Mandalay Resources Corporation (MND) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Mandalay Resource Corporation First Quarter 2024 Conference Call. This call contains forward-looking statements, which reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the company based on information currently available for the company. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results of the company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the current expectations are disclosed under the heading Risk Factors and elsewhere in the company's annual information form dated March 28, 2024, available on SEDAR and the company's website. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Frazer Bourchier, President and CEO. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you very much, operator, and welcome all. But before getting into our quarterly performance, I want to extend a warm welcome to Hashim Ahmed, our EVP and Chief Financial Officer, on his inaugural Mandalay Conference Call. Hashim brings a wealth of industry experience, particularly in financial management, corporate strategy and capital markets, making him a great addition to our leadership team. As we continue to progress into our next growth phase, Hashim will be instrumental in guiding our financial strategies and ensuring our ongoing fiscal success. Also joining us on the call today are Ryan Austerberry, our Chief Operating Officer in Melbourne; and Chris Davis, our VP of Operational Geology and Exploration also in the Melbourne area. Yesterday, Mandalay Resources disclosed its financial results at market close. You can access our consolidated financial statements and the MD&A on either company's website or through our profile on SEDAR. Mandalay sustained its operational and financial momentum generated through the second half of last year and commenced this year strongly and safely in achieving a solid production outcome of nearly 25,000 gold equivalent ounces across both of our operations. About 60% from Costerfield, 40% from Bjorkdal. This achievement positions the company on our previously stated trajectory towards meeting our annual production guidance of 90,000 to 100,000 gold equivalent ounces. Of notable mention is Mandalay's substantial enhancement in gas reserves with a cash balance increase of over $20 million during the quarter, leading to a closing quarter cash balance of USD 47 million, which represents about 30% of our market capitalization. We anticipate a significant year ahead as we build upon these achievements. Our primary focus remains on closely monitoring key operational lead metrics, which flow into these important financial lag measures. We continue to proactively address any potential risks to achieving our 2024 operational plan and to bolstering our cash flow generation. Of equal importance, we remain exploration centered on extending the mine life at Costerfield as has been replicated over the past 15 years. The strategic focus on quality organic growth at both operations, along with continuing to review all external opportunities sets the stage for an exciting year ahead from Mandalay. I would like to now hand the call over to different members of my team to recap various sections that pertains specifically to them and our first quarter results Mandalay. So first, Ryan, our Chief Operating Officer

Thanks, Frazer. During the first quarter of 2024, we successfully produced 14,566 gold equivalent ounces at Costerfield. This is despite challenges caused by 2 separate adverse weather events, leading to temporary site access restrictions and power disruptions in January and February of 2024. In quarter 1, 2024, Costerfield mined 31,259 tonnes of ore, making a 19% increase from the 26,285 tonnes mined in Q1 of 2023 12 months earlier. The increase in mining rate can be attributed to addressing a specific nonsystematic incident encountered at the beginning of 2023. Furthermore, total capital development in quarter 1 of 2024 amounted to 131 meters, which was 20% lower than the 165 meters achieved in quarter 1 of 2023. However, this was intentional due to prioritization of rehabilitation work over capital development advancements. Costerfield processed 33,872 ore tonnes in quarter 1 of 2024, a 7% decrease compared to the 35,382 tonnes processed in quarter 1 of 2023. The decline in processing volume can be attributed to various factors, the weather occurrences, processing challenges posed by Shepherd ore, which is inherently harder than Youle ore, so somewhat slightly lower throughput rate. and the same systematic conditions that affected past processing variances and which are being addressed with capital investment. A significant budgeted maintenance stop is planned in the plant in May this month, for rebuilding the front end of the plant to assist with material so to optimize throughput. Processed gold grades were higher during quarter 1 of 2024 at 12.4 grams a tonne gold compared to 7.7 grams per tonne gold in quarter 1 of 2023 linked to processing of lower-grade stockpile material 12 months earlier. Conversely, the process antimony grades were lower in quarter 1 of 2024, standing at 2.2% in contrast to 2.6% in quarter 1 of 2023, which can be associated to mining more tonnes from the lower grade antimony shipped deposit. The grade trend in antimony milled ad-grade is expected to persist as -- becomes the dominant ore body being extracted. Bjorkdal showcased sustained improvements over the last 4 quarters, achieving a production of 10,370 gold ounces, marking a 16% increase from the 8,969 ounces recorded in quarter 1 of 2023. This advancement is mainly credited to improved grades in the eastern extension zone and an 8% uptick in ore tonnage processed. Great Pacific, there was a 9% increase in the average head grade coming from 1.05 grams per tonne gold in quarter 1 of 2023 to 1.15 grams per tonne gold in quarter 1 of 2024. Throughput lifted from 317,543 tonnes in quarter 1 2023 to 3,146 tonnes in quarter 1 of 2024, in part due to the successful and ongoing mill ramp-up commissioning. For the remainder of the year, we anticipate stable gold grades, driven by increased mining activity in higher grade underground areas and heightened attention to further minimizing underground development and stop ore dilution. Lastly, in the first quarter of 2024, total capital development amounted to 845 meters, which included exploration capital drive mining, marking a 17% increase from the 723 meters recorded in quarter 1 of 2023. The reduced capital meters -- the capital development progress observed in quarter 1 of 2023 can be largely attributed to staffing challenges. Increased capital development helps generate increased working stope fronts, which in turn, aids to increase required mining flexibility I would now like to pass the call to Hashim, our EVP and Chief Financial Officer, who will highlight Mandalay's financials.

Thanks, Ryan. As a reminder, numbers noted are in U.S. currency. As Fraser mentioned earlier, it's worth reiterating that our stable cost structure has enabled the company to capitalize on the current metal price environment, resulting in strong cash generation for the quarter. In comparison to Q4 '23, Mandalay has substantially increased its cash balance by over $20 million, reaching $47 million in cash with a net cash position of approximately $20 million by Q1 '24. Consolidated revenue rose by 32% to $55 million compared to $42 million in Q1 '23. This significant increase was primarily driven by a 16% higher gold access sold in Q1 '24 compared to the same quarter in 2023. This reflects higher production, mainly due to increased throughput at Bjorkdal and a higher mid gold head grade at Costerfield. Additionally, higher realized metal prices further contributed to the revenue with $2,200 per ounce gold and antimony at 13,823 per tonne in Q1 '24, which is higher by 13% and 8%, respectively, compared to Q1 '23. As compared to last year, operating costs remained relatively stable at $27 million. Our consolidated cash costs and all-in costs, all-in sustaining cost per ounce of gold equivalent produced during Q1 '24 were 1,039 and 1,430, respectively, marking a decrease compared to the corresponding quarter last year, primarily due to increased gold equivalent production and relatively stable cost base. This remains well in line with our annual guidance provided earlier in January. In summary, the company generated $16 million in free cash flow during Q1 '24, equating to approximately $636 per ounce of gold equivalents sold, which was mainly due to a twofold increase in cash flow from operating activities. Finally, I'm pleased to announce that subsequent to Q1, we successfully renegotiated an extension to our revolving credit facility with Scotiabank now extended until 2027. This enhances our financial flexibility towards growth capital expenditures and other M&A initiatives that may offer significant returns aligning with our long-term growth objectives. I would like to now pass the call to our VP of Exploration and Operation Geology, Chris Davis. Chris?

Thanks, Hashim. During Q1 2024, drilling efforts at Costerfield were concentrated on growing new mine resources and assessing regional targets. Ordinary mine areas were active during the quarter. Firstly, the infill drilling on Shepherd focused on the Western most paining within the system. In the center of the field, drilling continued on the Brunswick depthtesting program and to the South, 2 drilling program tested the depth extension of the Cuffley deposit as well as the northern extension of the -- resource. Moving into Q2, near mine exploration will prioritize the Cuffley dips programs and Shepherd infill programs. Another focus area will be the link between the Shepherd veining and the Brunswick deposit, where a mineralized connection is anticipated through currently non-tested ground. Regional exploration at Costerfield primarily targeted the throughput deposits with one program extending the inferred mineral resource and another testing the mineralized corridor with sit-out drilling up to a kilometer further south. Towards the end of the quarter, 2 additional drill programs began testing the northern and southern strike extents of the Brunswick mineralized corridor. At Bjorkdal, near mine drilling activities in Q1 focused on depth testing of this large system with programs dedicated to the depth and Eastern extension of Aurora and the northern continuation of paining below the marble horizon. Towards the end of the quarter, drilling also began on a scan extension project aimed at extending the mineralized envelope known for its historically high grades. In Q2, near mine exploration at Bjorkdal will continue in the North zone depth extension and the scan extension programs as well as a new program focusing on the infill drilling -- focused on infill drilling, the eastern extension of the Bjorkdal -- there was no surface drilling conducted during Q1 2024. However, last month, Mandalay released exciting results from our Northern prospect Storheden, situated 600 meters north of the Bjorkdal mine. The 2023 program aims to confirm and give context to the previous drilling as well as test the system at depth. The drilling was successful in increasing the known depth extent of the deposit to 200 meters and confirming the mineralized strike length of 1.6 kilometers with some encouraging --. During Q2, surface drilling will commence on -- will recommence on Storheden, and we will continue to update the market on our other regional drilling programs within the Eastern and Southern prospects. I would like to return the call to our President and CEO, Frazer Bourchier. Frazer?

Yes. Thanks a lot, Chris. I appreciate that. And look, throughout the remainder of 2024, our primary emphasis will be on further improving operational discipline with resulting steady production within projected costs, and we will continue to efficiently allocate capital resources to our self-funded exploration growth, targeting both near mine and regional exploration opportunities with the plan to expand and prolong reserves at both of our assets. Our vision -- our vision remains to become a mid-tier gold producer in an industry that is in need of smaller-scale producing consolidation into mid-scale producer status. We are a diversified gold and antimony producer in top-tier global jurisdictions with proven cost-effective resource growth replacement based on ongoing organic exploration upside. With this newly enhanced management team aligned with this vision, and with support of Cornerstone shareholders, this corporate growth strategy is underpinned by strong cash flows, $16 million free cash flow alone in the past quarter. and a strong balance sheet, including $47 million in cash and a $35 million active revolver. So, Mandalay is positioned to transition into this new stage. I anticipate the company emerging as a key mid-tier player in the gold sector over the next 3 to 5 years. So on that note, I wish to thank everyone. This concludes this portion of the call, and I would like to open up the lines for any potential questions.

Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. Your first question comes from the line of Kevin Tracey from Oberon Asset Management.

Frazer, it was good to see the grades at cost were filled in the quarter. And I was happy to hear you expect those grades to continue. So my question really is around what we can expect over the next few years out of Shepherd. So I look back at your most recent reserve report, and you made a pretty big revision down in the average grade from 12.5 to 10.5 grams per tonne. Here we are this quarter, processed grades over 12 and you say that's going to continue. So should we be more hopeful that maybe the average grades are north of 12%? Or I mean I understand this is coming off of a 2023 when grades disappointed. But can you help me a little bit there?

Sure, Kevin. I'll give you a high level, and then I can refer further to some comments that Ryan may want to add. Look, at the end of the day, the grades will stay for a little while at this, but it doesn't change the reserve grade that we updated. It's generally, I would say, a reverse hockey stick later this year. So those grades will still come off a little bit. So the reserve grade that we stated for now, we see no change in that. And although we do see what's happening sustaining for another 3 to 6 months before it starts to tail off. So it doesn't really change the reserve picture. Number one, it doesn't necessarily change our guidance. That's still on line. When you use the term hope, I'd be a bit more optimistic and hope where the hope comes in really is the focus we have on our exploration, especially in the near mine in terms of those deposits that Chris shared being continued around Shepherd surrounds and Cuffley deeps in particular. But maybe I'll -- if you have a further question on that, I can certainly have Chris and or Ryan add some comments. But does that answer your question for now?

Yes. And maybe I could follow up there on the exploration side. So you say, well, you sound optimistic. When -- and you mentioned on the -- in your prepared remarks that we should hope -- or you hope or expect to extend the mine life at Costerfield. Are we going to get another reserve report early next year or-- the previous management team had shifted to only updating the reserve reports every 2 years.

No, I've changed that coming in. We'll go back to annual. That was just something that was an attempt last year, but I think we've all agreed at both our operations, annual updates as per cut off drilling September, December, we finished it and then announced early in the year and file it by February of the following year. So that will go back to annual, both of them.

Okay. And in terms of the mine life extension, where do you expect that to come from? Is that just more an extension of Shepherd? Or do you think Cuffley or True Blue showed some promising results last year. Is there any one of those that you think has the best prospects to add reserves this year?

Look, I'll make some general high-level comments, and then I'll have Chris Davis weigh in. At the end of the day, this operation has always been exciting, but it has fluctuated between the 2- to 5-year mine life for the last 15 years since Mandalay got involved with Costerfield in 2009. So it's a bit of the nature of the ore body. We had the yield success. We have some success around Shepherd. 60%, 65% of our expenditure is focused on near mine because reserve extensions, even though it's never a guarantee, it has proven to happen in the past, but it's important for us for a number of reasons. So between Shepherd and Cuffley deeps is probably our highest proactivity right now, but those things can change. when you make reference to True Blue though, we want to be clear. That's pretty exciting to us, the whole regional. But when I think regional, I think sort of 5-plus years out. So that balance of the other 30%, 35% of our exploration spend is important, but we want to make sure that we continue to have at least a 3- to 5-year mine life in front of us on the near mine. Chris, would you like to add just a few high-level comments to that in terms of prospectivity, especially on the near mine versus the regional?

Yes, sure, Frazer. I think you've covered it pretty well. But I guess on the new mine front, really sort of where we're looking at, at the moment is sort of a Westwood progression step between Shepherd and Brunswick for that northern part of the field. So that's something that we're testing at the moment. And we sort of we needed to kind of wait for testing horizons or actually sort of drilling some of our projects there from surface at the moment. But also at the same time, we're drilling underneath the Cuffley deposit to the South. But that's quite an exciting area because we already do have resources there, and we're looking to sort of extend and upgrade those resources into something that's feasibly minable. And then I guess, moving on from there, we're pretty excited about the sort of 3 major areas that are within a couple of kilometers from our underground infrastructure. So there's -- yes, the True Blue, Brown's line and a northern plunge extension, which we're drilling all of these this year, or we're continuing to build them. That's my 2 cents.

And on Bjorkdal, so there, the mine grade was around -- basically in line with what we've seen over the last couple of years. And if I heard correctly on the prepared remarks, the expectation is for the grades to be stable at Bjorkdal. And I guess, why is that the case? So I had thought coming into this year with more mining coming from the Eastern extension, higher grade zone that grades could improve more materially?

Yes. Good question, Kevin. Let me again give a high level and then Ryan can add some further color. The plan -- because the system is so large and massive, but as you correctly point out, the issue has never been the size of the system, although we always continue to extend it. It's targeting the higher-grade sections. So there's 2 parts to that. One, correct is the Eastern. But because we got that extension last year in the license, there is more development work to be done in that Eastern extension. So while we started to tap into it, there's a bit of a lead time before we can get into that and get more ore on a more consistent basis. And the second part is the overall feed grade looks a little bit lower because we've expanded our mill, and that's because we're still underground mine constrained somewhat as we increase our development. So we top it up with the old open pit stockpile or we call the B ore. So that grade runs about 0.6%. So the average weighted grade of the feed comes down. But to get back to your main question on underground mine, we are targeting the higher-grade sections and also focused on minimizing dilution in stope and development areas for all other to try and get that grade to maintain a 1.5, 1.7 grams per tonne, so to speak, so the weighted average runs about what you saw in the financials

Okay. Good. And on the business development front, can you just talk about what the activity levels look like? And can you also confirm that your focus is on gold? Or are you open-minded to other metals?

Sure. I'll answer that in reverse. We are open-minded with some restrictions in the sense that it's mainly gold, silver, copper antimony. We're not going off into rare earth or lithium or graphite or something like that. So we're not focused only on gold, but I would say precious metals and certainly with the copper element and having antimony that gives us a certain interesting lead on some other opportunities we're looking at there. As far as how busy we're on that, I would say we're quite active. That's taking more and more of my time as I engage in discussions with a number of different parties. Fortunately, I leave in good hands the operations and exploration with Ryan and Chris. But with Hashim here and Scott Trebilcock, you would know, we are fairly engaged in doing respective duties and discussions.

Okay. And then last thing. So, all this great cash flow, you have net cash. So why hedge? And I saw you just in April, you extended part of the hedge into next year. So I was a bit surprised by that. Can you just talk about why you're doing that?

Yes. That's a very good question. And so -- let me answer that. Back in December '23, when we entered into these hedges, which was about 20% of our production, 25% of our production, just for this year, we kind of hardtailed that initially at the end of December of this year. gold was trading at an all-time high. And we wanted to lock in some of that opportunity more in the sense of creating a solid flow to our 2024 budget. I wasn't trying to capitalize on higher gold prices going up, especially for Bjorkdal being a lower margin, even though it's a large operation. We wanted to just, let's call it, risk mitigation. Of course, 75% of the gold production and 100% of the antimony production is not hedged. But considering our operating performance in Q1 and our strengthening balance sheet, I currently do not see the need to do that further. I prefer to have our investors open to the gold price. So that was a risk mitigation measure put in 3 months ago after we did our budget, and I saw what it looked like, I wanted to make sure we at least had a floor and we're going to exceed that. Now that I have more comfort there, my view is that we would not be going back to do that again.

Your next question is from the line of Lawrence, Private Investor.

Good morning gentlemen, and amazing results. I love the cash position we have. So I just have a few questions, mostly to do with Bjorkdal. So if Frazer was to authorize the purchase of the optical sorter tomorrow, how would that look like at Bjorkdal. How would it change the head grades on the mill and the -- and how would you address the haulage constraints from the underground mine?

Lawrence, look, thanks for that question. Let me answer it briefly, and then I'm going to have Ryan add some further commentary. Look, we actually did consider ore sorting in the past, both screening and beneficiating type ore sorting as well as optical, -- there was a study done at that time, not to say that we would not revisit that again. We found it was not economic and instead went the route of an increased mill throughput expansion, which was completed towards the end of last year, and we're commissioning it was Q1, Q2. So that we found was -- had better economic returns than what we found was not beneficial in the study we did. But Ryan, would you like to add some more color to that for Lawrence on the optical sorting?

Yes. On the Optical sorting, we did a number of years back. But the expansion was a capital option and also a payback. And also with the optical sorting, it's not -- there is some gold that gets discarded. So ultimately, when we look at that, there's some profit loss in that. In terms of the mine, the mine at the moment is filling the plant. So we're not really constrained in that way. So in terms of moving ore. It's not -- we're not totally trucking constrained at Bjorkdal -- it also comes down to being mining constrained because it's it's a big operation and a lot of veins. It's narrowbanmining. So we have a lot of stopes on the onetime. So that's probably our constraint getting enough stopes on mind.

Okay. So when do you think you're going to get the mill running at full capacity then if I understood your previous comment?

Basically, in quarter 1, we've ramped up to almost at the -- where we expect to be around the 1.5 million tonnes annualized throughput. There's some minor tweaks still going for the next quarter. And I expect by the end of this quarter, we'll be there at that throughput.

I'd like the drill results from the property next door. I can't remember the name of it, and my computer is not working these days. So you're going to have to refresh my memory on it. But I thought the drill results were really good. But evidently, the price of gold had a bit of an effect on the price of the stock. So that was kind of disappointing I don't have any more questions. So I thank you very much for your time, and I wish you a wonderful day.

There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to hand the call back to Frazer Bourchier for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. And just again, thank you, everyone, for joining us for your time, and I'm looking forward to an even more exciting Q2. So we will talk at that time yes.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you very much for your participation. You may now disconnect.