Compañía de Minas Buenaventura - Q3 2024
October 31, 2024
Transcript
Operator (participant)
Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Compañía de Minas Buenaventura Q3 2024 Earnings Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode, and please note that this call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's call, Mr. Gabriel Salas, Investor Relations Officer. Mr. Salas, you may begin.
Gabriel Salas (Head of Investor Relations)
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss our Q3 2024 results. Today's discussion will be led by Mr. Leandro García, Chief Executive Officer. Also joining our call today and available for your questions are Mr. Daniel Domínguez, Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Juan Carlos Ortiz, Vice President of Operations, Mr. Aldo Massa, Vice President of Business Development and Commercial, Mr. Alejandro Hermosa, Vice President of Sustainability, Mr. Renzo Macher, Vice President of Projects, Mr. Juan Carlos Salazar, Vice President of Geology and Explorations, Mr. Roque Benavides, Chairman, and Mr. Raúl Benavides, Director. Before I hand our call over, let me first touch on a few items. On Buenaventura's website, you will find our press release that was posted yesterday after the market closed. Please note that today's remarks include forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions.
While management believes that its assumptions, expectations, and projections are reasonable in view of the currently available information, we are cautioned not to place any reliance on these forward-looking statements. I encourage you to read the full disclosure concerning forward-looking statements within the earnings results press release issued on October 30, 2024. Let me now turn the call to Mr. Leandro García.
Leandro García (CEO)
Thank you, Gabriel. Good morning to all, and thank you for joining us today to discuss the quarterly results of Compañía de Minas Buenaventura. On slide two is our cautionary statement, important information that I encourage you to read. Today, we will be discussing our performance for the Q3 of 2024, highlighting key achievements and strategies moving forward. After the presentation, we will be available for our question and answer session, where our team will be happy to answer your questions. The next slide, please. In this slide, I would like to highlight a few key areas that contributed to our strong Q3 2024 results. Our EBITDA from direct operations for the Q3 has increased to $132 million compared to the previous year, primarily driven by strong results from Yumpag and El Brocal.
This performance is also reflected in a higher EBITDA margin of 40% compared to 25% in the previous year. Q3 2024 net income, including the sale of Chaupiloma Dos de Mayo Royalty Company, reached $237 million compared to $28 million net loss for the same period in 2023. Copper production decreased 9% year over year. In Q3 2023, copper production at El Brocal had increased due to higher estimated copper content mined from the open pit transactional ore. In the Q3 of 2024, silver production reached 4.4 million ounces, a significant increase compared to the 1.9 million ounces produced during the same period last year. Of this total, 3.2 million ounces came from Uchucchacua and Yumpag. Gold production increased 7% year over year, mainly explained due to increased output at Julcani and La Zanja.
We are pleased to share that Buenaventura completed the sale of its Compañía Minera Chaupiloma Dos de Mayo S.A.A. to Franco-Nevada for $210 million during Q3 2024. Buenaventura's CapEx in Q3 2024 totaled $98 million, which includes $77 million allocated to the San Gabriel project, primarily allocated to the mines' water dump and to power line construction. Buenaventura's credit rating was upgraded by Moody's to B1 with a positive outlook. Moody's cited Buenaventura's operational improvement driven by increased production from its El Brocal, Yumpag, and Uchucchacua mines, as well as efficiency in cost reduction, cash flow generation, and conservative liquidity management as key factors. Our cash position reached $458 million with a total debt of $675 million. We continue leveraging the company, reaching a net debt/EBITDA ratio of 0.5 times, lowest in years and within our target range.
Moving on to our cost structure in slide four, the Q3 2024 all-in sustaining costs have been reduced by 69% year over year. This reduction is primarily attributed to the increased silver contribution from Uchucchacua and Yumpag. Moving on to costs applicable to sales. As you can see, copper cash costs decreased in the quarter mainly due to an increase in volume processed during the quarter, resulting from stockpile processing. The cash costs are in line with the Q3 2023 figure. Silver cash costs have decreased year over year, primarily driven by the higher contribution of silver ounces from Uchucchacua and Yumpag. However, it has increased quarter-over-quarter due to higher exploration expenses and increased costs at Uchucchacua and Yumpag related to ground support works. Gold cash costs have increased year over year, primarily driven by lower grades at Tambomayo and Orcopampa.
On the next slide, we will present our free cash flow generation. The Q3 2024 cash position increased during the quarter, driven mainly by the strong performance of El Brocal, Uchucchacua, and Yumpag, the sale of Chaupiloma Dos de Mayo for $220, and dividends received from Cerro Verde. In addition to these drivers, the EBITDA to cash through the free cash flow reconciliation reflects Buenaventura's current growth phase with significant CapEx investment related to San Gabriel. Moving on to slide six, this slide shows the San Gabriel Project's cumulative progress, reaching 65% overall completion by the Q3 2024, primarily driven by the advancements in the water dam and the power line construction. A key milestone we are closely monitoring for the next quarter is the completion of the pipeline works.
Out of the $650 million total CapEx, we have already executed $350 and committed close to $230, allowing us to risk the project completion at any cost and any cost increase. 100% of the structural steel is now on site, and major contracts for plant and infrastructure have been awarded. On the next slide, we are showing the processing plant's progress that will operate at 3,000 tons per day. Currently, the SAG mill and ball mill mechanical works are at 60%. The primary crusher mechanical works are at 90%. And finally, the CIL tanks mechanical works are at 65%. Moving on to slide eight, we present the progress at various facilities essential for the underground mine development, including the North Ramp Portal, fine installations, and the shotcrete plant. Moving on to slide nine, we are showing the progress at various infrastructure of the project.
We can say the filter tailing plant, the water dam, the power line, and the campsite 100% completed. Finally, to our closing remarks, I would like to finish with the presentation with these comments. First, Uchucchacua exceeded expectations, reaching an average throughput of 1,500 tons per day earlier than expected, while Yumpag maintained steady production on 1,000 tons per day, delivering 3.2 million ounces of silver in the Q3. Second, at El Brocal, we successfully processed 100% of the stockpile ore, enabling us to meet our production targets for the first nine months of 2024. The underground mine reached a record average throughput of approximately 12,000 tons per day during the quarter. Third, the San Gabriel Project achieved a 65% overall progress, meeting our plant targets. Buenaventura continues the risk in the project by completing engineering and procurement.
Lastly, I am pleased to report a record low leverage ratio of 0.5 times for the quarter, driven by strong EBITDA growth, the sale of non-core assets, and effective debt management. Thank you for your attention, and I will hand the call back to the operator to open the line for questions. Operator, please go ahead.
Operator (participant)
We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. The first question is from Cesar Perez Novoa from BTG Pactual. Please go ahead.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and congratulations for your Q3, really outstanding results and a lot of progress. If I may, I have three questions. The first one relates to El Brocal. I believe the company is on track to achieve average mining rates of around 11,000 metric tons in 2024. However, during the Q3, copper production fell around 10%, even though your average rates for the quarter stood at 12,000 metric tons per day. Can you please comment on why the volume fell and when will El Brocal reach the targeted rate of 12,500 per day, if I recall correctly? My second question relates to San Gabriel. Leandro mentioned that completion is already at 68%. Could you please comment on project economics now that you have fully revised CapEx? And in addition, any new update on Trapiche would be also greatly appreciated.
And finally, if I may, again, if you could indicate where your sources of inflows and outflows of cash will be in the next year, including your dividends from Cerro Verde. I asked a lot of questions, but thank you very much for taking them.
Leandro García (CEO)
Thank you, Cesar, of course. Regarding El Brocal, we already reached the objective to treat 12,000 tons per day. This objective was planned to be reached on December this year, but we reached it before. Maybe Juan Carlos Ortiz can give more explanations to the production of copper, please.
Thank you, Leandro, and thank you, Cesar, for the question. Yes, we reached 12,000 tons per day average rate production in the mine. We are planning to keep ramping up this rate up to 12.5 thousand tons per day, probably by the first or Q2 of 2025. So we are on track to reach full capacity of the underground mine as we plan it. The difference in between Q3 2023 and Q3 2024 in copper production, that 10% lower production compared between quarters, is because in the last year, we have production and exceptional production of during shipping ore from the open pit. We have like 12,000 tons straight from the open pit, crush it, and sell it directly to the market with an average of 12% copper. So you have almost 1.4 thousand tons of fine coppers as a spot sale on Q3 2023.
That's the main difference between the Q3 2023, when we have this spot production, and Q3 2024, when 100% of the copper production came from the underground mine. That's the main difference of copper production between quarters.
Continuing with the second question, you were asking about the economics of San Gabriel. San Gabriel, we are planning to have an EBITDA around $100 million per year. Our cash costs should be around $1,300, and with a sustaining CapEx yearly about between $5 and $7 million. And more important, the production will be around 130,000 ounces per year. And in terms of inflow and cash flow, Daniel, please, can you give more color to the question?
Yes, of course. Thank you, Cesar, for your question. For 2025, we expect to start the year with a cash position of around $370 million, and considering the prices for gold of $2,100, for silver $27, and for copper, $9,000 per ton, we estimate an EBITDA for the following year of around $350-$380 million. In addition to this, we expect to receive $150 million of dividends from Cerro Verde. This is regarding the inflows, and regarding the outflows, we expect to spend at San Gabriel close to $240-$250 million, plus our sustaining CapEx, which is in the order of $100-$120 million.
Finally, we are going to pay the taxes for the Chaupiloma sale, which we received $210 million this year, but we are going to pay the corporate tax of 29.5%, which is $45 million, and will be paid in the Q1of next year. All right. Very good. Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. Thank you all.
No, Cesar, I left for the end your question about Trapiche. Any news about Trapiche? We continue with the feasibility study, and Renzo, please, if you can give more information to Cesar.
Sure. So exactly, we're in the middle of the feasibility study. We are starting to receive the test results from our second set of column testing on-site, confirming the business case. We keep working to consolidate the right-of-way for the power line. We are probably 60% advanced in that one. And in the environmental impact assessment process, we finished the public assemblies. Those are great news. We are in the process of resolving the authority questions. So hopefully, within the next six months, we should have an environmental impact assessment approval.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay. Very clear. Thank you very much.
Operator (participant)
The next question is from Carlos De Alba with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Carlos, your line is open on our end. Perhaps you have it muted on yours.
Carlos De Alba (Analyst)
Yep. Thanks. Good morning. Sorry about that. So I have several questions. The first one is on San Gabriel, just continuing the discussion there. Any expectations, any guidance on how do you see the mine ramping up to full normalized production run rate of 130,000 ounces per year? It seems that the first ore is in the Q2 of next year. So how do you see the ramp-up?
Leandro García (CEO)
Thank you, Carlos. Well, Renzo, Juan Carlos, please.
Sorry.
Go ahead, Renzo.
Yep, so the startup plan, we're expecting to reach 65% of our production capacity by the Q3 of 2025, with commissioning activities on the mill and crusher starting in the Q1 next year, and then we're going to start the ramp-up process up to 3,000. I don't know if Juan Carlos, you can comment on that part.
Sure. We have right now the contractor running the tunnels on the ground. We have two crews, two fleets working for the north and the south ramps at the same pace. We are reaching an average development rate of about 500-600 meters per month. We are getting into the ore body right now. So we are scheduled to have access to the pilot test, the initial pilot test by December this year in order to start training our people on the mining method that we are using San Gabriel and continue with this training along the first half of 2025. We are close to the decision to purchase all the mining equipment. That's for the mining operation.
We have good delivery times, so even for renting equipment and new equipment according to the plan that we have for ramping up the whole production of the unit, so we are well on track for the mine development side, along, as Renzo mentioned, with the construction and commissioning of the processing plant.
Carlos De Alba (Analyst)
Thank you. Just to clarify, the 65% of capacity by the Q3 of 2025, is that throughput, or is this your final production?
Leandro García (CEO)
No, no, no. That's the 65%, which equals 2,000 tons per day. That's when the project will end with a constant production of 2,000 tons per day for three weeks without major stops and with a commercial product at the end. That's kind of where we finish project and we start operation. That's it.
Carlos De Alba (Analyst)
All right. Got it. Okay. Then the next question on Cerro Verde. Any expectations for dividends in the Q4?
Leandro García (CEO)
You may see the financials of Cerro Verde, and there is some cash that we expect to maybe we will discuss in the next board meeting.
Carlos De Alba (Analyst)
How much would it be, your expectations?
Leandro García (CEO)
We expect an additional $50 or $60 million for us, for Buenaventura.
Carlos De Alba (Analyst)
$50-$60 million for Buenaventura in the Q4, potentially?
Leandro García (CEO)
Potentially. Exactly.
Carlos De Alba (Analyst)
Yeah. All right. Great. And then on a couple of operations, what can we expect on Coimolache profitability in the coming quarters, given that despite the good prices, it is struggling in the Q3?
Leandro García (CEO)
The current situation in El Brocal, we are expecting a permit.
Carlos De Alba (Analyst)
Comolache?
Leandro García (CEO)
Yes. Coimolache, we are expecting a permit for continuing our operations. And once we have the permit, the production will come as we were used to, around 70,000 ounces per year. We expect to put more mineral, more ore in the leach pad that has been constructed, and we are expecting that permit. And we will begin production in the Qq3 of between the Q3 and the Q4 in the next year. Maybe more detail, Juan Carlos can give it. Thank you, Leandro. Yes. Our profitability for this quarter and maybe the incoming quarter is close to a break-even situation in Coimolache. We are extracting gold from the inventories that we hold on the pad. As Leandro was mentioning, we already have the environmental license to do the expansion of the pads. We will hold the land.
We are currently filing for the construction permit, so we're fit to have the construction permit ready by the end of this year, early 2025, and there are some other details on the permits, but on that sequence of ideas, we will have the chance to start putting fresh ore on top of the pad by the Q3 of 2025, so the idea is that we hold this situation kind of close to break-even, cash break-even, until we reach the permit for construction, permit for placing fresh ore on top of the pad by the Q3 of 2025, and at that time, we will resume profitability that we had in the past.
Carlos De Alba (Analyst)
But so basically, if you're going to resume leaching in the Q3, probably you only see production until the Q4 of 2025 or Q1 of 2026, or increase?
Leandro García (CEO)
Yeah. It will be ramping up. Yes. It will be ramping up. As you know, you start placing the ore, and you have a leaching period, total leaching period of total loss, 60 days. So usually, you need to start waiting, but Q3 of next year will be a pivotal moment for Coimolache getting back into profitability because there will be some gold ounces coming from the pad, the existing inventory that we have, and we are taking it out right now, plus the addition of fresh ore in the Q3. So it will be a combination of both of them. So probably the fresh ore will add a lot of fuel for the profitability of Coimolache by the Q3.
Carlos De Alba (Analyst)
All right. Excellent. And then lastly, sorry for all these questions, but just to get them out of the way, on Julcani, what is the rationale to sustain or to keep this operation in Buenaventura's portfolio, given the elevated cost?
Leandro García (CEO)
Yeah. Well, we are trying to make more efficient Julcani. We have to take some decisions there, but we are moving from the copper and gold areas that give us more production of gold in order to be more efficient with that mine. As I told you, Carlos, we are evaluating the situation and the continuity of that mine in our portfolio.
Carlos De Alba (Analyst)
Okay. Thank you very much, everyone. Good quarter.
Leandro García (CEO)
Thank you. Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Again, if you have a question, please press star, then one. The next question is from Tanya Jakusconek with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Great. Good morning or good afternoon, everybody. Thank you so much for taking my question. Sorry, I just got on a bit late. There was another call ahead of you. Just wanted to come back to San Gabriel. Can I just ask? I think I heard an EBITDA of 110 million. Was that a San Gabriel EBITDA?
Leandro García (CEO)
Yes. Between $90 million and $110 million. Yes. $90 million between $90 and $110 million. Yes.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay, and sorry, what gold price was that based on?
Leandro García (CEO)
2,000.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
$2,000. Okay. All right. Thank you so much for that. Can I just ask? I heard you mentioned the total cash cost went to $1,300. And I think originally the feasibility study or your plan was $800. So that's like a 60% increase. Can someone explain to me what has happened to these total cash costs? It's not just inflation. It's something changed in the mine plan?
Leandro García (CEO)
Yes. Yes. The mining method has been changed. Juan Carlos, I don't know if you can give more information to Tanya. Yeah. Sure, Leandro. Well, if we split the operation of San Gabriel into the mine, the processing plant, and the overhead expenses, pretty much the processing plant and the overhead pretty much are aligned with the feasibility study, feasibility studies, operating costs. The main difference is on the underground mine. Right now that we get our hands on the mine, as I mentioned before, we are running tunnels and assessing the quality of the rock, and what is the safe way to proceed to mine the deposit? The quality of the rock is very poor. We require a lot of reinforcement, and we need to change the volume of ore that will be extracted with underhand mining methods compared to the original study.
So it's a combination of more expensive tunnels to be driven in this poor quality rock, more expensive openings to be made due to the quality of the rock, and a larger percentage of ore extracted by the underhand mining method instead of the overhand. So the underhand is more expensive. We're required to use more cemented backfill with 7% cement. So the combination of all these factors is the one that makes the significant change on the operating costs of San Gabriel.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
So can I ask what is the operating cost per ton of this operation? If you take the mining plus the milling plus the G&A processing, so what would it be? Is it like $200 a ton? I don't know anymore. $250?
Leandro García (CEO)
In the initial years, it will be in the order of $150 per ton, and then gradually, when we start doing less of the expensive openings, the first cut that we need to make for the underhand, we will start coming down to $140, $135 per ton. That's a combination of processing, overhead, and the underground mine.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay. And that's U.S. dollars?
Leandro García (CEO)
US dollars.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Yeah. Okay. And can I ask, when did you understand that the mining costs had to change? Was this a recent thing that once you started to put the decline in and you started to see the rock conditions, or when did you kind of note that you had to change?
Leandro García (CEO)
Yeah. It happened recently once we started driving the tunnels along the ore body. In the last two quarters, we started in May with the contractor driving tunnels in the ore body. So we had the chance to reassess the quality of the rock. We redo all the geomechanics, then the selection of the mining method, and then we need to rerun the mining planning, all the mine plan. There were some opportunities. We reduced a lot of tunneling in the new design, almost in the order of $100 million of less expenses on tunneling to be made in the new arrangement. That is offset by the larger expenses on cemented backfill.
So it was in the last five months to six months that we have more thorough access to the ore body, or assessment not by drill holes, but with openings, galleries, in which we know better the quality of the rock. And we are on that conservative side of the equation. So we are now putting more shock feed and reinforcement. And probably during the operation, we will test if that is necessary, or there are some opportunities that we foresee right now to reduce the expenses and do something more efficient in the coming months.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
And just on the sustaining capital, which you mentioned would be $5-$7 million. Most of the companies that we follow with underground mines and that sort of range would have maybe $200 an ounce of sustaining capital, which brings it to $25 million a year. Can you explain to me why your sustaining capital is so low?
Leandro García (CEO)
Our decision on sustaining capital is just to keep all the assets in good shape, keep maintaining all the equipment that we have. So we have experience in Tambomayo, Orcopampa, San Gabriel, mature operations. We know pretty much what we need. So everything that we need for the construction and the spare parts, any auxiliary service is being taken down or considered inside the CapEx. So that's the reason that in the coming years, after completion of the project, we only expect to be in the range of less than $10 million sustaining CapEx as we see for maintenance of all the facilities. It's a very compact footprint, and it's a brand new operation. So we expect to be in that range based on our experience and the dynamics of the project itself.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay. Maybe if I can leave San Gabriel and go to just talking about just your costs as you go into 2025. Can someone just share with me, as you think about your budgeting of your costs, what sort of labor inflation are you forecasting or overall inflation for 2025 estimates over 2024?
Leandro García (CEO)
Yes, Tanya. During the COVID time, there was an increase in the labor cost due to the cost of inflation. The inflation rate we reached around 9%. But the last year, we expect to have this year 2.4%-2.5% of inflation. So in that range should be the increase in labor costs. We normally are at those levels with inflation.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
And what about other items within your cost structure? So when I think about your 2025 costs, should I just think that they're only 2.5% higher than 2024, or are there other things within your cost structure that will move those costs more than 2.5%?
Leandro García (CEO)
In our operations, 60% of our cost comes from the contractors and the manpower, right? So it's the key component of our operations. Remember, we are trying to replace the contractor in the most important mines. We are trying to replace the contractors with our own people and our own equipment. So we should expect in the long run, not necessarily in the 2025, but it's a strategy that we are beginning this 2025 year. So we expect to reduce the cost of tunneling or all the labor we need in our mines. So we shouldn't expect any important increase in our cost.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay. And of the 60% of your cost, which is labor, what percentage of that is just contractors? Is it half? Is it a third?
Leandro García (CEO)
Yeah. Exactly. That can be half, right? Daniel, I don't know if.
Daniel Domínguez (CFO)
If I can give you a little bit more detail of this, Tanya.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Yeah.
Daniel Domínguez (CFO)
The labor is between 16%-20% of our total costs. Total contractors are 56%. From this 56%, 25% is labor from contractors. So the 16% plus the 14% are labor. This will be affected by the 2%-4% inflation that Leandro mentioned.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
So if 16% is your own people and then 14% is contractors?
Daniel Domínguez (CFO)
Correct.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
So 16 plus 14 gets me to 30%. 30% is labor.
Daniel Domínguez (CFO)
That will be affected.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay. All right.
Daniel Domínguez (CFO)
Yes. That's correct. Yeah.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Yeah. Okay. Perfect. Thank you so much, and then, Daniel, while I have you on, I saw obviously you've got your Cerro Verde dividend, which you got about, I think, was it $60 million. And then we got the $210 million from the sale of the royalties to Franco-Nevada. So now you have more cash than debt on your balance sheet. Can you just review with me your capital allocation for that additional cash? Obviously, you've got $280 million or whatever the number was to pay for San Gabriel still, right? We have to finish San Gabriel, but maybe your capital allocation on all this cash on the balance sheet.
Daniel Domínguez (CFO)
Yes, Tanya. At this point in time, we will use all the profits from Cerro Verde dividend and the asset sale to fund San Gabriel. Remember that we have $200 million in revolving facilities, RCFs, that we haven't used. So those facilities will remain and run because we count with these profits. So at this point in time, the funds will be devoted to fund San Gabriel.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay. And we just continue to pay the dividend as per formula? So cash goes to fund the San Gabriel. And is there any money going to Trapiche that I should know about this feasibility study? How much is this costing?
Daniel Domínguez (CFO)
We are spending at Trapiche around $20 million per year until we reach the pre-feasibility study. So that is the average. And regarding the dividends, we continue paying dividends as every year. Next year, we should evaluate what would be the amount of dividend paid considering the good performance of the company this year.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay. So if I understand, all of the cash and Cerro Verde dividend go to San Gabriel, and then your debt outstanding will just be paid over time with your cash flow. Would that be a safe assumption?
Daniel Domínguez (CFO)
Exactly. We will pay $50 million of El Brocal loan. We are doing this this quarter. So maybe you will see at the end of the year, $50 million less in cash.
Tanya Jakusconek (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)
Okay. Okay. Got it. Thank you so much, and I look forward to hopefully seeing San Gabriel when it's up and running.
Leandro García (CEO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the question and answer session of today's conference call. I would like to turn it back over to management for closing remarks.
Leandro García (CEO)
Thank you very much. Before we finish today's conference call, we are excited to announce that Buenaventura's Annual Investor Day will be held. This event is an excellent opportunity for us to connect with you. This Buenaventura's Day will be held on December 10th in New York. There we will share our latest updates and discuss our strategic vision and key projects for the coming year. We hope you all join to gain deeper insight into Buenaventura's growth plans and operational progress. Please save the date and keep an eye for more details coming soon. We look forward to seeing you in New York, and again, thank you very much and have a wonderful day. Thank you.
Operator (participant)
The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.