Good day ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Vista Gold’s 2021 Financial Results and Incorporate Update Conference Call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Today is Monday, February 28, 2022. It's not my pleasure to introduce Pamela Solly, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Chris and good day, everyone. Thank you for joining the Vista gold 2021 financial results and corporate update conference call. I'm Pamela Solly, Vice President of Investor Relations. On the call today is Fred Earnest, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Doug Tobler, Chief Financial Officer. During the course of this call, we will be making forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of this said to be materially different from results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Please refer to our most recently filed Form 10-K for details of risks and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements. I will I'll turn the call over to Fred Ernest.

Thank you, Pam. And thank you everyone for joining us on the call today. Two of our most significant achievements during 2021 included the approval of the mining management plan and the work to complete a feasibility study for Mount Todd, which culminated with the announcement of results earlier this month. We also received key authorizations related to Aboriginal lands and land use, advanced our exploration drilling program and strengthened our balance sheet with reported total cash of $13.1 million at the end of the year. I'll discuss these topics in greater detail later in the call, but I'll now turn time over to Doug Toler for a review you of our financial results for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Thanks, Fred. And thanks for listening in today. I'd like to focus today's discussion on our cash position and our sources and uses of cash during 2021. Cash is the first measure of balance sheet strength that we consider. We ended 2021 with cash on hand totaling $13.1 million. This included bank deposits and government treasuries. In a minute, I'll discuss our cash flows, but it's worth noting a secondary measure of our balance sheet strength, which was our $12.2 million of working capital. By either standard our balance sheet was in good shape at year end. And we've already benefited in January of this year by receiving $2.5 million for the final payment related to the Awak Mas project in Indonesia. Turning now to cash flows, we started 2021 with $8.2 million of cash. And again, this included bank deposits and government securities. So overall, we realized a net increase in cash of nearly $5 million during the year. We saw inflows of $2.8 million for sales of non-core assets and $13.4 million through equity issuances. The non-core proceeds were mostly from receipt of the final payments for the world's rarest project in Mexico. And they also included inflows related to Awak Mas. Equity issuances included the $12.3 million from our July offering plus about $1 million earlier last year from our, at the market program. Now from an expenditure perspective, our net operating cash flows were $10.6 million and that's a cash outflow. Our recurring fixed costs, which include our corporate G&A and the ongoing site management at Mt Todd, remained in line with prior fixed cost levels and were about $6.5 million of that $10.6 million. The balance of the expenditures related to programs to advance Mt Todd and position it as a highly attractive development project…

Thank you, Doug. I'll begin with the review of our 2021 achievements and then provide an outlook for the remainder of the year. First of all, financial. As part of our 2021 objectives, we focused on strengthening our balance sheet through the successful monetization of non-core assets, a disciplined approach to managing our costs and the completion of the July capital raise. As Doug stated earlier, we ended the year with $13.1 million of cash and continue to have no debt. We believe our strong balance sheet will be very important as we evaluate a broad range of development alternatives with the goal of completing a transaction that will maximize shareholder value. Moving on to opportunities to advance and bring greater value to Mt Todd, we remain focused on advancing the Mt Todd Gold Project and seeing a greater portion of the project value reflected in our share price and market cap. With this in mind we have achieved several significant milestones in 2021. In June of 2021, we received the approval of the Mining Management Plan, which is similar to our mine operating permit in North America. This approval was a tremendous de-risking achievement for Vista and Mt Todd. And with the Mining Management Plan and in hand, Vista now has all major operating and environmental permits required to proceed with the construction and development of Mt Todd. Also in June, we received authorization of our Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority Certificate, and our Surface Water Extraction License. The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority Certificate is required as a legal means to identify and protect sacred sites from damage by setting out the conditions for use or carrying out works on an area of land. It is a legal document issued under the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act. I am…

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Heiko Ihle of H.C. Wainwright. Your line is open.

Fred, thanks for taking my question. How are you?

Very well? Thank you.

Wonderful. Hey, your study, I mean, 50,000 tonnes per day, NPV $5 billion and 20.6% IRR, obviously that's using much lower metals prices. Just thinking out low here clearly is pretty impressive, and I think you're just not really getting a full credit in the market quite yet. You hinted at some of your opportunities and benefits. In the closing remark here, just, you know, a minute ago on this call, but prodding just a bit more; is there anything in particular that you think might currently be missed by the market or by the analyst community as a whole,

Heiko, thank you for the question and certainly we're very pleased with the economics as reported in the feasibility study. They demonstrate that this significant leverage that the project enjoys relative to a rising gold price. I think that the market is still holding judgment on how the project will be financed. And it's our belief that as we're able to execute on our strategy, as I mentioned we're considering a broad range of opportunities and alternatives with regards to potential partners and other types of structures. I believe that as we're able to announce that we have concluded a process and that we have reached a trends of the point of a transaction and are able to answer that question about how the project will be financed, that there will – that the doubt, the concern will be alleviated and that will constitute a very significant catalyst for the creation of value for Vista shareholders.

I think that's a fair answer. And then just a little clarification there, if even, and the second one's a couple questions in one, so apologies in advance. Would you be so kind in breaking down what exactly is still included in your equipment package? I mean, you wrote down the equipment a little bit. I mean, what are you doing with it? It seems like it's still for sale. What do you think its worth? I mean, I assume it’s a several million, clearly given recent geopolitical risks that span the globe again, you hinted those earlier on the call and a gold price is over $1,900 as of close today, there's got to be meaningful value to this, right?

The mill equipment that we own has nominal capacity to process crush and grind 10,000 tons per day. It's a complete mill package. Primary gyratory crusher, sag mill two ball mills, gold recovery equipment, it's in good condition. Most of it is stored indoors in Canada. The challenge Heiko and maybe Doug can comment here additionally in just a moment is that, selling used equipment especially when you have a packaged deal like this is a very niche market. And it really – it really comes down to finding a buyer with a project that specifically needs this size of equipment that they're targeting that kind of throughput. And so, it's looking at a project that's in the mid-size project that has or that has characteristics that will match the parameters of the SAG Mill and the ball mill. And as you indicated, the equipment continues to be for sale. It's just that it's been for sale for a long time. And there is no certainty as to when it might be sold. Doug, any other comments that you might add?

Yes, I was just going to say much of the same thing. You've got an asset that has a specific use in the right environment. And with the write-down that we took was really the based-on accounting literature, it doesn't have anything to do with the perspective value of the equipment to the right buyer. So, we're very active with the group that has it listed. And we continue to look at prospects as they come up with – we continue to have the phones ringing, I guess, would be the way to say it. But when you measure it from an accounting standpoint, it's simply a function of what can be audited, what can be demonstrated, and that's got really nothing to do with the underlying value that we think we can ultimately receive.

I should have the answer to this, but I won't have it in my model for some reason. What would you say I would pay if I bought this thing today?

If you were to buy the complete mill package and that includes the gyratory crusher, the grinding mills, or the SAG Mill, the two ball mills, the gold recovery equipment, there is a number of pumps, there's agitators for leach tanks. Heiko, I would guess that new prices obviously depending on source of manufacturer and where the project is located, that might drive some of those decisions. You're probably looking at something in the range of $8 million to $12 million for all of that equipment on a new equipment basis.

Pretty meaningful figure. Perfect. I'll stop hogging the question queue. Thanks for taking my questions there.

Absolutely. Thank you, Heiko.

[Operator Instructions] I'm showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the conference back to Fred. You may proceed.

Very well. Thank you, Chris. I would like to thank all of you who have joined the call today. I know there's a big unspoken question that everybody would like to like to ask. And unfortunately, we're not in a position to answer it. I know that everybody would like to know who are going to do a deal with, and when it's going to be announced. As a matter of practice, we do not disclose who we've signed confidentiality agreements with. But I think suffice it to say that we have executed confidentiality agreements. We have companies that are completing due diligence, and sometimes that process can be lengthy. And depending on the requirements of the third party may involve time consuming activities such as additional drilling or metallurgical testing undertaken at their expense. But we expect that there will be announcements with regards to the work that's ongoing and disclosure with regards to what we can disclose to the market. Over the course of the coming months, we invite you to be alert, to be attentive. When it comes to the point that a transaction is announced, I believe that there will be significant value created as it were overnight. And we would hate to see someone get left behind. If you require additional information and you like to know more about Mt Todd and would like to have a conversation, please reach out to Pamela Solly, our Vice President of Investor Relations, if need be, she will get other people on the call. We appreciate the interest that was shown – by those of you who have participated in the call today. We look forward to being able to report additional news as we execute on our strategy. And I want to assure you that with the feasibility study completed that our focus is now turned to a hundred percent to maximizing value for shareholders into the realization of a value that's more in line with the intrinsic value of the project. It’s an exciting time for us. I think it's an exciting time to be a Vista shareholder. I don't think there's been a time when we've been better positioned to create value. So, I invite you to consider your investment in Vista Gold and make the decision whether it's the time to start a position or increase the position. But certainly, we look forward to the coming months. And we thank you for your time this afternoon and wish all of you a very pleasant day. Thank you.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. And have a wonderful day. You may now disconnect.