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Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM)

Q2 2014 Earnings Call· Thu, Aug 14, 2014

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Silver Wheaton's 2014 Second Quarter Results Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Thank you. I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being recorded on Thursday, August 14th at 11 AM Eastern Time. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Patrick Drouin, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Patrick Drouin

Management

Thank you, Stephanie. Good morning ladies and gentlemen and thank you for participating in today's call. I'm joined today by Randy Smallwood, Silver Wheaton's President and Chief Executive Officer; Gary Brown, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Haytham Hodaly, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development. I'd like to bring your attention that some of the commentary in today's call may contain forward-looking statements. There can be no assurances that these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Please refer to the section entitled Description of the Business Risk Factors in Silver Wheaton's annual information form, which is available on SEDAR and in Silver Wheaton's Form 40-F on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Annual Information Form sets out the material risk factors that could cause actual results to differ, including the absence of control of our mining operations from which Silver Wheaton purchases silver, risk related to such mining operations and the risk of a decline in silver and gold prices. Lastly, it should be noted that all figures referred to on today's call are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to Randy Smallwood, our President and Chief Executive Officer.

Randy Smallwood

Management

Thank you, Patrick and good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for dialing in to our second quarter 2014 conference call. We’re pleased to report that Silver Wheaton had another solid quarter in Q2 of 2014. During the quarter, significant progress was made at two of our key growth platforms Salobo and Constancia. The Salobo mine received first production after their recent expansion which doubled the mine capacity and the Constancia project is moving forward and was at 85% completion at the end of Q2. We look forward to receiving production from Constancia later this year. Two of our cornerstone assets are also worth highlighting. Firstly, despite water supply continuing to be a limiting factor Peñasquito achieved record production in the second quarter. And secondly, San Dimas completed its expansion to 2,500 tons per day earlier this year and Primero very recently announced a further expansion to 3,000 tons per day. Given the progress made in our diversified portfolio of mines and projects, we believe we’re well positioned to grow our revenues and earnings even if precious metal price which maintain these levels. Based on current agreements we forecast 2014 annual production of around 36 million silver equivalent ounces and by 2018 this is expected to increase approximately 35% to 48 million silver equivalent ounces. This five year growth will be driven by Hudbay's Constancia project, Vale's Salobo and Sudbury mines and the Rosemont project along with the continued expansion of San Dimas. In the second quarter silver equivalent sales volumes were 4% higher than the comparative period last year coming in at 7.5 million ounces. Our production was 4% lower than the comparable period last year about 8.4 million silver equivalent ounces. The average realized sales price per silver equivalent ounce was 14% lower than Q2 of 2013. However,…

Gary Brown

Management

Thank you, Randy and good morning ladies and gentlemen. Prior to reviewing Silver Wheaton’s unaudited financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2014, I’d just like to remind everyone that all monetary figures discussed are denominated in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. The Company’s precious metal interest generated 8.4 million silver equivalent ounces of attributable production in the second quarter of 2014, 4% lower than production from the comparable period of the prior year due primarily to lower production levels from Keno Hill, 777 and the Barrick and Sudbury mines with such being partially offset by a significant increase in production from Peñasquito and Salobo. Of the overall production, approximately 25% was gold with the remainder being silver, while attributable production in the second quarter of 2014 was lower than that in the first quarter, this decline was anticipated and we expect to see an increase in production through the third and fourth quarters of 2014. Payable silver equivalent ounces produced but not yet delivered by our partners amounted to 6.3 million ounces as of June 30, 2014, a decrease of about 100,000 ounces over the quarter with reductions at 777, Peñasquito, Sudbury and Salobo being offset by a significant increase at Yauliyacu although a significant amount of silver was delivered from Yauliyacu immediately following quarter end. Silver equivalent sales volumes amounted to 7.5 million ounces in Q2, 2014 with 70% of this relating to silver and 30% relating to gold representing a 4% increase from Q2 2013 attributable to increased silver deliveries from Peñasquito and increased gold deliveries from Sudbury and Salobo partially offset by decreased silver deliveries from Yauliyacu and the Barrick mines. Revenue for the second quarter of 2014 amounted to $149 million representing an 11% decrease from the comparable period of the prior year…

Randy Smallwood

Management

Thank you, Gary. Operator, we’d like to open up the call for questions please.

Question

Management

and:

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now conduct the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Trevor Turnbull with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Trevor Turnbull

Analyst

Randy, I was wondering with respect to Salobo, you talked about how they have tied in the second line which will take them eventually to a doubling of the throughput capacity, but I was trying to have a better understanding of how that throughput ramps up now that they are tied in? It seems like Vale was talking about achieving that full 24 million tons per annum sometime in 2015, I just wasn’t clear kind of what your expectations were for production increasing between now and full capacity? Scotiabank: Randy, I was wondering with respect to Salobo, you talked about how they have tied in the second line which will take them eventually to a doubling of the throughput capacity, but I was trying to have a better understanding of how that throughput ramps up now that they are tied in? It seems like Vale was talking about achieving that full 24 million tons per annum sometime in 2015, I just wasn’t clear kind of what your expectations were for production increasing between now and full capacity?

Randy Smallwood

Management

Yes and you’ve got it right on, the second mine they expect to get the full capacity towards the latter half of 2015. These are -- it’s a pretty big scale of expansion. And so it’s got to work its way all the way back to the system in terms of mine operations being able to deliver and work all the way through. And so it will be a slightly faster ramp-up than what we saw at the first mine which is still getting close to 100% but not quite there yet. It will take about a year and a half and then or a little bit more than a year, year and a half to get it up to full capacity.

Trevor Turnbull

Analyst

And then the other question was with respect to Yauliyacu and it’s more just of a kind of a background history question. But I recall in the past they changed the nature of the concentrates they were making partly to make off takes easier at one point they went to a bulk concentrate and then it seems like they’ve gone back to or sorry, they went away from a bulk concentrate now as I understand that they may be back doing that. Can you just remind us kind of what their situation is for shipments? Scotiabank: And then the other question was with respect to Yauliyacu and it’s more just of a kind of a background history question. But I recall in the past they changed the nature of the concentrates they were making partly to make off takes easier at one point they went to a bulk concentrate and then it seems like they’ve gone back to or sorry, they went away from a bulk concentrate now as I understand that they may be back doing that. Can you just remind us kind of what their situation is for shipments?

Randy Smallwood

Management

Well some of it has to do with which smelter they’re sending their feed because there is I can’t remember the name of the smelter, there is smelter right in the area are down there [indiscernible]. It's owned by Delrun or used to be run by Delrun but used to accept a bulk concentrate and when that smelter went through shut down for a while and they had to separate it into the separate land and copper concentrates and so that’s why they were producing that. They have switched back and forth, it’s owned by Glencore which of course is also one of the largest concentrate traders in the world. And so I think what they have at Yauliyacu is the processing facility that has the flexibility to satisfy where they see the best demand and the best returns on the concentrate market. And so it is actually back and forth between the three concentrates down to the bulk concentrate plus the zinc. And it’s one of the reasons that sometimes we have some pretty decent produced but not yet solid numbers and it sometimes gets very lumpy in terms of the actual sales.

Trevor Turnbull

Analyst

So do you see that getting less lumpy? Will they settle on something with longer term off takes or is it always going to be a little bit ad hoc in terms of how they place that? Scotiabank: So do you see that getting less lumpy? Will they settle on something with longer term off takes or is it always going to be a little bit ad hoc in terms of how they place that?

Randy Smallwood

Management

In cases I see right now that is probably going to be a little bit ad-hoc, it’s going to be lumpy. We didn’t have any significant shipments during Q2 but shortly after the end of Q2 we had a very large shipment. Again with the company the size of Glencore and the amount of concentrates that they market and trade around the world this is something they used to probably adjust and take advantage of certain opportunities when they see them.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from Duncan Lai with Macquarie.

Duncan Lai

Analyst · Macquarie.

Hey, Randy, just a question, so looking at the MD&A I see that the cumulative payable is silver equivalent ounces produced but not yet delivered have been growing compared to a year ago. So can you explain if this will be reversed or this will be a continued trend going forward? Macquarie Research Equities: Hey, Randy, just a question, so looking at the MD&A I see that the cumulative payable is silver equivalent ounces produced but not yet delivered have been growing compared to a year ago. So can you explain if this will be reversed or this will be a continued trend going forward?

Randy Smallwood

Management

It’s going to continue. I’d like to characterize it as basically as our production profile grows so well that produce have been not yet delivered. It typically represents about two, two and a half months of our production. And so as our annual production climbs our yearly production rates climb that produced but not yet delivered will also climb. And we will see the impact of this when we have new projects coming on that produced concentrates. The assets that produce dore tend to deliver much rapid -- there's not as much of a pipeline in terms of delivering the product and the concentrates of course when you sit and look, Salobo is ramping up, Peñasquito is ramping up, Constancia coming on produce as a concentrate. And so those are the assets those are the type assets that will add to that produced but not yet delivered.

Duncan Lai

Analyst · Macquarie.

Okay, so I guess when I see like mines that produce a concentrates produce more activity at the new project coming in and then I’d expect to see that we’re having a bump going forward? Macquarie Research Equities: Okay, so I guess when I see like mines that produce a concentrates produce more activity at the new project coming in and then I’d expect to see that we’re having a bump going forward?

Randy Smallwood

Management

Right, yes. And I think the best way to estimate it is essentially look at the production rates and then consider it as the number will typically be somewhere between two to two and half months of our overall production.

Duncan Lai

Analyst · Macquarie.

Two to two and a half months of overall, okay. And my second question is with the recently royalty transaction with Chesapeake I know it’s a small one but does this imply that management would not consider royalty deals and not just streaming deals going forward? Macquarie Research Equities: Two to two and a half months of overall, okay. And my second question is with the recently royalty transaction with Chesapeake I know it’s a small one but does this imply that management would not consider royalty deals and not just streaming deals going forward?

Randy Smallwood

Management

No, not at all, we think streaming actually much more advantageous for both parties for both us and for the operators themselves. The advantage there was that well they are already in place that we wound up and we wound up getting access to the right of first refusal on further financing on the Metates project and it is a project that I know well I’ve spent enough time in Mexico and what I can tell you there is lot of metal in that hill. So we were quite excited about getting the right of first refusal on being able to help finance that project going forward.

Operator

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Your next question comes from John Flanagan with Fundamental Equity. Your line is open.

Randy Smallwood

Management

Hey John.

John Flanagan

Analyst · Fundamental Equity. Your line is open.

Hi Randy, how are you? Could you guys characterize the current supply-demand balance in the silver market? There was a story here in Chicago this morning about weakness in retail demand in India and China during Q2, and I wonder if you've seen that. Fundamental Equity: Hi Randy, how are you? Could you guys characterize the current supply-demand balance in the silver market? There was a story here in Chicago this morning about weakness in retail demand in India and China during Q2, and I wonder if you've seen that.

Randy Smallwood

Management

We haven’t seen it directly I mean there is going to be seasonal fluctuations especially in India mainly because consumption is so tied to the different festivals. And so you do get a lot of people fluctuation especially out of India from that side so we haven’t seen the affect of that. When we look at silver, and obviously we’re exposed to both silver and a bit of gold. We like the silver sector better we think it’s got better potential here. Everywhere we look in the silver space we see on the industrial side we see just increasing applications and they are in the areas that are our growth areas. High efficiency electronics it’s anti-bacterial application, these are areas that are just becoming more and more important on a worldwide basis. So, as the world it’s been you talking about India and China you talk about even other parts of it as living standards continue to improve and continue to increase is going to require silver. So, we definitely feel very comfortable among silver in the long run, you are going to get fluctuations on the short term basis, when it comes to the retail side, that is mainly they said one of things as we do see a lot of the different festival seasons out of India always have an impact.

John Flanagan

Analyst · Fundamental Equity. Your line is open.

Thanks. Fundamental Equity: Thanks.

Randy Smallwood

Management

Yes, thank you John.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from Dan Rollins with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Dan Rollins

Analyst · RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Yes, thanks so much. Just a couple questions, first of all Randy, when Constancia starts getting up and running, what type of lag do you expect to see between production and sales at that mine? RBC Capital Markets: Yes, thanks so much. Just a couple questions, first of all Randy, when Constancia starts getting up and running, what type of lag do you expect to see between production and sales at that mine?

Randy Smallwood

Management

It always I mean the guidance that usually give is two to two and a half months for the concentrates, it’s a little bit longer because it is backing on the company overall usually balances off by the shorter lag kind of run on assets that produce Dore. But anytime that asset starts up, you’ve got to get back pipeline and plans in terms of delivering concentrate to the smelters and get through that whole process and so, we haven’t anticipating sales even in 2014 you expect production we maybe and you surprised with few sales but we don’t have anything scheduled into our forecast for 2014 from a sales side.

Dan Rollins

Analyst · RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Okay, Excellent. And then maybe, I'm not sure if you're able to answer this because a lot of the information be coming from one of your streaming partners, but there's a significant a lot of optionality that's starting to show up in your portfolio. And I guess the main would be outside of what we saw at San Dimas, but at Peñasquito the CEP process with the pyrite leach, with potentially some of the development of the skarns to underneath the open pit. Have you guys looked at what type of lift is potential there for you guys on a silver basis if all that were to happen? RBC Capital Markets: Okay, Excellent. And then maybe, I'm not sure if you're able to answer this because a lot of the information be coming from one of your streaming partners, but there's a significant a lot of optionality that's starting to show up in your portfolio. And I guess the main would be outside of what we saw at San Dimas, but at Peñasquito the CEP process with the pyrite leach, with potentially some of the development of the skarns to underneath the open pit. Have you guys looked at what type of lift is potential there for you guys on a silver basis if all that were to happen?

Randy Smallwood

Management

Yes, if fact, Goldcorp the operator has come out with their own forecast and so the profitable benefits out to be around 1 million ounces a year, a little bit over 1 million a year of silver production and that would be our portion of it. So it is -- if you are talking about I mean I just have to say they continue that asset just continues to improve every quarter and Goldcorp and that operating team is doing a fantastic job of maturing that mining to a great asset.

Dan Rollins

Analyst · RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Perfect, well, thanks guys. That’s all I have. Good quarter. RBC Capital Markets: Perfect, well, thanks guys. That’s all I have. Good quarter.

Randy Smallwood

Management

Thank you, Dan and thanks everyone for dialing in. Just a couple of closing comments, the second quarter we did see a lot happen in our company of course Salobo Dosc, Constancia moving forward Salobo to starting up Peñasquito having a record quarter in the Rosemont of course changing and so, as we approach our 10th anniversary and the founding of Silver Wheaton and the creation the streaming model. We are confident that our margin diverse portfolio will provide the foundation on which we’ll continue to grow our company and drive towards being the best investment in the precious metals industry. So, thanks again everyone for dialing in and I do hope that you enjoy rest of the summer. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

This concludes your conference call for today. Thank you for participating, please disconnect your lines.