Resolute Mining Limited (RSG) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome to the Resolute Mining Limited half year financial results conference call for the period ended 30th June 2021. Throughout the presentation, I would like to remind attendees there is an option to submit written questions via the Q&A tab in the top right of your screen. I will now hand over the conference to Mr. Stuart Gale, CEO. Please go ahead.

Thanks very much, Oli. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to Resolute's half year financial results call. We released on both the ASX and LSE a presentation which you can, hopefully, see in front of you today and from which I'll draw on a few charts. We've obviously also had a number of releases out over the last month or so, specifically our quarterly operations update where we specifically spoke about some of the key operations initiatives that have been going on. We obviously also had an impairment note which was released pre these financial results, which came out about a week ago. And also really pleasingly, we provided an exploration update, which had some -- I think everyone will agree, some really good results from an exploration perspective at both the Tabakoroni underground area; and also in the northern area, specifically around some oxide potential at Syama North, but the focus today is obviously on our financial results and some of the key initiatives that we've been undertaking over the last little period of time. Well, I think it's probably fair to say that these last 6 months have seen a lot of pretty significant changes across our operations. And there's been none more so really than the people side of things at Resolute, where we're seeing a change in our Board. Peter Sullivan has retired from the Board after a good period of time as a nonexecutive director and also as a CEO of Resolute which he started back in the very early 2000s. Adrian Reynolds has come onboard. And he brings a great geological experience and experience with a lot of African gold miners, including Randgold and including spending some time working at Syama. But we've also had changes at the executive level. Obviously the CEO, COO and CFO are all new folks. And probably most importantly, though, we've had changes of our senior management at site. And a lot of those changes have been brought about by requiring to think about our operations in a different way. I'll specifically identify Terry Holohan, who was on the call at the quarter, but Terry is not based in Perth. He is based in Central Europe. He gets down to site on a very regular basis a lot more easily than what we can. And I think, as we brought some of those other key people on, for instance, a new GM of Technical Services who's based in South Africa, a [ new group of metallurgists ] who's based in South Africa -- we've obviously had a number of key general manager positions that have come into the sites that we've spoken about previously. It's brought a new approach and a new focus to our operations and, I think, with some of that, a renewed enthusiasm for just identifying and fixing some of the challenging issues that we've had over the last little period of time. And I guess, with that, we're starting to see some positive results across all of our operations. And they haven't quite translated into gold produced just yet, but we're certainly -- that's what the focus is, yes. And we're expecting that, as we continue to get little wins across the board -- then that's going to help us to deliver improved gold production, therefore improved cash flows, but specifically some of the green shoots that we've seen coming from the operations have really been reflected, I guess, in the June quarter at Syama, where we saw the underground mining at record levels. We also saw processing throughput at our oxide and sulfide plants at record levels. And likewise, our roaster throughput was also at its highest level. So we're seeing some of those initiatives that we've been working on for a while and just people's focus really lift up, and we're starting to see that translate into performance across the board. The thing that just held us back during last -- I guess, the last half really was -- were our gold grades. We -- they're a little bit lower than what we expected, a little bit lower than what our reserve would indicate, but we're expecting that this is a short-term issue that will sort itself out fairly quickly. And we're not expecting any life-of-mine impacts to those grades. I should say that Mako has just continued to deliver in line with all of its targets, and we couldn't be more pleased with the way that things are going at Mako. It's been a terrific acquisition. It's generating good cash flows. And it's doing really well in terms of its cutback to extend its mine life. From a corporate perspective, we've also been pretty busy during this last 6-month period. Obviously we're really pleased that we were -- have been able to take $30 million from our gross debt during the course of the period. Debt is very clearly one of our top priorities. And we really, really want to bring that down as rapidly as we can, so that's what our key focus is for free cash flows. And we'll go into that in a little bit more detail when we get to the balance sheet. The other key thing was Bibiani. It presented us with a few challenges early on in 2021. It's great that we were able to overcome those challenges. And it was really pleasing to see the culmination of the sale transaction with Asante about a month ago now. So we've now completed that transaction. We've received $30 million. The asset is now in Asante's hands and they're taking full responsibility for that. And we're -- we will -- as part of the consideration that we receive, which is $90 million, there'll be $30 million which is paid in 6 months time and then $30 million paid in 12 months time. And that's unconditional. So why don't we just scroll through the presentation? I guess, at a high level, we generated revenue of $261 million from gold sales of about 151,000 ounces. Pleasingly, our average price received was $1,723. Our hedge book has improved markedly over the last 12 months, so we're heading in the right direction in terms of the hedge book, although I do note that we have to maintain 170,000 ounces in hedges. Gold production was 163,000 ounces, so we built a little bit of gold inventory. And obviously there's just a little bit of timing difference as that's rolled out. EBITDA was $78 million, operating cash flow $69 million. And after taking into account some noncash impairments and provisions for taxes, we ultimately generated a net loss after tax, but there's a good chunk of noncash that sits within there. So we will talk about that in a second as well. I won't spend too long on this slide. Just really the key takeaway from here is that we're seeing the improvement of the Syama underground operations. We know that Mako production was down in this half to 63,500 ounces. And that's really reflective of the status of them undertaking the cutback and processing some lower-grade materials there undertaking that cutback. [ Operating ] margins were sitting at around about 30%. So there's EBITDA at $77 million, $78 million. And I'll just pause on this because I think it's important that we just run through the depreciation and amortization of some of those noncash charges. As we look at it: D&A was down significantly relative to the comparable period last year. And that's really reflective of the extension of the mine life at Mako and also the fact that our production is a little bit lower. And I should also note that the comparable period in 2020 includes the Ravenswood number. So if we remember, we sold Ravenswood effective at the end of March last year, but these numbers haven't been adjusted to remove Ravenswood. So anyway, D&A, that's probably a reasonable run rate as we look at that moving forwards. Obviously it is production dependent, but -- net interest and finance costs, really there we're seeing the benefit of the refinancing which was done in March 2020. So we took out some more restrictive higher-cost project finance-type debt and put in place some syndicate facilities which obviously are at a much lower interest rate and cost to us. So that's really been reflected through there. So fair value movements and unrealized treasury transactions are a pretty significant charge to the profit and loss account, but it is a noncash item. So it's basically $26 million of foreign exchange adjustments on intercompany loans that are reflected in either Aussie dollars or West African francs. So when you start converting things into U.S. dollars and when the U.S. dollar has been a bit weaker, you have that loss that's flowing through on a noncash basis. Included in there as well, we've got some net realizable value adjustments, again a noncash thing that we have to have as we're continuing to revalue some pretty significant stockpiles. Impairment expense, we obviously put an announcement out about the impairment expense last week. Really that impairment expenses is reflecting a couple of changes in key assumptions when it comes time for an accounting -- from an accounting perspective to review our models and obviously Syama. And that impairment has arisen as a result of a change in those assumptions around the long-term gold price in particular, an increase in the discount rate that we've used to reflect an increase in the risk-free rate. We've also held our operating costs constant. So throughout the period, we just looked at operating costs as they are at the moment and haven't reflected any improvements [ for ] volumes or just cost savings initiatives that we think we'll be able to achieve. That's very much accounting-driven. So they're really the key themes that have impacted that $172-odd million charge that's flowed through there. Again, it's a noncash item. The other key point there is that we've got $28 million or so worth of taxes and provisions that have hit the accounts. And $10 million of that relates to the reversal of a deferred tax asset, again, on cash. It's just something that's been sitting around there, recognized a tax loss a few years back; and we've removed that. And then we've made some provisions for acquisition and disposal transactions that occurred several years ago and which should come under scrutiny by the various tax jurisdictions. So they are really the key components that make up that -- those tax expenses. Cash flow analysis. We've rolled this chart out now for certainly the last few quarters and -- I think, gives a pretty good understanding of what's actually going on from a cash flow perspective. Really I'd just sort of highlight a couple of things: Royalties is sitting at $6.2 million for the half. That ultimately reflects the fact that we've been offsetting our other taxes and royalties at Syama against VAT that we have receivable from the Malian government. So that is not our actual royalty expense, but we've actually -- that's what we've actually paid because we're not setting those amounts against the VAT credits. The VAT and taxes effectively reflect the Mali VAT tax that we pay on every single invoice, so again that's why we want to offset our royalties against that. There are some small taxes as well that flowed through there. And exploration CapEx takes into account our sustaining project -- sustaining and project CapEx and also exploration. Exploration was probably about $5 million or $6 million over the period, and we've seen the results of that in the exploration update that we've recently published. Importantly, we had debt repayments of $30-odd million. $20 million of that was a voluntary repayment on our revolving credit facility. And we're going to look at how we can continue to capitalize on available free cash flow by utilizing that [ past the year ]. You'll note the bullion balance went up and relative to the prior period. And as I said, that just reflects a portion of unsold bullion that we had at the end of the year, just a timing thing, nothing more than that. A quick snapshot on the balance sheet. As I said, we've repaid $20 million of that revolving credit facility. So we've got a total RCF of $150 million. It currently sits at $130 million. We've got another $150 million worth of term loan that amortize every 6 months, and the first amortization starts at the end of September. And we're obviously -- we don't -- not looking -- having any issues at all in paying that, so there's no issues there. The gold hedge book is summarized in the top table. And pleasingly, as I said, that's improved significantly over the last little period of time. So forward contracts averaging out at $1,721. And we still have a few zero-cost collars that are in place, although they're less appealing at this point in time. We'll touch on it in a little while, but we do have a bit of balance sheet upside when it comes to Bibiani and Ravenswood. Really important, I think, that we just also focus a little bit on some of the key initiatives that we've been working on for a while now that are just starting to come into play. So importantly these are all production focused. And a number of these initiatives relate to Syama but can just as easily be rolled out to Mako over the longer term. But specifically, those commonalities lie in management operating systems and making sure that we've got good systems and process in place for our people to follow. And it may -- it takes pressure off things and keeps a constant operating vibe through our systems. The onstream analyzer is a tool that we've been working on implementing now for a while, and again it just gives us better control and understanding of what's going into the roaster. We're in the process of reinstalling some cleaner cells at Syama, which again should just give us improved sulfur management through the roaster system. And at Mako, we're installing a mill slicer just to increase the throughput through the bore mill. So those sorts of things will give little increments in terms of our overall productivity. And that's important, and we will continue to focus on a number of initiatives. And we also have a number of initiatives that are smaller and are not reflected here. Projects. The power station at Syama is now up and running, which is fantastic. So it's been fully commissioned. Power is consistent. And we're using less fuel than what we'd expected there. So -- well, sorry. Less -- we -- the fuel is less than what we were using previously when we were using 20-odd diesel generators. It's in line with our expectations. And an important one as well that we haven't really spoken about very much is the conversion of a number of our contractors to employees. And specifically at Syama, it makes our overall operations a little more smooth and should have some cash flow and longer-term productivity improvements that can flow through there as well. So that's been something that's been keeping the team fairly busy, as you would expect when you have a transition of workforce at any particular point in time, but look, it's really around that whole people system, process focus. And we're -- as I said, we're starting to see some of those benefits flow through at Syama; and also at Mako for, that matter. Just touching on Syama. Look. I'm sure we all know Syama has -- really does have a significant gold endowment. It's got significant resources and reserves and should be rolling about $1,000 an ounce in terms of an all-in sustaining cost across the life of the mine. And we had some great exploration results, which are a little further on in the slide pack but really do show that, that mineral resource will be increasing over the longer period at Syama. At Mako, it was a terrific acquisition. It's a high-margin, "good cash flow generating" asset. And whilst we have 6 years left at Mako, I think the important thing is -- when we look at this slide is that we have a number of those JVs that are near mine that we will start our exploration programs up on in the very near future. So key for us is to be able to extend that mine life beyond 6 years, and we think that we'll have some opportunities as we get into some of those newer areas and those JV areas. Obviously, at Syama, as I noted before, we had some great exploration results, a couple of which are noted here, but really our focus is to make sure that we capitalize on our oxide legacy at Syama and get as much of that as possible because -- it's important to make sure we do that to extend the time frame around taking Tabakoroni underground. The Tabakoroni results are also fantastic, and we continue to drill there. And we're expecting to see a pretty good increase in the resource at Tabakoroni as we get into that -- well, as we prove that up and put it out to the market later this year. A little bit of regional exploration activity is also underway through Guinea, but it's really early stages, although Guinea is a pretty hot area at the moment. Our strategic investments have been maintained through the course of the half. So Orca; Turaco, formerly Manas; Oklo; and Loncor. We keep a really close eye on what those companies and the management teams are doing there. So we're pleased with those investments. And I guess we can -- it gives us a little bit of optionality as we look forwards. Really quickly again, Bibiani. Touched on that earlier, but $90 million of proceeds unconditional. And we receive the balance, which is $60 million, in 6 months and 12 months. Ravenswood. I think this probably slips under people's radars a little bit, but we have AUD 250 million that remains outstanding on the Ravenswood transaction. So $50 million of that is a promissory note. It comes payable in 2024. It's with a 6% interest at the moment. We have a gold price promissory note which is contingent on gold price to stay above a certain level. They're well and truly above that level, together with a production requirement. And then there's another $150 million that is determined based on a liquidity event with EMR at Ravenswood. So I guess, call it a sale, if you like, but we share any upside associated with that. So I think that's something that people just forget about. And these things fall due effective from March 2024. Obviously sustainability. That's a good picture at Mako, but we are really focused on that. Sustainability report came out at the start of this year. And really all of that is governed by the World Gold Council's Responsible Gold Mining Principles, so that's something that we're measuring ourself against and we'll be continuing to report on. And we're well truly down the track in terms of delivering on those obligations. A quick update on guidance. Guidance revised earlier in the year to reflect the first 6 months worth of production, some of those grade issues that we just briefly discussed, but that's the revised position as we sit there looking at between 315,000 and 340,000 ounces for 2021. So look. I'll wrap it up now and move back to questions, but really there's been a lot of investment in Resolute over the last period of time, in particular around Syama but also the acquisition at Mako. We think we're very well positioned to capitalize on that, but we do recognize that it's important to ensure that we've got the right people and that those people are equipped with the right system and process to reliably deliver day in, day out. So that's the really important focus from everyone at Resolute. And from that, cash flows will flow. And we'll apply that and be disciplined with those cash flows to the balance sheet. So we're also very conscious that we are an exploration company. And the best exploration that we can do just at the moment is continue to understand exactly what we've got around Syama. It is a big greenstone belt, 80-odd kilometers that we've got in terms of strike length, so we've still got quite a lot of drilling to do there. So I think, with that, Oli, why don't we have a look at the questions? Just bear with me here and see what we have.

[Operator Instructions]

Well, I think, team, with that and -- very, very happy to take anyone's questions, should they have them. Please feel free to reach out to us at any stage. There's one just popped up. And the question is does the impact at Syama have -- sorry. Does the impairment at Syama have any impact on the D&A outlook for the mine? And so the answer to that is what we do with an impairment is we allocate that across all of our assets. And the allocation of that $170-odd million to all of our assets obviously will reduce some of the carrying value, so yes, there will be an impact. And we need to do the allocation, but I'm not suggesting it will be significant because the majority will really go to the mine properties and which are not depreciable. But we can come back to you with a little bit more detail on that. The operations at Syama in July and August. How are we going? Been really wet actually at Syama for both July and August, so we're obviously into the wet season. And it's a normal wet -- well, it's a bit worse than a normal wet season, we think, but we're running along and broadly on track with our expectations. We're probably running fractionally behind as a result of it being a bit abnormal, but we'll be looking to get back on track. So look, thank you. Thanks for those couple of questions. As I said, very happy to have a chat with anyone at any point in time maybe next week after the bank holiday. Please feel free to reach out to myself or James Virgo. Hopefully, you've got our contact details. And look, with that, I'll probably conclude the call and say thanks again. I should also thank all of our teams for the support and effort over the last 6 months. It's certainly been a challenging period. COVID hasn't made our lives straightforward. We're certainly, I think, getting better at managing that. And we have vaccinated over 1,100 employees together with -- or in conjunction with the Malian and Senegalese governments. And that's good for their welfare, good for the communities but also good for business as well. So that's moving a lot well. And I think we've got to think about things a little bit differently in this environment as well. And that's part of the whole change in location for some of our employees who in particular have key skill sets that need to be brought to sites. Much easier for those skill sets not to be based in Australia, I have to say, because it's difficult to get in and out at the moment. So we're starting to see the benefits and -- of some of this focus, yes. And I look forward to providing you all with an update again on how we're going after the next quarter. So with that, I'll say thank you very much for organizing, again, Oli and Tavistock.