United States Antimony Corporation (UAMY) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Greetings. Welcome to United States Antimony Corporation's 2019 Annual Shareholders Meeting. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, John Gustavsen, Interim CEO. You may begin.

Thank you. Good morning. This meeting is a formality to fulfill the Security and Exchange Commission's requirement for publicly held companies to have an annual meeting. This meeting is nearly a year late due to the passing of John Lawrence, the founder and long-time Chairman of the Board, CEO and President of the company. He passed away on June 16, 2020. And in addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed everything down. Because of COVID-19, this meeting is virtual. This meeting will be very short, because all the news from 2019 is now very stale and no longer pertinent. All of the significant events have been disclosed in the company's 8-Ks, 10-Ks and 10-Q for 2019. However, Dan Parks, CFO, will give a brief account of the company's financial position as of December 31, 2019. Dan?

Thank you, John. For the year ended December 31, 2019, we reported a net loss of $3,672,891 after depreciation and amortization of $895,999 compared to a net income of $873,225 for 2018 after depreciation and amortization of $904,844. Our company-wide EBITDA was a negative $2,776,901 for 2019 compared to a positive EBITDA of $1,445,737 for 2018. Our net noncash expenses for 2019 totaled $2,653,757 and included $1,410,736 for abandonment of Mexican mineral properties, $895,990 for depreciation and amortization, $54,112 for amortization of debt discount, $134,375 for stock-based director compensation, $136,000 for stock-based employee compensation and $16,936 for a write-down of inventory and $6,148 for other items. During the fourth quarter of 2019, it was decided to abandon 2 mining claims in Mexico known as the Guadalupe mine and the Soyatal mine. This decision was prompted by the low prices for antimony and the expected cost to continue to develop the properties. The effect of abandoning the properties was a noncash loss of $1,410,736, which was the carrying value of the mineral properties less the balance of related debt. For antimony, during 2019, we saw our average sale price decrease by $0.63 per pound from an average of -- price of $4.11 per pound for 2018 to $3.48 per pound for 2019. During 2019, our raw material from our Mexican -- I'm sorry, our raw material from our North American supplier increased by approximately 100,000 pounds, and our supply of raw material from our Mexican mines decreased by approximately 20,000 pounds. Even though our sales volume increased, our total sales of antimony decreased due to the decrease in our sales price. This resulted in an estimated decreased sales of approximately $662,000. Normal shipments from our North American supplier resumed in 2019 at a lower level than we had expected. In the third quarter of 2019, we renegotiated our sodium antimonate supply agreement from our North American supplier to recognize that antimony prices were in a worldwide slump and that our general and administrative costs were a larger percent of our revenues than they were under the previous agreement. The new price agreement was implemented in quarter 3 of 2019. For zeolite, our sales volume of zeolite in 2019 was 641 tons less than we sold in 2018, a decrease of 4.5%. Our average sales price increased by approximately $6 per ton, which was approximately 2.7%. During 2019, total sales of zeolite decreased by $43,827 from 2018. The zeolite division had an EBITDA -- positive EBITDA of $683,936 for 2019 compared to an EBITDA -- positive EBITDA of $638,764 for 2018. Net income increased from $449,961 in 2018 to $497,470 in 2019, approximately $47,000. Back to you, John.

Thanks, Dan. We have achieved a quorum of shares voted on the 3 proposals presented before the shareholders for this annual meeting. Those proposals were: number one, all of the directors of the Board have been confirmed; number two, the selection of DeCoria, Maichel & Teague has been ratified as the independent auditor for the years ending December 31, 2019, and December 31, 2020. The third is the second amended and restated articles of incorporation of the company have been approved. No new business was submitted by any of the shareholders. And we will hold our 2020 annual meeting early in the second quarter of 2021, wherein we will present current information. The meeting will be open for questions. That is the end of the annual meeting for 2019. Do I hear a motion to adjourn?

I so move.

And a second?

I move.

Thank you. And that ends our meeting for this year. Thank you for attendance. Thank you for your continued and long-term support.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.