from full potential. Murray has worked very, very closely with the team at Talison and her technical team to support with the other shareholders, unlocking the potential and it's not just cost, it's more tonnes unlocking that ore body. And I wanted to just also mention 1 of the key standout areas of focus is working with the stakeholders in the region. As you know, the Southwest is very sensitive, very important to all of us. It's a beautiful part of the world, and we want to make sure that we're managing our impacts very professionally and engaging closely with the community accordingly. The life of mine optimization, we expect will deliver a significant prize and that work is ongoing. It is a big, complex piece of work. There are a lot of technical issues to step through. not ready to share that yet. We will, as that's finished. And the team is doing it for quality, not for speed. It's not about hitting a deadline. It is about making significant decisions in how we optimize that ore body and bring all of that value to you as shareholders. Ultimately, we see that, obviously, as a critical and core asset in our portfolio. And I think it gives us a standout strength through the last part of the cycle, IGO was quite unique in its ability to pay dividends. And in fact, repay the full cost of the acquisition in dividends, and when you look forward at the uplift in growth with CGP3 and the kind of cash that it can generate, it's an extraordinary part of our portfolio. At Kwinana, the operational results have been disappointing, probably not surprising, and I know that's hard to hear. We've kept you very updated through our quarterlies despite significant efforts from the team there. And I wanted to call them out, Raj and the broader team, they work so hard. They are giving it all -- there is no stone left unturned. And yet through the year, 35% of nameplate capacity. After 3 years, it's just not working. And we benchmarked plants in China or elsewhere in the world. We've looked at the technical studies, we've gone through it. This is a challenged asset. And it's not something that we think is worth chasing down the road and trying to solve. Equally, if it was nameplate today, we still don't believe that it would be economic. And that's not, again, a function of that particular asset. That's a function of what it means to do downstream processing in Australia. When you look at the energy costs, when you look at the labor costs, when you look at the lack of broader clusters of capability around these assets, it is difficult. So for those in the space of downstream, it's a very, very challenging world. Returns are low. And when you have a challenged asset, you can buy them to we think that leads to a pretty difficult outcome. The exploration business reset, as I said, is, I think, been a significant focus, and I'm really pleased with the achievements the team has made through this year. We've got a new head of exploration with deep exploration and commercial experience. He's really done a great job to reset the approach. We've been drilling mineralization for lithium across various tenements in Australia. Nothing to report yet, but that's the nature of exploration, but very focused. And the generative team has been doing a lot of work looking at copper opportunities elsewhere. I think real much smaller tenement package, much more focused, much smaller budget, same high-powered, very, very capable team, and I stand behind them. I have absolute conviction in that part of our business. I think it's the right thing to be involved in, and I think that's where we can deliver tremendous value for you. Our people, culture and community are very important in IGO. Mike spoke to that. Our relationships with traditional owners remain critical. We see that every day in exploration when we're working with them to clear heritage to understand impacts to make sure that our drill programs are well managed. Our broader reconciliation action plan that Mike mentioned, we completed and now renewed the next phase. I'm really pleased it's very practical, brings to life the kind of things that you'd expect from a company like IGO. I think these all sort of show our commitment and exemplify our values in terms of how we want to operate as a mining company and work with stakeholders right through the grounds that we work on. I won't go into it. Mike mentioned the Gold coward. I think that for a site in care and maintenance is very unique. The team has a deep passion for the work they've done over the years, and they continue that through and I think got great credit for that work. Across the year, our corporate giving contributed just over $700,000 to a range of different community organizations that we're close with a lot of sweat equity as well, which is for me important. Now the standout is the Ronan McDonald House up all night, which allows for regional families with sick children to come to Perth during hospital treatment great way to involve our people to be part of it, but to support a fantastic cause for regional families. I think the -- moving to some closing remarks, I wanted to touch on where we've been and where we're going. As I said, we're 25 years this year, which is a big milestone for any company. There's there's some real history and real capability to build on. Over that time, we've been through a number of evolutions initially as a gold business into [indiscernible] based metals and now into battery materials and the energy transition. As I look forward, I'm very optimistic about our future. We see very strong fundamentals in the copper market. I have talked about that in our strategy last year, and we continue to believe that we can make an impact there. We have deep operational expertise, but we also have some unique mineral processing expertise that we believe can be useful. We'll continue to focus on exploration in that sector as well. Lithium, absolutely, we see value, but also in copper. These are 2 commodities that stand out. I'm not saying that's to the exclusion of all others, but they are standout new pools or commodities that we think can bring a lot for our business. The most important thing, I think, though, is as we built out our team refreshed. We've also gone through and really strengthened the governance and the capabilities across our business. Some of our finance team and legal team are sitting in the room. The kind of rigor and checks and balances that you would expect coming out of the learnings from Western areas are in place. I'm really very pleased, very happy with the work that's been done. I think we're well set up for the future. And if we are to take decisions, we know that we're going to have the right controls in place to protect your interests and shareholder value overall. Looking forward to IGO in 2035, I see a strong multi-asset multi-jurisdiction business with a diversified battery materials portfolio. I look forward to sharing the journey with you. We'll talk more in the next year on some of the work that's underway, together building a stronger IGO for the future and contributing to a cleaner energy world. For 2026, we continue to focus on our clear priorities, delivering that life of mine optimization and full potential at Greenbushes, operating Nova in a safe and stable fashion through to its end of life and commencing closure, resolving that pathway for Kwinana with Tianqi, finding a path that strengthens and consolidates the JV, but also protects shareholder value for you. and ultimately executing on our growth strategy underpinned by extraordinary stake in Greenbushes. It's a pivotal moment for IGO. We have the assets, the expertise strategy to lead into the global energy transition and battery materials. Our approach will remain very disciplined. Our communication transparent and our purpose clear to deliver products and materials into the future. Thank you to the Board, employees, stakeholders and our shareholders for your support and conviction through the last year.

Thanks, Ivan, for that comprehensive review. I'd now like to give you all a chance to ask questions of myself, Ivan or the ELT here on the update that Ivan's just provided. What we're doing this year is I'd like to keep those questions as the general questions on the update. And any questions specifically related to the resolutions we defer until we go through each resolution, some feedback from last year that people would like the chance to ask questions as part of each discussion of each resolution. But for those in attendance, if you wish to ask a question, please raise your hand and wait for the microphone to be given to you, then we would ask that you state your name for the record and whether you are a shareholder or if a proxy holder, who you're representing. For online, attendees. For those of you that would like to ask a question, please follow the instructions available on your screen. Please note that questions may be moderated or summarized in the interest of time. So are there any general questions in the room first?

Thank you. John Campbell, representing Australian Shareholders' Association. First of all, I'd like to ask you a question, please, on your statement earlier on about you're standing down as chair. Does that mean you're actually leaving the Board as well?

Yes, yes, I'll be stepping down from the Chair role and stepping down from the Board at the end of the year.

On Kwinana, the quarterly report showed quite an improvement in production. I think it was 47% of capacity. Does that indicate a long-term improvement? Or was it just a bit of a flash in the pan? I think Ivan has answered the question that I was going to ask him about whether if you got to full capacity, if it ever achieved that, whether it could be profitable, but how much is the price that you're assuming that you get for the product from Kwinana? How much does that influence the equation? And is there an increase in the price of the processed product, the lithium carbonate, hydroxide, doesn't it, sorry, lithium hydroxide? Is there an improvement in that price that would then make Kwinana, at least breakeven or possibly even profitable?

I'm going to pass to Ivan in a minute, but I'll just make some general comments first. I wouldn't be 1 understand here and forecast is that improvement sustainable or not. I think we've got enough experience now to see that it has been quite difficult as an asset, as Ivan went through in detail. As to the analysis that we've done, where we talk about, we don't see a long-term pathway to that asset to that -- for that asset to justify further investment of capital. I think that's based as much on the specific asset and the cost structure there, comparing it to the rest of the industry as well and looking at the competitive positioning of that asset. Is there a price at which it works, of course, if we could guarantee a price for 20 years at a very high level, then any mineral asset will work, but that's not our business. That's not how the -- we're in a cyclical business where we've said a number of times, we believe the future of lithium in this is a relatively immature market still will be quite volatile. And therefore, we use a range of price for any analysis that we do around the deployment of capital, we use a range of different price sets, and the conclusion we've come to, I think, we've been very clear about. But Ivan, would you like to make any further comments on that?

Sure. Look, I think Mike has covered it well. I won't add a lot more. I think that key pieces to understand is that the chemical price for hydroxide in this case, obviously includes the underlying spodumene that's processed, and that ratio stays broadly the same, obviously, in terms of the consumption and then there's a processing cost. So if we take the spodumene cost out, which will move with the market, and it moves up and down in a pretty similar fashion with the chemical price. When we start comparing the cost of processing, that's the critical thing to focus on. In China, the benchmark is about USD 3,000 a ton, some refineries are as low as $2,700 in ranges, and there's a few a bit above, but that's about the benchmark. There is considerable excess capacity in China today. probably about half of the capacity is being utilized at present. And so you can imagine in a market where it's a toll process, it's a manufacturing process, and that's about the price benchmark if you're more than 2 or 3 or more times than that cost for the processing, that erodes any potential margin. So even as the cycle moves, it becomes very challenging to maintain the competitiveness when your underlying costs there are so high that, as I said, is a function of the underlying inputs; the energy costs, gas, electricity, labor, et cetera. China does this very well, extremely, extremely good at downstream processing, not just in lithium in all commodities, they have massive strength. That's a challenge for us to consider. But ultimately, the last point I'd make or consideration here is about returns. And the last thing we want to do is continue to invest in what -- even at the best lithium price is still a low return asset. When we think about the upstream assets, that's where the real price is. And we see that with Greenbushes, and we really want to protect those returns and not dilute them by continuing to invest in a low-return asset. So Mike has covered the rest. I think we've done this analysis, obviously, on a range of different prices and scenarios, and we still have conviction that this is not something we should be pursuing.

Mr. Chairman, [ Ann Prior ], I'm representing my super fund. I've got several questions, so I'll just kick off with one, which is perhaps a statement. I've been a shareholder since the early 2000s. When [ Rod Mast ] and [ Kelly Ross ] and [ Chris Bank ] were sitting up the front there. And probably none of you even had heard of independent gold as it was then. I'm a very disappointed shareholder, and I've sold out a considerable -- well, most of it, most of my shareholding. I've lost confidence in the Board and particularly, of course, those members who were on the Board prior to 2022, when the Western areas debuckle took place. And according to my back of the envelope scratchings, you've cooked about $1.4 billion, which is more than you paid for the asset. I'm also disappointed and I had a discussion with Mr. Bradford about the TLEA that independent group actually have no control. And not only that, we're now settled with an ongoing liability for expenditure on a lithium hydroxide plant. Now it's all very well to talk about board renewal but the Board members sail off into the sunset with their remuneration packages intact, whereas the shareholders to own the Board or duty are left with a reduced share price and no dividends for the moment. Just for the record, I won't be investing in any companies that the Board members that I've referred to, not by name, but certainly, those who were on the Board prior to 2022. I won't be investing in those companies, and there's probably a collective sigh of relief around in a few spots in the room. Anyway, that's my statement. And it's been a very disappointing experience because I think I can say that Rod Martin was the best Chairman of the company has ever had. And the change of direction has not been as promised and expected. So that's my statement. Would you like me to go on?

If we could focus on questions, that would be great. I think for everyone in the room here.

All right. I have a question regarding Western areas bucks, i.e., the microbes. There's something in the annual report, which is completely meaningless on Page 38. And if I didn't know there were microbes in the system. I wouldn't know have the faintest idea what you were talking about. So Ivan, you might like to get me onboard next year because I can write really, really well and certainly better than what's that rubbish in the annual report. So Western areas had microbes and they were looking at treating heap leach, treating or that was not economic to go through the processing. They were doing that at Forrestania. It was sort of quite experimental. So what's happened to the bugs -- have any steps being taken to further develop that process, to test it or to use it or commercialize it because I've talked to a couple of directors this morning as a company in the U.S. who is got venture capital funding to actually progress the use of microbes and AI. So there is my question.

Well, thanks, Ann, for the comments, and we had extensive discussions last year on some of the similar themes. But the question is a fantastic question. And I'll let Ivan speak to the specifics. But what I would say on behalf of the Board is we talk about the strategy that we published in September '24 and we do an annual review, and that happened to be yesterday, and I came away extremely excited about the deep technical expertise in the company in relation to processing a whole different range of processing routes. And that gives some real strength to this strategy around copper acquisition. But I'll let Ivan answer the specifics.

Okay. Thanks, Mike. Thanks for the question, Ann. I won't get into too much detail here just in the interest of time. I mean, you got a eagle, yes. At Forrestania, Western areas had been working on this technology for some time. In fact, it predates Western Areas scenarios, they acquired it. It goes back a long way. The concept of using microbial activity to leach stores has been a concept or area of focus for at least 4 or 5 decades. It's been researched in many universities, nothing new. The issue is not many people can get it to work. And as you've pointed out, there are a lot of companies around the world playing in the space, trying to unpick it. We certainly recognize that the challenges in the world of copper as ore bodies get deeper, lower grade that the conventional processing pathways are more challenged and hence, why this sort of technology is becoming a strong focus. So I mean, at this point, all I'll say is that, look, we're very aware of that technology. We have a deep understanding of it. I think it is something that we'll be able to talk more to in the future as we get into it. And come back to you with how that might play out in our business to drive further value for you.

Good. Thanks. Are there any further questions in the room? I understand we've got a couple of online questions.

John? for a long time, I'm not sure how long I've been monitoring IGO, but I think for things to time, it should be a decade or so. You've held investments in a number of small mining companies that have got interesting parcels of land that you've been joint venturing on. Do any of those represent an opportunity for the company. You continue on notice to hold them. Do they represent an opportunity? Or are you actively pursuing them?

We actively manage all the assets of the company and there's -- we see an opportunity in a variety of different areas. So I think the answer is yes. And obviously, until things emerge, you can't really comment on it. But the answer is yes, we do actively manage and we do see opportunity in the company. If we could, Anne, keep it quite brief because I'm conscious of time.

I've got 2 questions. The first one is regarding the Debeers database, which nobody is mentioned for probably a decade. Is the company still using it and has it yielded any interesting finds? And I'll give you my second question. That's regarding the South 32 royalty claim. There doesn't seem to be anything new in the annual report that I didn't already know. It appears that IGO's potential liability could be in the order of $87 million. There's no provision in the accounts. Can you give us an update, please?

On the first question, yes, we still have access to the Debeers database, and it does inform our exploration strategy and approach. And again, on exploration until something is found, that will be when we can sort of talk about it in the origins on it. On the claim by South 32, I think as we've said in the annual report, we don't believe -- we were very clear in the annual report about our view on that claim. It's working its way through the process, and we'll keep the shareholders updated as there's anything reportable that arises as a result of that claim. It's working its way through the legal system, and there's a number of phases of that. And I probably won't give any more details on looking at my Chief Legal Officer, but just to say that it continues. It's not withdrawn. South 32 continues with the claim and we'll certainly update shareholders as soon as there's something reportable. So if there's no further questions in the room, let me ask Rebecca to read out. I think we've got 2 online questions. Is that right of a general nature?

Yes. Thank you, Chair. We've received 2 questions online from Mr. Stephen Mayne. The first question, it was a shame not to have the proxies disclosed earlier with the formal addresses like many other companies now do to facilitate a more informed AGM debate. Also, when disclosing the outcome of voting on all resolutions today, could you please advise the ASX how many shareholders voted for and against each item similar to what happens with the scheme of arrangement. This will provide a better gauge of retail shareholder sentiment on all resolutions and insight into the chronically low retail shareholder participation rate.

I think we'll take both those questions on notice. We certainly -- as we discuss each of the resolutions, we will -- you'll see on the screen the proxy votes on each I think it's a consistent theme of some people, and we just continue to seek to improve the process each year. And I think we can take both of those on consideration.

And a further question, after the Queensland government introduced a progressive coal royalty regime, they pocketed more than $10 billion from the coal industry in the first full year. Meanwhile, in WA, the gold industry is enjoying boom times and no sign of changes to the current royalty rate. I'm abbreviating this for the purpose of timeliness. The question is, how does the WA lithium royalty regime work? And have we lobbied to be given a better deal just like the gold industry?

Well, I'll pass over to Ivan for some comments because I know he's passionate about this, but I will say that Kwinana, as people know, has benefited from Western Australian government support. And we do participate in discussions and debates with the government, mainly through the industry organizations. But Ivan, is there anything you wanted to or in relation to that?

Yes. Look, I'm not quite sure I understand the linkage to the coal royalty. I mean, that's a very different situation. But the West Australian governments to find a royalty scheme. We're effectively paying about 5% at this point. From a global point of view, they're I think very reasonable and thoughtful in their royalty design. And they recognize the stress on the industry that we've gone through in the last 18 months, and they've put together a support scheme to help address some of that distress. That's been very welcome. I think the engagement is excellent with the Australian government and the support there. So I don't know that I would recommend or advocate for any real shift here. I mean, I think the government is close to this and they realize how critical these industries are to West Australia's economy.

Thank you. if that's the end of the general questions online. I'm happy now to move to the formal part of this Annual General Meeting. So voting today will be conducted by a way of a poll on all items of business. Rod Somes of Computershare, who is in attendance has been appointed the returning officer for today's poll. And for those attending in person, the reverse of your green card, mine's over there, is your voting paper. I now declare voting online. I now declare the voting open. For those attending online, if you're eligible to vote, please select the vote icon at the top right of the online meeting platform. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. You can cast your vote and change your vote on each resolution at any time until I declare the voting changed -- closed. If you experience any difficulties during the meeting, please raise your hand or for online participants, refer to the Computershare online platform guide available on the Computershare website. We've received valid proxy appointments representing 579.1 million shares being 76.5% of securities on issue for the resolutions to be considered today. The proxies received are held by Computershare and available for inspection. I advise that as Chair of the meeting, I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of each resolution. Details of the proxy numbers received prior to the meeting will be displayed on the screen as the resolutions are put to the meeting. Please note the 4 numbers include the open votes given to the Chair and Board that will be voted in favor of all resolutions. The Notice of Meeting lodged with the ASX on the 17th of October 2025 and has been made available to all shareholders. The first item of ordinary business is the tabling of the financial reports. For those in the room, you can see them on the chairs and the directors and auditors reports for the year ended 30th of June 2025. Copies are available in the meeting they can be viewed on the company's website, and a copy has been sent to all shareholders who requested one. There's no voting on this item but I now invite shareholders and their proxies to comment or ask questions on the reports. Are there any questions of the Board on the annual financial statements or reports? In addition, are there any questions of the auditor on the auditor's report, the conduct of the audit, the independence of the auditor or the company's accounting policies? We got any questions in the room on the reports? Any questions online? Thank you very much. Sorry, we have a question in the room, yes.

Chairman, just a quick one. I see you have a hedging strategy for you nickel.

Just perhaps your name and your affiliation?

[ Peter Richardson ], here as a proxy from my mother. You have a hedging strategy for your nickel. Just with Greenbushes, do they hedge the lithium product at all? .

No, is the answer. The short answer solid on market. Well, it's sold to the 2 shareholders, [ Tianci and Alma ]. I think we've a fair bit of disclosure on the structure of that and the way that, that works. They both have 50-50 share of the product. And the pricing is based on the benchmark pricing of the prior month.

One more question in the room, in general on the accounts. [ Harry Hans ]. It's actually concerning all the proxy voting that's involved. Normally, there's a discretionary column to allow the proxy to make the decision at the meeting, the format used by Computershare for this meeting. And I think from a lot of other meetings, doesn't give the proxy hold of that opportunity. It's going to be either for, against or abstain. I'd suggest that the Board direct Computershare to give the proxy holder that discretion to make the decision at the meeting and not be forced to declare our hand prior to the meeting.

Thank you for that. It's more of a comment than a question, and we'll certainly, again, take that on notice and look always to improve our process systems. Can I just ask -- and sorry, just wait for the mic for the people online. And again, if we can keep it quick.

Just a quick one. The write-down of the Fraser Range in Gola of $115 million with that Western Areas assets?

The Fraser range wasn't was an area as assets. And sorry, there were assets in the Fraser range was not. That's surrounding Nova and that's been in the cycle sometimes. To be honest, on Gola, it was in the Western areas portfolio. There's quite a range of holdings in exploration.

So what amount would have been attributed to Gola?

I don't think we disclosed the specific amounts on any of the...

I'd like to keep my tally sheet for the western areas debuckle bark up to date. That's why I'm asking. You don't know?

I don't think we disclosed the specific...

Am I going to get an answer?

No, what I'm saying is...

No? I also won't shut up.

We don't disclose it. But I will note in your tally sheet that you did mention the bugs, which is something still active from the Western Areas acquisitions. Thanks, Ann, for those comments. No further questions in the room or online? I will move to Resolution 1. i'll take each resolution -- I'll read each resolution and take questions on each before moving to the next. So one, the first item of business is the reelection of Ms. Trace Arlaud as Director. Trace joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director in August 2022. Having been appointed a director at the '22 Annual General Meeting in accordance with the company's constitution and ASX Listing Rule 14.4, Trace offers herself for religion as a Director of the company. I'll now invite Trace to say a few words on her reelection. If we could have the -- Thanks, Trace. Please go ahead.

Good morning, shareholders, and my sincere apologies for not being able to attend in person dealing with a family emergency at the moment. But thank you for the opportunity to let me speak today. and thank you for your continued support of IGO. I put myself forward for reelection to the Board. It's been an honor to have served on the IGO Board over the last 3 years. And during this time, the company has made some challenging decisions to build a solid foundation for the refresh of the strategy. I've supported the Board's direction and guidance of management and I believe I've made some positive and important contributions to deliberations. During my tenure, I've served on the Project Steering Committee governance and nominating audit and risk and sustainability committees and strongly support the important work that these committees do. I'm a geologist and mining engineer. By background, with over 30 years experience in the mining industry across operations, studies, detailed design and project execution. I've worked for major mining companies and international EPCM companies and consultants in building and also building a U.S. mining consulting business for a major EPCM from the ground up. I'm passionate about safety, mining technology, staff development and shareholder values. I have a technical and operating expertise both in open pit and underground operations. I've worked in a variety of progressive roles, including exploration and mine geology, geotechnical and mining engineering and project management. I've worked locally in Western Australia, starting my career at places of Jundee and Bronzewing and then internationally, to name a few, the Eagle Mines, solution copper, Freeport, DOC, deep ore zone mining Indonesia. I've held global roles in caving and mass mining, have been heavily involved in the introduction of new technology into the mining industry, which is now standard practice. I believe I bring some valuable experience to the Board, particularly around my knowledge of complex mining operations, project recovery and optimization. And I am acutely aware of the safety risks inherent to our industry. This is particularly relevant to IGO Nova is coming to some challenge coming to the end of its mine life and some challenging times as well as our future of optimizing -- helping optimize green bushes and other future opportunities, which are aligned with our strategy. I believe IGO has a strong future, and we have a clear strategy for growth and value to deliver to our shareholders, and I look forward to contributing my skills and expertise to the company. and to our shareholders. And I believe I'm a strong advocate about holding governance, and I thank shareholders for their support in my reelection and the continued support of the company.

Thank you, Trace. And I can certainly endorse those comments in terms of contribution to the Board over the last 3 years. Are there any questions on Resolution 1 in the room or online? Thank you. Well, as I said before, we can see the proxy votes on the screen. Moving to Resolution 2. which is the adoption of the remuneration report, and this can be found at Pages 61 to a 83 of the 2025 annual report. This is a nonbinding vote to enable shareholders to voice their opinions on matters of this report. I put the following resolution as an ordinary resolution that the remuneration report for the year ended 30 June 2025, which is contained in the annual report for the year ended 30 June 2025 be adopted. Do I have any questions in the room on Resolution 2?

Mr. Chairman, my name is [ Quinn ]. I'm a small retail shareholder. Just in regard to the long-term remuneration, 50% of the rewards for relative total shareholder return. Can you help me understand what management or what control management have over a relative total shareholder return, considering it's a group of companies that are in a similar industry, but there's no -- from what I understand, there's no real control over the management have over achieving that reality total shareholder return? And why -- and how did you come up with that and what are the reasons why?

Thanks, Quinn. And the Board obviously considers a whole range of factors in looking at the long-term incentives. On that one, we've moved over the years to have a much higher portion on shareholder return. And that's with a view to aligning as much as possible the experience of shareholders with management. There's 2 elements to that, the absolute shareholder return and the relative shareholder return, as you pointed out, I might probably argue the opposite of the way that you set it out in the sense that we look as a Board at relative shareholder return as to what the management can influence absolute shareholder return as the share price over the last 2 or 3 years has shown moves very much with the commodity cycle and with our peer group in -- over the last few years in lithium. So that absolute bid is much harder for management to have any definite impact on. Whereas the relative bit then measures our performance against, in our case, 2 sets of peers, one general and one specific around lithium. And that relative pit is what we believe that the management can manage. In other words, how are we doing as a lithium business relative to our lithium peers as one example. And if we're doing better that's because of management input or that management can influence that. And we believe by having the 2, it's the best way to get the balance right because if you just are focused only on absolute returns. In a bumper year, everybody makes money regardless of what -- how well the management has performed. And so that's sharing the same experience to shareholders. in a difficult year, management might have performed exceptionally well because on a relative basis, we haven't suffered as badly as other people in the -- at the bottom point of the cycle. So there's still an element that rewards management for that performance. So we see it's quite a good balance, and it's as to where we came up with it, we're not pioneers in this area. There's quite a number of companies use a similar structure in various differences to it.

John Campbell again from ASA. The long-term incentive is based on a 3-year appraisal period. The ASA's view is that that's too short from a shareholder perspective, that we have a much longer perspective or more like 10 years, but we appreciate the management may not be a long ramp for that length of time. And I know this is a very competitive industry in which these sort of factors are very important in securing the right executives and that's obviously very important to us too. But -- and so we are actually supporting the remuneration report. But I'd like you to bear in mind in the future that the preferences for a 4-year appraisal period rather than a 3 because it does represent the sort of longer-term perspective of where we as shareholders hope to be. And and particularly in your situation of looking at new projects and the need for a replacement for Nova.

Thank you for those comments, John, and I think we've had the debate or the discussion many times. And I think we continue to review and we continue to look at it, where can we improve where is the competitive market moving management commitment. It is a 4-year cycle, 3 years of measurement, 1 year holding lock. So it is a 4-year cycle in IGO's structure. Any questions online? We then move -- put resolution 2 to the vote. And the next item of business noted as Resolution 3 relates to the issuance of service rights to Mr. Ivan Vella. This is explained in Pages 12 to 15 of the notice of meeting and obviously also the detail in the remuneration report. Do I have questions in the room on Resolution 3? Do I have any questions online on Resolution 3? Thank you. We will then move to Resolution 4. This relates to the issue of performance rights to Mr. Ivan Vella, again explained in Pages 15 to 21 of the notice of meeting and detailed in the remuneration report. Do I have any questions on Resolution 4. And again, nothing online? Thank you. Resolution 5, the next item of business relates to IGO Employee Incentive Plan Approval as explained in 21 to 24 of the Notice of Meeting. Are there any questions in the room on Resolution 5 or online? Thank you. And Resolution 6, the next item of business relates to the renewal of the company's proportional takeover approval provisions as explained in Pages 24 to 26 of the notice of meeting. Do I have any questions on this resolution? Thank you. And finally, Resolution 7 relates to change of the company's auditor, as explained on Page 26 of the notice of meeting. Do I have any questions on Resolution 7? I'd just like to take a chance to thank Glen and BDO for the, I think, exceptionally good service over a long period of time for IGO. And obviously, the process is that we regulate or periodically change the auditor, but we really do thank you for exceptional work over that time. So behind me, I can see a summary of the valid proxies received for each resolution and there being no further discussion on the resolution or any on no further online questions. I'll now ask everybody to complete their poll voting, as previously explained. For those in attendance, Rod and his team from Computershare. We'll now walk around the room and collect the green voting cards. Should you require any assistance, please raise your hand. I'm going to shortly close the online voting system. So please ensure that you've cast your vote on all resolutions. And now will allow a short pause to finalize those votes. [Voting]

Doesn't the Corporations Law require you to put up the actual votes in number, not the percent? And I asked the legal eagle who's here.

I don't believe so in relation to... Thanks, Ann. And again, we'll take that on notice as to -- so the number will be disclosed as part of the ASX release. And we'll certainly look at adding that to the proxies in future meetings. I'm getting the signal from Rod that he has finished the process of collecting the proxies can confirm all voting cards have been collected, and I now formally declare the online poll closed as well and the whole poll closed. So ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the formal business of today's meeting, and I officially declare the meeting close. As I mentioned earlier, the results of the poll will be lodged on the ASX platform later this afternoon and on our company website. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank shareholders for their continued support of the company during the year, and thank you again for your attendance today. For those of you who have joined online thank you. And for those of you here in person, please join the Board and management team for some refreshments outside. Goodbye, and thank you very much.