Good afternoon. Please, can I have everyone's attention as we're just about to go live with our online webcast. Please stand by. Welcome to the Annual General Meeting of IGO Limited. My name is Joanne McDonald, and I'm IGO's Company Secretary. For today's meeting, we have an audience here in person and also online via the Computershare online platform. The Computershare online platform allows shareholders, proxies, and guests to attend the meeting virtually, and all attendees can watch a live webcast of the meeting. In addition, shareholders and proxies have the ability to ask questions online and verbally and submit votes online. For those of you joining us in person today, I'd like to run through some housekeeping. In the unlikely event of an emergency, you will hear an alarm. The first alarm is a precaution. We ask that you remain seated during this time.
If there is a need to evacuate, there will be a second alarm, along with the evacuation instructions from hotel management. During an evacuation, please do not, under any circumstances, use the lift. Hotel staff will guide you to the closest fire exit and walk you downstairs to the exit hotel through the main entry. For those shareholders joining us online, please stay connected, and we will message you through the meeting platform as soon as possible. For those of you joining us online, text-based questions can be submitted online at any time during the meeting. To ask a question, select the Q&A icon that appears on the top right of your screen on the Computershare online platform. To ask a verbal question, follow the instructions on the online platform.
Please note that while you can now submit questions, they will not be addressed until the relevant time in the meeting. Please also note that questions may be moderated to avoid repetition, and if questions are particularly lengthy, we may need to summarize them in the interest of time. Finally, if we run out of time to answer all your questions, if we have your email address, we will respond to them via email. Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business. For those attending in person, the reverse of your green admission card is your voting paper. For those attending online, if you are eligible to vote, please select the voter icon at the top right of the online meeting platform once the voting opens. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options.
You can cast your vote, and change your vote on each resolution at any time until the chair declares the voting closed. I can confirm that Rod Sames of Computershare, who is in attendance, has been appointed the Returning Officer for today's poll. To provide those shareholders who are joining online with sufficient time to vote, I now declare voting open. If you experience any difficulties during the meeting, please raise your hand, or for online participants, refer to the online platform guide available on the company's website. Thank you. I will now hand over to the Chair, Mr. Michael Nossal, who will start the meeting.
Thanks, Joanne, and welcome, everybody. It's great to see the turnout here, and thanks very much for for coming along to those in person and to those online. My name is Michael Nossal, and on, on behalf of the Board of Directors, it's my pleasure to welcome you to the Annual General Meeting of IGO Limited. We're delighted to have you here today, as I've said, and I'm advised by the Company Secretary that a quorum of members is present, and I therefore declare the meeting open. I'd like to start by acknowledging the traditional custodians on the land on which we meet today, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation, and pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging.
We'd like to also extend that respect to the traditional custodians of the lands on which we work, on our many and varied work sites in Western Australia and elsewhere, and to where our online participants join us from, and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today. Joining me in Perth are my fellow non-executive directors, Debra Bakker, Sam Hogg, Justin Osborne, and Keith Spence. Joining us online is Tracey Arlaud from the United States. Somewhere. She'll join us in a minute, and then Xiaoping Yang, our other US-based director, is an apology for today's meeting. All of us here in the room will be available to answer your questions during the proceedings.
I'm also joined by our acting Chief Executive Officer, Matt Dusci; our Company Secretary, Joanne McDonald, who's just addressed the meeting; and also present, our Head of Investor Relations, Richard Glass, who will be moderating the online questions later in the meeting. We've got several other members of our executive leadership team and our broader IGO family with us today in the room, and I really would encourage everyone here in the room to take the opportunity to engage with them and ask them questions and interact during the refreshments after the meeting. I can also advise that Ashleigh Woodley and Marc Giuffre from BDO, the company's auditors, are present today and will be available to answer questions on the financial statements, the conduct of the audit, and the auditors' report, if required....
We meet today after a year during which your company has experienced many triumphs, but also faced some significant challenges. At last year's AGM, we'd only just lost our CEO and Managing Director, Peter Bradford, a tragedy for his family, friends, and for all of us at IGO. We recently marked the anniversary of his passing with a remembrance event, where our people were able to share their memories of Peter, and reflect on how much of an impact he made on them and on the company during his time at IGO. We're all proud that his legacy continues to make a difference right across our business today. As you would expect, Peter's sudden passing led to some changes within IGO, but our purpose and strategy to build a globally relevant business focused on the products which will enable the clean energy transition has continued.
The other major challenge during the year has been coming to grips with the Cosmos Project, leading to the significant impairment on the assets, on the Western Areas' assets, which we announced in July. By definition, the material nature of this impairment means that mistakes were made, and all of us on the board and the Executive Leadership Team accept accountability for the situation. Our response has been twofold: firstly, we're working through a thorough process to understand in detail what could have been done better and how we could have avoided these mistakes, and to make sure that they never, they're never repeated. Secondly, through the Cosmos Project review, which is currently ongoing, and other activities, including exploration, we're putting a concentrated effort into ensuring that IGO extracts the maximum possible value from Cosmos and the other Western Areas assets acquired.
We intend to update the market with the outcome of the Cosmos Project review in the coming months, and I'll comment a little bit further on Cosmos shortly. Despite these setbacks, I'm pleased to report that IGO has delivered some significant achievements since our last AGM in 2022. I'll touch on these briefly, and Matt will provide a more detailed update in his review. Our lithium business delivered exceptional financial and operating results this year, with Greenbushes achieving record spodumene production during a period of exceptionally strong commodity pricing. For the coming year, our priorities for Greenbushes will be to continue to expand production capacity and fully optimize the life of mine plan for this truly exceptional ore body. In recent months, we have seen some volatility in the lithium market.
We believe that this volatility will be a short-term phenomenon, and the medium and longer-term fundamentals of the lithium market remain strong. The relationships we have with our partners are excellent, and we're working to closely manage the near-term impact of this volatility, and to ensure that Greenbushes' performance reflects its position as the, one of the largest and lowest cost hard rock lithium operations in the world. At our lithium hydroxide refinery in Kwinana, the ramp-up of Train One has been disappointing. IGO, together with our partners, Tianqi and TLEA, are all very focused on improving this performance, and we have the confidence that every effort's being made to increase production volumes over the course of the next financial year.
We're also applying all the learnings from this experience to the front-end engineering design study underway on Train Two, and that study will be thoroughly reviewed before any further investment decisions made to invest in expansion of Kwinana. Our operating nickel mines made a strong contribution FY 2023, with Nova delivering full-year nickel production just below the bottom end of guidance and cash costs within guidance. This was a considerable achievement given the fire at the on-site power plant in December last year. Forrestania delivered within production and cash cost guidance, and we're continuing to optimize this asset over its remaining mine life. This operational performance, in the face of some adversity, is truly a testament to the hard work, expertise, and discipline of everyone on the IGO team.
While the Cosmos Project review I mentioned earlier has been underway, key project work streams have nonetheless progressed on the site, and the process plant successfully produced the first nickel concentrate in recent weeks. Despite this progress, the project has clearly been more challenging than expected. Higher capital and operating costs, delays to the mine production schedule, and underground development have all contributed to the non-cash impairment of AUD 968 million on the assets acquired from Western Areas, which we recorded in our financial statements for FY 2023. I can assure shareholders again that we on the board and the Executive Leadership Team are acutely focused on delivering the maximum possible value from Cosmos and the other Western Areas assets acquired in 2022. Exploration work continued over FY 2023, aimed at unlocking new and value accretive discoveries, with several drilling campaigns ongoing across the portfolio.
We remain committed to exploration as part of our strategy, and it's really been pleasing to see some interesting results starting to emerge over recent quarters. I'll now turn to our financial performance, which was outstanding over FY 2023. IGO delivered record underlying EBITDA of just under AUD 2 billion, record net profit after tax of AUD 549 million, and record underlying free cash flow of AUD 1.1 billion. Our interest in the lithium joint venture, TLEA, which we acquired in 2021 for approximately AUD 1.9 billion, has paid over AUD 1.1 billion in dividends during the last financial year. That's an exceptional result for that acquisition, supported by solid production and favorable commodity pricing.
In fact, including the dividends received in the last quarter, we've just about passed the acquisition price in terms of cash return to IGO from that acquisition, recouping almost our entire purchase cost, only just over two years after the acquisition. During the year, we released our updated capital management policy. This policy is designed to provide shareholders with clarity and transparency on how IGO intends to balance the reliable, and consistent return of capital to shareholders, maintaining balance sheet strength, and retaining flexibility to respond to growth opportunities when they arise. In line with the updated policy and reflecting the exceptional cash generation over the financial year, we were pleased to declare a AUD 0.44 per share final dividend, plus a AUD 0.16 per share special dividend for FY 2023, both fully franked.
Including the AUD 0.14 interim dividend paid in March, this brought the total dividends for the financial year to AUD 0.74 per share, representing a total of AUD 560 million returned to shareholders. Recognizing the important role IGO and the mining sector have in contributing to a clean energy future, we have maintained our commitment to sustainability. We're dedicated to delivering on our purpose of making a difference and continuing to be at the forefront of the low-carbon landscape by safely, sustainably, and ethically delivering the products our customers require to support the advancement of global decarbonization. For us, it's not just delivering the results, it's how we deliver the results that's important. Full details of our approach can be found in our ninth sustainability report, and I'll touch on some of these now.
A highlight has been the successful installation of a second solar farm at Nova, as well as an integrated battery energy storage system. The combined generation and storage capacity now allows Nova to run in full engines-off mode for 7-8 hours a day during the summer and autumn months, decreasing carbon emissions and enhancing finance, financial results, an outstanding achievement. To further advance our decarbonization efforts, our innovative decarbonization fund has continued to provide financial resources for emission reduction projects, research and development, and nature-based offset solutions. In FY 2023, we allocated AUD 8.3 million towards these activities and expect to allocate a further AUD 9.3 million for FY 2024. IGO has long supported reconciliation, and we were proud to launch our first Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan, or RAP, in August 2023.
The RAP was designed in consultation with our people and the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work, and signifies our commitment and vision for reconciliation, while formalizing our work to date on bringing together our workforce to engage, reflect, and take meaningful action on this critical journey. The safety of our people is a paramount priority for the board, Executive Leadership Team, and broader company as a whole. It was, therefore, disappointing to report an increase in our total recordable injury frequency rate, or TRIFR, at the end of FY 2023 to 16.0, compared to 14.1 the prior year. I am pleased to note that the efforts that we're putting into safety has started to have an impact, and that our TRIFR has been trending down in recent months.
We're encouraged by this trend, but I can assure you that the board will be unrelenting in its efforts to ensure we provide a workplace that minimizes harm and risk to our people. Our people are the, at the formation of what we think is our unique culture, and we take great pride in our diverse workforce and innovative way of thinking. Once again, in FY 2023, we sought feedback from our people via our annual engagement survey. The survey revealed 88% of people feel that we have a work environment that is accepting of diverse backgrounds, and again, 88% of people feel that IGO values diversity. We, as a board, value this important feedback, and we're working to ensure that our workplace is a safe and inclusive place for every employee.
Turning to the board, we have continued to add to our capability and capacity. We are pleased to welcome Samantha Hogg to the board since the last AGM, and already value her contribution as a director, and especially as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee. You'll have seen in the annual report that this year we included an expanded board skills matrix, and we'll continue to look at the best ways to enhance skills across the board. In relation to the executive leadership team, in June, we announced the appointment of Ivan Vella as our next Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. His appointment followed a thorough and extensive global executive search process, and we were delighted to secure a candidate of Ivan's caliber.... Notwithstanding this, I do need to acknowledge the news overnight relating to Ivan's departure from his previous employer.
Given this is very new information, I'm not in a position to speak on it in detail today. However, I would like to assure shareholders that in going through the search process, IGO conducted multiple formal and informal references, extensive background checks and due diligence, including through our independent search consultant. All of the information which came out of this process reinforced our view on the quality of Ivan as a candidate, indicated a high level of integrity, and was entirely consistent with his extensive and successful executive career. In light of this recent information, the board is engaging with Ivan to more deeply understand the circumstances in question, and will provide an update to the market in due course. However, it is our expectation that Ivan will start with IGO in early December as planned, and we're very excited about that.
Before closing, I'd like to take this moment to acknowledge and express my gratitude to the IGO team for their dedication and engagement to our purpose over the financial year, especially a sincere thanks to our acting Chief Executive Officer, Matt Dusci, and the executive leadership team for stepping up in difficult circumstances and steering IGO through the past year with its challenges and its successes. Our record financial and operating results, and record returns to shareholders, would not have been possible without the hard work and commitment of every IGO team member, and I thank them for that. I'd also like to thank our business partners, contractors, suppliers, and other stakeholders for your contribution to IGO. Finally, my appreciation to you, our existing and new shareholders, for your ongoing support during what has turned out to be an extraordinary year. Thank you.
I now invite Matt Dusci, our Acting Chief Executive Officer, to provide an update on our company's activities over the last 12 months.
Thank you, Mike. Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to also extend a warm welcome to IGO's 2023 Annual General Meeting. It is with great pleasure today that I present an update on the company's activities over the last 12 months. It has been a year that can be characterized by both significant challenges, but also of some fantastic achievements. As part of this update, I'd like to talk to who we are and our markets, our financial and operational performance, and how we are building a successful and sustainable business. We are a purpose-led company, and our purpose is to make a difference. This is centered around the need to accelerate towards a clean energy future, and the role that we'll play as a company in the discovery, mining, and refining of products, which will be critical to a clean energy future.
As a company, we are part of the solution in addressing climate change and ultimately creating a better planet. Our winning aspiration is to be a globally relevant supplier of products that are critical to the clean energy future. We'll do this by producing a diverse suite of products, including lithium, nickel, and copper, made safely, ethically, sustainably, and reliably. We'll be vertically integrated, linking upstream mining with downstream chemical processing, and we'll be net zero across our business. This is all ultimately underpinned by our people, who are bold, passionate, fearless, and fun. We have built a high-quality, diverse portfolio of assets aligned to clean energy metal. This consists of assets at all stages of the pipeline, including operating at upstream assets, producing lithium, nickel, copper, and cobalt with Nova and Forrestania and Greenbushes.
A downstream portfolio comprising of the Kwinana lithium hydroxide refinery, a study into an integrated battery metal facility at Kwinana designed to produce pCAM, and a focus on growth with a portfolio of significant organic growth opportunities, including the ongoing expansion of production capacity at Greenbushes, development of the Cosmos Nickel project, and expansion of the lithium hydroxide plant. Finally, exploration, which also forms an important part of our portfolio, with over 100,000 square kilometers of prospective tenure for nickel, lithium, copper, rare earths across Australia. As noted, FY 2023 can be characterized by both the major achievements coupled with some hard challenges. We acknowledge that the Cosmos project has been significantly challenged, and as a result, we recorded a non-cash impairment against the assets acquired from Western Areas of AUD 968 million for the financial year. This impairment is disappointing.
As we build out a globally relevant clean energy metals business, we do acknowledge that we have made mistakes. This is against the backdrop of what we have achieved during the year, including outstanding financial results with record NPAT, record underlying EBITDA, and record free cash flow, paying record dividends to shareholders of AUD 0.74 per share, representing a total of AUD 560 million. Continuing to expand production at Greenbushes, achieving record annual spodumene concentrate production at industry-leading cost structures. Strong operational performance at Nova, and continuing to prioritize our people, build on our unique culture, and maintain our leading sustainability performance. In this section of the presentation, I just want to talk about our market.
Our market is dominantly underpinned by the adoption of EV vehicles as a response to one of the greatest challenges we face with global warming and climate change. The graph on the slide shows projected electric vehicle sales and market share. Electric vehicle numbers are shown as the dark blue bars, while the cumulative electric vehicle penetration rates are shown as the orange line. Despite some recent pullback in assumed penetration rates for electric vehicles, this growth remains exceptional. Electric vehicle penetration rates are forecast to reach 60% by 2035. This is a five times increase in global electric vehicle fleet by 2035. Coupled with growth of electric vehicles is the growth of lithium-ion battery demand and associated metals linked to lithium-ion batteries. There is no alternative to lithium-ion batteries for the electrification of transportation.
Metal demand linked to lithium-ion batteries are expected to grow three to four times over the next decade. In terms of lithium market, the market is tightly balanced in the near term. As electric vehicle growth continues, we'll see significant market deficits as demand rapidly outpaces any supply response. It is estimated that between now and 2040, the world will need to add over 13 million LCE equivalent of resources to satisfy this demand. To put that into context, 13 million tons of LCE is equivalent to finding and developing another four or three Greenbushes. The short-term market for nickel is a little bit more challenging than lithium in terms of supply coming out of Indonesia. With a rapid build-out of Indonesian supply, the forecast is for nickel surplus in the short term.
This transitions to deficit by 2028, again, linked to the rapid expansion of electric vehicles. It is estimated that we'll need nearly 9 million tons additional nickel by 2040, with continued growth of lithium-ion batteries. Although we're seeing build-out of supply from Indonesia, in the short term, we still see strong demand for nickel products to go into the battery supply chain that is sourced from other jurisdictions with low environmental impact. Our commitment to sustainability and a clean energy future has never been stronger. We view sustainability as multifaceted, including safety and wellbeing, our response to climate change, environment, business integrity, our financial contributions, traditional owners and community, and our people. IGO has a proud history in the work we do in sustainability, and this year is no exception.
As a company, we have always been recognized for our leading approach to sustainability, and this year has been no different. This includes listings on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, in which IGO is only one of seven Australian mining and metals companies to be recognized. The S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook, in which IGO is one of three Australian and only one of 20 metals and mining companies. The safety and wellbeing of our people is a key priority. This is an area we know we can improve, and we are improving. Despite lower rates of serious safety injuries, we continue to harm too many of our people, reflected in our total recordable injury frequency rate for FY 2023 of 16. We have accelerated our safety programs of works with a focus on leadership, our safety management systems, critical risk controls and hazard identification, and trainings and learnings.
These programs of works are delivering results, and it's pleasing to see that our TRIFR is trending down. We have set ourselves a target to be net zero by 2035. As part of this plan, we continue to use an internal carbon pricing mechanism linked to a decarbonization fund, providing the framework for our investments into carbon emission reduction projects, research and development, and nature-based offset solutions. In FY23, we allocated AUD 8.3 million to this fund, and we expect to allocate a further AUD 9.3 million in FY24 towards our journey of net zero emissions. Switching to financial results. This slide shows our financial performance over the past five years.... These graphs clearly illustrate the transformation and the value that has been delivered as we've reshaped our portfolio to be aligned to clean energy metals.
During FY 2023, we have delivered record total revenue, which excludes the TLEA joint venture of AUD 1 billion. Record underlying EBITDA of AUD 2 billion, which is a 177% increase from the previous year. Record net profit after tax of AUD 549 million, and record underlying free cash flow of AUD 1 billion, a 252% increase from the previous year. Aligned to our updated capital management policy, released during the financial year, and reflecting IGO's strongest set of financial results in our 21-year history, total dividends of AUD 0.74 were paid during FY 2023. This totaled AUD 560 million, which equated to about 51% of underlying free cash flow for FY 2023.
Switching to the lithium business, we established the lithium joint venture in mid-2021 with Tianqi Lithium Corporation, or TLC. TLC holds a 51% interest, and IGO holds a 49% interest in the global joint venture, referred to as TLEA. TLEA is a holder of a 100% interest in the Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide facility, and a 51% interest in the world-class Greenbushes mine. Greenbushes is the world's largest and lowest cost lithium hard rock mine, with a mine life of over 24 years. We achieved record production of 1.49 million tonnes of spodumene concentrate at a cash cost of production of $244 a tonne. With EBITDA, on a 100% basis for Greenbushes, was $9.5 billion, with an FY 2023 EBITDA margin of 91%.
For FY 2024, we are forecasting spodumene production of between 1.4 and 1.5 million tonnes, at a cash production cost of $280-$330 per tonne. The Greenbushes operation is in growth phase as we continue to unlock the full value of this world-class asset. This includes expanding processing capacity, which involves the addition of two new concentrators beyond the current capacity of 1.5 million tonnes. We are currently in construction of chemical grade Plant Three, designed to produce another 500,000 tonnes per annum of spodumene concentrate. First ore is targeted from mid-calendar year 2025. The joint venture is also expecting to make a capital decision on building chemical grade Plant Four during the first half of 2024.
This will lift production by a further 500,000 tons per annum, with production expected in mid-calendar year 2027. Total production capacity at Greenbushes will be approximately 2.5 million tons per annum. Coupled with the increase in processing capacity, there's also a focus on expanding mining capacity including the embedding of Macmahon as a new contractor and increasing our mining rates. Continued optimization and debottlenecking of current infrastructure, which includes multiple projects focused on improving recoveries, throughputs, and productivity. We are also confident of significantly expanding the resources and reserves at Greenbushes. This includes the assessment of underground opportunities and additional satellite feed. The performance and ramp-up of Train One at our Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide Refinery has been disappointing.
The team at Kwinana, with the assistance of our partners, Tianqi, continue to systematically work through the required engineering and rectification to lift the throughput of Train One. We've recently come out of a major shutdown as part of addressing some of the constraints in the plant, and we are targeting an achievement of 50% of nameplate capacity during December. In parallel, front-end engineering and design studies are underway on Train Two. This has been a change in approach, and we want to complete all engineering and design on Train Two prior to making a financial investment decision. The investment decision on Train Two will come at the completion of the front-end engineering design, which is expected around mid-calendar year 2025, 2024, sorry. Switching to our nickel business. This slide shows our nickel business portfolio on a page.
We have two producing assets, being Nova, the lowest cost nickel mine in Australia, and Forrestania, which has been delivering consistent production over many years. Coupled with the producing assets, we also have the growth aspects of the nickel business unit, including the Cosmos Project, the Integrated Battery Metals Facility study, and our ongoing exploration activities. Nova continues to deliver strong financial returns to the company. For the full year, nickel production was just below the bottom end of our guidance at 22,900 tonnes of nickel at a cash cost of $3.54 per pound. This was on the back of a power station fire in December, which presented significant challenges which the team had to deal with to minimize the impacts to production.
Underlying free cash flow from Nova for the financial year was AUD 518 million, with an EBITDA margin of over 60%. At Forrestania, operational production and cash costs were delivered within guidance at 11,931 tons of nickel at a cash cost of $9.64 per pound. Underlying free cash flow was AUD 69 million, with EBITDA margin of 40%. There is a continued focus on production and cost at Forrestania. At Cosmos, key project work streams have progressed during the year, including the processing plant successfully producing first concentrate, completion of the paste plant, and continuation of the shaft and material handling systems. As acknowledged earlier, the project has been significantly challenged, with higher capital challenges to mine production schedule and project delays.
The project review, which we announced earlier this year, is approaching completion, and we'll update the market in the coming months. We continue to advance the option to develop an integrated battery metals facility, a joint venture with Wyloo, designed to take raw nickel feed directly to a high-value cathode precursor. A key component of this work stream is de-risking the opportunity through continued execution of extensive studies and bringing a pCAM partner into the joint venture. We're working to complete these studies by mid-calendar year 2024. A key part of IGO and our DNA, and part of our DNA is exploration. We have consolidated a fantastic exploration portfolio of belt scale opportunities over the most endowed and prospective provinces in Australia. Our focus is on nickel, copper, and lithium. Our budget for FY 2024 is AUD 65 million-AUD 75 million.
We all understand the hunger and thirst for critical minerals, and the only way that we can meet this demand is through the continued commitment to discoveries of the mines of the future. We continue to have promising exploration results, including massive sulfide nickel intersections at the West Kimberley prospect, a project. Continuation of recognizing the lithium potential on the Forrestania Belt, and drilling on the Copper Wolf Project, indicating potential for a large copper porphyry system. The exploration team is excited, and we are looking forward to advancing these initial promising results into a true discovery. Before I wrap up with a quick summary, I'd like just to take a moment to acknowledge and recognize the executive leadership team, the broader leadership team, and all of our people. It is our collective strength and alignment to our values that really makes a difference.
We all are looking forward to welcoming Ivan into the business as our next CEO and Managing Director in the coming weeks for the next chapter in IGO's continued transformation. This year has come with its challenges. We acknowledge the disappointment with the impairment and the difficulties we had, we have at Cosmos. This was on the backdrop of the best financial performance we have ever delivered as a company. We are clear what we need to do in FY 2024. This includes, in the lithium business, we need to continue to deliver the Greenbushes expansion projects. In parallel, drive further value recognition at Greenbushes via exploration and underground studies. At Kwinana, we need to overcome engineering challenges as we continue to ramp up production. For the nickel business, we need to continue to optimize our assets at Nova and Forrestania, along with the completion of the Cosmos Project review.
For exploration, we remain focused on the conversion of some of our encouraging exploration results into discovery. Ultimately, we need to maintain our focus on development of our people, enhancing our culture, and improving our safety performance. Thank you. I'll hand back now to Mike.
Thanks, Matt. I'd now like to invite shareholder questions on any aspect of IGO's business, including the matters set out in Matt's presentation. Could I ask that the questions relating specifically to the resolutions that the meeting is going to consider, are put to the board during the formal business part of the meeting? And for those in attendance, if you wish to ask a question, please raise your hand and wait for the microphone to be given to you. Then please state your name for the record, where... And whether you're a shareholder or if a proxy holder, which shareholder you are representing. We'll then address any questions received via the Computershare online platform, and the Company Secretary, Joe, will let me know if there's questions being submitted. Open to questions.
Thank you. Alan Wolford is my name. I'm a shareholder. I'd like to congratulate you on your profit, but unfortunately, it covers up a few sins, and I think it's a big worry.
... obviously poor due diligence for the Cosmos purchase to lose basically AUD 1 billion. And I was just wondering where the buck stopped, how it has affected bonuses, if bonuses are being paid, and comments on the general situation of that poor performance.
Thank you for the question, Alan. And look, we agree with you. The acquisition of the Western Areas assets, there were some mistakes made, as I said during my presentation, and I think Matt referred to as well. Our response is, as I say, twofold. Firstly, let's figure out what happened and make sure that we never make the same mistakes again. And I agree with you, it's likely by definition, there'll be some due diligence issues discovered, but we need to really understand those and make sure that we get better than that.
I would like to remind again that the context of that decision, which was a poor M&A decision, came in, you know, approximately five decisions, if you like, over the last three or four years, four of which were very good decisions, and the shareholders are reaping the rewards of those collective decisions, through the highest financial results. So I think, you know, we've got to take the decision in that context.
In terms of where the buck stops, I think the executive leadership team and the board fully take the accountability for the decision, and we, you know, and that's the actions that we put in place to sort of make sure that it doesn't happen again, but also to extract the full value from the assets we acquired. No one individual is accountable for an M&A decision like this. We all have to take the accountability together, and weigh the consequences of that.
In terms of where it went to bonuses, it was taken into consideration as we looked at the ELT, but also into, the executive leadership team, but also into the context of the year that was and the very difficult situation that the four members of the executive leadership team, we found ourselves in after the passing of Peter Bradford. And so if you look at the short-term bonuses in aggregate for the three continuing ELT members, you'll note that in percentage terms, they're approximately half of the prior year, and that partly reflects the overall year that there has extraordinary financial returns, but also some significant, issues relating to the Cosmos Project, mainly.
John, John Campbell, representing Australian Shareholders Association, proxies from 53 shareholders for about almost identical number of shares and almost identical number of proxies as last year. The blunder with Western Areas, obviously, the error took place fairly soon after you took the chair, Chairman, and must have been probably the major, first major decision that came up for the board, at that time. It reflects poorly on the judgment of the board, and the senior management, of course. But I just wonder what, how we as shareholders should reflect upon that when it comes up to the re-election of directors, who were responsible for that decision.
I think I've, you know, more or less as I've said already, John, and thank you for the question. The accountability has to be shared. We don't shy away from that. In terms of re-electing directors, though, I would take it in terms of the context that that is a shared accountability and whether it's the right thing to do for the benefit of IGO and for the benefit of the shareholders you represent, to single out one director for, you know, for that decision, recognizing as well the context of the decisions that have been made over the last several years.
You can rest assured that I've asked myself the question many times that you put that it was a decision that was made on my watch, and I take accountability for that. And that's mainly around, you know, just making sure that it never happens again. But again, recognizing the context of the overall decisions that the board and executive team have made over the last few years.
Anne Pryor. I'm a shareholder and have been for about 20 years, or at least my super fund is now. I've got a couple of comments. First of all, looking at your annual report with reference to the Western Areas takeover, I stripped out the sums for cash trade and other receivables and inventory. And then when I did my arithmetic, I find that there's about AUD 70 million remaining in value for shareholders of the AUD 1 billion spent. And I find it very difficult to get my head around that there is actually 7% of the purchase that is of value. I just... That does not compute.... So I'm very disappointed, especially as I was a Western Areas shareholder as well, and I just don't understand how this can have happened. Secondly, congratulations on your profit.
It was a stellar profit, but I think I should point out that the lithium price was a complete windfall for the company, and that's not going to be repeated at current prices. You've mentioned the Train 1, and this is a question now, that you expect to be 50% nameplate by December. Well, we're two weeks away from December, so where are we now? With the Cosmos Project review, when will that be completed, and will it be published in full?
Thanks very much, Anne, and, and thanks for your support over a long period of time. You've seen some significant value growth over that period, obviously. You asked how did it happen in relation to Western Areas, and that's exactly what we're making sure that we get to the bottom of at each level and making sure that it can't happen again. You do mention a remaining value amount. I'll obviously point out that it's a non-cash impairment at this stage, and where the value of the assets that we purchased gets to eventually will take years to unfold, as we go through the Cosmos Project review, but also as we look to create value wherever we can from the assets we purchased. And I'll notice...
I'll point you to the presentation that Matt made, just pointing out the lithium potential on some of the licenses that we acquired as part of the acquisition. So time will tell what the true delivery of value to shareholders will be, but we don't shy away at all from the fact that it's been, you know, a big shock, and the Cosmos has not performed in the way that we thought it was.
In terms of the record profits, I don't at all dispute that we went through a period of a very high commodity pricing, but if you like, that period was foreseen by IGO in making the decision to buy the project, because we bought the project at the very bottom of a short mini cycle in lithium, which lasted for about, you know, probably a year, and the timing was perfect. And so therefore, when you buy at the bottom, you reap the rewards of when that cycle changes, and that's what we've done, and that's turned out exceptionally well for shareholders with us, as I said. Now, it is going down, and we don't expect... I personally don't expect $6,000 lithium or spodumene prices to be seen again.
I don't think that was an over-- I think that was an overreaction, unlikely to happen again. But then it comes down to the asset quality, and Greenbushes is the largest producing hard rock mine in the world today, the highest grade, and therefore the lowest cost. And so in the down part of the cycle, as we're seeing now, the important thing is, what is our competitive cost position versus other, players in the market? And from that position, I think, you know, our shared position as a, as a shareholder in Greenbushes will hold us in very good stead. The next, one you asked on Train 1. Train 1 is just coming up from, the core issues of Train 1 are engineering issues on the connections between the major bits of equipment.
And the major elements of the process are operating, have always operated well, and we have produced battery-grade lithium hydroxide from the plant. But the connections between them were poorly engineered, and it's a process of just one by one going through those and rebuilding. And so it tends to go in terms of shutdowns. You shut for a while, rebuild an area, and then hope that you come back up to the next level, and that's the target to, as we mentioned, to get to 50% by the end of the year. That shutdown, we're still just finalizing...
The plant is still just finalizing the shutdown, and we'll come back up over current weeks, and we'll update the market probably on the next quarterly announcement at the end of January.
Mr. Chairman, another question that I have to ask is it was a very astute move buying into Greenbushes, but the... I was also going to ask the same question as Anne, but I'll go on to another question now, is that that's just another question mark over the board of directors, and I worry that you have so many projects, exploration targets, that for a relatively small company, this is taking too much of your time instead of spending more time and expertise on the problems that you have with your current major investments.
Thanks for the question, Alan. There's a lot going on at IGO, I agree with you, and a lot of it is positive, and I'd point to the exploration portfolio as positive. We're very careful in that exploration portfolio to prioritize and make sure that we're continually reviewing the rank of each project and spending the money where we think it has the likelihood of the quickest return. And if you think about it, you know, over the years, as you've been shareholders for a while, we've been investing heavily in exploration since the major sort of change in strategy in 2017 of IGO. And we're now starting to see some of the results of that multi-year investment, we think, with some of the results that we're seeing. So I think it's a question for exploration of watch this space.
We are committed to it, as Matt said, in the sense of we see the demand long term to be so the demand outlook to be so positive for the minerals that we're in, that we do think it's important to continue that exploration. But you've raised a very good point on prioritizing, and we have, you know, we continue to look at that prioritization and make sure we're spending the money where it's got the most likely outcome. In terms of other projects in the board's focus, the board's focus is firmly on the core issues confronting IGO at the moment, which is the Cosmos Project and the Cosmos Project Review, and extracting as much value as we can from the assets we built with Western Areas and also at Kwinana.
Now, obviously, we don't operate Kwinana or Greenbushes, but we have quite an influence there at the board level. When Peter Bradford passed away, as you'll know, I went myself onto the board and as an interim measure until our permanent CEO is in place, and Matt and I sit on the TLEA board, and we and we have a large amount of the board's activity at IGO is focused on what we're doing at the TLEA level and at the Greenbushes level to really influence that, those joint ventures, really make sure that IGO brings as much value as it can to those decisions. And an example of that is the reference that we made to the sort of life of mine plan of Greenbushes, which we have with a good capital profile.
But we're working very hard to make sure that that's the best life of mine plan that you can have for that extraordinary ore body, and that we really understand the full extent of it and where underground mining fits in. For example, at the moment, on the main plan, it's only open pit, but what's the underground potential? So we put a lot of effort, we think, into the key things that need to need our effort at the moment.
With Nova, your reserves are down to about three years. You do have some resources as well. What is the prospect of being able to expand the existing reserves to prolong, prolong the life of Nova? And alternatively, given the huge amount that you're spending on exploration and have spent on exploration over many years, in the Fraser Range particularly, how likely is it that you'll find something there that will keep the plant at Nova going?
Thanks, John. We've been exploring extensively in the Fraser Range. We have not yet found something that will, you know, increase the life of Nova. We're now getting down to the short end in the sense of only three years left if we did find something by the time it's permitted, et cetera. So I think the most likely outcome at the end of the three years will be a care and maintenance scenario, even if we found something right now. So, but, but, you know, with every mine, as it comes to the end of its life, the important thing is to make sure you've really shaken the tree, that there are no discoveries out there that, that, you know, that, that you, that could, you know, increase the life of the mine.
And so we're doing that at the moment. We've continued to do that over the years, but it, we have not yet found the extension to, to prolong the Nova mine life at the moment. We, we are in an extractive industry. Eventually, mines do come to the end of their life.
Harry Anstey, a shareholder. Two points: firstly, I notice in the costs of production forecast that there's an increase, and yet we are seeing enlarged facilities which typically reduce costs. At a period when the price of spodumene is supposedly coming down, that's somewhat of a concern, that if our cost of production is increasing at a time we've invested to get what I would have thought economies of scale, that's not being reflected in the forecasts. Secondly, further to the points that have been raised by others, the board's review of the vulnerability of the power station failure, what lessons were learned from that? What lessons are relevant to other parts of the company's operations, and what action has been taken to ensure that doesn't get repeated? Thank you.
Thanks. Just before you hand back the microphone, could I ask you just to clarify the asset that you're talking about with the cost increases forecast?
One of the graphs that you put up showed that the cost of production for next year was going to be AUD 280, I think, and it was AUD 260 or AUD 240 this year.
Yeah.
So that's why I was just... You know, it's a lay question. A graph is going up, and you should be reflecting-
Yeah
-that economy.
And look, I'll ask Matt to comment on the detail of that next year. We are forecasting a small increase, but I'd just like to put that in the sort of context of where Greenbushes is relative to other Western Australian spodumene production, which tends to be in the $600-$900 per ton range. So yes, our costs are marginally increasing, and there'll be changes year-on-year. As the mine grows, there will be economies of scale, but there's also other factors. And I'll ask Matt to comment on next year specifically. But it's still an incredibly low cost relative to other lithium producers in Western Australia, which is the great advantage of Greenbushes.
Yes, but another $20 a ton is reflected in the bottom line.
Absolutely, yeah. Every $1 per ton-
Yeah
-is critical.
Whether it's $600 a ton-
Yeah
280. Thank you.
... Matt, do you want to give the main drivers for that?
Yeah, I'll talk to that. So you are right. So we're forecasting $280-$330 for production costs at Greenbushes next year, which is an increase from where we finished the last financial year. So at the moment, we're still investing a significant amount in growth at Greenbushes. So we're bringing, you know, when CGP is not yet online, we're still gonna do CGP 4. We've got McMahon's, embedding McMahon's, etc. So over a 24-year life of that asset, you will have some variance on cost structures. But at the moment, we're still on this journey to make sure we really optimize and see some of that cost drive through that business.
You will see cost at Greenbushes continue, depending on inflation, and every, all of us as an industry is fighting inflation. But as at Greenbushes, there's so many levers to pull to ensure that we keep that cost stabilized, and that's what we're doing as we continue to ramp up that production profile.
Mm. Thanks, Matt. Now, I'll just comment on the power station failure. Firstly, just pointing out that the power station is owned and operated by our service provider, not ourselves. Nonetheless, we did participate in the investigation on what happened and the shared learnings from that, as in any significant investigation that happens, whether it's a serious potential incident or a safety incident, are immediately shared across the group's operations. And we've started a process of making sure we're also sharing that with Greenbushes and Kwinana, even though we don't operate there. So we do have shared learnings.
On that one, I think it's mainly in terms of the cause, a maintenance issue, and it's led to some changes in the maintenance regime to make sure that it could not happen again, maintenance and operating regime. But that was our service provider that did most of the investigation, or put in most of those changes for their business. What we did is then say, "Okay, yes, but where is that relevant to our business and our operations? So what are the generic learnings that we can have to make sure..." And there were a number of things that were done through the organization. That were checked and verified, and changes made in terms of maintenance profiles in our operation as well.
Do we have any further questions from the floor on the operations? And, Jo, do we have questions online?
Yep, Chairman, we do have one question online. The question is from Christina Ritchie, a shareholder. Both the Chairman and Acting CEO mentioned mistakes in respect to the Western Areas purchase, in particular, the Cosmos project. Please, can the board provide details of these mistakes and what further impact the issues associated with Western Areas nickel projects might have on the nickel production parts of the IGO business going forward, financially in the near term and meeting production targets in the medium to longer term, as the Nova project gradually winds down?
Thanks for the question, Christina. I hope you're listening. In terms of the... I think we've talked extensively about the actions we're taking in the review to understand the mistakes and make sure that they're not made again. In terms of the outlook on the business, what we have to wait for the Cosmos project review to then give guidance to the market and to all of you as shareholders on what we think that asset is likely to what the future of that asset is likely to be. There's no correlation between that and the Nova or Forrestania business, that each one, each asset that we operate has its own life and its own and its own cost structure.
So, there won't be any impact of the Cosmos project on the other projects, if that was, if that was the question.
No further questions.
Thanks, Jo.
Can I have a follow-up question?
John, of course.
The shareholder online asked what the mistakes were. I haven't heard an answer on that, and I'd like to know, where did you go wrong with the purchase, and what lesson can we immediately learn from that?
And look, I mean, for the true learnings, we'd like to wait for the detailed review. It does involve some external independent help with that review to make sure we really nail it. But in general terms, when something like this happens in an acquisition, clearly, due diligence will be a key part of the examination of what we look at. And then the overall transaction approach and structure and the negotiation and how that was conducted, and what price, you know, what led to the negotiation and settling on the final price. And then post-acquisition, were there things that we could have done better on integration and on coming to grips, as I said in my address, with the Cosmos Project earlier?
Then I think there'll be some key learnings in that for us as well. In terms of the acquisition, I'll just make one further point. Shareholders will remember at the time, and particularly if you're a Western Areas shareholder, that the price that we paid for Western Areas was below the bottom end of the range of the independent expert. So in terms of that due diligence element, the company itself, as advised by its independent expert, had a clearly different view on value to what we found when we really got under the hood.
Perhaps, I could ask, who is doing this review, and will we have, you know, a degree of trust in the response that in the-
... and the answers they provide?
Look, we'll, we'll talk about it at, at the time we, when we talk about the results. It's unlikely we'll publish the review because it not-- it's one of those things that'll have a lot of, confidential information in it. But we will certainly update shareholders on the key learnings, and at that time, we'll say how the review was done and. But I think I can assure you on behalf of our directors, we will-- we are taking the review very seriously, and we'll get to the bottom of, of it. Thank you. Now, I think I'll pause the questions there because we'll need to move to the, formal part of the meeting.
So as we've received valid proxy appointments representing 586,202,236 shares, or just over 77% of the securities on issue for the resolutions to be considered today. The proxies received are held by Computershare and are available for inspection. I advise that as chair of the meeting, I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of each resolution. Details of the proxy numbers received prior to the meeting will be displayed on the screen as the resolutions are put to the meeting. Please note, the four numbers include the open votes given to the chair and board. That will be voted in favor of all the resolutions when you see the numbers put up on the screen.
The notice of meeting was lodged with the ASX on the 13th of October, 2023, and has been made available to all shareholders. The first item of ordinary business is the tabling of the financial reports and the directors' and auditors' reports for the year ended 30th of June, 2023. Copies of the annual financial statements are available at the meeting today and can be viewed on the company's website. A copy has been sent to all shareholders who requested one. There's no voting on this item, but I now invite shareholders and their proxies to comment or ask questions on the reports. I would ask that the questions on any other items of business be deferred until we've come to that particular item. Are there any questions of the board on the annual financial statements or reports?
And in addition, are there any questions of the auditor on the auditor's report, the conduct of the audit, the independence of the auditor, or the company's accounting policies? We have no questions here in the room. Do we have any questions online? No. Thanks. So, we'll now move to the resolutions. Now, to help manage, there's a slight delay for those listening or following the meeting online. I'm gonna read out all seven resolutions first, and then take questions on any of those seven at the end of reading them out. So resolution number 1 is to re-elect Ms. Debra Bakker as a director of the board. Debra joined the board as a non-executive director on the 14th of December, 2016, having been appointed a director at the 2020 Annual General Meeting.
In accordance with the company's constitution and ASX Listing Rule 14.4, Debra offers herself for re-election as a director of the company. I can now hand over to Debra to say a few words on her re-election.
Thanks, Mike. Good morning, everybody. After seven years on the board, most of you will know me, at least to some extent. When I joined the board of IGO, it was a company with two minor nickel mines and a minority share in a gold mine, and had an enterprise value of AUD 2.7 billion. We were then also in construction of the Nova Mine and deeply in debt. Mike and Matt have spoken to our transition with reallocation of our capital towards the future green energy markets, resulting in our enterprise value at the end of the year, under review of AUD 11.6 billion. That's a four times increase on enterprise value since I joined the board. I'm proud of being part of IGO's transition thus far and remain determined to work towards our next value reset.
My background before joining IGO was a banker and investment banker to the mining sector, with my career spent on three different continents, working for four different nationalities of employers. I believe this experience complements not only our current board makeup of technical mining, geology, and downstream expertise, but as our industry's future globalizes, I can contribute through the skill set and contacts gleaned over my 35-year career. As a company director of 12 years now, including volunteer positions with regional health research, homelessness, and social housing, I believe I bring a perspective that complements the strong corporate values that we at IGO are committed to. So I'm grateful for the support shown by shareholders to myself and this board. I look forward to another term, working towards our collective mission and purpose to make a difference. Thank you, Mike.
Thanks, Deb. The next item of business is noted as Resolution 2, is the election of Ms. Samantha Hogg as a director. Sam joined as an executive director on the 25th of January 2023, having been appointed since the last annual general meeting and in accordance again with the company's constitution and ASX Listing Rule 14.4. Sam offers herself for election as a director of the company. I'll now hand over to Sam to say a few words on her election.
Thanks, Mike, and good afternoon, shareholders. Thanks, Deb. I'm a company director with international experience across the resources, energy, transport, and infrastructure sectors. I formerly held senior executive positions at Transurban Group and at Western Mining Corporation across a broad range of portfolios, including finance, strategic projects, marketing, and corporate services. My most recent executive role was as Chief Financial Officer of Transurban Group. I'm the Deputy Chair and Lead Independent Director of Adbri Limited and a non-executive director of Cleanaway Waste Management Limited. I hold a Bachelor of Commerce degree and am a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. I believe with my extensive skills and experience in finance and corporate governance across various industries, I'm able to contribute to the success of our company, and I thank you for considering my election today.
If elected, I look forward to working with my board colleagues to achieve better outcomes for all of our stakeholders, shareholders, employees, and the wider community. Thank you for your support.
Excuse me, Chairman. Are we allowed to ask questions in relation to these resolutions?
What we said, John, was because of the delay online, it's. I think it's more convenient if we ask the questions at the end for each resolution.
Well, can I put a point of order to you then, in relation to the remuneration of this developer, the allocation of shares?
Could we, John, I'm sorry to interrupt, but could we hold that question? Because firstly, the way you're asking it, no one online can hear you. And could we just hold that question until the end? And I'll come to you first, if you like.
I'm just asking whether you should be putting the resolution to the meeting?
As I said in my introduction, there's been a recent development overnight. We received it this morning. Our expectation is that Ivan will join the board, join the company in early December, as planned. And the resolutions will, we would like to put the resolutions to the meeting on that basis. And we'll come back and update the market, and update you as shareholders, as soon as we've had a chance to absorb this recent information. But I'll stress again, our expectation is that Ivan will join the company in early December as planned, and we're very excited about that. Thank you for the point of order, though.
The next item of business, noted as Resolution 3, is the adoption of the remuneration report, which can be found at pages 58 to 81 of the company's annual report. This is a non-binding vote to enable shareholders to voice their opinions on matters in this report. I put the following resolution as an ordinary resolution: that the remuneration report for the year ended thirtieth of June 2023, which is contained in the annual report for the year ended thirtieth of June 2023, be adopted. The next item of business, noted as Resolution 4, relates to the issue of service rights to Mr. Ivan Vella, as explained in pages 13 to 17 of the Notice of Meeting. The next item of business, noted as Resolution 5, relates to the issue of performance rights and to Mr.
Ivan Vella, as explained in pages 13 to 23 of the Notice of Meeting. The next item of business is noted as Resolution 6 and relates to the approval of termination payment, of a termination payment to Mr. Ivan Vella, as explained on page 23 of the Notice of Meeting. The next item of business, noted as Resolution 7 and final item, is seeking approval to replace the company's auditor, as explained in pages 23 to 24 of the Notice of Meeting. So with that, John, I'd like to invite questions or discussion on any of the resolutions put to the meeting. Let's first have questions from the, those of us in the room. Please raise your hand and, and again, ask, state your name for the, especially for the people online.
John Campbell, representing Australian Shareholders. Firstly, a question to Ms. Bakker in relation to her re-election. Your background as an investment banker should have given you some basis for looking closely at this proposal to take over Western Areas. I guess that the board would have been, in part, relying on that experience together with the rest of the board. It's a disappointment, obviously, to shareholders that that's happened. How would you justify us supporting your re-election on that basis?
John, if I could just make a couple of comments on that and then hand over to Deb. I'll just stress again that the decisions made around the Western Areas acquisition were unanimous between the executive leadership team, the CEO at the time, and the board. And that no one director was responsible for the individual decision. And that I'll also stress again, as Debra said, we value her input very highly during the process and also during what's coming up as the, especially on the review for what happened in the process. Deb, can I hand to you?
Sure. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, John. I don't think there's much more I can add to what Mike said other than just to confirm that, yeah, I am concerned about the decision we're making. I am, you know, really sorry for all of us, me as a shareholder included, that it's turned out this way. Yes, I have expertise in mergers and acquisitions, as does Mike, as does Sam and Keith. Other people have expertise in geology and engineering, and I think if the problem we inherited was isolated to one aspect, then it would be much easier to point the finger. But at the moment, what we've got visibility of is a whole range of issues that compounded-
... including circumstance, global volatility, COVID, all of those things. So, I don't feel singled out as a purpose or it should have been my problem to rescue.
Thanks, Deb. Can I ask whether there's further questions in the room on any of the resolutions put to the meeting?
Just on the remuneration report, we've got three objections to it, and we'll be voting against it. The objections are, number one, the extra payments for exertion that were paid to senior executives. We would rather have seen those payments go to another key management person appointed to a role to assist the others rather than giving them bonuses. We think that would have been more effective and would have been in accordance with your remuneration plan, which we don't like to see broken by those sort of one ad hoc type decisions on additional payments. That's one reason for voting against it.
The second reason is we don't think that there is sufficient recognition of the error in relation to Western Areas in the bonuses that went to executives. We know that they're reduced on what they were in the prior year, but even so, they're still significant. And we think that where shareholders get penalized like that, executives need to get penalized too. And the third area of disagreement on the remuneration report is an old chestnut of ours, that we prefer to see a four-year appraisal period, not a three-year, particularly as you gain in size in the ASX listings. We think that a three-year is increasingly inappropriate. And can I go on just to comment on the...
I wasn't intending to vote against the resolution to allocate Mr. Vella's rights in relation to the compensation for loss of his Rio Tinto rights. But it sounds to me, from what little I read about this announcement that I didn't know about before I sat down, that he's unlikely to get his Rio entitlement. So there's really perhaps no reason for us to be giving him that additional how many thousand share rights it is, that he's getting for nothing just as that compensation. And I'm now tempted to think that I should vote against it, despite having said that I was gonna vote for it.
And finally, on the last resolution to approve termination payments in advance, the ASA believes on principle that we should vote against these resolutions because we think that the Corporations Act provides a safety net for shareholders. So, to say that if termination payments exceed a certain amount, I think it's 12 months fixed pay, then they should have the right to approve them. And we don't like to see that right given away without knowing the circumstances of the resignation that's going to give rise to the payment. So we'll be voting against that, too.
Thanks, John. Let me respond to those as best I can. Your first question or comment, I absolutely agree with you. I would have loved to have not had to put retention payments in and other measures in for the four remaining executives that were left, kind of, to manage the, you know, extensive issues at IGO, after the passing of Peter Bradford. We were in the middle of a reorganization of the executive. Two members had stepped off the executive team, and one additional role was about to be hired, and one additional role was about to be started.
The process to hire was about to be started with Peter, and the idea was that there would be 6-7 members of the executive team with the CEO, and that's what—that's the sort of number that I would consider normal for a company of IGO's size and complexity. So unfortunately, what happened was the CEO passed suddenly, as you're aware, and that left the 4 remaining executives holding the can. The board took a decision that it was better to focus on replacing the CEO first, because any incoming CEO should have the chance to structure their executive team, and so we didn't hire additional executives, and then we did find it was appropriate to put those exertion and retention payments in place.
In terms of the bonuses, I think I've spoken to that, but I would also make a final comment that because there are only four compared to seven or eight people in the key management positions, the cost to shareholders, even with the payment, would have been significantly less for the year than it would have been otherwise. In terms of the 4-year appraisal, thanks for your comment again, John. You know, we agree to disagree on this point. We think the 3-year appraisal period is correct, and partly as a result of your good work advocating for shareholders, we did add the extra year of holding lock a year or so ago. Therefore, we feel that there is an overall 4-year period for the LTIs in that.
In terms of Ivan Vella's rights, as I say, all I can say with the information we only received this morning was our expectation is that that Ivan Vella will join the company as appointed. And what he left on the table at Rio was left on the table from the day he resigned and unrelated to any other, any other things. So the compensation would always have been fair to give him for what he left on the table. But as I say, we need to do some more work on what's happened overnight, and we'll update the market in due course.
... Mr. Chairman, my mathematical skills are wanting. On page 20, with reference to resolution 5, where you're talking about the vesting schedule. Can I ask, please, at the 90th percentile or better, at the top of the page, the level of vesting would be 150%, with footnote 1, which in part says, "However, the total combined LTI vesting is capped at 100%." Now, under the next section, which is toward the middle of the page, the absolute TSR performance, again, 25% or better per annum, 150%, capped at 100%. Could you please explain?
Sure. The LTI is made up of a number of considerations, absolute TSR, relative TSR, and the others that are in there. Each one of those has an individual outcome of between 0% and 150% of that percentage. So let's take 25% for one of them. The outcome of the testing of that could be 0%, or it could be up to 37.5% towards the total LTI. But in it, on top of all of that, the total LTI is capped at 100%. So what that means is, even if there was 150% achievement for all of the measures, there's a cap on the LTI of 100% of target.
The way that works is, you know, to be fair, in terms of if one result is particularly spectacular, but there is nothing achieved on the other three, then as the example I mentioned, 25% could be 37.5. That 37.5 would be the percentage achieved out of 100 for the whole LTI. But if all four results are more than 100%, the numbers reduce down to 100% by that cap. So it is a bit quirky, but that's the way most LTI schemes work. Any more questions in the room?
Mr. Chairman, Alan Morford again, shareholder. It does concern me that the various problems that have occurred, leading back to the, the board of directors, eventually. Have you confidence that you, you have a board that is capable of running this complex company? Do you think you need an additional experienced directors or perhaps a change of directors?
It's a good question, and we look continually at our board skills matrix, and you'll see in the annual report that this year we published in detail that matrix, and we continue to refine our processes and do that. We're continually looking at board renewal, but what I will say is, we've heard a lot today about the directors being responsible for the Cosmos acquisition, but it's those same directors and that same board that have delivered the record financial returns of the year as well. So there's mixed. So in terms of, you know, it... We would say again, that we think the performance of the company should be judged in total, and not in any way shying away from the very bad decision to purchase the Western Areas assets.
And in terms of board renewal, we're continually looking at that, and we, you know, we'll update people as we need to. But we are very happy with our board in terms of its competence and its delivery of shareholder value overall.
Are shareholders happy?
That's a question for each individual shareholder. On balance, I think the results of the vote showed that while, you know, generally speaking, people have endorsed the board's resolutions at least. We interact, you know, with larger shareholders, very often smaller shareholders in this context and in other contexts. Overall, I think people are very happy with the 20-year journey of IGO. Much less happy with the impairment, and that we just have to, you know, do better on that. Any further questions? We are getting, I think, very close to time.
Mr. Chairman, Harry Anstey, a shareholder again. I'm just reiterating the comments that are coming from other shareholders, and I think if you take the price of the metals out of the equation, you know, the spin-offs, the, the glory might not be quite so great. And I think really, in reality, the story might reflect that the board needs a bit more support to take such a diverse portfolio into serious account. That's just a passing comment. I think it summarizes the feeling in this room. Thank you very much. We recognize the hard work, and we think that perhaps if you don't recognize that you're being perhaps overworked and possibly missing things, then, we may have a different story next year. Thank you.
Thanks very much for that comment. Joe, do we have any questions online?
No more questions online, Joe.
Great! All right. Well, look, with that being the end of the questions, I'd like to close. I'll now ask everyone. Sorry, we have to vote. There being no further discussions on the resolutions, I will now ask everybody to complete their poll voting as previously explained. I'll shortly close the voting, the online voting system, so please ensure that you cast your vote on all the resolutions. I'll now pause to allow time to finalize those votes, and for those in attendance in the room, Rod Somes and his team from Computershare will now walk around the room and collect the green voting cards. Should you require any assistance, please raise your hand, and for those online, please bear with us while this process unfolds. All right. Thanks, everybody.
So, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the formal business of today's meeting, and I officially declare the meeting closed. As I mentioned earlier, the results of the poll will be lodged on the ASX platform later this afternoon and on our company's website. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank shareholders for their continued support of the company during the year, and thank you again for your attendance today. And thank you again for your questions and comments, all of which have been very carefully noted by the board and the executive team here with us. For those of you who have joined online, thanks for your attendance also. And please, and for those of you in the room, please do join us, afterwards for some further discussion with the board and management team and some refreshments. Thank you.