Ero Copper - Earnings Call - Q1 2025

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Ero Copper First Quarter 2025 Operating and Financial Results Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star, then zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Courtney Lynn, Executive Vice President, External Affairs and Strategy. Please go ahead.

Courtney Lynn (EVP of External Affairs and Strategy)

Thank you, Operator. Good morning and welcome to Ero Copper's First Quarter Earnings Call. Our operating and financial results were released yesterday afternoon and are available on our website, along with our financial statements and MD&A for the three months ended March 31, 2025. A corresponding earnings presentation can be downloaded directly from the webcast and is also available in the presentation section of our website. Joining me on the call today are Makko DeFilippo, President and Chief Executive Officer; Wayne Drier, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Gelson Batista, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that today's discussion will include forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially.

For a detailed discussion of these risks and their potential impact on our business, please refer to our most recent annual information form available on our website as well as on SEDAR and EDGAR. Unless otherwise noted, all figures discussed today are in USD. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Makko DeFilippo.

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Thank you, Courtney, and thank you, everyone, for taking the time to join us today. Our first quarter marked a critical period to set up our operations and our company for success. During these first few months of 2025, we have made meaningful progress towards achieving our near-term objectives while laying important groundwork for sustainable growth in copper production, increased operating margins, and long-term value creation across our portfolio. I am deeply thankful for the ongoing contributions of our global leadership team towards achieving this vision. Our near-term strategy for Ero is simple, and it remains unchanged. As I have said before, there are four steps to this strategy. Step one: achieve commercial production at Tucumã. Two: deleverage our balance sheet. Three: aggressively advance long-term growth initiatives, including our partnership on Furnas. Step four: initiate returns to shareholders.

Starting with Tucumã and the first step of our strategy, we remain on track to achieve commercial production over the coming weeks. It was a productive start to the year that involved two extended periods of planned downtime in January and February in order to address plant bottlenecks that we identified during the ramp-up of the operation in late 2024. The successful execution of this program allowed consistent mill throughput, and with the elevated grades that we are seeing early in the mine life, the month of March accounted for more than half of Tucumã's total plant throughput and copper production during the first quarter. In April, we focused our attention on one of the last remaining items outstanding on our punch list: repairing the damaged third tailings filter, which we completed at the end of the month.

We expect throughput volumes to increase steadily over the coming weeks and months as a result of these modifications and repairs. With respect to timing of commercial production, it is worth noting that Tucumã operation contributed a significant portion to our consolidated net income and EBITDA during the first quarter. That said, it is still early in May, and we are taking a measured approach here to ensure that the expected throughput improvements following the release of the third filter are maintained prior to making this designation. In summary, we're closing gaps on commercial production at Tucumã. We are setting solid foundations to ensure long-term success for the operation, and we are reaffirming our guidance ranges for the full year. The growing contribution from Tucumã will position us well to begin delivering on our second near-term objective of deleveraging our balance sheet.

While we expect this to occur naturally with increasing consolidated EBITDA, assuming metal prices remain constructive, we expect to begin repaying our revolving credit facility during the second half of the year. In parallel, we have continued to aggressively advance our longer-term growth initiatives. These efforts are concentrated currently at Furnas, where we have eight drill rigs operating on site. We remain on track to complete the phase one drill program during the third quarter of this year and are pleased with the results we are seeing thus far. In parallel, we are advancing confirmatory technical work in support of a preliminary economic assessment on the project, which we expect to publish in the first half of 2026.

Before I turn the call over to Wayne, I would like to share a bit of detail on our operating performance during the first quarter at Caraíba and Xavantina and touch on the investments we are making there to enhance operational flexibility and further support long-term growth. At our Caraíba operations, lower planned mine and process copper grades resulted in a quarter-on-quarter decline in copper production and elevated unit costs during the first quarter. While total mine and process tonnage remained relatively flat compared to the fourth quarter, we've begun to see the benefits of our additional investment in development, which resulted in target mining rates being achieved at the Pilar mine in March.

In further support of this effort, we successfully mobilized a second underground development contractor during the quarter, and we expect sequential growth in mine and process volumes and, as a result, copper production through the remainder of the year at Caraíba. At our Xavantina operations, total mine and process volumes increased by more than 27% quarter-on-quarter. However, lower grades mined and processed resulted in a decrease in total gold production. While a modest decrease in production was anticipated during the first quarter, grades encountered within planned operational areas were slightly below expectations. In addition, the need for additional ground support at access points of several newly developed higher-grade areas within San Antonio delayed contributions from this area. Through the remainder of the year, continued investment in low-profile mining equipment and support infrastructure is expected to support increased mine and process volumes.

We see grades improving as compared to the first quarter, which we expect will support higher production levels and lower unit costs as we move forward. To ensure we have sufficient time for Q&A, I will leave it there and pass the call to Wayne, who will provide more detail on our financial results.

Wayne Drier (EVP and CFO)

Thank you, Makko. Our financial results reflect the growing contribution from the Tucumã operation and stronger metal prices, which together drove quarter-on-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $65.4 million and adjusted net income attributable to owners of the company of $35.8 million, or $0.35 per share. We ended the quarter with a solid liquidity position of $116 million, supported by several actions to further strengthen our balance sheet and support long-term growth. In January, we amended our credit facility to reflect our expanded operating footprint, increasing total commitments from $150 million to $200 million. In March, we drew the remaining $25 million available under our copper prepayment facility to support working capital needs related to the ramp-up at Tucumã.

To help protect cash flows amid continued macroeconomic uncertainty and copper price volatility, we opportunistically entered into zero-cost copper collars covering 3,000 tons of copper per month from April through September of this year. These contracts provide downside protection at a floor price of $4 per pound, with an average ceiling price of $4.68 per pound. Just prior to quarter end, we also extended our stream agreement with Royal Gold in exchange for $50 million in upfront proceeds, bringing total proceeds under the Xavantina stream to $160 million. With key capital investments underway at Xavantina, this transaction offered a dedicated, non-dilutive source of funding to support investments focused on asset integrity and margin expansion. Turning to our foreign exchange hedge program, our total notional position at quarter end was $332.5 million, consisting of zero-cost collars with a weighted average floor and ceiling of BRL 5.52 and 6.49 per U.S. dollar, respectively.

These extend through to June 2026. While we recorded a realized loss of $2.2 million related to collars that matured in December 2024, the BRL to U.S. dollar exchange rate remained largely within our collar range during the first quarter. I'll now pass the call back to Makko for some closing remarks.

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Thank you, Wayne. Before we move into the Q&A session, I want to take a moment to reiterate our commitment to delivering on our four-pillar strategy over the near term. Achieving commercial production at Tucumã remains our top priority. With that, I'll now turn the call back to the Operator to open the line for questions.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. To join the question queue, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. The first question comes from Dalton Baretto with Canaccord. Please go ahead.

Dalton Baretto (Managing Director of Equity Research)

Thanks. Good morning, guys. Hey, Makko, thanks for the operating collar through March there. I'm wondering if you can give us an update at all three assets and how they're doing in April. Thank you.

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Yeah, thanks, Dalton. Appreciate the question. Look, let's just kind of run through the list here. In April, starting at Xavantina, we're seeing grades improving. We're seeing productivity increase from the mine as we expect it to come out at a Q1 here. Positive indications on that side of things. In Caraíba, obviously, we're now starting to see the benefits of the third-party contractor at Caraíba, and specifically the Pilar mine. Being able to maintain target mining rates at Pilar is obviously a very important milestone for us to be able to improve the consistency and operating performance there. Pretty encouraged about what we're seeing on both of our operating assets, given the transformational program that we started at the tail end of last year and committed and continued here through the first quarter.

At Tucumã, I think, as we outlined on the call here, we completed the third filter press repairs at the very end of the month. I would say from April's perspective, it was aligned with our expectations in terms of being able to execute on that program. Until the third filter press is fully operational, we expect throughput volumes to be somewhat muted, and that was reflected in our guidance range for the full year and our expectations for the first half. Stay tuned on that side. As I said, pretty pleased with the performance overall across all three of our operations. Stay tuned.

Dalton Baretto (Managing Director of Equity Research)

Great. Thanks for that, Makko. If I can just maybe ask a question of Wayne there, maybe a bit more about how to scheme that item. I think there was a $43 million advance to customers on your cash flow statement. Just wondering if you can wrap some context around that. Thanks.

Wayne Drier (EVP and CFO)

Yeah, sure, Dalton. I mean, if you actually have a look at the accounts receivable for the quarter, that was exceptionally elevated as well. What that was, was that we switched some sales from one trading house to another late in the quarter. What you really see is an elevated accounts payable, but also an elevated accounts receivable. It is really just some accounting treatment right at the end of the quarter.

Dalton Baretto (Managing Director of Equity Research)

Got it. Thanks very much, Wayne. That's all from me.

Operator (participant)

The next question comes from Emerson Verrier with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Emerson Verrier (Investment Banking Associate)

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity. I have a question on Tucumã. First, you guys mentioned that going forward, we would expect lower grades and improving throughput. I just want to understand the reason why we expect grades to be marginally lower. Is this a result of fine-tuning in the ball mills? Can you please elaborate on that? That is the first question. A second one goes on Xavantina. I also want to understand why we should expect grades improving in the coming quarters. Is this just a consequence of a soft comparison base, or indeed there is a structural improvement in grades? Would that come back to last year's levels? Just a final one on Xavantina, and also connecting to liquidity management, I see that you guys incremented the Xavantina stream gold agreement by some 70,000 ounces with implied better prices, indeed.

Considering the current outlook for gold prices and the positive outlook on Tucumã's ramp-up as well, I wonder if this gold streaming strategy will continue to be part of the company's liquidity management going forward. Thank you.

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Perfect. Perfect. Thank you. Lot to unpack there, but I took notes. If I miss anything, I apologize. Let's run through those in order. Starting first with Tucumã, the increasing throughput and declining grade, I want to stress as a bit of context that that was always part of the strategy. The Tucumã deposit has very, very high-grade upper benches of the mine. It's phase zero, phase I. It is very high-grade. As we move through that near-surface high-grade mineralization, we do expect grades to decline. That has been an artifact of the project since inception. It's the reason that we have such a high return on that project and the operation. We're seeing that.

I think, as we alluded to over the last couple of quarters, what we saw in our infill drilling was, in fact, a bit higher grade in some of these areas than we expected. We are really encouraged with the signs that we are seeing on the grades. Obviously, we expect, as we move through that high grade, for grades to decline. I would note, just from an outlook perspective, that to the extent that throughputs remain lower than the original design, that extends that high grade further out in time, but the contained metal volume is the same. That is starting with Tucumã. That is an artifact of geology and the mine plan. Xavantina, I think, it is really important to look at the context here. We went through two years of significant positive grade reconciliation to the tune of more than 15%.

When I look at the first quarter in that context, yes, some of the operational areas that we had were a bit lower grade. We also planned for lower grade throughout the year relative to prior periods. We see the grades here in April and the early part of May returning to sort of normalized levels against our full year. I think it was really a moment in time. We also had, as I outlined in the call, a couple of levels that required some additional ground support in the access that delayed the mining of these levels, which are seeing higher grades, and we expect higher grades to continue. I think that historical context is important there. In terms of liquidity management, obviously, very pleased with where the gold price is.

I think commodity prices in general are having a strong tailwind here, and we're quite pleased with that. The stream itself, as part of our ongoing strategy, look, from my perspective, we have a big capital outlay at Xavantina this year. We're putting in quite a bit of low-profile equipment. We, as Wayne mentioned, have a big asset integrity program. What we sought to do with the stream was, I'd say, less of a liquidity management tool, but rather as a partnership to further develop that asset. We have a great partner in Royal Gold. They've been supportive of this project for the last several years. They continue to invest alongside us in this asset. They believe in our exploration programs. They support us in the work that we do around the community.

I think, from my perspective, it was an opportunity to tap into that partnership to further advance Xavantina at a time when we don't get rewarded for that capital investment that we're making.

Emerson Verrier (Investment Banking Associate)

All right. Very clear, Makko. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

The next question comes from Aritz Wackedown with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Hi, good morning. Just on the Tucumã ramp, now that you have completed the maintenance work and the replacement of the third filter press, is there anything left that has been identified to date that still needs to be replaced, repaired? I am wondering if there is meaningful scheduled maintenance ahead over the next couple of months that we should be aware of.

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Yeah, thanks, Aritz. I'd say in terms of big building pieces, I think we're pretty happy with where we're at. Obviously, we're going to continue to adapt that and review any additional modifications that are needed as we ramp up volumes. In terms of the items that we identified last year during ramp-up, the major constraints and bottlenecks that we identified, we've substantively completed those. We don't anticipate any major downtime. Obviously, we still have planned maintenance for the mill and planned maintenance for the filter presses. We expect periodic downtime, but nothing to the extent of what we saw in January and February of this year.

Okay. As a follow-up, can you give us an update on what's happening with the power situation at Tucumã? Are you still having issues where the mill is going down temporarily in terms of the oscillating, I guess, power on the grid, or is that now behind you and is the permanent solution now in place?

Yeah. Thanks, Aritz. We do still see oscillations on the power line, for sure. We haven't seen the levels of disruption since we implemented the solution that we put in place late last year. We've been pretty happy with the performance of that system. We're still evaluating a longer-term solution to normalize power, as we discussed last quarter. During the first quarter, I would say the one area that we focused on was expanding the data collection time period and also the reach in terms of distance from our operation. We want to make sure that what we put in place covers the asset not only for this year, but for the life of the mine. That data collection process is over. We're continuing to work here in the second quarter on design and implementation of what that looks like exactly.

Again, with the performance that we've seen and the consistency of operations, we don't see that as a big bottleneck going forward. Obviously, we still want to address that issue for the long term, but in the near to medium term, we don't see that as a big gating item.

Okay. Can you quantify that for us in terms of sort of the current state? How many times a month is power tripping? Just trying to get a sense of how much that's impacting the ramp-up still.

Yeah. As I said, we don't see that as being a gating item for us right now.

Okay. Great.

Operator (participant)

The next question comes from Guilherme Rosito with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Guilherme Rosito (Equity Research Analyst)

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking my questions. My first question is on Tucumã as well. I am just trying to understand. I know you reaffirmed commercial production in the first half of 2025, but since we are already in May and the first half ends next month, my question is, should we expect something for this month or to the end of the first half just to get a clear sense on when it should happen? My second question, Caraíba, costs, of course, were higher, but volumes were low. Nevertheless, costs were below the top end of the C1 guidance. I am just trying to understand here, as grades pick up, as volumes pick up, if you can expect C1 to be around the bottom end of your guidance for this year. Thank you.

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Yeah, both good questions. On timing of commercial production, as I said, we're being thoughtful about how we view that delineation, that designation. We just came through the final repairs of that filter press, so we want to see that operating for a bit of time here. When we say we're on track for the first half of the year, I'm going to stick with that and rather give the first half of the year. Feel comfortable with that. In terms of differentiating between May and June, we'll skip that detail for now. In terms of costs at Caraíba, yeah, look, it's a great point. We've made a huge effort across our organization on margin expansion. Obviously, we benefited a little bit here in the first quarter from the foreign exchange. We continue to see that supporting U.S. dollar operating margins through right now.

We'll see what happens through the balance of the year. We've historically planned our operations at relatively conservative FX rates. Obviously, as Wayne mentioned, we have the floors in place at BRL 5.50. We're very happy with where we see operating margins and some of the effort that we've been making, that we've been putting in place on procurement and operating efficiencies making an impact. We expect that to continue going forward.

Guilherme Rosito (Equity Research Analyst)

Great. Thank you very much.

Operator (participant)

The next question comes from Craig Hutchison with TD Cowen. Please go ahead.

Craig Hutchison (Analyst)

Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Just again, back on Tucumã, I think you mentioned that the final repair of the filter presses was done at the end of April. Is that a month behind? Because I think the original guidance was end of Q1.

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Yeah. Thanks, Craig. We always plan for that to be done towards the end of Q1. I think it would slip by a couple of weeks there. We had planned in our outlook for the year for, as I said early on, a wide range of possibilities in terms of getting people and equipment to site. We do not view that couple-week slip in the schedule as being significant for our outlook on the full year at Tucumã.

Craig Hutchison (Analyst)

Okay. Great. Can you just define how do you guys define commercial production? What are those metrics again?

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Yeah. I think we've been pretty clear all along what those metrics are. As I outlined on the last quarterly conference call, we are reviewing those in the context of where we see filter press performance on the concentrate side. As we outlined here in Q1, March was a very strong month, producing well over half of the consolidated copper or half of the copper production from Tucumã for the quarter. I think one of the things that we've been talking about, Craig, is that when you look at the grades process at Tucumã, particularly within the highest grade, higher grades per year over 2% copper, that's more than double the average life of mine grade. I think we're still having those discussions as a team.

I think one of the important points to note is that recovery and concentrate grades continue to perform aligned or better than what we expected. There are two metrics we look at. Obviously, throughput rates is one and consistency of performance. Recovery and concentrate grades is another. We feel that we're very close on both of those fronts.

Craig Hutchison (Analyst)

Okay. Great. And one last question. Just the mining rates at Tucumã came off quite a lot this quarter. Is that just a function you have plenty of inventories at this point, and those trucks are just put idle, or are they redirected to tailings management facility work?

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Yeah. Thanks, Craig. Absolutely. You hit it on the head. We've been progressing well ahead of the mine plan for the last couple of years here, basically since we started pre-strip. We have a huge amount of inventory on stockpiles. We moved our mining fleet, did not stop operations. They did moderate a little bit in the first quarter, but they moved to waste stripping. It is part of the reason that we saw an elevated stripping ratio in the first quarter. We have resumed here mining activities in the second quarter.

Craig Hutchison (Analyst)

Great. Thanks, guys.

Operator (participant)

Once again, if you have a question, please press star, then one. The next question comes from Kate Nakagawa with CIBC. Please go ahead.

Kate Nakagawa (Analyst)

Good morning, and thank you for taking my question. I'm asking on behalf of my analyst, Anita Soni. I'm just looking to understand the commentary around mobilization of the contractors at Caraíba in March. Does that mean we should be expecting mining costs to increase for the remainder of the year, or will they remain relatively in line with the mining costs we saw in Q1? Thank you.

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Yeah. Thanks. It's important to note that most of the development that we're doing with third-party contractors is capitalized. So that's been fully reflected in our guidance. There's perhaps a very small allocation to operating costs, but in general, our development contractors mobilize to capitalize development. So we don't see that impacting our operating costs.

Kate Nakagawa (Analyst)

Great. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

We have a follow-up question from Dalton Baretto with Canaccord. Please go ahead.

Dalton Baretto (Managing Director of Equity Research)

Yeah. Thanks for taking my follow-up, guys. I thought I'd switch gears a little bit. I feel like we haven't talked about exploration in some time now. Makko, can you give us an update on sort of how you're allocating the dollars you're spending today and what you're seeing? Thanks.

Craig Hutchison (Analyst)

Yeah. Thanks, Dalton. Exploration is still one of the core values of Ero; it has been since inception. Most of our efforts currently are focused on Furnas, where we have eight drill rigs turning. We're very encouraged by the results that we're seeing there. We hope to give an update sometime in the next couple of months on what we're seeing there. That's been the main focus. I would say at Caraíba, we're still doing work both around our existing operations. Infilling the deepening is a priority objective for this year, really to map out those first couple panels of the mine plan and the higher-grade zones of the Pilar mine. We continue to advance land consolidation and early exploration work throughout the Curaçá Valley, both on copper and nickel targets.

At Xavantina, through the support of Royal Gold, we've expanded a bit of our exploration program there, both in the mine to extend mine life and also throughout the region. I said, still a focus of ours, Dalton, for sure. Obviously, our top priority here is on Tucumã, but I would expect us to give more of an update on what we're doing, particularly at Furnas, later in the year.

Dalton Baretto (Managing Director of Equity Research)

That's great. Thanks, Makko. Maybe if I could just stay on Tucumã and just thinking out a little bit longer term, what's the latest thinking now in terms of some of the stuff we've talked about in the past in terms of backfilling the grade drop?

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Yeah. Great question. We have a program at Tucumã that we've talked about before where we see high grades in the lower part of the pit bottom. I would say, Dalton, too early to talk in too much detail about that. We see a couple of different pathways to being able to maintain elevated production profiles for longer than were previously outlined. We are still working through those scenarios and opportunities. I think it's too early, really, to dive into too much detail on that.

Dalton Baretto (Managing Director of Equity Research)

Got it. Is there still a regional M&A program in place?

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Look, we are very active in the Carajás. Pretty happy with our land package right now at Tucumã. We have a couple of programs throughout the Carajás that are looking at different opportunities. Again, our core focus as a team and certainly on the exploration side is Furnas. Yeah, we continue to look at things in the broader region to support the Tucumã operation. As you know, it is the only sulfide mill operating on the western side of the Carajás. We still see a unique strategic advantage there that we expect will pay off in the long term. Again, focus is on getting that mine up to commercial production levels.

Dalton Baretto (Managing Director of Equity Research)

Great. That's awesome. Thanks, Makko.

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Thanks, Dalton.

Operator (participant)

The next question comes from Roald Ross with Clarkson Securities. Please go ahead.

Roald Ross (Equity Research Analyst)

Hi, guys. Thank you for taking my question. I wanted to ask about the new shaft at Pilar. Number one, what's sort of the primary milestones to achieve now going forward? Number two, of the annual CapEx on Caraíba, how much is allocated to the shaft?

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Yeah. Good questions. The shaft is going well. It's according to plan. I mean, really, we're not talking about that being operational until 2027. Finishing the shaft sinking towards the end of 2026. Still a long ways to go on that project, but things are progressing well. The main milestones for us are really day-by-day here. I mean, we've completed the surface infrastructure. We're advancing shaft sinking. It's a day-by-day blast and line and then do that the following day as well. Not too much to say on milestones other than we're advancing that project day-by-day here. In terms of cost allocation for 2025, we expect the entire deeping project, including ore handling system and the development associated with some of the deeper work in the mine, to be about $80 million-$90 million this year. That's fully reflected in our guidance range.

Roald Ross (Equity Research Analyst)

Okay. Great. Thanks. Lastly, just on Xavantina with sort of lower production this quarter, but you reaffirmed the volumes for the full year. Are you expecting a sequential progress throughout the year or straight back to a high level next quarter, or how do you view the progression for 2025?

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Yeah. Thanks. It's more of a steady progression. The reason for that is that we continue to have equipment arrive on site. Our low-profile equipment that we purchased last year is arriving on site sequentially throughout the year. Our increase in production volumes matches those delivery timelines.

Roald Ross (Equity Research Analyst)

Okay. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Yeah. We have a follow-up question from Emerson Verrier with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Emerson Verrier (Investment Banking Associate)

Hey, guys. Thanks again. Just to follow up on Tucumã, you mentioned that you guys are reviewing the metrics used in order to declare commercial production. I just want to understand a little bit better what types of variables are you guys studying to change here. Is it the 80% production in terms of design capacity or the amount of time needed running at that level? This is my question. Thank you.

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Thanks for the question. Just to be clear there with respect to commercial production, those discussions that we're still having, I would say that at the current grades of two times the life of mine average, it'd be very difficult to feed 100% of mill throughput. That balance is what we're in discussions with as a team in making that designation. I would say if you just take a big step back and you look at the contribution of Tucumã to our consolidated net income and our EBITDA for the quarter with really only one month of production, I think you can see that we expect Tucumã to be a meaningful contributor to our consolidated results. I think that's probably a large factor as well. I don't know if Wayne, you've got anything to add on that, but.

Wayne Drier (EVP and CFO)

No. I mean, obviously, the concept of commercial production in pure accounting terms is when management deem the asset fully ready for fully operational. It is a very subjective measure. There is no set measure, certainly with our auditors. I would say, as Makko pointed out, as the asset ramps up here and we continue to see significant free cash flow generation from the asset, the likelihood that from an accounting perspective, we can continue to not declare commercial production gets smaller and smaller. I think at the end of the day, as Makko said, we're assessing that. I would say we feel we are getting close, and hopefully, that will occur in the near future.

Emerson Verrier (Investment Banking Associate)

Okay. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

This concludes the question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Makko DeFilippo for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Makko DeFilippo (President and CEO)

Appreciate everyone taking the time today. It was a lively Q&A, and I certainly appreciate that, as does the rest of the team. Appreciate your time. Obviously, myself and our leadership team are always available for any follow-up questions. Thank you very much. Chat next quarter.

Operator (participant)

This brings to a close today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.