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Aris Mining Corporation (ARIS)

Q3 2021 Earnings Call· Fri, Nov 12, 2021

$17.89

-4.64%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Welcome to the Gran Colombia Gold Q3 2021 Results Webcast. My name is John, and I will be your operator for today’s call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Please note the conference is being recorded. And now I now turn the call over to Mike Davies.

Mike Davies

Management

Thank you, John, and good morning, and thank you for joining us today for the Grand Colombia Third Quarter 2021 Results Webcast. With me on the webcast this morning is our CEO, Lombardo Paredes. And as is customary, I'll first go through our prepared remarks regarding an update on our performance in the third quarter and the first nine months of 2021, and then Lombardo will be available as we open things up for the Q&A session. Before we proceed with this presentation, I would first like to draw your attention to our legal disclaimer regarding forward-looking statements that may be made by us during the webcast this morning. Our strategy at Gran Colombia was focused on growth through diversification while returning value to our shareholders through our monthly dividend payments. In June, we took a major step forward with the acquisition of the 85% interest in the Toroparu Project in Guyana that we did not already own. Not only does this add geographic and project diversification in our assets and our future revenue profile, but it will give us exposure to copper down the road. In August, we closed our $300 million Senior Notes financing. And at the end of September, we had approximately $330 million of cash, and the gold notes have been fully retired. Together with the existing Wheaton stream facility that came with Gold X, the construction of the Toroparu Project is fully financed. Our technical advisers have been completing some of the mine optimization studies related to the design of future operations of Toroparu, and we expect we'll be releasing the results of an updated mineral resource estimate and PEA in December. Meanwhile, at our flagship Segovia operations, everything is moving along as expected this year, and we have narrowed our production guidance for 2021…

Operator

Operator

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. And our first question is from Carey MacRury from Canaccord Genuity.

Carey MacRury

Analyst

Just on the Toroparu PEA, I know you're still working on it, but is there any comments you can make about what you're looking at versus what Gold X had previously looked that?

Mike Davies

Management

Yes. I think at this stage -- and we're a couple of weeks -- hopefully or 2.5 weeks away from having the results available. And then in early January, we'll get the full document published on SEDAR. I think it's safe to say at this point that we're still looking at CapEx that would be within the number that was in the 2019 PEA that Gold X had published, which we're going to have a long life asset with more than 20 years of production. We're looking at the mine optimization right now with the combination of open pit mining to start and, then later on, getting into underground mining study to access the higher grade mineralization at depth that was identified through the Gold X drilling. I think these results in the PEA will ultimately be an improvement from what we saw in the July 2019 PEA from Gold X.

Carey MacRury

Analyst

That's good. In terms of once PEA is done, what's the next step then before a construction decision is made?

Mike Davies

Management

Lombardo, do you want to speak to that?

Lombardo Paredes

Analyst

Could you repeat, please, the question?

Carey MacRury

Analyst

What -- after we get the PEA done, what will be the next steps that will go through to get construction started?

Lombardo Paredes

Analyst

Yes, yes. But let me answer the first one. The project -- the of the project is debuted on a fast-track basis. That's the reason because we are initiating preconstruction activity, building the camp, clear the street, the open management works. And also, we also let the contractors to build the project. We are going to use tools to see and contract related with the mine, and the other contract will be related with processing plant and the facility related with the processing plant. We are going to be ready to award those fronts in the first quarter of next year. We're delighted to have first commercial operation in the first quarter 2024. We are expecting to have only execution phase for the project of around 26 to 28 months, just the same scheme that we've done mine. We are centering the project management team for -- in January 2022, the team will be fully assembled and also the contractors will be selected. So, we are confident that we can build this project on a fast-track basis around 28 months maximum.

Carey MacRury

Analyst

Okay. Great.

Lombardo Paredes

Analyst

Carey MacRury

Analyst

Sorry. Go ahead.

Mike Davies

Management

Yes. Carey, was that clear or...

Carey MacRury

Analyst

I know Marmato's line is obviously having a little trouble from Colombia.

Mike Davies

Management

Yes. I guess the other question is just, obviously, there's a lot of cost inflation in the industry. I know your cost structure this quarter. You talked a little bit about the cost going forward. But I guess, what should we be expecting in terms of 2022 on the cost side?

Mike Davies

Management

Yes. I think we're working on our 2022 projects and plans at the moment, and we'll have our guidance early in the new year, but I wouldn't expect significant changes from what we've seen in the last few quarters. In terms of average cost, we'll still be in the low 800s for cash cost. And ideally depending on the amount of exploration we do around the mines, which I think will be consistent next year is what we've done this year. We'll still be in sort of about $1,100 to $1,150 basic number for Segovia as we go forward.

Lombardo Paredes

Analyst

We are not taking any surprises in the production we continue to be about 200,000. The cash cost is going to be around $800,000. And of course, the capital expenses related with the exploration will continue. We will expect next year to have another 50,000 meters of drilling with exploration process, 20,000, we're going to take it to the brownfield, and 40,000 we allocated to the existing mine. The -- our expectation, in fact, is to have a good result. We are expecting good result with our brownfield problem that we have said that we can build a new mine in 2024. And we are expecting that, that new mine will be located around a base that we call . So, we don't expect any surprises in Segovia. So Segovia will continue to be a stable operation.

Operator

Operator

And Mike, I'm seeing no further questions at this time.

Mike Davies

Management

Yes. Okay. I've got one question that's come in through the web. Congrats on the good quarter. Wondering what our view is on grades at Segovia going forward and with the increased tonnage of Maria Dama will lead to higher production in 2022? That's the first part. I think, as we said, we're still finalizing our plans for next year, including throughput, based on the timing of the expansion of the plant. It's just a little early to give too much guidance. But as we said, we've processed at Segovia historically over the last 11 years now at an average of 13.7 grams per ton this year, so averaging about 12.7. We are still looking at our plans for this year, but we don't see significant reductions in grade because we're expanding production tonnages. So, we'll follow up and give more guidance on that early in the new year once we finalize the mine plan for next year. And then the other part of that question is. What kind of cash credit we expect to come given the current market prices once the polymetallic plant is up and running? And again, we'll provide more information on that early in the new year once we've seen the first concentrates coming through and we've got our client set for expected volumes next year. Well, John, if there's no other questions on the line, I'd like to thank everybody for joining this morning. Stay tuned. We've got further press releases coming up over the next several weeks related to both the results at Toroparu as well as the results of our drilling program, next dividends paid on Monday, and the next dividend declaration announcement of growth funding. So thank you very much. And if you need to reach out to us, please do so, and we'll follow up with any questions that you have. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. That concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

Lombardo Paredes

Analyst

Thank you.