I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Jim Beyer, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.
Thanks, Darcy. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us for the Regis Resources March FY 2026 quarter results. Joining me on the call today is our CFO, Anthony Rechichi, our COO, Michael Holmes, and our Head of Investor Relations, Matt Collins. At times, we'll refer to figures and tables in both the quarterly report, which came out this morning, and also the resource and reserves report, which was released yesterday morning. You may find it useful to have those documents at hand. Okay, I'll start with safety. During the December quarter, our operations continued to perform strongly from a safety perspective. The 12-month moving average lost time injury frequency rate finished the quarter a little bit further down at 0.32, which continues to be well below the Western Australian gold industry average. Our objectives remain unchanged, to provide a workplace free from serious injury.
We continue to focus on leadership, discipline, and continuous improvement to support safe and reliable operations across our business. Turning now to our NBL production performance. The team has consistently delivered to plan during FY 2026, and the March quarter was no exception. Operationally, the group production for the period was 90,600 oz. Had an all-in sustaining cost of AUD 2,807 an ounce, with minimum non-cash charges. The consistent delivery of both production and costs across both Duketon and Tropicana has translated directly into strong financial outcomes and has seen us achieve a major balance sheet milestone. During the quarter, Regis increased its cash in bullion by AUD 198 million, and that was after the tax payment of AUD 92 million for the FY 2025 year. Anthony will talk some more on this shortly.
Now, this near AUD 200 million- dollar build has resulted in Regis' cash and bullion balance moving above the billion-dollar mark, with AUD 1.13 billion on the balance sheet at the end of March. We also released our new capital management policy and announced a fully franked interim dividend of AUD 0.15 per share that was paid on 8th of April, returning AUD 114 million to shareholders and taking our total distributions to shareholders to nearly AUD 700 million. This return to being dividend payers reflects our understanding that value growth and returns to our shareholders are the fundamental objectives to our business. To continue with this performance, Regis remains unhedged, continues to invest in growth and exploration, and thanks to a strong operational performance, has the capacity to balance disciplined reinvestment along with returns to shareholders.
In fact, our message to the market hasn't changed on this front. We operate quality assets with strong leverage to the gold price. When combined with the continued rolling life extensions of our underground mines, as clearly demonstrated in yesterday's R&R update, we're extremely well-positioned to consistently deliver ounces and cash flow well into future years. With that, I'll hand over to Michael and then to Anthony, who will provide more details on operations and financial performance, respectively.
Thanks, Jim. Good morning, everyone. Operationally, the March quarter was in line with expectations across both Duketon and Tropicana. Our teams continued to deliver to plan, and the consistency of execution across the business remains a key strength for Regis. At Duketon, open pit and underground operations produced 57,500 oz. Open pit ore mining continued at King of Creation. Moolart Well laterites and Ben Hur delivering 14,800 oz at an average grade of 0.8 g per tonne, and the performance was in line with plan. Our underground operations at Garden Well and Rosemont continued to perform reliably, producing 35,300 oz at 2.07 g per tonne. Development rates across both undergrounds were pleasing and supported steady ore delivery through the quarter.
Total underground development at Duketon was 3,666 m, with approximately 56% classified as capital development, reflecting investment in Garden Well main at Rosemont Stage 3. Rosemont Stage 3 development continues and progressing as planned towards commercial production. During the March quarter, Garden Well main underground and the Kintyre open pit both moved into commercial production, signifying the end of the growth capital period for those projects. The Duketon mills performed to expectations with open pit and underground ore feeds, supported by planned stockpile feed. During the quarter, we also progressed activities associated with the Buckwell open pit at Duketon North. At Buckwell, pre-stripping rates have exceeded expectations, with the recent addition of a large 3,600-tonne digger to the open pit fleet, proving its worth.
This strong performance has given us the option to either slow the mining rate or to continue and bring forward material previously planned for FY 2027. We have made the sensible decision to continue mining at these elevated rates and de-risk FY 2027 production from Buckwell. This has timing impacts on our forecast capital spend, which Anthony will touch on later in the call. Turning now to Tropicana. At Tropicana, Regis' attributable production for the quarter was 33,100 oz, representing another solid quarter of delivery. Open pit operations delivered 22,300 oz at an average grade of 2.07 g per tonne, with performance in line with expectations.
Underground operations delivered 13,300 oz at 2.95 g per tonne, again, consistent with plan. Tropicana mill feed was a combination of open pit, underground, and supplemented stockpile feeds. Overall, both Duketon and Tropicana continued to perform reliably during the quarter, delivering consistent production while progressing key underground and near-term growth projects. With that, I'll now hand over to Anthony to take you through the financials.
Thanks, Michael. As Jim outlined earlier, the March quarter again demonstrated the strength of Regis' financial performance with consistent operational delivery translating directly into strong margins and cash generation. Gold sales for the quarter were for just shy of 90,000 oz for an average realized price of AUD 6,977 an ounce, generating AUD 622 million in revenue. Operating cash flow for the quarter was AUD 422 million, with AUD 263 million generated at Duketon and AUD 159 million coming from Tropicana. Also, in cash and bullion, and referring to figure two in the ASX release, the money bags again increased by AUD 198 million during the quarter, taking the total balance to AUD 1.13 billion as at the 31st of March. Importantly, this increase was achieved after the payment of a AUD 92 million tax bill for the year ended 30 June 2025, while continuing to invest across the operations and at McPhillamys'.
For growth and sustaining capital, we spent AUD 106 million in the quarter. At Duketon, this included underground development, pre-production mining activities, and waste removal, as well as investment in plant and equipment. A significant portion of this spend related to the development of Garden Well Main, Rosemont Stage 3, and the Buckwell open pit. At Tropicana, expenditure related to underground development of Boston Shaker and the Tropicana underground, pre-production costs at the Havana underground, and sustaining capital across the operation. Exploration expenditure during the quarter was AUD 17 million, reflecting the high levels of activity across both Duketon and Tropicana, the former of which has underpinned yesterday's reported lift in both reserves and resources at Duketon. AUD 17 million spent during the quarter at McPhillamys. Remembering McPhillamys costs are expensed through the profit and loss account.
A reminder to everyone that our strong cash generation comes after the payment of an accumulated AUD 92 million bill from the ATO, which we've been flagging for some time now. Regis is now making monthly corporate tax installment payments, which approximates about 30% of our pre-tax profits. On the subject of growth capital, as Michael mentioned, pre-strip at Buckwell is being accelerated. This is a timing issue, bringing material movements from FY 2027 back into FY 2026, along with their associated costs, and that's the largest single increase to the growth capital. Other areas that have impacted the growth capital guidance since Buckwell was announced are firstly, the small delay in moving Garden Well Main and Kintyre into commercial production status. Secondly, the impact of diesel pricing on our forecasts for Q4 of FY 2026. Finally, a number of relatively minor increases across the broader suite of capital projects Regis is undertaking.
As a result, we've lifted our growth capital guidance range by AUD 20 million for FY 2026 to now be in the range of AUD 240 million-AUD 255 million for the year. Overall, we're continuing to build an enviable balance sheet position, highlighting the incredible cash-generating capacity of the business in the current environment. With strong operating margins, disciplined capital allocation, and consistent operational performance, I look forward to providing you with our Q4 results in due course. With that, I'll hand it back to you, Jim.
Thanks, Anthony. Pardon me. I have mentioned it already, but I'll do it again, and that is to note that during the quarter, we announced our dividend policy alongside our half-year financials. With that, a fully franked dividend of AUD 0.15 per share, a full 3x the previous half's dividend, returning AUD 114 million to our shareholders this month. Our new policy makes clear our intention to be a reliable but responsible dividend payer. It provides a clear structure for returning capital to shareholders while also allocating capital to existing operations and maintaining a strong balance sheet and future, and funding continued growth. Just to remind you, in essence, we expect the return semiannual dividend payments to represent 25%-50% of the group cash increase over the preceding half year, and that's after adding back any dividend payments.
As Anthony noted, with regular tax installments now a fact of life, adjustments for tax renewals should become less material. Now, our other major announcement in the last 24 hours is the annual update to our group, R&R, resource and reserves, and that was following on from the Tropicana's update released in February. After depletion, our group mineral resource grew by 10% year-over-year to now 8.3 million ounces. If you see figure one in the R&R release, you can see that buildup after depletion. Our ore reserves also increased by nearly 20% to just under 2 million ounces. For that, the build there, you look at figure two in our R&R release. At Duketon, our undergrounds were the stars of the show in both categories, adding 600,000 oz to resource and 390,000 oz to the reserves.
I think the underground sections we have included in the R&R release in figures five to 10 clearly illustrate the growth in both volume and confidence at Garden Well and Rosemont. Now, these updates are additional confirmation of what we've always believed about our underground operations and prospects at Duketon. It underscores the growth potential that exists and validates our prior decision to lift our exploration expenditure for FY 2026 by AUD 20 million in the December quarter. Despite the perception from some about our reserves and mine life, we keep adding life each year by adding more resources and efficiently converting those resources to reserves. This is doing exactly what we said we would do. The great thing is we have more targets and we intend to chase them.
At Tropicana, the good news keeps coming as the operation consistently delivers extensions to known mineralization, building the underground pipeline and reinforcing the long-term value we still see at this asset. At McPhillamys, as previously flagged, the judicial review of section 10 was heard in the Federal Court back in December last year. The judge has reserved his decision and we await the outcome. In parallel, we continue to progress work on the alternative pathways to return McPhillamys to an approvable position, and that includes ongoing assessment of an integrated waste landform solution. This work is progressing well and methodically and does involve a longer timeframe. On guidance for the year, I think Anthony and Michael covered off the growth capital change quite well. Production, we're still very comfortable with how we're traveling there. On all-in sustaining costs, we've seen two areas creating the upward pressure.
The first is we're actually experiencing a higher gold price than what we assumed when we gave guidance. This has increased our royalty payments about AUD 60 an ounce above what we had factored into our all-in sustaining. Quite frankly, that's not something I'm going to complain about or anybody should for that matter, as I'll take that higher margin any day. The second, of course, is the impact of the recent hike in fuel prices. There's no avoiding that. We have, in our assessment of guidance, assumed both gold price and fuel price remains at its current level. Now, despite these two elevated assumptions, we still expect at this point that our full-year all-in sustaining costs to be within our guidance range, albeit towards the upper end of that range.
Now, just to touch on the topic of fuel, as a guide on the company's exposure, I would say that the team has been doing an enormous amount of work on-site and our suppliers. We haven't seen any reductions in supply. We're quite comfortable with our stock levels, and we see our supply horizon is the same as what it currently normally is in any normal situation. At this point in time, we are quite comfortable with the way that our suppliers are coming in. That's a question of supply. On the question of cost and cost impact, the diesel price for every AUD 0.10 a liter movement in the diesel price will impact the all-in sustaining costs for our group by about AUD 25 an ounce for the gold produced at that diesel price.
I'm not talking about the average for the year, because obviously three-quarters of it is already gone. At an instantaneous rate, effectively, an AUD 0.10 movement in the diesel price causes an AUD 25-per-ounce increase in the all-in sustaining cost of the gold. In conclusion, in summary, Regis has delivered another quarter of consistent production across our operations. We continue to deliver strong, reliable cash generation, which underpins our enviable strong balance sheet and our commitment to prudent capital returns to shareholders. We have decided to accelerate mining at Buckwell, bringing some growth capital forward and de-risking it by 2027. Our other key value points of production and all-in sustaining costs are both on track to be within guidance range. While the fuel and higher gold price means we're likely to see AISC at the upper end of that range.
At McPhillamys, we continue to pursue all available pathways and options while awaiting the outcome of the court process. Finally, our resources and reserves just continue to grow at both Duketon and Tropicana, providing an ongoing pathway to operating life extensions and value growth well into the future. Overall, the business remains well-positioned to continue to deliver long-term value to its shareholders. With that, thanks for your attention. I'll hand it back to Darcy, and we'll now open it up for questions.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for you name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your question, please press star two. If you are on a speaker phone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from Levi Spry with UBS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good day, Jim and team. Good day, mate. Thanks for your time. Maybe just two quick ones. I'll just pick you up on the diesel sensitivity there. Thanks for giving that to us. Just if I do the numbers in my head, are we talking about sort of AUD 300 an ounce increase from the mid AUD 1.20 last year's guidance if the price were to stay here? Is that another way to think about it?
Probably not that high for the group. What are we running at now? We're probably running about AUD 2 a liter. So it's about AUD 1 more than we assumed. For the group, that's about AUD 250 less.
Yeah. You're paying a bit less than me.
Yeah. Well, w e don't pay the road tax, which is, in my view, the appropriate term for the rebate. Our rates are a little less than that. That's the going rate. For the group, it's about AUD 250 an ounce for Duketon because all the power and all our use is diesel. That's a little bit over AUD 300, and for Tropicana it's their gas and diesel, and they're probably more closer to the AUD 100. Yeah, do the math and you can see it comes out about AUD 250.
Yeah, got it. Thank you. Great news on the capital management policy. Just thinking about how that might be put into practice next year with potentially a bit more production coming on from Duketon North. Have you flagged any more incremental capital that gets pushed into next year yet?
Look, we're still working on next year. I'm not sure I'm seeing anything at the moment that, in the absence of approving any new mine, for example, a new underground or a new pit, there's nothing at the moment that's way different to the current year. We're still working on that. That's the way it's sort of looking at the moment.
Got it. All right. That's good for now.
Yeah.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Daniel Morgan with Barrenjoey. Please go ahead.
Hi, Jim and team. Just a little bit of a nuance or follow-up just on that diesel question again. I would imagine that. You've been quite clear on what the impact is on A, but I imagine there's a diesel impact in the growth CapEx, i.e., material movements that then get capitalized. Is there maybe-
Yeah
another way to think about it, which is like how many liters you use or something like that where we would have the total impact?
Right. Yeah, that's way too complicated. It's probably AUD 4 million or AUD 5 million impact on the growth capital. That's one of the reasons, one of the elements of the increase, was just dirt became more expensive. There you go.
Yep.
Make sense?
Sure. I understand. Yeah. That makes sense.
Yeah.
If I heard, just to follow up on Levi's question on the business going forward, it sounds like the business is in reasonable stability on production, notwithstanding the diesel costs, which are outside your control. You expect to spend broadly the same CapEx for next year?
We're still working on the detail of next year's plans, and obviously, once we've landed on that, we'll give the guidance. As I said, if it were steady state, well, that's steady state. As you guys all know, we're looking for new undergrounds. We're very excited about our exploration. I think, if you look at it pretty clearly, there's our cash-generating capability of the business at the moment. We're not expecting any major dips in the coming years. In fact, we've shored it up with the Buckwell project at Duketon North contributing, I think it's something like 35,000 oz-45,000 oz extra a year. I think we're pretty comfortable with the way that the outlook's going.
Questions about large lifts of capital, that's something that we're still working on and has really, as we sort of try to get to a landing on what may or may not be new mine projects in next year. Still working on it. I'm not in a position, not willing to give much more guidance than none.
Appreciate your perspectives, Jim. Thank you.
Thanks, Dan.
Thank you. Your next question comes from David Coates with Bell Potter Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning, Jim and team. Congratulations on another very consistent quarterly, well done.
Thanks.
In the billion-dollar market must be a nice little one to hit. Couple of questions on-
Pretty significant.
Yeah. I found that down the back of the couch. On the diesel, look, thanks for the sensitivity stuff. That's really useful. Just wondering if you can give us a bit more detail on what levers you've got to pull in terms of contingency planning and supplies on site and stuff like that, if you're happy to go into any of that.
Look, there's so many different scenarios that we've looked at. The key thing that we work through is which goal gives us the best return per liter of diesel. There's a whole series of complications that arise around that. We don't have huge stocks of diesel on site. Probably got more than a week, but certainly no more than two. We sort of operate in that range and always have. We've tried to sort of work to keep that as full as possible. Our options are, we do have options. We could wind things back and run off stockpiles, for example. At the moment, our best scenario is to keep running our suppliers, give us good intel on how we should be looking out into June.
We've got long-term contracts with our supplier, and we get good intel as to what ship they've sort of locked in for June. Once we know they've got a ship for June, that means we know we're comfortable for fuel in June, and they don't normally book things in too far out. We're very comfortable on that front. Probably one of the things that we're just keeping an eye on is the supply of Avgas.
Yeah.
There's no alarm bells going off, but occasionally a bit of noise pops up around the availability there for fleets, for airlines and-
Yep
I mean, there are options there that we sort of adopted back in the day, the COVID days, where we can. We look and we prepare, but we don't need to action any of them. I think everything's pretty comfortable. It's alert and aware and concerned, but not actioning anything. That's the best I can give you, mate. We're quite comfortable the way that this thing looks out to the end of this financial year, notwithstanding something that regulators may decide that they want to enforce. The message we're getting is that, I think, as in the COVID days, the state recognizes the importance of the resource industry.
Okay. Excellent. Thanks for that. Just on the reserve and resource update yesterday. Great update. Well done again. You made comment, Jim, efficient resource to reserve conversion. Can you sort of delve into that a little bit? Is that sort of drilling from underground, shorter holes and should, one, we kind of be expecting to sort of see I guess a life of mine reserves being sustained and also, two, as your undergrounds get bigger, will that sort of efficient conversion expand, I guess?
Yeah, look, I guess the efficiency is when we are getting better and more efficient at converting the reserves because as we know, obviously as you're building, you head further underground, you incorporate your drilling platforms, and your drives that provide you good quality access at the right angles into footwalls and hanging walls, wherever you need them to be.
Yeah.
That's proving to be a lot more efficient than drilling from the surface, with a lack of control and obviously gets harder at depth. The team's doing a good job of being quite targeted. Also I think the ResDev team, as every year goes by, every half year goes by, they get more and more improved in their understanding of the nature of the ore body. It just becomes more efficient, not just because of the capital that we're putting in, like more drives and more drilling. It becomes more efficient because the intellect is becoming far more knowledgeable and they know where to drill and they know where not to drill. I think the team's doing a great job there.
That makes sense. Thanks very much, Jim. Cheers.
All right. Thanks for the question.
Thank you. Next question comes from Adam Baker with Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Hi, Jim and team. How are you doing?
Good.
Just wondering if you've got any updates. I know you've given an update on the Pilbara's judicial review outcome, but maybe just an update on timing. I think the last indication was April, May. Are we still on track for that timeframe?
Yeah. I think when you say April, May, I think it's like April may be the time that we hear about it. How's that for a pun? Look, the reality is, with respect to the judicial system, there is no timeframe here. Advice on timing is we shouldn't expect it to be any earlier than now, which means we could hear any time from here forward. We really don't know when that will be. I think we get an indication maybe a day or two beforehand that a decision may be forthcoming, and that's about the only warning we get. As I've said, what we're doing is we're running a very clear two-pronged approach here. We've got the work trying to overturn and get back to a sensible scenario around the section 10 application.
In the, what we view as unlikely, event where we are unsuccessful, we effectively hope for the best and we plan for the worst. The best being that it's overturned and we get back to what's reasonable. The worst is that it doesn't. We're working on that plan B, and that plan B is clearly using the approach called an integrated waste landform, where we squeeze the tails out, dry them into a sort of a damp cake, and co-mingle the old processed material, the old tailings in with the waste rock dump. That's an option that's starting to shape up as being viable. It's just taking us a bit longer to do that, so our preference is the other way. as we said at the time, we didn't have an alternative back when it was 2+ years ago when the minister made a decision.
We are working on the alternative. We're chasing the legal, and we're working on the alternative. The alternative is shaping up. It's just taking a less desired route because of the time. The answer to your question is not sure.
Yeah. Understood. Just on Tropicana, looks like a pretty decent result from a cost perspective, just noting the positive or inventory adjustments. Do you have any idea if this is likely to persist over the short term?
That's an interesting one, right? Because that's, as we all know, all-in sustaining costs, even though it's, as you said, it's a stockpile adjustment. The cash is still the same regardless of whether it's gone on or off. We wouldn't expect that to be something that continues into the future. It's more of a one-off.
That's great. Thank you.
The irony in that is that when we do take the material off, our all-in sustaining costs will go up, but our cash costs will actually come down because we won't have spent the money. It's that disconnect between all-in sustaining costs and cash flow accounts. You guys all understand that, I know. Thanks, Adam.
Thank you. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone. Your next question comes from Levi Spry with UBS. Please go ahead.
Hi, good day. Thanks for letting me sneak another one back in. Maybe I've missed this, can you just kind of spell out the next steps at Buckwell? First ore and sort of ramp up and just how we think about that.
We'll be getting into it next year. Next financial year, it'll be in production and contributing. We've just been doing the stripping. I think there's very small amounts coming out now, but not noticeable yet. It'll definitely be part of next year's production profile.
Yep. At full run rate from the start of the year.
When do you reckon it'll be at full run rate, Michael?
I think we've got a plan for quarter two.
Probably, you'd expect it by middle of the year, financial year.
Okay. Yep. Thank you. Thanks.
No worries.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Beyer for closing remarks.
Thanks, Darcy. Thanks, everybody, and we appreciate you joining the call and asking the questions. We recognize these are busy days for you folks. Anyway, if there's any follow-ups, as always, get in touch with Matt, and we'll do our best to answer them. Thanks for your attention, and have a good day.
Thank you. That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.