TRX Gold Corporation (TRX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Go ahead.

Excellent. Thanks, Evan. So welcome, everybody, to TRX Gold's annual general meeting. With us today in the room here with myself, we have our Chairman, Shubo Rakhit. Do you want to put up your hand, Shubo. We have our SVP, Tanzania, Khalaf Rashid. We have our Chief Financial Officer, Mike Leonard. Also on the line, we have our New Director, to be confirmed in today's meeting, John McVey. Welcome, John. We have our Director, Norman Betts. And our other Director, Richard Steinberg. Also joining us today is from our Odyssey as well as REVlaw, Evan Strong and [ Carmen Davis ]. Carmen acts as our Corporate Secretary. So welcome, everybody, to today's meeting. And today's agenda will be -- we'll go through the formalities, and then we'll go through the resolutions, and Norm will lead those resolutions, and I will do a brief corporate presentation followed by any questions and answers. So I'm going to apologize to everybody first and foremost, on -- I'm going to have to read from a script because there are certain things that are necessary to say with regards to the procedures of the meeting. So I will go through that now. So I apologize that I'm reading from a script because normally, I'd like to just read the notes, but I will read from a script this morning. So first is welcome to the meeting, the Annual General Meeting and Special Meeting of Shareholders. As set out in our management circular, this meeting is being held by webcast live to allow shareholders to attend electronically. For those registered shareholders present online who wish to vote during the meeting, please check in with the scrutineers, Odyssey Trust Company, to verify your identity and your temporary signed shareholder control number found in your proxy form. So our scrutineer, Odyssey, is Kari Hobbis, and she'll be on the line and one of the individuals that is on this call that you'll see as an attendee. Note, you must be a registered shareholder in order to vote today. If you hold your shares through an intermediary, such as a broker, you need to vote online or through your broker prior to this meeting as explained in the circular. If there are any shareholders online now who wish to cast their vote during the meeting, please speak up now or indicate in the chat box so the scrutineers can add you to the attendance and track your voting. So if you wish to vote at this meeting, please indicate in the chat box or speak up. Please note that the webcast is being recorded. Shareholders have the opportunity to ask questions to management by submitting your questions via the chat function of this meeting. These questions will be addressed at the end upon completion of the formal part of the meeting and remarks from management. We will now begin the formal part of the meeting, followed by remarks by management. It's my pleasure to turn the meeting over to our Chairman, Mr. Shubo Rakhit. Over to you, Shubo, to chair today's meeting. Thank you.

Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to our Annual General Meeting. I'd like to call this meeting to order. My name is Shubo Rakhit, and I'm the Chairman of the corporation. And in accordance with the corporation's articles and the approval of the Board, I will act as the Chair of the meeting. Before we get to the formal aspects of the meeting, I'd like to just make a couple of opening comments before I pass it to Norman Betts. So we are coming through a period of doubling our production capacity to 2,000 tonnes per day. We commissioned our plant, and we continue to update legacy aspects of our operations to prepare for the next stage of growth. Our management team has been extremely hands-on, multiple visits overseas to visit Buckreef and work with our people on the ground. And our newly appointed COO, Richard Boffey, is already having a positive impact on how we think about our business. So there's really 3 things that I see going forward in terms of our business. And I'll just comment on those. The first is we are a junior miner with record EBITDA and positive free cash flow for 2 consecutive years. We're stabilizing cash flows and setting up for the next stage of production growth, exploration and strategic growth. So our team has multiple initiatives that are underway to our operations to take it to the next level and to continue to be a low-cost producer. We are pushing to increase production in the second half of this year and take advantage of a favorable gold price environment. And we are now more than ever in a much stronger position to allocate capital more cost effectively. We completed our first ever bank financing. We refreshed our ATM, and we have great suppliers and partners and employees who have contributed to our expansion. We are now pushing to bring our working capital position back to normalized levels. So where does this lead us to is that we really need to build on drilling success now and drill our property more actively and expand. We recently made game-changing discovery at Stamford Bridge Zone. We have Anfield discoveries and Main Zone that have the potential of significantly enhancing our resource. And Steve will take you through that once we go through the formalities of this AGM. We will accelerate our drill bit activity to unlock our resource that will ultimately contribute to a longer mine life. And lastly, government relations, very, very important. We've worked very hard at this over the last 3 years. And mining is a high priority for Tanzania, targeting to represent almost 10% of its GDP. We continue to work with the government to seek ways to align the country's interest to attract foreign investment. And we truly believe Tanzania can emerge as a leading African country. And we also continue to strengthen our senior relationship locally and maintain productive and active dialogue and engagement. In regards to ESG, we issued our inaugural ESG report that just iterates our commitment to be a strong corporate citizen. So I wanted to thank all of our shareholders for their trust, dedication and commitment to making TRX Gold a success. I'll now hand it over -- hand over the formal part of our meeting to Norman Betts, Chair of our Audit and Risk Committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Shubo, and good morning, everyone. Kari Hobbis from Odyssey Trust is present electronically and will act as scrutineer. I will ask that Evan Strong of REVlaw act as Secretary of the meeting. I have before me the declaration of Odyssey Trust Company, transfer agent for the corporation, attesting to the due mailing of the notice of the meeting, the meeting information circular and proxy. I will ask the Secretary to table the declaration of mailing and the notice of meeting and information circular and append them to meeting the minutes of this meeting. We have extra copies available and would invite any shareholder or proxy holder to review them. In view of this, I dispense with calling for reading of the notice, and I will ask the Secretary to file the declaration as to the mailing with the minutes of this meeting. Section 2.02 of the corporation's bylaws stipulates that a quorum for the transaction of business at a meeting of shareholders is 2 persons present in person holding or representing less than 20% of the total number of issued shares entitled to vote. I have before me the interim scrutineer's report indicating that there are a total of 244 shareholders represented by proxy, holding 123,948,297 shares. For simplicity, just under 124 million shares. Those represent 43.99% of the issued and outstanding shares. I therefore, declare that a quorum is present and the meeting is regularly called and properly constituted for the transaction of business. All votes have been cast by way of proxy. I confirm that as management proxy nominee, Stephen Mullowney, will be making the motion and as Chairman of the Corporation, Shubo Rakhit, will be seconding the motion. The minutes of the last annual meeting held on February 29, 2024, are filed in the minute books and available for inspection. With your consent, I will dispense with the reading of these minutes and the minutes be taken as read, approved and adopted as tabled. Is there any objection? No questions or objection have been raised. Thank you. The first item of business is the presentation of the audited financial statements. Audited financial statements for the last fiscal year-ended August 31, 2024, together with the auditor's report were made available under the corporation's profile on SEDAR and mailed to registered shareholders who requested them. I declare that the audited financial statements for the fiscal year of the corporation are hereby received as submitted. A management update and question period will be conducted at the end of the formal meeting. The next item of business is to set the number of directors of the corporation for the ensuing year. As noted in the management information circular, management recommends that the number of directors be set at 5. I now call for the following motion. Be it resolved that the number of directors of the corporation to hold office for the ensuing year is set at 5.

I move that resolution be adopted.

I second the motion.

Is there any discussion on this matter? As a majority of proxy votes are in favor, the motion is carried. The next item of business is the election of directors to serve until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualified. There are 5 directors positions to be filled. Management has nominated the following persons to serve as directors of the corporation to hold office until the next annual meeting of TRX Gold and until their successors are duly elected: Stephen Mullowney, Shubo Rakhit, Norman Betts, Richard J. Steinberg and John McVey. The corporation has received no other nominations for directors. I therefore declare that the nominations for directors are closed. Is there any discussion regarding this matter? Thank you. I will now call for the following motion. Be it resolved that Stephen Mullowney, Shubo Rakhit, Norman Betts, Richard J. Steinberg and John McVey be elected as Directors of the corporation to hold office until the next annual meeting.

I move that resolution be adopted.

I second the motion.

Is there any discussion regarding this matter? As a majority of proxy votes are in favor, the motion is carried. The next item of business is to appoint an auditor for the ensuing year and the authorization of the directors to fix their remuneration. As noted in the management information circular, management has proposed that Dale Matheson Carr-Hilton Labonte LLP, Chartered Accountants of Vancouver, British Columbia, be reappointed as auditors of the corporation for the ensuing year. I now call for the following motion. Be it resolved that Dale Matheson Carr-Hilton Labonte LLP, Chartered Accountants, be appointed as auditors of the corporation for the ensuing year and that the directors of the corporation be authorized to fix the remuneration to be paid to the auditor.

I move that the resolution be adopted.

I second the motion.

Is there any discussion regarding this matter? As the majority of proxy votes are in favor, the motion is carried. The next item of business before this meeting is the confirmation and approval of renewing the Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan as substantially outlined in the management information circular. The Board of Directors adopted the Omnibus Incentive Plan on June 26, 2019, and the plan was subsequently approved and renewed by shareholders at the meetings held August 16, 2019, and February 22, 2022, by ordinary resolution. I therefore ask for a motion approving the resolution for renewal of the Omnibus Incentive Plan as stated in the management information circular to be ratified with the approval of shareholders. Is there any objection? No questions or objections have been raised. I move that this resolution be adopted. Sorry, Steve.

Yes, that's okay. That's okay. I move that the resolution be adopted. We had a little bit of pause in the reading from the script, Norm. That's okay.

Yes. I second the motion.

Thank you, Shubo. Is there any discussion regarding this matter? As a majority of proxy votes are in favor, the motion is carried. The next item of business before this meeting is the confirmation approval of the corporation changing its principal jurisdiction from Alberta to British Columbia as outlined in the management information circular, which formalizes the procedures for the corporation to effect such continuance upon approval of shareholders without variation by special resolution meaning that it must be passed by not less than 2/3 of the eligible votes cast in person at this meeting or by proxy. I therefore ask for a motion approving the resolution for continuance of the corporation's jurisdictions in British Columbia as stated in the management information circular to be adopted and ratified with approval of shareholders. Is there any objections? No questions or objections have been raised.

I move that the resolution be adopted as stated in the management information circular.

I second the motion.

Is there any…

[indiscernible].

Is there any discussion regarding this matter? As more than 2/3 of the proxy votes are in favor, the special motion is carried. The regular business of the meeting has been completed, and there is no other legal business which may properly come before the meeting and which does not require notice. Steve?

Excellent. Thank you, Norman. Just I think it's over to you, Shubo.

[indiscernible] terminate the meeting.

All right. Terminate the meeting. I second that [indiscernible].

I second it.

Yes. I hereby move that the meeting be terminated. Thank you.

Moved by Stephen and seconded by Shubo. Unless anyone is opposed, the formal portion of this meeting is now terminated.

Great. Thank you, Norm. I'd like to...

Thank you. I declare the meeting terminated, and thank you all for your attendance and interest, and now we'll get to the interest stuff.

Great. Thank you, Norman, for taking us through that. And I'd like to introduce the CEO, Stephen Mullowney, to deliver management's remarks about the corporation and its business and answer any questions that you may have. Over to you, Steve.

Yes. Thank you, Shubo. And first item is I'd like to welcome John McVey formally to the Board. So John, as everybody knows, from the management information circular has a very experienced mining background. He led one of the largest underground mining contractors in the world. Has a lot of international business experience through that and other roles. So I'm very pleased to have him on the Board. And John, we were going to look forward to utilizing your experience. As I mentioned in a lot of my presentations, Buckreef, particularly is a vertical deposit and it's eventually going to go underground. And John is going to be a very valuable resource in how to execute that. So welcome.

Thank you, Stephen.

So the next part of the meeting, and I'm going to ask Mike to bring up the presentation. As I'll go through the same presentation as I went through at BMO yesterday. So I just returned last night from the Bank of Montreal's Global Mining Conference in Florida. It was fairly well attended. I had lots of meetings at that particular conference. And it -- a lot of insights coming from that conference as well. So I enjoyed being down there, obviously, and I gave this presentation yesterday. Today, I can have a little bit more time in giving the presentation. I was only allotted 40 minutes yesterday. So it was fairly quick and went through it fairly quickly. But now today, I will go through it a little bit more slowly. So I suspect it will take 15 to 20 minutes. And then I would ask for questions to be put to us at the end. I do actually have my little notes as well, so I'll be making sure I hit all the points.

And Stephen, just before you kick off, I might just ask Evan, can you confirm that you can see the presentation on screen, please?

Yes, I can.

Okay. Over to you, Stephen.

Yes. Thank you, Mike. So the first slide, Mike, let's kick it on. Disclaimer. Obviously, I always have to say this before any presentation, we will be discussing forward-looking information, and I would ask you to read our disclaimer in light of that. Thank you. So TRX Gold at a glance. So with regards to what you're invested in and why you're invested here. So the Buckreef Gold Project in Tanzania has a lot of gold that is currently in the main zone only, 2 million ounces in the measured and indicated category at 1.8 grams a tonne, another 600,000 ounces in Inferred category at around 1.54 grams a tonne, I believe, to be exact. And that's all under 2003 rules. And so there's a lot of gold here. And then in the last year, the 2 years, we discovered a parallel shear zone in Anfield, which is showing up to have better grades than what's in the Main Zone. And then recently, and this got us really excited, we got the Stamford Bridge Zone going across structure. And so we need to, as Shubo indicated, drill this out a lot more, and we anticipate that there's a lot more gold here than just what's in the Main Zone. Our current mining operations are focused on the Main Zone and hasn't focused on the development of the Anfield Zone or the Stamford Bridge Zone. We need to drill those out more properly to start to focus those and bring those into a mine plan. So the mine plan that we have only encompasses the Main Zone and over time, we'll start to encompass both Anfield and Stamford Bridge and what else is on that property. So maybe it's clear to us that there's a lot more gold here than just the Main Zone, and we got to do the work to get that into resource categories and got to get those drill hole results in the market over time as we continue to drill them. Now with regards to the production profile that we're currently undergoing, as Shubo indicated, we doubled the plant from 1,000 tonnes per day to 2,000 tonnes per day on time, on budget, which is currently up and running. Our processing costs have been chopped in half literally on a per tonne basis, but we're a single asset company. So in the last couple of quarters and including the second quarter, we're going through a lower grade portion of the ore body. So things are tougher in the lower grade portion of the ore body because each tonne only has a value to it. And the higher the grade, the more valuable the tonne is. The lower grade, the less valuable tonne is, but you have to mine on sequence to maximize value over time and do the stripping campaign that is associated with that. So we're going through that right now, and we are hopeful in the second half to get into the better grades and then in those, the profitability will increase. So what I'm saying is we're operating well. As Shubo indicated, we had record revenues and EBITDA. We're benefiting from the higher gold price. We have massive blue-sky potential for high-grade discoveries, and we're very excited for that. And we've gotten this done in Tanzania. And so a lot of people, particularly in the United States and Canada, will say, oh, that's a risky jurisdiction being over in Tanzania. We actually don't see it that way. We see Tanzania as a great operating jurisdiction. Ironically, at the conference, I got asked about permits. And so what about your permits, Stephen? Do you have your permits? And I said, for most North American sort of properties, that's the first line item that people are concerned about, permits. And I kind of smiled and laughed a little bit. I said, it's down on my list of permits because in Africa, the permitting regime is to Western standards, but it's comes across more practical and it comes across more quickly than you would have in other jurisdictions. We've gotten all our permits. So even sub permits like tailings, et cetera, we have those. They come in a straightforward fashion. There's the human capital, too. Another thing that would be asked is what about labor, Stephen? Well, there's plenty of labor in Tanzania and it's a skilled labor. If it's -- it could be operating trucks or it could be welding tanks or it could be doing mine models. It exists in Tanzania. So I don't get concerned with labor as much as, say, a North American property. So from those sort of perspectives, Tanzania is great. From a government perspective, I was there 2 weeks ago. [ Clough ] and I visited the Ministry, visited Minister of Minerals, visited the Chairman of the Mining Commission, also visit the Permanent Secretary of Mining, Clough, I believe. And our relationships with government are good. Now is Tanzania like other jurisdictions, they're always looking to improve their fiscal regime as well as their mining regime and balance that. And that's normal in any country, including ours, to be quite honest. So the relationship there is good, and we believe Tanzania is a really, really good jurisdiction to operate in. I would say in the 4 years that I've been there, it's actually improved significantly. So -- and I anticipated that when we went in. We were coming off a certain element of with the bear dispute, those sort of things, they always improve over time because there's always consequences to those type of actions. The government has taken that seriously and has approved in both its rhetoric and its laws from a mining perspective. So we view Tanzania as a great jurisdiction to operate in. Mike, next slide. So with regards to the Buckreef project, we're generating high-margin gold ounces. I believe cash costs at what I'll call -- we don't want to call them shady grades, but lower grades, Mike, are still $1,200 an ounce. They're below $1,000 an ounce at really good grades. We have a significant deposit, as I mentioned. We will be prioritizing in the second half more drilling for the exploration side of things, and we continue to use our sustained cash flow from operations to fund Buckreef currently. And as Shubo mentioned, we now have bank operating mines as well as go-forward lines and renew the ATM. Next slide, Mike. So I've mentioned some of these points. I mentioned the Tanzanian jurisdiction. And where does the stand? One of the things that I should mention here also with Tanzania is the infrastructure. So we're on a national power grid. That is predominantly hydro now with the Julius Nyerere facility coming online. The power actually, Mike, because we go through the statistics have been a lot more stable this year than it has been last year.

High 90s.

Yes, high 90s now on availability at site. And we have a big enough line to site to even do another expansion, I believe.

Correct.

Yes. And so that as well as the road infrastructure, the last 15 kilometers that's on pave, we actually maintain probably cut off 10 kilometers of that 15 kilometers, with about 5 kilometers maintained by the national government. So we'll send -- now that we have our own equipment, which we bought this year, we'll send it down every 2 to 4 weeks to maintain that road, graders and rollers, et cetera. That's a good easy CSR project, but it helps our employees get back and forth. It also helps get our equipment in and out of the site. And I certainly appreciate it takes half the time off to drive it when I get there. Buckreef is a shallow deposit that came near surface, which is good. The metallurgy is straightforward. As I've mentioned in lots of presentations, there will be a plant upgrade, which leads to expansion, which are still undergoing basically designs on. As I've shown lots of you guys, the flow sheets on my desk being priced out as well as being the time periods put in place. That will enable the recovery rates to go up quite significantly because we will have a SAG and a flotation and a regrind at the back end. So basically upgrading the plant, we'll also be able to increase throughput. I've mentioned permitting, and we are environmentally responsible. We do recycle all water, do invest in schools and local health care facilities. That's where our employees' children, and that's where they go for health care services. So that's prudent, good CSR. And I love the blue-sky potential that we have. And there's lots of mining assets in this region. So with regards to -- look, I've been here 4 years now. We all know the story in the first little bit. It takes time to execute a mining project. We did clean up the balance sheet. We continue to look at our human capital whether we've got the right people in the right spots. John, as well as the Board, John is an example of why he's here and experienced people that we can attract. We have done 3 mill expansions. But where we need to go to in 2025 and beyond is give better guidance with regards to what we have in the main zone and what that looks like. And then how quickly or we could drill out the remainder of the deposit in a prudent shareholder-friendly manner. That's a balance between cash flows that are generated from the asset and where we go from there. As I mentioned as well, we do look at M&A opportunities on an ongoing basis and believe that there are some really good potential there. This isn't an industry in which -- particularly in Africa, and the numbers show this, that 1 plus 1 can equal 3 at times. So to get into a little bit of that, typically a single asset producer will trade at 0.2 to 0.3 PNAV. A multiple asset producer will trade between 0.5 and 0.6 PNAV. That is a reality of what the numbers show and what investors trade these mining assets for on public markets. Mike, next slide. So with regards to the execution of the business plan, you do see the tonnes increasing as our mill expansions go up. We do see a peak there in the first half of 2023. That's when more oxides are going down -- going through the mill, sorry. Here now we have a little bit more sulfides going through. So it comes back on the throughput a little bit, which we fully anticipated as well as the production profile has leveled off more from a grade perspective, and that will ramp up as the grade increases. You can follow this in our quarterly reports. You can plot it, you can see it, you can see how that works. The number of ounces produced is quite a simple formula. It's tonnes times grade times recovery. It is not complicated putting that together. We can put charts out that you'll see that grade is king in mining. So we need to get to the higher-grade portions of the deposit. And the stripping that's to be done for that is going well. Next slide, Mike. So with regards to that and taking those formulas that I just mentioned, adjusted EBITDA and cash flow from operations are healthy. We reinvest that back into the business, and we expect that to increase as we get into a higher-grade portion of the deposit with the increase in throughput. And everybody always asked me about G&A. G&A is down. So I expect as we grow and get bigger, it may go up a little bit, but we certainly look at G&A. And we've invested over 2x now in our asset. The capital raises that were done 3 and 4 years ago, raised a net capital of $25 million. There's been $52 million invested in Buckreef to date since then. With regards to Tanzania, I mentioned a lot of these points. I wanted to get it out front as opposed to in the presentation. They want foreign investment. Shubo mentioned they want this industry to be over 10% of GDP. There's been a lot of M&A activity in Tanzania with Perseus purchased OreCorp, BHP into Lifezone. We manage local supply chains and have been very good at that. We have well-established relationships within government. I talked about the mining industry, but we have much deeper relationships within the government than just the mining industry or the mining part of it. Next slide, Mike. With regards to assets in the region, this helps us with human capital. There's been -- there's big mines here, and I mentioned this before, getting us down the street. Barrick has bought in Hulu and North Mara into production. Shanta is there. There's even been good historical mines in Buzwagi, Golden Pride and those sorts of things. A big project, Tulawaka, the big project to get off the ground from a mining perspective is Perseus. It is Nyanzaga asset, which is around 20 to 30 kilometers from us. With regards to first quarter highlights, like I said, and as we mentioned on our first quarter call, we are capturing record gold prices. We have had some really good drill hole exploration success. We are getting the economies of scale through the mill on a per tonne basis, which has lowered operating costs. And so things are going as planned, and we'll hopefully see those substantial benefits in the second half of the year. With regards to the new expanded plant, I want to show some pictures of that. As you can see, the crushing circuit and the conveyors is quite extensive with the plant in the background. That's continually getting upgraded as well. The crushing circuit, particularly, we put in the new screen deck. We put in spare tertiary crushers to put in new screens to get a 12-millimeter feed size. And the mills currently -- the older smaller mills currently went to undergo all 3 of them are refurbishment in both December on through in January, and they're now in good shape to move forward. So you have to really invest rock on metal means metal breaks down. So you constantly got to be maintaining this stuff to make sure it's in good working order. As I mentioned, the sulfide study and the variability test results, we put in place press releases and results of that into the market in 2024, which were good across the deposit. So again, it showed what we think it should be showing. There are different zones in the deposit with different metallurgy. So we know that now. But ultimately, it's powder gold at Buckreef. And so it's grind size, grind size and grind size. And the hardness is something that particularly our COOs had. It's not the hardest ore out there, but it's not the softest ore out there. It's around 17 to 18 in the Ball Mill index factor. So we're able to handle it. So the ideal flowing for this, which was shown in our first met study in 2022 is SADE with a flotation and a regrind on the back end to achieve high 80s to low 90s recovery rates. And that's what I mentioned will happen as we expand that milling facility again. With regards to drill bits, drill bits and drill bits, the Anfield Zone is still there. Good thing about gold and gold in the ground, it doesn't typically walk away. So we need to get an increased program in that. Our program has been focused from a capital perspective on the milling operation over the last year more than it has been on the drill-put operation and exploration. We need to reorientate that to put more money into exploration in order to unlock both Anfield, which has intersects of 10 grams, greater a tonne at decent depths. So it's good. That's from 27 meters, which is just a fabulous drill result and then 13 at 43 meters. That is just great. And that's kind of where we are in our pit today at Buckreef. One thing we noticed in the Main Zone, I'm not sure if this will come through at both Stamford Bridge or Anfield is grades typically do get better as you go deeper into the deposit. So the -- and you'll see that in the way that it lights up. And so hopefully, we see better grades at the surface here, but certainly, that's what we've seen in the Main Zone. On Stamford Bridge, these are given us our best drill hole intersects ever on a gram tonne meter basis. So that's grams, tonnes, times width essentially to be over 200 gram tonne meters, which is absolutely great. So we need to really focus on this and drill this out and move this into a mining plan. At those sort of grades that you're seeing here, we wouldn't need to expand the plant if it was a multimillion deposit, to be quite honest. You would have comparable sort of production levels of others that have this type of gram going through the milling circuit. So the higher the head grade, the better the recoveries, the better the throughput from an ounce perspective at the plant. ESG, I mentioned this, I won't spend too much time on this. We're constantly hiring locals, investing in the communities. To make also a joint venture partner, I mentioned that they own 45%, which is now dilutable. We're constantly in front of the government and having discussions with them to make this a more investable asset over time. Capital structure, nobody likes this chart. We're listed on the New York Stock Exchange and on the TSX. And I get a lot of grief over this chart because unfortunately, share price hasn't performed, although we've done, I think, my -- we constantly get this feedback, everything that we said we would do, but it seems to be on deaf ears when it comes to a share price perspective. I also have gone through the shareholder register. We do that on a quarterly basis, but I do an in-depth dive on that at year-end. In the top 250 shareholders, there's a net addition of shares last year of 7 million, which is more than the net addition of the prior year of 4 million, but yet that's in a declining share price environment, which goes against the grain of thought of if you have your shareholders constantly reinvesting in you, you should theoretically see a better share price performance than what we've seen. We're constantly marketing. We understand that share hasn't performed, although the company is on a decent solid footing. I predict and hope that this will reverse itself over time, and we start to benefit and trade from a more fundamental value perspective going forward. So that's where I'll leave that, and I'm sure I'm going to get lots of questions on that. So again, I'm going to just reiterate that we've had strong growth, strong profitability. We've done what we said we're going to do. We've got lots of gold here to find to increase this to make this a more valuable property. We have had a good experience in Tanzania, constantly in discussion with the government of how do we probably increase our investment at a better return basis. And we have an experienced management team to execute this. So all in all, really positive on the outlook and where we're going. So I will pause now and ask for questions. So I couldn't take that much time yesterday to explain this presentation. So Mike, are you able to get the questions up?

Evan, can you confirm how we're taking the Q&A today, please?

Yes. So it looks like Steve has raised his hand. So Steve, you can unmute yourself and ask or enter the comment in the chat.

I think you're on mute, Steve.

Okay. Thanks very much for that overview, presentation, Stephen and team, and the voting results. Much appreciated. I just want to check back with you all on the production -- well, actually 2 things, one of which is the new framework agreement. We understand per pass podcast that's underway. I wanted to get your views if you can provide any insights as to progress or where that is at this point in time and potential impact on share price. And then secondarily, in addition to the new framework agreement, you had mentioned previously that new production forecast may be available in Q2. Are we still on track at this juncture?

So on the first question around the framework agreement. So the government is -- has multiple parties at the table. So if you go to Perseus disclosure, you'll see they're at the table again around updating their framework agreement. And there's others that are also at the table updating their framework agreement, including ourselves. So the government is consistently bringing together their GNT team, which is government negotiated team to have conversations with the parties that are at the table. I suspect that the terms and conditions in the framework agreement that the parties that are at the table have similar concerns and are voicing those concerns and the government is taking those back into consideration. So I suspect that will hopefully start to move more quickly, but it is a government process. So the timing isn't absolutely within our control. With regards to share price potential on that, look, markets value assets based on various basis. One is attributable gold production, attributable NAV. That is also reflected in the financial statements on an EPS basis. So our EPS has the noncontrolling interest coming off there, even though STAMICO doesn't receive much cash flow at this point in time, but it's a big number. And I suspect that the -- there will be a positive outcome if we get into a more investable agreement around the share price, given the metrics will change. So Mike, anything to add to that because we're constantly looking at that.

No, I think that was well said, Stephen. I mean you touched on the noncontrolling interest that gets backed out of your financial statements. And look, we're looking at Bloomberg screens as everybody else is on a quarterly basis. And those metrics do kind of resonate in the market. So if we can improve that percentage ownership and consequently improve our financial metrics, it should resonate in our valuations, our thesis.

Yes. And one thing not to get too sidetracked on this, it's one thing we are noticing, and this is topical is the perforation of AI in articles and AI and putting together financial metrics and putting them into articles and things of that nature. That seems to be growing extremely quickly. And it is kind of perforating a lot of the chat boards. It's also perforating a lot of the articles that are published when you actually -- when you actually google companies. And so that's something that Mike and I are fully aware of and are attempting to try to put together a strategy on how to manage it better. And so we got to be cognizant of that. All the stuff you may look at it and say, oh, that's not true or, oh, that's not presented right and things like that, we can't have those excuses. It is what it is. It's going to get more and more pervasive in the financial markets, and we need to be able to manage it better. So on your second question around production forecast and things of that nature, we have a new COO, as you are aware of. He's getting through the data. He is working with the team to verify that data and still getting through that. We do expect to have more information out on that. When we mentioned Q2, I believe it's Q2 disclosures. And I'm hopeful that we will be in a position to give more guidance at that particular point in time.

We have a question in the chat from Craig Sutherland asking, you mentioned the government as our partners. What specific advice or guidance are they giving the company to increase profitability and grow the asset?

Yes. So the government's concern is -- so we have our joint venture partner, STAMICO, and you have the government in Tanzania. So their objectives may be different at times. With regards to the government apparatus, they want mining to be over 10% of the economy. They also want more jobs, more royalties and taxes to be generated. And in that, they have a framework agreement that they made law a couple of years ago that looks at economic splits, not ownership splits, but economic splits of 50-50. And that includes royalties, taxes, excise taxes, withholding taxes, corporate taxes and various other payments that would be made to governments in normal course of operation, which ironically, if you even add up your own personal situation, it's pretty easy to get to 50%. And so that is kind of the guidance that is in the framework agreement. Their law is 84%, 16% to them nondilutive versus what they currently have of 45% through STAMICO that is now dilutable. So that's the kind of guidance that I would give. What they are really focused on is royalties and taxes and bigger assets, growing that pie. So if they grow that pie through bigger assets, they get more royalties and taxes.

I think it lends itself well to your earlier comments, Stephen on permitting. I mean they're encouraging growth to your point. When we joined roughly 4 years ago, the conversations we were having with the government was they really want this to look like the next Gate of Gold mine or [indiscernible] and wondered how they could partner with us to help do that. So in terms of sort of permits and growth, we are working in partnership with the government to grow the asset. So it's a mutually beneficial arrangement and certainly why we characterize it as Tier 1 place to do.

So Clough, anything to add to that because you're talking to these officials all the time?

That's right. The 25%…

Anything to add to what I said?

No, I think generally, you're right. Government is very keen to scale up mining projects and their focus is to increase government revenue through royalties and the various taxes. So this is prime for that [indiscernible] and that's why we're sitting with them.

I just have just one comment on this that the company and the management team have really earned the trust of the government over the last 4 years, and that was not there 4 years ago. I think it's a very fair point. There were lawsuits, there were disagreements. There were all sorts of issues at hand. So I think we're in a much better position as a company and the management team has been very active with the government and key government constituents. And in addition to that, we've also got some local senior relationships…

[indiscernible].

Sorry, just we have local -- some very senior local relationships that we continue to work on and nurture that's been very helpful as well.

Yes, absolutely. So 180-degree shift, I think, in terms of relationship and we built trust with the government, which I think has been very good over the last 4 years.

Yes. So the next question, Mike, is one about this is, given the significant underperformance of TRX Gold stock price down 20% last year versus 30% rise in gold price, what specific marketing and investor relations strategies do you have to better communicate the company's value proposition, improve market perception? So as I just mentioned to you, we have -- we go to conferences that a certain number that are mining Pacific. We don't do as many as we used to from a mining perspective because it's the same people we run into over and over. So they just need to be covered on an ongoing basis. I just did one in BMO, which is the largest one and most -- probably the best attended from an investor perspective. We also attend microcap conferences. We found some really good investors at these microcap conferences. We also have outreach campaigns that we reach out to firms and just an e-mail campaigns. That's part of it. We also have specific firms that help us access investment advisers as well as high net worth individuals as well. So we do quite a bit of marketing and get ourselves out there. We've also now implemented a social media strategy. You'll notice my social media has picked up and someone to manage that on our behalf because I think that's an important aspect of that. Mike and I now are digging into the AI strategy around that sort of angle on social media because, look, I think the AI stuff, I don't know who controls it. I can make a good guess. But usually has more of a negative slant than a positive slant. So -- and always says, oh, there's a warning sign here and a warning sign there and things like that. And I think there's ways to manage that a little bit better. And this is not only us, this is the whole market. So also I think there are historical things here at work in that share price performance. There is -- in December, specifically in late November, I do believe there's quite a bit of tax loss selling. Interestingly enough, given the legacy of where share price was in the past, whether it should have been there or not, that's all subject to debate. And so there is a little bit of that goes on. I also think there's a little bit of legacy from a financial perspective and trading around certain firms who have invested in the past. So I think all of that goes into it. I think ultimately what we have to do is create a valuable business, and that will start to turn the tide around share price. Next question I have is to management directors, did any of you go to the public markets over the 12 months and purchase TRX stock to better support the TRX share price, especially given the positive reporting outlook you just provided to us again? So from my perspective, shares continually get trickled to myself. I've sacrificed quite a bit and to not obtain my full compensation. And you can go to the public disclosures, and you'll notice that there is a significant, significant amount of shares that are part of my compensation that align with shareholders that I have not received. And that is to manage working capital because we have to pay taxes on that in Canada. And then -- so that's the way I'm going to just answer that from my own personal perspective.

Yes. I mean maybe, Steve, the other thing I would just add is the management and the directors have a substantial portion of their compensation in shares to the best of my knowledge, has been limited to none in terms of selling by anyone at the Management Director.

I've never sold a share.

Yes, Steve never -- and I'd say no. And so you should just understand that there is a significant commitment to what we're trying to accomplish here. We're all aligned with the current -- the shareholder base to try to make this a more successful outcome. And so you should just to make that clear to yourselves. The concept of buying shares in the public market, I think we had this question from a group of shareholders very recently is not particularly very easy. We have a lot of initiatives on the go that are nonpublic in nature that really preclude us from actually buying in the open public market on an ongoing basis.

Next question, you mentioned M&A. What is the metrics do we achieve to become an M&A target or what metric do we look for acquiring another target? So to become an M&A target, a real M&A target, we need a better ownership position, to be quite honest. We also would require to show a plan where we can get to a significant gold ounce production for a period of time and with the exploration upside. So I think those 2 combined are what we would really need to see to be a real M&A target. What do we need to see in order to purchase something is we need to see a plan that's executable that lends well to our skill sets. We have built plans on time, on budget and mining assets on a high-return basis. And so we need to see those sorts of metrics as well, and we need to see that's done in a prudent capital manner. And there are some opportunities out there like that. We have another follow-up question. I think your answer was no. So not one of you then even felt a need to purchase back even Jim's TRX shares then? Look, I won't get into how Mr. Sinclair traded shares over time. I think you should collectively look at that yourself. And Jim's shares are still held by his state as far as I know, and we don't have further insight into that. And I think we're coming up on to the top of the hour here. Are there any further questions either online or in the chat that you can see, Evan, please?

It looks like Steve has raised his hand again. You can unmute yourself.

Yes. I appreciate it. I know we got a couple of minutes, but I also wanted to ask a quick question. I think that Bill Holter and Denny Smith have done a good job to date with these quarterly calls in terms of helping to elevate and promote TRX Gold. They certainly appeal to a certain subsegment of the population. As you know, they're very much in the camp, Bill certainly, as we're going to experience credit problems. They're going to be very severe, et cetera, et cetera. So it can be a little bit of a niche group or a particular segment of the marketplace. And I wanted to get your all thoughts if there are a model where we could expand this kind of, let's call it, industry advocacy from top industry leaders for TRX and how we might get there over time. Because in principle, it would be nice if just to -- if someone like an Eric Sprout came through and advocated this. And as a slightly related point, it would be great to see a good report about TRX Gold on Seeking Alpha, again, as a slightly related point. So I would just want to get your all's views as how we might get there.

So first one, I'll address Seeking Alpha first. That's the AI stuff. So we're on that. We've got to figure that out. And Mike and I have -- we got calls this afternoon -- so look, there's Seeking Alpha, there's Zacks, they're Simply Wall Street. Steve, you and I can name 4 or 5. And actually, why don't you forward me the ones that you're aware of that kind of come out like that. So because Mike and I are following up with almost all of them because that's the AI strategy sort of thing most of Seeking Alpha stuff and the ones that I just mentioned, you'll see right at the top generated by AI. So there's ways to manage that. On the second one, yes, look, we're always in front of people to help try to advocate this. You see my social media feeds picking up. With the individuals that you've mentioned, they typically don't go into Africa. And so the African -- they're more North American, South American-based investors. And so I know ones that you've and I've chatted about this before, are more North American based. What I would say about the African promoters is you have to be a little bit more careful. And the reason why I say that is they tend to want control and they tend to provide what I'll call political cover in certain assets. And I'm not going to get into that on a public forum here, but I will follow up with you to discuss that in more detail.

Okay. That's fine. That's fine, Steve. As long as you guys are working on it and we've tabled the point, that's certainly an important step forward.

Yes. And I'll explain to you some of the investors that have been in some of these plays and why they're there and what they do provide beyond just promotional value.

Okay. I think I don't see any other questions in the chat or online. I think that probably concludes both the formal and informal part of the presentation. Evan, are there any closing remarks we need to make, please?

No, that's everything.

All right. Excellent. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. All right. Well, thanks, everyone, for being a shareholder. Thank you for your questions. As you heard from us, we talk to shareholders on an ongoing basis. So if you have any questions. Well, we actually have a phone number now [indiscernible].

There is a phone number on the website. Feel free to call. There is an IR e-mail inbox. Feel free to reach out, and you know where to find Stephen, Clough and I, if you'd like to discuss in detail.

Yes. Thank you. And as I was saying in Tanzania, [Foreign language] Speak with everybody on our Q2 call in a few weeks. All the best.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Bye now.