SilverCrest Metals - Q3 2023
November 9, 2023
Transcript
Operator (participant)
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the SilverCrest Metals Reports second quarter 2023 conference call. At this time, all lines are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Thursday, November 9, 2023. I would now like to turn the conference over to Eric Fier. Please go ahead.
Eric Fier (CEO)
Thank you, operator. Good morning, and thanks, everyone, for joining. Today, we'll be providing commentary on our Q3 2023 results, after which we'll be happy to take questions. The slide deck we'll be referring to is available on our website at silvercrestmetals.com under the Investor tab. Before we get started, I'd like to direct you to the forward-looking statement on slide two. All figures discussed this morning are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise stated. All the ounce and per ounce references discussed will be based on silver equivalent ounces sold unless otherwise specified. Our silver equivalent reference are based on a gold to silver ratio of 79.151 to one. On the call with me today is Chris Ritchie, President, and Pierre Beaudoin, Chief Operating Officer. Starting on slide three.
Q3 marked another successful quarter of ramp-up at Las Chispas, and we remain on target to meet our 2023 sales and cost guidance. Our strong operating margins continued to support substantial free cash flow to sustainable free cash flow in the quarter. Las Chispas continues to perform well with gold sales of 14,500 ounces and silver sales of 1.53 million ounces. Silver equivalent sales totaled 2.68 million ounces, bringing year-to-date sales to 7.69 million ounces, positioning us well to meet our annual guidance of 9.8-10.2 million ounces. All-in sustaining costs in the quarter were better than expected and compares favorably to the annual guidance. Pierre will discuss the factors that led to this in his portion of this presentation.
We remain debt-free, and our total treasury assets increased by nearly 40% from Q2 to $81.7 million. Our financial strength and resilience are unique attributes that deserve attention in the market, where accessing capital is both difficult and expensive. Our robust free cash flow and healthy balance sheet provide us with significant capital allocation flexibility, which we used in the quarter to optimistically explore, buy back shares, and increase our bullion holdings. On the ESG front, we signed a collaboration agreement to work on agricultural infrastructure, sewage system, and water concessions for agricultural use for our nearby communities. This is another positive step in the company's five-year water stewardship plan. This agreement advances our continued efforts to help our communities secure state and federal funding for water-related infrastructure to protect their livelihoods and create long-term economic resilience.
The benefits of these efforts are already being felt in the community. The improved access to water allows for a second planting season, creating an opportunity for increased household income for our local partners. I will now pass on to Chris to discuss the financial results for the quarter.
Chris Ritchie (President)
Thanks, Eric. Moving to slide four. The operational performance of Las Chispas was highlighted by our strong free cash flow and continued growth of our treasury assets. In the quarter, we generated revenue of $63.8 million. Our cost of sales were $26.4 million, reflecting a notable 9%. Net income in the quarter was $29.9 million or $0.20 per share. Net free cash flow was $33.4 million or $0.23 per share. As in previous quarters in 2023, our net income and net free cash flow in the quarter benefited from financial items like the return of value-added taxes and the application of net operating losses, which are commonly known as tax loss carryforwards.
Our net operating losses were fully utilized in Q3, and beginning in Q4 2023, we anticipate accruing income taxes at Mexico's corporate tax rate of 30%. Our 2023 income taxes, as well as the Extraordinary and Special Mining Duties, will be due and paid in Q1 2024, which will impact our income and cash flow in 2024. We will begin making quarterly income tax installments and annual payments for the Extraordinary and Special Mining Duties in 2024. Now on slide five. Prudent capital allocation has always and continues to be an important area of focus for our team. As a single asset company, our first allocation priority is to maintain a defensive balance sheet that allows us to proactively manage risk, weather the uncertainties of our industry, while also being positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that arise in cyclical businesses....
After the $7.1 million spent on the share buyback, we were still able to grow our treasury assets in the quarter by nearly 40% to $81.7 million. Our total treasury included $70 million of cash and $11.7 million of gold and silver bullion. We remain debt-free with access to an undrawn $70 million revolving credit facility. We have also resumed our focus on growth. In Q3, we announced a $10 million exploration budget for Las Chispas that will run through the end of Q1 2024. This program is focused on both conversion of ounces and the discovery of new ounces. In the quarter, $2.8 million was spent on exploration. Opportunistically, returning capital to our shareholders was a focus in the quarter.
In the middle of the quarter, we announced and launched a share buyback that allows for the repurchase of up to 5% of our shares outstanding. In the 7.5 weeks that the buyback was active, we repurchased $7.1 million or 20% of the allowable limit. We are also focused on increasing exposure to gold and silver for our investors by adding bullion to our balance sheet as another currency to be managed. In the quarter, we increased our bullion position by $6.1 million. We are actively managing this position through the utilization of an option strategy, which helps to manage both the upside and downside risks. Our objective is to earn a superior yield over our other balance sheet instruments while increasing exposure to our preferred store of value in a risk-adjusted manner.
Subsequent to the quarter, we have continued to add to our bullion holdings. With that, I will now pass it on to Pierre to discuss operations at Las Chispas.
Pierre Beaudoin (COO)
Many thanks, Chris. I'm now on slide six. Underground mining rate increased during the quarter, averaging slightly over 900 tons per day. This increase in mining rate is linked to a higher proportion of long-hole stopes than planned, and to a lesser extent, higher localized dilution in Babicanora Main Vein. In Q4, it's expected that mining rates will be in the range of 800-900 tons per day, in line with the ramp-up rates outlined in the technical report. During Q3, lateral development averaged 34 m per day, in line with the plan. During the quarter, the Las Chispas portal was further advanced ahead of the mining in this area in 2024. We continue contract negotiation with mining contractors, including our current contractors. We're still targeting to complete these discussions in Q4 2023, for implementation in the first half of 2024.
In the updated technical report, we made assumption as to the outcome of these negotiations, but the final details may differ. The Las Chispas plant averaged 1,245 tons per day, slightly above what we were expecting for the quarter. It was originally anticipated that the plant would have lower availability in the quarter due to seasonal conditions impacting the power supply. However, this did not materialize, allowing for higher average mill throughput than planned. As expected, average processed gold and silver declined slightly from Q2 of 2023. The plant recovered 2.74 million silver equivalent ounces, and metallurgical recovery remained solid at approximately 98% for both metals. The company continues to benefit from strategic stockpile use to supplement plant feed as the mine is gradually developed and tonnage ramped up.
It's expected that this benefit will remain a significant contributor to plant feed through 2025. Our corporate level AISC in the quarter was $12.23 per ounce, compared favorably to our annual guide, guidance. AISC was lower than expected due to higher sales volume, decreased cash costs, and lower capital spending than planned. Capital spending was below plan due to delays in procuring key underground material, as well as some slight change to the scope, both on the ground and on surface. These delays are not material, and we're expecting to progress with capital spending in Q4. I will now pass it back to Eric to conclude the presentation.
Chris Ritchie (President)
Thanks, Pierre. Moving to slide seven. As noted earlier, we remain well-positioned to execute our 2023 sales and cost guidance, as you can see on slide seven. Please note that our guidance is based on 20:1 Mexican peso to U.S. dollar exchange rate. We have seen a notable move in this rate to the levels of approximately 17:1 in Q3. We estimate about 40%-50% of our costs are peso-denominated. So what is next? My favorite subject, exploration. Our exploration efforts will continue with $10 million of drilling budget through Q1 2024. The program is currently targeting 10 million higher-grade inferred ounces, proximal to current and planned operations for potential reserve replacement. We also look forward to exploring early-stage opportunities with over 23 km of underexplored veins at Las Chispas.
We are in the process of year-end planning now, and as part of this, our exploration budget is being put together, and our priorities for 2024 are being defined. This wraps up our formal commentary for today. Operator, please open the line for questions.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. Should you have a question, please press star followed by the one on your touchtone phone. You will hear a three-tone prompt acknowledging your request, and your questions will be pulled in the order they are received. Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by the two. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. Your first question comes from Eric Winmill with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.
Eric Winmill (Mining Equity Research Analyst)
Hi. Morning. Thanks for taking my question. Nice to see the stock outperforming this morning. Just wanted to ask a quick question. In the disclosure, you talked about, you know, spending on CapEx below plan from delays in procuring underground materials as well as some changes to scope. Any additional elaboration on that, please? Thanks.
Pierre Beaudoin (COO)
Yeah. So it's Pierre speaking. We had some delays in procuring some of the electrical material we need for the expansion of the mine and also some plants that was for underground, and we decided to change the scope of our second furnace for the process plant. But none of this is material, as I noted on the script, on the call.
Eric Winmill (Mining Equity Research Analyst)
Great. Thanks, Pierre. Very helpful. Just another question on the share buyback. So obviously, a company, you know, has been active on the buyback. Should we assume then you'll continue through the rest of the year? Any sort of thresholds you look at or sort of rules we should think of on the buyback?
Chris Ritchie (President)
Thanks, Eric. We look at the NCIB as one of the tools in the toolkit. When we look at capital allocation, exploration is a key focus, buying back shares is a key focus, you know, adding bullion to the balance sheet. The flexibility that our balance sheet and the asset provide us allow us to make those choices at the right moment. That said, we do want to continue to return capital to shareholders. We don't share the specific budget or price thresholds that the board has set for that, but it is still a key focus for us going into the end of the year.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from David McCaw.
Speaker 7
Good morning. I have a couple quick, quick questions. Nowhere can I find what the special mining duty percent rate is. Can you tell me? The tax rate is 30%, but is it 10%, 15% on top?
Pierre Beaudoin (COO)
It is 7.5%.
Speaker 7
7.5%, okay. Is there any cartel obstruction you're, you're experiencing there? Any kind of, you know, we want to close you down unless, you know, we get a pi-- a piece of the pie here?
Pierre Beaudoin (COO)
Yeah, we don't have these issue in Sonora. We all go-
Speaker 7
Okay
Pierre Beaudoin (COO)
... in town, and we can enjoy the walk at night without any problems. So we've seen-
Speaker 7
Very nice. Don't, yeah, don't, don't hold it against me for asking, because it could be a big issue. I don't know that it is, so if you just... That's the, that's the answer I'd like, I'd like to hear, let's put it that way. I think pretty much all shareholders would. Do you have a man camp there? And how many employees do you have, and are they living in the local town? Are they hard to get if you need to staff up? What's the labor situation there?
Pierre Beaudoin (COO)
First of all, first question, we have a 500-man camp, but we allow our employees to live in the community or at the camp, based on what they prefer. And this camp has been a good tool for us to keep our turnover rate at low level. Last year, we experienced an 8% turnover rate, which is among the best in the industry. With regards to the difficulty to get people, the best way is to keep them, obviously. But also, we have a contract with a mining contractor that gets its manpower in the lower part of Mexico. So, so far it's been very good on our side.
Speaker 7
Well, that's a good thing, too, for sure. Labor problems in companies today are big problems, I think, way too often. Hey, I really think you've done a great job since for the six years I've owned your stock, and your drilling and your exploration. And Mr. Beaudoin, the video of the plant that you built was amazing, okay? I can't give you guys a good enough credit for building such a high percentage recovery plant with huge tonnage, or maybe not huge, but I mean, significant. And stockpiling with the, you know, you know, I don't know, the grades, the grades dropped a little bit this quarter. Do you think that's a trend that we're going to continue to see?
Because maybe, you know, you knew where the strongest mineralization was in your stockpile in your first couple quarters.
Pierre Beaudoin (COO)
Well, I'll tell you that, the stockpile is something that we monitor very closely. We consider that as our best stopes, and it's on surface. And so this is something that we monitor against, the value that, we have in our model. And at this point, I can say that, we're very, we're very happy with the level of our stockpile. And with regards to the start of, your question, with regards to the, the question on, on grade and the plant, I'm just gonna say that this is per design. We expected the grade to be lower in this quarter. And, we should not read any more into this. We still have the plan to, produce between 9.8 and 10.2 million ounces for the year, and we're well on, on our way to complete that.
Speaker 7
Okay. Well, thanks for taking my questions, and thanks for doing such a good job. Appreciate it.
Operator (participant)
Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, should you have a question, please press star, followed by the one. Your next question comes from Alan Sharpin.
Alan Sharpin (Shareholder)
Yes, hello. I'm quite pleased with the success of the company. I wanted to know if the company right now is looking actively at other projects or, mines, in the area or in the world? Thank you.
Eric Fier (CEO)
Yeah, this is Eric. Our growth plan is in three paths. One is exploration. It's priority one, continued exploration at Las Chispas. We have a lot of value, I believe, is still to come and still to see at Las Chispas, so we'll be spending dollars there. We also have a regional program that we're working on, that's within haulage distance of the mill at Las Chispas. That is continuing, and it'll continue for years to come as we look at projects that are earlier stage, that still need to be drilled and mapped and sampled. So that feeds some of the exploration appetite for discoveries. And our third path is M&A, and we continue to look at M&A projects. We're being a bit selective to be in the Americas. That's our target.
North America is a great place to play right now. So yeah, there's lots of things to do. There's not. We don't have a big team to be running out, so we have to watch our resources as far as what we select and where we go with it, so.
Alan Sharpin (Shareholder)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from Garrett Goggin with Stansberry Research.
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
Hey, guys, can you hear me okay?
Eric Fier (CEO)
Yep.
Chris Ritchie (President)
Yep.
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
Good. Great quarter. It's been a while since I've seen a free cash flow generation like that in the silver industry. Capital allocation, you guys are doing a great job. I'd love to see the share buyback. Are you thinking about paying a dividend? Because if you just spent $20 million, that'd be close to a 3% yield highest in the industry.
Chris Ritchie (President)
Thanks, Garrett. It's Chris here. When we evaluate the difference between a share buyback and a dividend, the first thing we did was look at other companies, single asset companies, and there was only two to three in the world that were actually paying a dividend. So the flexibility or lack of flexibility that a dividend creates is something we were definitely cognizant of, given that we do want to allocate capital for future growth. So we thought that the share buyback was a better option because it allows us to be more aggressive at the right times in the cycle, and that flexibility is something that's quite unique for us. So we thought the share buyback was just, you know, a chance to be more aggressive and flexible.
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
I agree with that-
Chris Ritchie (President)
In the future-
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
Buyback.
Chris Ritchie (President)
Six months down the road, that's something we'd like to be able to consider.
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
Okay. The share buyback is the best way to do it. Lower shares out, increases earnings per share, drives the share price higher. So your capital allocation, looking at drilling and internal growth, that's where you see your life might being extended primarily at this point, right?
Eric Fier (CEO)
Or expanded. There you go. So I mean, we got so as I said on the talk there, and it's in the news release, Garrett, $10 million, we spent just under $3 million of that so far to get to Q1. We're really focused on inferred resources that didn't get converted to indicated and considered for reserve conversion for the updated tech report. So it's to get through that, get some new reserves back into the pipeline that's near infrastructure. And as we're doing that, we'll be spending money at Las Chispas to look at the 23 km of weather vein that's underexplored. So it's... We're seeing some interesting things right now.
You know, cross my fingers, hope we can get some news out on exploration before the end of the year. We'll see.
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
Okay. What area looks most prospective to you guys?
Eric Fier (CEO)
Areas as far as in Las Chispas?
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
Yes.
Eric Fier (CEO)
Yeah. Okay. Yeah, so we're working, as you're familiar with the map, we call it the treasure map. We're working on Babi South, which is in the south, and some extension of that. We're looking to depths now, for the Babicanora main vein, going to depths. We're also quite encouraged with what we're seeing at the, in the Las Chispas area. If you recall, we haven't been back to Las Chispas since the 2020, so it's been pretty much on the shelf, working on the technical report and doing the infill drilling, mostly around Babicanora. So, it's-
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
Okay, and last-
Eric Fier (CEO)
Yeah.
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
All right.
Eric Fier (CEO)
There's some new opportunities that we're seeing at Las Chispas. We'll see how they come to fruition.
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
Okay.
Eric Fier (CEO)
Las Chispas.
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
Okay, and then last question. How many phases are you working now, and where is the ore primarily coming from? Phases.
Pierre Beaudoin (COO)
We maintain all the time between 12 and 16 faces. You know, our limit at this point is certainly not the faces, but more of our drilling capacity, which we're working actively with contractors to expand.
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
Okay. And then where is the ore primarily coming from, which veins?
Pierre Beaudoin (COO)
Mainly in Babicanora, Babi Norte, and Babi Vista.
Garrett Goggin (Stock Analyst)
Okay, good. Thank you, guys.
Operator (participant)
Your next question comes from Matthew Rofer with Malate.
Speaker 8
Hey, Chris, Eric, and Pierre. Congrats on the quarter. Well done. As a long-term shareholder since 2018, it's what, why I wanted to be involved with the project. So it seems like it's finally coming to fruition with the asset throwing off a significant amount of cash. So I'm pleased with that. Wanted to follow up with some of the previous questions on exploration. So we had a 13% reduction, or roughly 10 million ounces from the TR, if I'm not mistaken. Obviously, myself and my investors are excited that you're getting back to growth mode. And Eric, I like that you said your favorite thing is exploration. That warms my heart. I wanted to ask about these 23 km of veins.
I'm just, I'm just trying to, again, understand. There was... Back in 2019 or 2020, there was a new section of the property, newly defined section of the property. I believe it was called 118. Is that part of the Las Chispas section that you have not really spent too much time on over the last few years in terms of exploration? Is that or is that 118 a different part of the property?
Eric Fier (CEO)
118 Zone is part of the Las Chispas main vein. Okay?
Speaker 8
Okay.
Eric Fier (CEO)
And that's the historic vein. So it's, it's below the, the underground workings. We're just starting back in that area right now to do further exploration. We're, we're just returning after four years of, of being over in the Babicanora area, so.
Speaker 8
And how many rigs or drills are being utilized at the moment on the property?
Eric Fier (CEO)
At the end of the quarter, Q3, I'll speak to that. We had between seven-eight. I got one rig floating there because it likes to do the operational work, too. So it jumps from exploration to operations. So at the end of the Q3, we had seven-eight drills.
Speaker 8
That's great. And in terms of communicating that, the results from that from the market, I know there was, like, lab backlogs and things like that due to COVID delays and such. Are you seeing, you know, the processing time from what you guys are finding on site to having, like, a lab analyze the results of your drill findings? Is that lag time decreased? So like you said, you're hoping to have communication to the market by the end of this year. Is that-- Are you seeing a decline in that lag?
Obviously, my investors are big growth investors, and we're happy again that we're getting back to that level now that, you know, the mill is operating as, you know, we expected, and the financial health of the company is very strong. So, just curious on that, on what you're seeing from that side of things.
Eric Fier (CEO)
Yes, we use two labs, ALS Chemex and SGS. I'll speak of ALS Chemex and the exploration samples that are going there for assays, and then I'll turn it over to Pierre, and he can talk about SGS, okay? So our lab turnover is decent right now. It's three to four weeks. It was during COVID because everybody scurried home, you know, double that. But, it's a decent rate now as we use ALS, and they're out of Hermosillo and North Vancouver. So Pierre, if you can talk about SGS.
Pierre Beaudoin (COO)
Yeah. So if, if you look in our technical report, we actually built our own lab in Arizpe. That was part of our ESG efforts to return some work in the municipality. And this lab, we contracted it out to SGS, and SGS is in the process of getting this lab certified. They've been working on it now for more than a year, and we expect that this lab is gonna be certified within before the end of the year. And when this happens, actually, all the samples from the company are gonna go to this lab, and the turnover is gonna go from essentially four weeks down to probably days, because it's gonna be our own certified facility.
Speaker 8
That's great. Thanks for answering the questions. The last comment I want to make is not a question, just, Chris, keep buying back that stock. I appreciate it.
Eric Fier (CEO)
Thanks for that.
Operator (participant)
There are no further questions at this time. Please proceed.
Eric Fier (CEO)
Thank you, everyone, for attending the SilverCrest Q3 2023 results call. Have a great day.
Operator (participant)
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your line.