Kantra Copper Limited (KAN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning all. This is Jane Brunton, Head of Investor Relations and Growth at Kantra Copper. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Kantra September 2026 quarterly update. With me today are our CEO and MD, Bob Fulker; and our CFO, Luke Anderson. Today's session is audio only. Bob and Luke will run through our quarterly update before we move into a Q&A session for analysts covering Kantra. I will now hand over to Bob.

Thank you, Jane, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining the Kantra 2026 September Quarter Results Webinar. The September quarter saw a continued strength in the copper market, supported by growing investor recognition of the structural supply challenges facing the industry. A significant feature of the quarter was the continued buildup of copper inventories in the United States with COMEX stocks reaching approximately 770,000 tonnes, representing almost 70% of the global exchange inventories. While this reflects a regional imbalance rather than a global shortage, it has reinforced broader concerns around copper supply security. At the same time, declining mine grades, a limited pipeline of new copper projects and continued tightness in concentrate markets remain the themes. Together, these factors continue to support a constructive midterm outlook for copper prices. Moving on to Kantra. This is the first quarterly report we deliver under our new name following the completion of the share consolidation. It has been another strong quarter for the business. And today, we'll take you through the operational and financial performance as well as progress across our growth projects and broader development pipelines. These results reflect the continued momentum across the operation, disciplined cost management and the advancement of key strategic initiatives that position the company for sustained growth. I'll begin with the operational highlights for the quarter. We produced 3,419 tonnes of copper, marking our fifth consecutive quarter of production growth. The mine generated an operating mine cash flow of $32.1 million, resulting in an operating mine cash flow margin of 44% and a net mine cash flow of $18.7 million after capital and rehabilitation expenditures. This contributed to an increase in the cash generated during the quarter of $11.9 million, increasing the group cash balance by 37% to $44.1 million and an all-in sustaining cost of $5.44 per pound of payable copper sold, bringing the year-to-date all-in sustaining cost to $5.78 per pound of payable copper sold, which is at the lower end of our 2026 cost guidance range. Overall, we are on track to deliver the 2026 production guidance, and we expect the full year AISC to be at the lower end of our cost guidance range. During the September quarter, we also produced 1,852 ounces of gold and over 26,000 ounces of silver, bringing copper equivalent production to 4,154 tonnes. The increased gold production reflects the ore output from Nugent, which is a higher global gold grade compared to Kavanagh. Year-to-date, we have produced 9,709 tonnes of copper and a copper equivalent of 11,828 tonnes. Moving on to the Kanmantoo growth projects. The Board approved the development of Emily Star as a third underground mining front for Kanmantoo. Surface portal construction commenced and post quarter end, first portal firings have commenced. The development of Emily Star will be fully funded from the company's existing operating cash flow. Stoping at Emily Star is planned to commence in the second half of 2027. When online, Emily Star is anticipated to displace a portion of the lower Kavanagh production whilst the Kanmantoo operation will increase to greater than 2 million tonnes per annum. As the processing plant throughput increases, the fixed costs will be absorbed over a larger production base, resulting in further reduction in the unit all-in sustaining cost. Development of the Kavanagh North exploration drive advanced 118 meters in the quarter. This development has established a drill platform to target the Kavanagh North, Matthew's and Coopers deposits, with diamond drilling planned to commence in the coming months. Underground diamond drilling continued to progress to plan with over 14,000 meters completed by quarter end. Underground diamond drilling of the Spitfire lode, which is positioned to the south of the main Kavanagh lodes, returned strong results. Core hole intercepts included 30 meters at 1.32% copper and 22 meters at 1.02% copper. We have also released results from the latest underground drilling at Nugent post quarter end. These results confirm the continuation of mineralization more than 300 meters below the current mining horizon. A key intersect included 70 meters at 1.18% copper and 0.24 grams per tonne of gold, highlighting the prospectivity of this system at depth. The 2026 surface drilling program targeting the depth extension of the Kavanagh Lode system was completed. The program identified the deepest significant mineralization intersect recorded at Kanmantoo site to date, sitting more than 250 meters below the current decline level. The annual mineral resource and ore reserve update commenced during the quarter. All drilling results received by the 3rd of August 2026 will be included. The update includes more than 82,000 meters of drilling across the 2025 and 2026 drilling campaigns. The mineral resource and ore reserve update is on track for the completion and release by the end of October. Looking at our development pipeline. Following consultation with local communities, landholders and our partners at Havilah Resources, we have renamed the Mutooroo Copper Project, the Coburn Copper Project. The name draws inspiration from the nearby township of Coburn (sic) [ Cockburn ] with a phonetic spelling adopted to create a distinctive and recognizable project identity. This name brings a lot of South Australian history with it. The township of Coburn (sic) [ Cockburn ] was established in 1886 and named after Sir John Coburn (sic) [ Cockburn ], who later became the 18th Premier of South Australia. The Phase 1 of the pre-feasibility study continued to progress. Metallurgical tests confirm that the Coburn mineralization is amenable to the Kanmantoo flow sheet and reagents suite. The copper recoveries exceeded 90% and the gold recoveries exceeded 50%. These results substantially reduce the metallurgical risk. The team also progressed work on the rail logistics aimed at assessing transportation requirements and refining the operating cost assumptions. This will be the last piece of the Phase 1 derisking stage, and we are on track to complete this pre-Christmas this year. Due to some required seasonal studies, we have commenced early on-ground works. Additionally, we have also commenced an early drilling program to allow further metallurgical test work to commence in the new year. This 1,000-meter drilling program is planned to commence in October. On regional exploration, drilling at Kanappa continued, with 812 meters completed during the quarter. The first drill hole of the two drilling program was completed, with the second hole ongoing as of quarter end. Core logging and data collection is underway to prepare samples for chemical analysis to determine the next stage of the exploration. In closing, the September quarter has seen a continued growth of copper production, resulting in an increase in cash at hand and a decrease in our all-in sustaining costs quarter-on-quarter. We are on track to meet our production guidance and be at the bottom end of our cost guidance. Our third annual MROR release is expected in the coming weeks, and we have an internal and external growth platform which we can fund from operating cash flow. I will now pass over to Luke to discuss financial performance.

Thanks, Bob, and good morning, everyone. I will now walk you through the financial performance for the September quarter. All amounts I refer to are in Australian dollars, and all unit cost metrics are calculated on a payable copper pound sold basis, unless otherwise stated. As Bob has mentioned, the September quarter delivered another solid financial performance, as the company continues to build a more robust financial base to support the business' growth going forward. The headline results include the highest underground quarterly copper production of 3,419 tonnes was achieved at an all-in sustaining cost of $5.44 per pound, bringing the year-to-date all-in sustaining cost to $5.78 per pound within the lower end of the '26 guidance range. 3,386 tonnes of payable copper was sold at an average realized price of $18,096 per tonne or $8.21 per pound. And Kanmantoo generated $32.1 million in operating mine cash flow, contributing to net group cash flow of $14.2 million and a quarter end cash balance of $44 million. So beginning with revenue. Revenue increased 14.8% for the quarter to $73.2 million, reflecting an increase in copper tonnes sold at a higher realized price. This was slightly offset by the reduced by-product credits driven by a lower realized gold price. The average realized price of copper sold during the quarter of $18,096 per tonne was up from $17,096 per tonne in the June quarter. This also included delivery into a number of lower-priced hedges. The balance of the Freepoint hedge book was closed out, representing 850 tonnes of copper at $14,707 per tonne. Mine operating costs increased 2% for the quarter to $41 million, reflecting greater activity and some impact from higher fuel costs and increased royalties. Sustaining capital increased $0.5 million to $8.7 million, which was consistent with the company's '26 mine plan. The operation spent $4.3 million on major growth capital, with $2.2 million spent on Emily Star and $1.8 million on the Kavanagh North exploration drive. A further $800,000 was spent on Kanappa exploration drilling. And with Coburn ramping up, $600,000 was spent on the PFS during the quarter. Overall, operating mine cash flow for the quarter increased 38% to $32.1 million to generate total group net cash flow of $14.2 million. This has seen the company's cash balance increase by $11.9 million for the quarter to $44 million as at September 30, with a trade and other receivables balance of $8.6 million and unsold stockpiles of $5 million. On hedging, as I mentioned earlier, the company closed out the remaining 850 tonnes of copper hedges with Freepoint at an average price of $14,707 per tonne during the quarter. As the hedge price was below prevailing spot prices, these settlements tempered the revenue benefit from the stronger copper market. The company also established a new hedging program with CBA. The program is designed to provide greater cash flow certainty and cover a proportion of the company's fixed costs while retaining exposure to prevailing copper prices on the majority of forecast production. As at 30 September, the company had 3,600 tonnes of copper hedges outstanding at a weighted average price of $20,099 per tonne. The hedging arrangements with CBA were put in place following a broader competitive process to appoint a tier one banking partner for the business. The appointment enabled the company to consolidate and simplify its existing security arrangements, including its current rehabilitation obligation. While the company does not currently require debt funding, the relationship establishes a strong banking platform and provides the potential access to future financing as Kantra advances its growth strategy going forward. Moving to costs. All-in sustaining costs for the quarter of $5.44 per pound was below the full year all-in sustaining cost guidance of $5.75 to $6.25 per pound. With the year-to-date all-in sustaining costs of $5.78 per pound at the lower end of guidance range, we will continue to monitor costs as the quarter progresses and update the guidance if necessary. Unit mining costs reduced 11% for the quarter to $3.35 per pound, reflecting the benefit of higher throughput. Unit processing costs also reduced as higher production volumes improved fixed cost absorption. High diesel prices have impacted site costs; however, the impact of this has been tempered by the relatively short underground mine hauls and the processing plant operating on grid power. So in summary, another good quarter for the year. The highest underground quarterly copper production of 3,419 tonnes and copper equivalent of 4,154 tonnes. An increase in cash balance of $44 million from strong cash flow generation, year-to-date unit all-in sustaining costs within the lower end of guidance and continue to establish a robust financial base to grow the business. I will now pass back to Jane for any questions.

Thank you, Luke. We are now entering the Q&A session open to analysts. [Operator Instructions] Chris has asked the first question. Chris from MST, please unmute and go ahead.

Congrats on a really solid quarter. Good to see some nice numbers coming through there. A couple of questions. Just firstly, I guess, just looking at the near-term production outlook. Do you think we're kind of maxing out in terms of mine tonnes at the moment or is there a little bit more to go there, do you think? And secondly, [indiscernible] how is that near-term grade profile looking? I am used to talking a lot about positioning at Sterling and Prince, where are we at [indiscernible]?

Thanks, Chris. I've got a lot of background noise. I'll just repeat the 2 questions. One is the near-term production and the second is the grade profile. Just on the production profile for this year, we always said that the first half was a small half and the second half was running at that 1.7 million tonne to 1.8 million tonne rate. We're currently running in the middle of that rate now, and we intend to stay at that rate for the rest of the year. Obviously, if we can get higher rates, we will, but the aim is to get that 1.7 million tonne to 1.8 million tonne over the next quarter as well in preparation for next year. The grade profile. With the additional areas that we're mining with Nugent online with Kavanagh passing through that last pinch zone, we are actually seeing the widths come up in the diamond drilling. That has been evident in some of the release that we have been putting out recently. So we are seeing the repeatability of the ore body and the mineral zones as we were expecting. So it's all going to plan and we are producing as we would expect.

Great. If I could just sneak one more in? I noticed there was a comment in the quarterly there about the aging fleet and some reliability issues. I am assuming there is a plan in place to work through this. Those numbers are in the sustaining CapEx?

Yes. No, look, the fleet is getting older as we go forward. Most of it has been here for the entire life of underground. We are starting to look at plans and strategies for next year and the next 5 to 10 years. To put it bluntly, we have not come and landed on the final solution at the moment, but as we work through it, we will let people know. So we are having some reliability issues, but it is not affecting us at this stage.

Thank you, Chris. [Operator Instructions] There are no further questions. Here comes one question from Paul. Paul Hissey, please unmute and go ahead.

A couple of questions from me, just on cost. You are trending very well year-to-date. It would not be a stretch to imagine you guys could actually come in below the bottom end of your all-in sustaining cost. I'm just keen to understand, what's changed that since the start of the year that has helped you have such a strong, at least, year-to-date performance from a cost perspective, or was the cost guidance particularly conservative at the time?