Please be advised that today's conference call is being recorded. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Paul Brown, CEO. Thank you. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Firstly, I'd just like to thank everyone that's called in, specifically our shareholders and longtime supporting analysts. I'm joined with me here at the moment with James Virgo as well. But I'd like to take a few minutes just to introduce myself and give you a bit of history, and then touch on our quarterly and how we're seeing things moving forward. So I'm a mining engineer. I've had a couple of decades of experience. I've operated in and around you know lithium for quite a long time and also bulk commodities mainly iron ore.
I guess, over the last 15 years, you know, most recently I was CEO of Hastings Technology, which is a rare earth organization, and then I spent 8 years at Mineral Resources, where I was CEO of the commodities business, which comprised of iron ore and lithium. And then before that, I had spent a good chunk of time at Fortescue Metals, with my main responsibility being the development of the greenfield Solomon Hub . And then, I guess, I spent a—I guess, cut my teeth really early on with contractors such as HWE Mining, Roche Mining, things like that in the Pilbara. So, so yeah, I've seen a lot and done a lot and very, very excited to be here.
I've had a great deal of, I guess, engagement over the last several weeks. I'm obviously relatively new. I've only been around five or six weeks, but in my very short time here, you know, what's very obvious to me is we've got a very strong, supportive, you know, shareholder group. While there's some challenges, and I recognize them, you know, hopefully you're starting to see some opportunities and some communication that will, you know, that will shape how you think about us and how we think about the business. You know, I've been to China. I've spent some time with our customers. You know, we have a very supportive customer base. You know, our product is, you know, very welcome in the market.
It's a very clean, coarse-grained spodumene that, you know, blends very well through, you know, various stages of hydroxide and carbonate manufacturing. So, you know, our customers are eager, you know, to receive more of our product when we get operating. So I just wanted to, I guess, let everybody know that how well our product's received in the market. So we're looking forward to, you know, continuing good, strong relationships with our Chinese customers. The other thing I've done is I've gone to site, and I'll spend more time on site over the weekend, but what's really obvious, you know, to me, is just how well the asset is built.
The processing facility or our DMS plant, you know, it's been built very well, and although it's been operated in a relatively short time, you can see how dedicated and you know and the efforts that have been put in through, you know, our our own core team and and our contracting partners. You know, seeing recoveries go from 40, you know, to up to 65% through a DMS circuit in a relatively short time is a very, very strong result. And I guess, you know, my experience, I've operated, you know, dense media and flotation, you know, we have more opportunity to refine and improve grade and recovery, so I look forward to working on those opportunities.
But back to the asset, you know, we're less than an hour out of Darwin, so, you know, we've got a full bitumen road. We've got a great, great port infrastructure. So we're very well supported, you know, by the government, and we operate, you know, very well and sustainably in that area. So the government, you know, in the conversations that I've had are, you know, very supportive. They wanna, they wanna support us through this, you know, particular pause and obviously through a restart. So it's great that, you know, the team has done, you know, a terrific job in maintaining or developing and maintaining really strong, you know, relationships, not only with the government but with the community that we operate in, as well.
So how I see, you know, the asset, again, you know, the highlight really is, you know, our operating costs, whilst haven't been terrific, you know, you have to appreciate any miner that starts up from an explorer and into production. It doesn't matter what asset, you know, I've been involved in, there's always those challenges and, you know, there's a number of things that you put in place to start an operation. And I think, you know, from what I've seen and, you know, yeah, things have been done really well. And, you know, we look forward to providing more color in the coming months on how we see things, how we see our cost base, and certainly where those opportunities lie. So I am excited to be here.
You know, I'm not here just to warm a seat. I am an operator. I love operations. I love you know, the people part of operations. I look forward to setting a culture of high performance, you know, really ensuring we don't get our wallet out to, you know, to solve any problem. You know, we use our brains first and we have a very different approach in, you know, in how we look at, you know, balance sheet and capital expenditure and things like that. So I look forward to, you know, providing, again, more color on how I see things in the coming months. So look, that's a bit about me. I'll hand over to James.
James is a newly appointed CFO, although he's been involved in our business for quite a while, so I was very pleased to join the business and have James accept the position of full-time CFO. So I'll hand over to you, James.
Great. Thank you, Paul. Yeah, as Paul's touched on, I've been with the company for just over 12 months now. Been in the CFO role, since March, and permanently appointed, as Paul mentioned, at the end of June.
... I'm a qualified chartered accountant with a background in professional services, but heavily focused on the mining sector. I suppose my most relevant experience is the time that I was at Resolute, where I was the General Manager of Finance and Investor Relations. Resolute Mining is an ASX-listed gold miner. It was not without its challenges, so I have a lot of experience around debt and equity funding, you know, managing businesses through challenging financial periods. And, you know, obviously a lot of government relations operating in West Africa. I will touch on the financials a bit later, but I'll hand back to Paul to start running through the quarterly. Thanks, Paul.
Thanks, James. So look, I'll just start with our Q4 FY 2024 highlights. In some operations, as I touched on earlier, you know, 63% monthly or month-on-month average recovery, which really is quite remarkable. And if you think about, you know, the last part of how we operated, you know, we were processing relatively low-grade stockpiles, which again demonstrates, you know, just how effective our team is on site of operating that particular dense media circuit. We produced a bit over 20,000 dry tons of spodumene at a grade of 4.8, and our cash operating unit cost of $644 a ton.
So, you know, a big improvement on Q3, noting that, you know, some of the activities like mining, et cetera, were ceased. From a sales marketing perspective, so we had a record quarterly spodumene concentrate shipment of a bit over 33,000 dry metric tons. The average provisional price for SC6 that we realized was in US $1,078 a ton. And we also shipped a bit over 19,000 dry metric tons of fines. And pleasingly, and this will be very opportunistic, is that we have a bit over 5,000 wet metric tons of spodumene, coarse grain spodumene, on site.
As far as exploration, you know, we had, as per our release, a 58% increase in mineral resources, so we have around, you know, a bit over 48 million tons at a grade of 1.26, which is really good. And we see further opportunities, which I'll put more color on, as we progress. Corporate and financial, James will certainly touch on this in more detail. We worked really hard in, you know, ensuring, that, you know, at the end of Q4, you know, we had AUD 87 million, and no debt. So that's where, you know, where our real opportunity lies. Again, no debt, AUD 87 million, in the bank. So look, we are very heavily focused on cost reduction.
You know, every day there's things that are leaving our business and, you know, reoptimizing and how we do things is fundamentally different. So, you know, we'll preserve our balance sheet, you know, at all costs. From a sustainability perspective, again, pleasingly, when you're shutting, you know, closing out a site or putting a site on care and maintenance, sometimes those focus can be, you know, can be a bit challenged and lapsed. But we had no recordable injuries, you know, across the quarter, which is very, very pleasing. And we also updated our risk management plan and submitted to Northern Territory WorkSafe that supports the suspension of our operations. So I guess moving to an operational update. You know, we produced a bit over 20,000 tons at 4.8.
Again, Q3 was almost 25. You know, raw stockpiles are now fully depleted. All processing activities, et cetera, you know, were completed as planned. Low unit operating costs of $644 a ton reflect the processing of all stockpiles with no mining costs occurred during that particular period. Recoveries, again, a bit of a highlight for us, you know, and there's a lot of excitement around how we can continue to optimize and how we look at our recoveries, but a record of 63% during the period. A stockpile of 5,178 tons of spodumene concentrate is on site, and there's around about 75,000 tons of fines available for sale. Again, you know, we'll look at that as opportunistic.
You know, when the market is right, you know, we'll look to put those tons, you know, on a boat, and and maximize the opportunity that that is left on site. So look, we are in a state of operational readiness to restart. We've got a light touch on how we think about, you know, care and maintenance, but we do have a dedicated team on site that have shut that site down, you know, very very well. It looks fantastic. And you know, we look forward to providing updates on how we think about a restart in the coming months. So improvement on operational consistency for the financial year.
I think, you know, if you look at what we've put out quarter on quarter, you'll see there has been a, you know, an increase in a number of areas, especially recovery. That's really what drives unit costs. So that's, that was pleasing and pleasing to see and pleasing for me to really be on site and talk to our team and really understand how they've gone about things. And I can certainly echo some of the challenges in, you know, various operations, especially lithium, that I've operated, that I can see, you know, that the sustainable approach that's put in place will really benefit us on a, on a restart. I think, you know, our monthly concentrate production is largely in line with plan. So, you know, outside of the impact of planned shutdowns and weather.
So the team really got a good handle on how to operate that site. You know, we've operated through a couple of wets now, and obviously dry. So, you know, maintaining water and managing water is certainly something that the team got very, very good at, and that's one of the key things that we'll continue to focus on, is water management through the upcoming wet. So look, remaining restart ready, I think, you know, that's really been the message and is well supported through our organization. You know, whilst we've obviously suffered, you know, the impacts of a declining commodities market, we'll also maximize the opportunity of a rising commodity market.
You know, again, you know, in record time, I think we've gone from an explorer, you know, to a producer, and again, seeing the asset, walking the ground, talking to the team, you know, I've got a really good handle and understanding on how we need to go about a restart, and it's certainly something that I've done on several occasions, you know, across a number of businesses. So where I will really be focused on is, again, a light touch, care and maintenance strategy. These things can get really expensive if you don't manage them properly, and certainly, whilst we're not in a position, you know, to restart today, you know, when the market changes, we certainly will be.
So again, capturing significant value when the market conditions stabilize, we have a dedicated team in place to manage Finniss' care and maintenance activities. That is a very light touch, but a very skilled team that is left over from operations. So we have retained, you know, the appropriate skills and experience to ensure the site is maintained and operationally ready for the resumption, you know, of work when that becomes a priority. The focus on, you know, preserving the site assets and infrastructure in a restart-ready state is critical. You know, and I believe, you know, I've got the team to be able to deliver that, and certainly will spend some time with that team over the next few days when I head to site.
Water management, you know, as I touched on, is a really critical part, not only from a sustainability ESG perspective, but you know, our water balance needs to be maintained. We can only discharge when the creeks are running, so we certainly don't want to have a, you know, an influx of water and have issues around being able to move water through the wet. And then, of course, in the dry, you know, we need to be able to have the right balance to maintain, you know, water levels, et cetera, for operating.
But I'm pleased that I've got a, you know, very experienced site manager who knows water and water management set really, really well, and I think with the engineering, you know, pond development, pumping methods, all those things are absolutely rock solid. So, you know, our operational restart strategy is, you know, being developed, and that'll, you know, capture the substantial value upon stabilizing market conditions. Something that James, I, and all the team is focused on is a detailed bottom-up build of our cost base, you know, not only for Grants, but certainly for BP33 as well. So that's our focus on restart ready. You know, we have a, I guess, a highly valuable piece of infrastructure, you know, on site.
We're well ahead of a lot of other organizations. You know, we've got a great team to maintain the project. You know, whilst we have got the site down, and key objectives of the operational pause is to ensure that the plant can be restarted quickly, and, you know, with limited capital. You know, our big focus will always be, you know, regardless of whether in care and maintenance or operating, you know, is to ensure we adhere to our license conditions, and continue to manage all of those aspects under our management plan.
and again, just to touch on in terms of the restart plan, because I know there has been a lot of questions and expectations around what we are doing, but we are doing, you know, a detailed bottom-up assessment of all of our costs. You know, when we get going, and it's a very clear direction from our board, is that, you know, we want to be operating in a very sustainable, you know, manner and way, to avoid any other, you know, challenges that, you know, no doubt the commodities market will throw at us.
So a review of our operating strategy, again, you know, the culture that will be built here is one of real commitment, drive, you know, tenacity, and, you know, making sure that, you know, our costs are well managed, you know, people are supportive, we operate sustainably and safely. So I look forward to, you know, growing that culture out further. We've got a lot of learnings. You know, we've operated over the last 18 months, so, you know, what the team has done exceptionally well is really capture all those learnings. They're well documented. You know, the other advantage we have is people really loved operating on site at Finniss.
You know, everyone I spoke to and certainly, you know, whether it be government officials, people that I've met, you know, and got introduced to in, in Darwin, and the people on site, you know, everyone wants to come back. We're very, very close to Darwin. You know, we're probably one of the only few mines around that, that can offer that drive-in, drive-out opportunity for people to be home with their families every night. And of course, you know, lithium is quite a unique, metal to mine, and, and certainly the process has some interesting challenges, right across the, the spectrum there.
So people really enjoy operating there and, you know, are consistently asking, you know, "When, when, when you're ready, can we come back?" So I'm very confident we can attract and retain the right people under a restart scenario. So look, I think, you know, our expectation, we'll deliver some outcomes in the first half of 2025, but again, you know, from a reset perspective, we need to do the work. I wanna make sure the work is done. This is an area that, you know, I've done a lot. I have a lot of experience in. You know, I know what good looks like. I know what a sustainable model looks like. You know, I know what structures need to look like.
So yeah, I look forward to providing more color of that, you know, in the coming months. So look, on that, I'll hand over to James, just to touch on our financial highlights.
Thanks, Paul. Paul's briefly touched on a few of those highlights, so I'll give a bit more color to that and a bit more detail around, you know, specifically cash flow performance for the quarter and the financial year. Firstly, on our revenue. So, as Paul mentioned, record shipments for the quarter of 33,000 tons. We generated about $41.7 million of revenue from the sale of those tons. You'll see in the cash flow statement, net receipts was $37.6 million, so that's impacted by some brought forward QP payment, QP outflows on, you know, previous sales. For the year, we shipped 97,400 tons of concentrate and 66,000 tons of fines.
Of those, about 12,800 of those tons was part of the prepayment arrangement that was brought forward from last financial year. Along with QP adjustments and, and the impact of those prepaid tons, our total receipts from customers was about $108 million for the year, noting that the revenue would be slightly higher given that prepaid arrangement. Moving on to operating costs. So as Paul touched on as well, the unit costs for the quarter were the lowest of the year, of $644 a ton. You know, it clearly demonstrates the strict cost control that is commenced at the site, which, you know, really came through during this calendar year, focused on right-sizing operations.
I think it is important to note that those numbers don't include mining costs for the June quarter. Full year unit costs were AUD 1,396 a ton. This was within the right revised guidance that was put out in January, again, when mining was suspended. I think it's important to note, and as Paul touched on, these costs don't necessarily reflect where we think our costs will be once we get to a restart scenario. And, you know, Paul mentioned working on multiple areas to reduce expected operating costs. Regarding our CapEx, so with the rapid implementation of cost control measures during the second half of this financial year, the majority of CapEx and exploration were completed before the June quarter. So you'd see through the numbers, not a lot sort of of capital outlays.
Pleasingly, CapEx and exploration costs landed below the low end of our revised guidance that was released in January, with the BP33 early works in line with expectations. So what does this mean? Cash ended the year with a, you know, closing balance of AUD 87.6 million. As Paul mentioned, cash debt-free, and, you know, it's really about taking this forward and, and working through some of those areas that Paul mentioned. So I'll hand it back to you, Paul.
Thanks, Jimmy. I'll just briefly, you know, touch on exploration. I, you know, we put out an announcement, you know, really at, you know, Monday last week, and subsequently, an announcement specifically for, our Shoobridge drilling. But look, how I think about exploration, you know, our budget, you know, is around about AUD 8 million or AUD 9 million, and we wanna build value within the prospective land holdings that we do, and we do hold some very interesting tenements.
And, you know, whilst we have conducted a lot of drilling in and around, you know, Grants and BP33, you know, when I was walking the ground with our geologists and, you know, certainly some of the previous exploration work and other anomalies that are there, you know, past tin and tantalum operations, there's some really good opportunity, you know, to build on what we have there in a 30- or a 40-kilometer radius of our assets. So, really, you know, again, building value, you know, through exploration and, you know, there's some other areas down in Central Australia and into South Australia that hold some hold some, you know, potential opportunity for us.
So, I won't touch too much more on exploration, but, you know, rest assured that, you know, how I think about exploration is, you know, it's money out, but it's gotta be, you know, value through the door. I think our strategy makes a lot of sense, and certainly, you know, we're pretty excited about the prospects and the targets that we have, you know, in front of us. But we will certainly be managing our costs and providing further updates as those results come in. So just to summarize, you know, operations, you know, we're safely paused and being maintained to enable a fast low capital restart when the market conditions stabilize. We are working through a detailed restart plan.
It is currently, you know, at the top of my list, including a thorough review of future cost structures, you know, operating models, et cetera. Strong cash balance, debt-free, you know, AUD 87 million, but we will be extremely tight on managing our balance sheet, you know, 'cause there is some—I think there's a, there's still a few headwinds in front of us. So, you know, being in a strong cash position is a great result, and certainly, you know, something that we'll manage very, very tightly. Target investment in exploration during FY25, you know, we're aiming to build the lithium mineral resource to enhance, you know, our future operations.
You know, so we wanna, wanna build value from the, from the wider tenement holdings, and we do, we do have a lot of tenements. But again, they're very targeted, very strategic. You know, strategic opportunities to be considered with, with, you know, which capitalize on the company's values through processing infrastructure at Finniss and our operating skill set. So look, I, I think I'll, I'll probably pause there. Again, thank you so much over the last several weeks of the engagement and the welcome. I, I am absolutely thrilled to be here and, and, you know, I hear, I hear your frustrations. I, I, I know the challenges, I know what's in front of us, and we will be, you know, communicating further. That's certainly a message that we got, you know, loud and clear.
I'm sure you're seeing some of that, you know, in front of you at the moment. So on that note, I will hand over to Desmond for Q&A. But thanks again.
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you need to press star one one on your telephone. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Adam Baker from Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Paul. The spodumene concentrate stockpile of around 5,200 tons, and in addition to the fine stockpile that you've got around 75,000 tons, maybe could you talk through the potential sale of these stockpiles into FY 2025? Is 5,200 big enough for a shipment? And what are we likely to see with the sales moving forward? Thanks.
Yeah. Thank you. Look, good question. You know, an opportunity that I learned well when we restarted Wodgina, we had a, you know, a whole bunch of product on the deck. And when that market took an upswing, you know, compared to selling it at the end of that particular down cycle, you know, we really maximized the opportunity when the market recovered. You are right, you know, 5,000 tons is certainly not enough for a shipment, but how we will do it, you know, is a combination of fines, you know, and that particular parcel. So we'll manage our shipping costs, et cetera. That's something that, you know, we've done pretty well and understand pretty well over the last 18, 18 months.
We do have a lot of interest. You know, we had a group of, I think, 20 or 30, you know, Chinese sole traders and, you know, operators through the office this week, actually. You know, and certainly my experience in China a month or so ago was really, while the market, you know, the value of spodumene has certainly declined, you know, the hunger for it through those Chinese manufacturers is still very evident. So, look, we're not in a hurry to sell it, you know, it is inventory. It's sitting there. You know, we have full port access.
You know, putting a loader on site, you know, for a few days and you know, some trucks is certainly not anything that you know, is going to require a huge amount of effort and cost. But, you know, the offers we're getting, you know, we'll review and entertain. But, you know, today, you know, we certainly won't be selling any of that product. We'll wait for that right opportunity and structure that we feel confident to sell into.
That's clear. Thank you. Just looking at cash outflows heading into FY 2025, I think you mentioned around AUD 8 million-AUD 9 million in exploration. But could you maybe touch on the care and maintenance costs to keep Finniss into care and maintenance and then other potential cash outflows? I think you've still got a royalty dispute underway and a minor QP adjustment.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Yeah. Look, I won't touch too much on the dispute. You know, what's out, you know, a week or so ago is really all we'll touch on. But I will say, you know, that there's a mechanism that we'll follow, you know, that we'll follow and again, we have great relationships, you know, with the NT government. We're pretty confident in our position on where we sit. Look, the budget, you know, it isn't quite finalized yet. It'll actually go to the board in a week or two, and we'll provide more color on, I guess, what the overall care and maintenance will be. The only number we have put out, obviously, publicly was, is our exploration. But again, you know, our...
You know, if you think about our care and maintenance, you know, we've got 3 or 4 key people that will remain on site doing that work. So, what I'm big on is making sure we have a very structured plan because, you know, we have some very, very experienced people, and, you know, what I've found over the years, if you've got people that really wanna do well and get things done, you know, having the right plan in place, just to make sure that, you know, we're controlling our spend and what actually really needs to be done in care and maintenance to restart, you know, under a light touch is really important.
So, we'll provide more color on what our quarter-on-quarter cash burn looks like, but it's a light touch.
Thanks for that, Paul. I'll hand it on.
Thank you for the questions. One moment for the next question. The next question comes from Andrew Harrington from Petra Capital. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good day, Paul and James. Thanks for your time today. The key question, I imagine you're getting from a lot of investors and guys like me, is sort of the price level you need to get back into operating and mining. But I guess the two related questions to that is also what kind of resource you need to be comfortable that you're gonna be in a sustainable position? And where your long-term costs are going to land. So if you can speak to those, that'll be, that'd be wonderful.
Yeah, I, I think I heard it. We're a bit struggling to hear you. I think the question was-
Oh.
How are we thinking about a
Sorry
restart cost structure, and the other one was of the resource, sorry. Did I capture that right?
Can you, can you hear me okay now?
Yep, yep.
Sorry, let me try here. Sorry. The question was related to restarting, and I'm assuming many investors and analysts like myself are interested to know what sort of thresholds you need in terms of price and in terms of the resource scale, and where your cost is likely to sit amongst that, in order to pull the trigger. And if there's anything else that you'd need to consider on top of those three things, yeah, if you can speak to that, that'd be great.
Yeah. I think, you know, if you think about a restart, you know, we do have an open pit at Grants that will be restarted first. And, you know, there's a lot of strip and things that have been taken off there. So, again, we have to do the work. So I won't be, you know, I guess, releasing any, you know, detailed costs, but I can certainly give you my thoughts on how I'm thinking about it. So that's one part, you know, and there will be, you know, a reasonable time that we'll be able to operate in and around Grants Pit. And then the second development we'll have is BP33. And again, you know, we're doing the work on that.
There's a great deal of work that had been done previously. But, you know, this is my background. This is what I do well, and, you know, I wanna make sure that, you know, when we do get going, we can operate, you know, for a long time in a very sustainable state. There's certainly a, you know, a good resource there at BP 33 and one I don't see an issue with. You know, we can operate that well and for a reasonable period of time. And then, of course, you know, what we're doing at the moment is we're out there looking for other large scale, you know, pegmatite-type structures and systems to add and enhance what we're doing.
You know, we are talking to a lot of innovative operators in and around that, you know, infrastructure and underground space. You know, we'll certainly progress to an underground miner, predominantly, I would suggest, unless we find something that makes sense to mine in an open pit environment. So, you know, our focus will be ensuring that, you know, those underground developments, you know, capital intensity is low. You know, they make sense, and some of those capital items and things can be transferred. So again, we have to do the work. You need to give me a bit of time to be able to do that, and we're certainly, you know, we're certainly hard at work, rest assured, in that environment.
Did I cover all your questions? Sorry.
Well, I guess, you know, no, it doesn't need to be a point value, but I guess the crucial element is the price threshold that you need-
Yeah
... to think that that's when you wanna start mobilizing?
I don't really think that there's. Again, I've got to do the work, right? But, you know, there'll be a number of factors that we will think about, not just the spodumene price, that will, you know, that will give our board and organization confidence to be able to re-enter the market. And, you know, in the position we're in, you know, with being debt free and having cash in the bank, these are the things that we need to get right. So, you know, we'll take our time and do it in the right way, so when we get going, we'll operate sustainably. But it won't just be one particular industry that we will look at for a restart.
You know, there'll be a number of them, you know, including how our customers think about, you know, our product. What, when our customers require our product, you know, how will those sorts of things look? You know, U.S. Treasury rates. There's a number of things that we'll go into, how we consider a restart.
All right. Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for the question. One moment for the next question. The next question comes from the line of Al Harvey from J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good day, guys. Just wanted to check on the headline cost outcomes. Pretty decent effort. Just wondering if you'd be able to quantify the split of the processing cost. Would've thought there might have been some inventory charge in there and any other charges. So yeah, just trying to get a feel for primarily inventory, but yeah, just that split overall would be helpful.
Thanks, Al. I'll answer that question. Yeah, so I suppose we, we don't provide that split. There's not much inventory charge going through that because of the way we've approached the numbers. It's purely from a cash perspective. So, there's not a lot of, you know, accounting movements that necessarily impact that figure.
Sure. Apologies, might have missed it, but just the timing for the operational readiness and potential restart study, when might we get that?
Sorry, the line was a bit bad there, Al. Could you ask it again? Sorry, Al, we couldn't hear that one well.
Yeah, sorry, guys. Just the timing for the operational readiness and restart study.
Yeah.
Not looking for any metrics, but just, just roughly when we might see that hit our inbox?
... Yeah, look, obviously, this is all subject to, you know, to our board and board approval. But look, we are doing the work. Yeah, I wanna be in a position, you know, in that first half of calendar 2025 to, you know, to be in a position to restart or to release how we're thinking about a restart, sorry. You know, certainly, you know, market conditions aren't conducive to that for us at the moment. Doesn't say we couldn't, but right now, that's how we're thinking about it.
You know, obviously, we've been talking to you and a number of other instos and others, you know, customers, you know, sophisticated investors and, you know, I think there is some green shoots, you know, certainly into next year. But, you know, what we want to do again is get the work done, you know, release the data that gives the market, you know, our shareholders confidence that when we do operate, we can operate for a long time and in a sustainable way. But look, the target, and again, you know, I, I'm a bit uncomfortable saying it, we, you know, we wanna be in a position, the first half of next calendar year.
I appreciate that. Just one final one. Mid last year, you guys had flagged some potential litigation with Tesla. I just wanted to see if there was any update on proceedings there?
No, look, there hasn't been anything further, so yeah, no update, update to give on that one.
Great. Thanks, guys.
Thank you.
Thank you for the questions. In the interest of time, that concludes the Q&A sessions today. With that, allow me to hand the call back to the management for closing remarks.
Look, thanks so much for the interest and everyone, you know, supporting us. It's been, I guess, a great, a great, you know, month and a half since being in the chair. I really look forward to, you know, to engaging further and providing more color on, on how we see things and, and how we're gonna be operating, you know, operating our business. So yeah, thanks again, and we'll talk again soon.
Yeah, that concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.