Welcome to the Jupiter Mines Quarterly Update Call. I would now like to introduce your host, Scott Winter. Please go ahead, Scott.
Thanks very much, Erica, and welcome to all those that have dialed in. I look forward to taking you through today the Jupiter Mines Quarterly update for the operation and what Jupiter's been up to. I'm gonna take you through just a few highlights and then a little bit of detail around the operation itself, how it's performed, the production, some logistics, a little bit of a marketing outlook, and then talk about what we're doing from a corporate sense in regard to the board and executive roles plus strategy. Look forward to your questions. We can do that near the end. I'll kick off with some of the highlights for the business. Obviously, we've had a pretty solid quarter.
No LPIs for the quarter, which is terrific, and that brings the business to no LPIs year to date. Tremendous result. The business achieved around 255,000 cubic meters of graded ore for the quarter, which is on target and going well. Somewhat less waste movement, but we'll get into the detail around that when I talk through that in a moment. Logistics is slightly behind, but as expected, there are some issues we're managing with planned outages on the rail network, and I'll talk to you about some of the roadwork, sorry, the road transport that we're bringing back online to assist with that. We've got a solid cash balance attributable to Jupiter, both in Jupiter and our share of Tshipi.
We're sitting at about AUD 76 million by the end of the quarter. I suppose what we've been through from a corporate sense, we've obviously had a change to the board with Peter North joining, myself joining, and Patrick Murphy joining with Peter as Acting Chairman, myself as Acting CEO. We're really getting our hands into the business at the moment. I'd just like to take you through some of the detail now. As I said, graded ore production was on target for the month. Slightly behind, but we're happy with where we're heading and where we'll be by the end of the year. We have had a really good look at the mine and the mine plan through to the end of the year.
The contractor performance, which we've highlighted before, we're working with them on some performance issues that we seem to be getting on top of now. We have done a review of the medium-term mine plan that has dropped some of the waste out of the operation, and that has meant two of the fleets have been stood down. We did have a particularly wet October, but November's results are showing ahead of target and that stands us in a really good position for the next quarter going forward. We did implement some operational efficiency measures with Normans earlier in the quarter, and those seems to be paying dividends with availability and some of the utilization of the equipment, which is terrific.
You'll see in the results again that Tshipi continues to be one of the, if not the lowest cost producer in the region, you know, with a cost of production around $75 per dmtu. Again, low cost, long life asset, which is terrific for Tshipi and certainly going forward when we start to talk around strategy and consolidation of manganese in the region. There has been a focus on the barrier pillar, which has brought about a few bonuses. We have brought forward some production there to help. That has reduced the strip ratio. It's actually helped with lowering some of the waste costs, again, and bringing forward some of the graded ore, which is really helping us.
It has meant more high-grade ore and less low-grade ore. I'll talk about that in a moment in regard to low grade and low-grade sales. We did see some slightly higher fines come through just because there's a high fines content in that particular ore, part of the ore body. Mining all round is heading in the right direction. We're happy with Normans', I suppose, their performance improvements of recent, and we expect those to continue going forward. Logistics and sales, the railing over the quarter has been lower than expected, and that is primarily a result of some planned maintenance and some other infrastructure delays in the area. There was a derailment, which has caused some delays, but mainly the planned maintenance.
There are expected to be some further maintenance going through in the next quarter. We've looked at how we can ensure sales are achieved and we get tons to the port. We will be bringing through some more road transport to make sure that those tons move from site to the port. With the low-grade ore really being, I wouldn't say sub-economic, but really pushing the economics, we have reduced the low-grade ore sales into the market. That's freed up some of that road transport to really make sure the high grade gets through to port, and we can get it onto the ships. We're happy with where that's going. As you'll see, we achieved a ship pricing around AUD 460 for the quarter.
That has certainly moved around from the start to the finish. We're starting to see a softening at the back end of the quarter. Just a little bit on the market, and it's quite interesting. You know, obviously the market is influenced heavily by the crude steel production in China. We are seeing China holding firm on their expected production for their year. They don't wanna exceed 2020 levels, and we're seeing that, you know, that's absolutely occurring and they're managing those levels. That obviously flows through to the ferroalloy market and so a lower demand in that particular area.
Interestingly, the ferroalloy market was affected by some of the power constraints that China put on the back end of this year. Again, some of those ferroalloy producers, some of them even stopped producing because of the high costs of power, and then they had marginal production. Did see earlier in the quarter some price improvements for the manganese ore, obviously. It has softened at the back end of the quarter. I suppose a slight linking to, you know, expected forecast of price for manganese into the future. The silico manganese price has plateaued. W e've seen it over the last three months, I suppose in that window, come down significantly. In November, it's actually plateaued, which is a good sign for manganese itself.
I suppose into the future, we're expecting China to come out of their I suppose, constraints put on the crude steel production and start to increase that again. We're seeing the rest of the world have buoyant sort of steel production. We see that as a positive for the manganese price going forward, that steel will increase, ferroalloys will start to increase and we can start to see a slight improvement in price. I suppose just linking to also freight, which obviously has been a significant impact to everyone. We have seen it quite volatile, but of recent, over the last few weeks, we've seen that freight rates actually starting to come down. Ships are freeing up.
Some of the ships are being allowed to hit berths and unload cargos, and that's freeing ships up in the market for us to use. We do see freight coming off going forward. Looking forward at freight, we can only see that being a slight positive for margins for Tshipi. That's pretty much a wrap on the operational side of Tshipi. Let's look at the corporate side. As I said, we hold about AUD 76 million of cash, which is great. As I mentioned earlier in the highlights, the board is somewhat changed, obviously, with Peter, Patrick and myself joining.
I suppose what we are actively doing at the moment is and have engaged Korn Ferry, that we're actively looking for a chairman for the business and a new CEO for the business. That is progressing exceptionally well. W e've engaged Korn Ferry a little while ago, and we're working through that process. I will say we're not going to rush to make sure that we put a chair and a CEO in place just for the sake of that. We will, right, you know, look at the right person to fit what Jupiter is today and where we want it to go in the future. We need the right people to do that. That's working quite well going forward.
The piece around, well, what the board is currently working on at the moment is obviously the strategy. I'm sure you're very keen to understand where we're going there. As we've mentioned, the focus of the board has currently been on making sure, I suppose that the board is stable, the business is well led, and we set it up for the right leadership going forward and leadership and governance going forward. At the same time, we are looking at the strategy of the business and how we can optimize that going forward. Some of the things that we are looking at is obviously how we can bring operational excellence through into the Tshipi operation at the moment.
I mentioned part of that before with the discussions we're having with Normans. We will be looking and reviewing the feasibility study that we had put through to the market a while ago around the expansion at Tshipi. We're also looking at the opportunities out there with consolidation of ownership in the Kalahari with some of the other manganese producers and even partners. That's quite exciting. We see that as a priority and we've started that work already. There is a lot of opportunity there for us to investigate and work through. Similarly, we have got open eyes as to how we can diversify the business as well.
We are looking at, you know, other commodities out there, and in particular, how we may participate in the battery minerals supply chain. Again, it's a big wide world out there, and we're certainly doing the right investigation, and we'll be sort of getting some expert advice as to where we point the business and how we do participate. Certainly initially, our priority is around operational performance at Tshipi, settling down the board and making sure we've got that right support, and looking at the partners and new neighbors in the Kalahari about, you know, growing the manganese business. W ith a low cost, long life asset that Tshipi is, we stand in a very good position to do that.
Certainly, being listed in, and in Australia, we have a great position going forward. That's my summary of where Jupiter currently sits. I'm really open now to any questions that you may have. Please feel free. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Scott. We're gonna open up for questions now. If any guest would like to ask a question, it's star one on your telephone keypad now. That's star one on your telephone keypad now, and we'll take a moment, and I'll introduce you through to the call. Just a reminder, again, if any guests would like to join the Q&A queue to ask a question, that is star one on your telephone keypad now. We have some questions coming through now, Scott. Just one moment as I get the guests' names. I won't be a moment.
Okay. Thank you.
We have our first question from Trent Barnett. Trent, please go ahead.
Hi, Scott.
Okay.
Thanks for taking the question. Okay, just, are you able just to elaborate on the, what you talked about, the consolidation in the Kalahari? Can you elaborate on that at all?
Yeah, Trent, I can. I suppose I'll do it to the extent we currently have done the work. Look, we are partners at Tshipi with Mr. Bentley, obviously. There are neighbors with South32 and various other players, participants in the Kalahari, I suppose so. You know, our aspiration is to be a larger manganese producer and, you know, a low cost, long life, larger manganese producer in the market. That is, I suppose, an opportunity for consolidation. I suppose I'll elaborate there. The work needs to be done to look at what is the right fit for the next step with Jupiter. D o we look at adding partnering?
All of those opportunities are currently sitting in the window for us to investigate and really find the right path forward.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Trent. Again, if any guests would like to join the Q&A queue, it's star one on your telephone keypad now. We have our next question from Nick Warrell. Please go ahead, Nick.
Good day, Scott. I was just waiting for the call when the last question was asked, but I suspect something similar. My question was, we've heard about consolidation in the Kalahari for some time now. What's the different approach that you're gonna take to your predecessor?
Look, I suppose I'll just reiterate that the shareholders have certainly given advice to the board to look at something that's slightly different to, you know, paying out all of the dividends. Really what we're doing is investigating further what opportunities there are in the Kalahari for consolidation and that is, you know, participants that want to join, merge, partner. That's what I mean. The strategy has to be clear, and the board's working through exactly what that will be and that'll, I suppose, dictate what we do and how we do a consolidation or whether we do one at all.
Certainly, you know, that is the direction we're pointing and looking at it quite strongly.
Okay. Of course, first logical step is potentially 100% ownership of Tshipi. I presume that's first on the agenda, if.
I won't say what is first on the agenda at all. They're all currently in, you know, in a list of opportunities that we'll investigate. You know, that's a logical one to review. Yeah, certainly we're early stages in what, you know, how we're running through it.
Yeah. All right. Thank you.
Thank you, Nick. If there are any other questions at this time, please press star one on your telephone keypad now. We have our next question from Paul Hannon. Please go ahead, Paul.
Good day, Scott. Paul Hannon here.
Hi, Paul.
From Regal Funds Management. Just a quick one. Obviously, the business is transitioning away from old management share. I guess my question was, are there any deals or any arrangements that are in place that have to be undone or haven't yet been unwound as a result of that transition?
No. We've got a very clear direction forward. You know, everything, I suppose, that has progressed over the last few months has been dealt with appropriately and managed appropriately, and we're looking to the future, and it's pretty exciting looking forward. And really that's why I suppose we have got a really solid eye on making sure we bring in a chair and a CEO that really has got a, you know, a good deal of energy to look at growing, you know, Jupiter going forward. As I said, we've really started to form a skeleton of the strategy, focusing on manganese. No, we're certainly not shackled, very clearly going forward.
Did I hear that you said that you might consider the previous 100% payout arrangements to allow the business to obviously accumulate some capital and participate in some of those growth opportunities that you're referring to?
We'll consider what we're doing with that, absolutely. W e're about growing value for Jupiter and we'll wanna do that in the right way and we can do it a number of ways. Look, that'll be part of the strategy and we'll let the team know when that's formed. Yeah, I can't say one way or another.
Yeah. I guess before you start doing deals, you've gotta get some currency in your share price, which your business doesn't exactly have. How do you build that, you know, before you create, you know, the capability of, you know, doing deals which are accretive?
Yeah. No, you're exactly right. I suppose I mentioned it before briefly, that it's important we make sure Tshipi continues to be solid, not only today, and it has been, but we're making sure that it's solid going forward. You need a great operating asset to continue into the future. That's a primary objective of us, making sure that's robust. We as a Jupiter company need to have the right people and strategy to actually execute. I think you're right, we don't have track record other than doing the Tshipi deal and listing, which is a great track record. Going forward, doing other deals, we've gotta get ourselves ready for that.
Getting the right governance and the executive team to do that is really important, along with getting you know that I suppose a great operating asset. It's about execution. It's really about execution against that strategy. We are very you know in the infancy of that at the moment.
Yeah. Thank you, Peter. I appreciate that. I guess my point was that the business is run reasonably well. It's operationally done reasonably well and, you know, obviously you've had a 100% payout ratio then. The issue, it's never been able to generate a market rating, you know?
Yeah.
It needs currency to deal. I guess my question is, you know, I appreciate you've gotta make sure the business continues to run, 'cause that's gotta be the bedrock. But that seems to be going well.
Yes.
How do you create a rating for this business, you know, that actually gives you a currency to go and, you know, to participate in, you know, rationalization or consolidation or do deals which are, you know, shareholder accretive?
I'm not sure I can. I'll be able to answer your question 100%. Yeah, a strategy that clearly outlines, you know, growth and consolidation will start to do that. Other than that, you know, as I said, we're gonna come back to execution. We've actually got to lay a plan down for what we wanna do and then execute on those. At that point, you know, synergistic value add will start to show that will start to creep in, and we'll start to get a better rating in that regard. I'm not sure I can answer your question completely.
No, no. Yeah, I'm not trying to trick you or anything, Scott. It's just that-
No.
This thing's never been afforded a big rating by the market, you know? It's never been able to capture the attention of the market, and that's probably because it never had a growth strategy. Now it does with you and your team, and the mandate that the new MD is gonna be given is to grow this thing. Hopefully that does. I guess you have to go to marketing first to re-engage with investors, which has never occurred before.
Yeah. I think that's probably a good point in itself. You know, rebranding the business that actually is pointing in a slightly different direction, that will get the attention. Yeah, that will be part of it. No, thanks for your question, I appreciate it.
No, I appreciate it. As I said, I'm not trying to trip you up. It was more a point of, yeah, that this. You haven't been able to attract the attention. It's not your issue, it's the way that the thing was run previously. I appreciate the fact that you guys are saying that you are gonna re-engage. You realize it has to appear as part of the steps that-
Yeah. No, I appreciate it. Thank you.
Thanks. Bye for now. Appreciate that.
No worry. Cheers.
Thank you. We have our next question from Ben Hamley. Please go ahead, Ben.
Thank you. Hi, Scott. I was just wondering, there's a comment around looking at participation in the battery mineral supply chain. Is that potentially via other commodities or are you looking at the suitability of the Tshipi ore to, you know, be adaptable for that application?
We're not specific. I mean, manganese does play a part. You don't need a lot of ore, manganese ore to participate in the battery market. We've got plenty of ore. It will constitute reviewing other commodities for sure.
Okay.
Yeah.
Thank you.
No worries.
Thank you, Ben. We don't appear to have any other questions in the queue at this time. If you're happy, Scott, I can hand back over to yourself and close the Q&A for now.
Yeah, that's terrific. I really appreciate the questions. Yeah, it's a pretty exciting time for us at the moment. W e've got a multiple number of things we're doing at the moment, and we'll be doing a hell of a lot next year, you know, continuing to, as I said, work through what the new strategy is, bed the new exec and governance, sorry, and board in. It's an exciting time. It's a good time to be with Jupiter. I look forward to the next time we run through the end of year results. We've got Christmas and New Year's before then, so I wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas with family, friends, and others.
I hope you have an enjoyable and lovely Christmas. Cheers.
Thank you, Scott. That now concludes the Jupiter Mines quarterly updates call. Thank you for attending, and please enjoy the rest of your day.
Cheers. Thanks.