U.S. Gold Corp. (USAU) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

All right. Welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. And joining me now is Jason Begger. He is the U.S. Gold Government Affairs and Community Relations Manager. And Jason, it's great to see you again. How are you?

I'm doing well. Thanks for having me back.

Yes. I thought it would be a great opportunity to sort of talk about a number of issues and really talk about project itself and the importance of it in the jurisdiction you're in. Let's talk about the jurisdiction first off and just the positivity that you're hearing from Wyoming about your project.

Yes, absolutely. Well, Wyoming is, hands down, a mining state. That's kind of what brought some of the original folks here a couple of hundred years ago. And that sort of legacy of mining is carried on over the entire statehood. So people get under -- get mining, they understand it, they understand how to do projects the right way. And it's a state that has other incredible natural resources. We get millions of tourists every year for Yellowstone National Park or Grand Teton National Park. But yet, we've been able to strike that balance between resource development and the right way to do things. And so as U.S. Gold has prepared their plan to deploy and build out the CK Gold mine, people recognize that this is a project that's done the right way. And people have really rallied behind it.

And that's really evident in the permitting approval process, right, and how that's done and how it's received?

Yes, absolutely. The entire permit approval is a very open dialogue between not only the company and the regulators but also stakeholders. And there's a lot of opportunity for people to commit, comment and be a part of that. And what we really found is through our legwork going through the permitting process, we've been able to allay a lot of concerns and fears, and really the permitting process has gone fairly smoothly.

Yes. Let's talk a little bit about Wyoming itself because obviously, as a state, they're trying to create jobs, they're trying to have revenue come into the state. And that's a big part of what U.S. Gold is attempting to do with you -- with your project as well. Obviously, you're trying to fill a need. But I would imagine as well through taxes and royalties and job creation, it's a real bonus for the State of Wyoming, and I'm sure they've told you that as well.

Absolutely. Through the prefeasibility work, which will be updated later this year. But the numbers from 2, 3 years ago, thinking about a $70 million, $80 million tax and royalty impact to the State of Wyoming. And so at the time when we're seeing some of the traditional coal mines contract, them facing regulatory and political uphill battles, the state has been very receptive to another resource project that's outside of those traditional commodities. So a big part of this project and building that support is helping them understand what the true economics will be in terms of jobs and taxes, services and vendors and all the things that go into truly understanding the economics of the project.

Yes. And also, they want to fit in Wyoming, I would imagine, to this -- the philosophy of what's going on in the U.S. about making sure that you have -- resources are in the U.S. that are staying in the U.S. and using it in the U.S. and how important that supply chain is. I would imagine that the conversations like that, you've had many, many times with state officials.

Oh, absolutely. When you look at our congressional delegations for example, Senator John Barrasso is the ranking member on key energy and natural resources committees in Washington, D.C. And a big part of his portfolio is domestic security, being able to supply what we need in the U.S. in terms of critical minerals and copper and everything else that goes into a resilient, modern economy. It's better to be in control of your own destiny as opposed to trying to source materials from countries that are either politically unstable or just flat out or not friendly.

Yes. And lastly, Jason, you and I have talked in the past about the way U.S. Gold conducts business and just about being environmentally friendly and doing things the right way. And I would imagine that the one thing about the state is it's a beautiful state. If you've never been to Wyoming, it is quite beautiful. And I would imagine that they want to keep that beauty intact. And projects where there's an emphasis on doing it the right way, I think, would be something that they look to support even more.

Oh, absolutely. I mentioned Wyoming does certainly support these projects. And we have regulators that are very experienced in regulating and structuring project approvals the right way, to do things the right way. But just because they're supportive doesn't mean we get a free pass. Wyoming has some incredibly rigorous standards. And just given the team that U.S. Gold has put together and their experience in building out projects all over the world, they've got a lot of knowledge on best practices and the best ways to do things and alternative way to do things that have really allayed a lot of regulators' concerns and just the upfront nature of how the company has approached the project. We're going to be very involved in the community. We're going to communicate. We're going to have the hard conversations sometimes as uncomfortable as they are, and that has all paid dividends. And some people will say, "A 3-year permitting process, wow, that's a long time." But in terms of developing out of mine, that's light speed. And that just really speaks to how the company has conducted themselves and approached themselves in Wyoming.

Absolutely. Makes a lot of sense. Jason, thanks so much. Good update, and I really appreciate your time.

You bet. Thanks, Steve.

All right, Jason Begger. He is the U.S. Gold Government Affairs and Community Relations Manager.