Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Synbri's September 2021 quarterly report briefing. Please note that disclaimer is on Slide 2. I'm Chris Maitland, Head of Investor Relations for St. Barbara. On today's call, our Managing Director and CEO, Craig Jetson, will discuss the Q1 performance and provide project updates, after which we will open the call to questions.
With that, I'll hand the call over to Craig.
Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everybody, and welcome to St. Barbara's September quarterly report for 2021. I'd like to begin as always by recognizing the traditional owners, the First Nation people of the lands of where we operate in Canada, Australia and Papua New Guinea and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. Before I move into the presentation, I'd like to acknowledge and welcome the appointment of Peter Cowley to the role of Chief Operating Officer of Australasia. Peter has been in the acting position for the capacity of the last 3 months and has now taken up the challenge to be there full time.
I'd also like to welcome to the call all other members of the executive at St. Barbara. Starting off with safety. Safety remains our number one priority, and we are committed to the goal of eliminating fatalities and life changing injuries. Positively, our total recordable injury frequency rate has dropped this quarter to 3.6, but we know we still have a long way to go to reach our goal of 0.
This quarter, we had 4 recordable injuries, all of low severity in nature, and importantly, There were no recordable injuries in July. The focus over the quarter was the commencement of the Safety Always Leadership Program, which is a new program based on building better infield safety leadership at all levels and having regular conversations about finding and fixing any areas of concern. This program started at Leonora and will be rolled out across all of our regions in the coming months. In the September quarter, we produced 67,000 ounces of gold at an all in sustaining cost of $14.92 per ounce. The exploration team has been busy drilling targets in the Leonora province, and today, we are excited to announce significant intercepts at Trevor bore, is located only 25 kilometers north of Leonora.
These results are significant enough that we'll be moving straight into a planning stage for a new open pit. I will discuss this in more detail shortly. Work on the DSTP placement pipeline at Schimpberry continued And the restart of Simperi remains on schedule for the coming quarter. As part of the sulfide project, we finalized the concentrate offtake agreements for Simperi with a number of global trading companies. In addition, we have submitted the 2 addendums to CEPA relating to the final testing for waste rock management and the DST footprint.
Operating cash flow would have been $24,000,000 However, due to timing of gold shipments, that cash will now be realized in the December quarter. We have also strengthened our balance sheet by extending our syndicated debt Turning to July 2025. As I mentioned earlier, group gold production was 67,000 ounces, which was a good result given Atlantic was focused on waste movement and Simberry was suspended for the whole quarter. The group all in sustaining cost was approximately 8% lower at $14.92 per ounce compared to the prior quarter, primarily due to increased gold production at Leonora. At Leonora, gold production was up 15% to contained in ore purchase from Linden Gold.
Mine growth for the quarter was also higher at 8.6 grams per tonne. The higher production this quarter resulted in an all in sustaining cost of $14.48 per ounce and the total material This movement was higher at 284,000 tons, which was the highest quarter since Q4 FY 'twenty. There was an increase in waste movement and a slight reduction in ore mined. Our Atlantic operations recorded 15,200 and 43 ounces for the quarter as the mine was focused on waste movement and reestablishing work areas in the pit. Lower gold production was the driver for an increased all in sustaining cost of $15.04 per ounce.
Our permitting team is currently focused on waste rock storage permits at Tukoy. A number of alternative options are being The company will work with the Nova Scotian government to deliver appropriate permits in a timely manner. At Simvira, the processing plant remains shut as the work continued on replacing the DSTP pipeline. However, mining continued In the quarter, M was focused on waste stripping and placing oxide and transitional ore in stockpiles in preparation for the restart. The DSCP installation contractor has been mobilized to site and is proceeding with enabling works.
Pipeline fabrication will continue through October and completion on schedule for November followed by commissioning. The restart of the processing plant also remains on schedule for this quarter. A recent outbreak of COVID-nineteen in the region continues to be a challenge at We are working closely with the local community to minimize the impact. We are limiting personnel access to each of our sites and their operations as we will be supporting a vaccination program as we go forward. For September quarter, the Building Billions transformation program has delivered a cash benefit of almost $23,000,000 During FY 'twenty two, Billions will focus on sustainability of the initiatives implemented last year at each of our operations, And we are extending the program to our corporate activities.
We are embedding Building's process in the business as usual Mindsetting daily activities and ensuring business improvement initiatives continue to be developed and implemented all across our business. Now taking a look at the performance indicators for Atlantic and Leonora, which we first outlined in the December quarter. The mill throughput, availability and recovery rates at Atlantic all improved with 5% increase in mill availability. At Leonora, the team has reduced mining costs by 17%, whilst increasing development rates by 20% And total material moved by 14% compared to FY 2020. During the quarter, we continued advancing the Leonora At Sugarbore, this included at 17 meters of depth, there were 7 meters of 10.5 grams per ton.
At 87 meters of depth, there were 16 meters of 2 grams per ton. At Jasper Hills, the best results were at 16 meters depth was 15 meters at 1.5 grams per tonne and at 46 meters, There was 11 meters at 1.9 grams per tonne. Drilling will resume at these prospects during the quarter subject to continued Encouraging results. We are moving into a study phase with an aspiration to bring an open pit online by 2024. Importantly, Trevor Boor is only 25 kilometers away from Leonora, which is within easy trucking distance.
At this stage, we are confident there is sufficient new surface high grade material to provide ore to the plant for at least 1 year, maybe more, but that will be dependent upon further drilling. Overall, this is exciting news for Leonora as it's the first tangible results from the Leonora province plan And hopefully, the first of many options that we will bring to bear over the coming year as we begin to fill the mill. We also commenced a multifacet drilling program at Tower Hill and Harbor Lights this quarter. I look forward to providing further updates on all our drilling programs in the coming quarters. At Simbury, the exploration drilling programs have been targeting areas with potential to add Oxide mineral resources.
At Trotsky and Andorra, prospects returned very encouraging results. Trotsky had a higher mix of oxide material and transition and sulfide material, but the best drilling intercepts include at depth 25 meters, there was 52 meters at 1.5 grams per ton. At 58 meters depth, there were 32 meters at 2 grams per ton. While Andorra, the best results show more transitional material and included from depth of 28 meters, there was 32 meters of 5.5 grams per tonne At 26 meters, there was 40 meters of 1.8 grams per tonne. Positively, Andorra is approximately 500 meters from the processing plant.
We continue to explore oxide material that can displace the processing and transition material with higher that lead to higher returns. Following up drilling is planned in the current quarter at Sundari as well. In conclusion, we've had an excellent start to the New Year. The potential for new near surface open pit with shore truck additions in Leonora along with ongoing improved operational performance at Atlantic and Leonora as well. We certainly progress our strategy for establishing 3 mines with greater than 10 years of life of mine.
We will continue to provide further details the Leonora province plan, the Sembere Sulfide project and Beaver Dam throughout the year, operating cash flow for the quarter was strong, we would have been stronger, but the timing of gold shipments. We have also extended the terms of our debt facilities to June 2025. The Building British program delivered a cash benefit of $23,000,000 in the quarter, building on the $41,000,000 we delivered from last year. So with that, I thank you and I will now open the line for any questions.
Thank Your first question comes from Matt Green of Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning, Craig and team. I just have a quick question on the development fronts at Qualia. You mentioned there's a 20% improvement in Dedi development rates, But I noticed the number of fronts you have of 23 this quarter is down from 24 in the last quarter. Just provide some color on what's going on there and just what's needed from here to get to the target of 28 by year end? Thanks.
Yes, Matt, good question and it's a great pickup, really. It's certainly going to fluctuate between 2018 2022 for a period of time and that's what's been happening. There's not, I guess, a position in the mine plan of where we stay constant at one heading. The holy grail for us is we're heading somewhere between 28% to 30% at the end of this year, and that's still the trajectory that we're looking for. And by quarter on quarter, I expect this to change by 1 or 2 headings.
It's not material. I think we certainly have Moved a lot of waste again this quarter. We've been able to do that and refocus somewhat to open up the mine because grade is a little bit higher and We achieved that production, I guess, uplift through a combination of grade and materials move. But as we transition the mine From where it's been in the last few years to this year, we're going to see a different number of headings quarter on quarter.
Okay. Thanks, Ray. So really, you need to get about the 28 to 30 to sustain that circa 1,100,000 tonnes coming from the underground?
Yes, look exactly right. And also eventually when we bring the intermediates and the shallows into the production plan, we'll also help us maintain that, I guess, hitting number, but also achieve the flexibility within the mine. And then that's planned maybe quarter 4 this year, But we'll see how the planning goes in the next few months while the development is still ongoing.
That's great. Thanks for that. Just if I could just move to the EBITDAM, I know there's additional requests or perhaps areas of concern surrounding the EIS there. Can you just Provide a little bit more color on what those additional requests are. And I know that you were expecting feasibility study to be complete in the September quarter.
It looks like this Now due sometime this quarter, is that slight slippage there being driven by these additional requests?
Yes. Look, in summary, absolutely. So there's 2 fronts of permitting that we're dealing with at Atlantic. 1 is the project side of the permits, which Beaver Dam falls under and then there's a waste rock permitting that the Tukoy operations, I guess, falls under. So We're certainly progressing the Beaver Dam and we're getting a lot of questions around the environmental impacts and more, I guess information is required.
I'd have to say that the information for Beberdan is taken right off High level technical environmental questions to very small deviations of what that could mean. So We're going quite well in that space. The permits for the waste rocks at Tukoy are progressing. We have A number of options currently in front of the regulators and the government in Nova Scotia. So that those talks and those conversations still continuing on.
But really, it is a journey and it is very, I guess, time consuming to deal with permits. But we're getting through them and we have a permit team that is fully focused on achieving that. So it's Progressing, but obviously quite slowly.
Got it. Thanks, Craig. That's it for me.
Thanks, Matt.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Peter O'Connor of Shaw and Partners. Please go ahead.
Craig, just further to the question about the permits in Canada, given the change of management oversight that you've had there over the last quarter or so, Is that dialing up of the process reflection of that? Or is this the Canadian authorities lining up better? Or is it both?
Yes. Look, I actually don't know what the silver bullet would be. What I can share is that what we're learning over the applications, not just for the waste rock permitting at Tukoy and the headwinds there and the Beaver Dam. But the way the whole process works has changed. I mean, we've got a new government.
We've A change, I guess, in different ministers and there's a whole range of different things that create Some of the headwinds. I think the request for information have been, in my view, they've been valid. I think the learning for us is when we put through Future permits, for example, how we do that, the standard that we achieve and the technical information that we put in there. So one of the things, for example, the last round of permits to be valued, we've had 3 independent reviewers look at the White Rock permits, example, a 2 course. So how we apply for those sorts of things in the future will change.
Once we have permitted to beat the dam, We'll certainly take all those learnings into 15 Mile Stream at Cochrane Hill and believe that we will do add 50% much better than we have in the past and deliver permits at a quality in a timely manner. I think the government also on the journey and particularly the environmental People are also, 1, being inundated with permits, but also learning as they go through how the system Really worse because it is changing in Nova Scotia. But I think all in all, the focus of the permitting team, Being able to work with the regulators has been quite productive. We just need to make sure that we're agreeing What that is and have reasonable outcomes in a timely manner.
And just further to that, is the Approval is pending for FID at the December quarter this year, that's next year?
Next year.
Sorry, next year. Sorry, I was getting ahead of myself. And just to Cymbi, just three questions. The COVID impact you talked about, will that affect the ramp up This quarter into next year? And secondly, during the downtime, you talked about work that you've done as part of the sulfide transition in the mill.
How much did you get done or was that meaningful? And thirdly, just thoughts on the transition profile of production at Symbereo that '22, 'twenty three, 'twenty four as you're moving from one feed to the other?
Yes. So I'll start start with your last question first. I think the profile is going to be a very difficult one to talk about in a lot of detail that would make significant change in the thinking. And the reason I say that is because the drilling programs at Sempera have been so successful in identifying more opportunity around, I guess, Andorra in particular and Trotsky, which is all very, very close to the mill. Now What we've been doing is cut back doing some cut back work because we have been on restricted mining.
It hasn't been full mining since we had the fatality in April this year. But we have been doing a lot of training, a lot of development. We changed our mine plans. We're certainly developing the mine ready for the sulfide project and the sulfide mines. But on the way through, with all the drilling work that's been gone on and successful results we've had out of the drilling program, We may well extend the life of the oxide program for a lot of the obvious and good business reasons.
So that's going to be really difficult to talk about the profile. 1 of the things or 2 of the things that we've been able to do is identify Higher areas of oxides versus the transitional material into the sulfides and we've been able to stockpile Each particular, I guess, sulfide and all the way through to the oxide. So our plan would be For the next 12 months in particular is to maximize the oxide footprint, get as much oxide material in front of the mill as we possibly can before startup at the end of this quarter. So we get the best return, the best recoveries and the best production rates through. So to be able to look at 2 to 3 years as to the sulfide project, for now, quite difficult to do given where we're landing with some of these positive drilling results.
The other bit in terms of what we've been able to do with the there's a lot of maintenance been going on with the Mobile fleet, but also the fixed plant around the processing Canadian in particular, not a lot of upgrades, but certainly a lot of maintenance. Now keeping in mind that the Southside project is a bolt on to what we already have. It's not really replacing what we've got. It's a front end bolt on. So there's not a lot to do except finish the engineering and take that to FID end of this year and then through permitting onto construction that starts at some stage in the next 12 to 18 months.
I think the what we have done with the failure of the DSTP, for example, is look forward to think, well, what are our capacities going to look like potentially for these sulfide projects. So we've done a 3,000,000 tonne milling base case run rate and sized the plant accordingly. We've also looked at 3,300,000 and 3,500,000 tonne million rates as well and what would the throughput look like at that stage. So in the early phase of repairing, replacing the DSTP from an engineering perspective, we've rated it for the higher throughput Scenarios to make sure that this replacement is really a sulfide, although we have to replace it, We've engineered it and we're replacing it as a sulfide maximum base maximum business case at 3,500,000 tons. So there's no more upgrades to do.
Second part of that would be the saltwater mixing tanks, the saltwater pumps and the associated pot work have all been upgraded To the capacity of the Southlake project, so we're obviously backing ourselves to have a great project and the things that we Had to change because the DSDP failure now will fit the and accommodate the higher throughput rates for the sulfide project.
And COVID, on SIM, any effect on
the next quarter or so?
Look, I really don't think so. If I look at the team that's there and the contractors that are there doing the DSTP repairs, the building of the pipeline, etcetera, they're all in a bubble. So we're managing through that. We are seeing as recently as this week, if you'd asked me this question last week, it might have been a different answer. But this week, we're definitely seeing An increase of COVID positive cases coming through to the island from different parts of PNG.
Our system so far have been working and working very well with our COVID-nineteen management plan. We've been able to grab those people on the way through security and going through our checkpoints on the way to the plant and being able to quarantine them until the results come back or quarantine them and look after them until they've given a negative within that 14 day period. Now I'd have to say that I am concerned about the current outbreak of COVID And in PNG and the way that it's getting around country, I'm not sure of the data that I can believe. We have not been affected At this point, we're certainly keeping an eye and doing a lot of work with our COVID management plan to keep us that way. We're doing a lot of work with the community And we're running vaccination awareness programs and vaccination programs themselves for the community.
And we've had meetings As recently as last week, with Peter, myself and some others from St. Barbara meeting the site team and the Mi Mi's on the island to Again, communicate and educate the island about what vaccinations mean and what COVID means and help us police The boat traffic in and out of the island protecting people, so there's a lot of work going on there. I am concerned that the outbreak in the country is getting worse, Getting better and the vaccination rates are still way too low.
Last quick clarification on trilabor. You talk about 1 year's production. When you I mean, that's 1 year of topping up Gualia or that's 1 full year's production. How do I think about what that line that you made?
It's really, I guess, without talking too soon, it's probably, At this point, unknown. And the reason for that is, I guess, the results are so good. We've obviously launched into a study to make sure we're ready To go mining as soon as possible because it's very shallow too. These satellite pits are very shallow, not a lot of cutback, Certainly not a lot of effort to open it up, high grade shallows, that's a winner for us. Now it's a winner early.
And what I mean by that is we still need to do A considerable amount of drilling, which over the next 6 months in particular will really Be able to map out whether it's 1 year or whether it's optimistically 2 years. We'll see the Minimum of the year at this point, and it will go a long way with the increase in production we're seeing out of the De Sequalia now. The material that will come online during quarter 4, quarter 1 next year from the intermediates, for example, And within a year, this pit coming on is certainly going a long way to maximize what we know And call it the throughput of the mill at this stage. So it's probably a little bit too early for me to say exactly how much and by when, but we're only, I think 3 months away from putting some real numbers behind it.
Thanks, Craig.
Thank you. Your next question comes from David Radcliffe of Global Mining Research. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, Craig and team. So Mark, the first question is just a follow-up on the development at Qualia. Just wondering how should we think about how that catch up in development rates really translates to delivering higher Four tons? And I guess thinking initially back to sort of the historical peaks of around 900,000 tons a year sort of in 2015 2016.
And then sort of moving beyond that and where you think that would sort of top out today?
Yes. Look, I think if I look at the where we finished at the end of last year and the run rates in quarter 4 in particular, it sort of takes you from Up close to 9,000 tonne, 150,000 tonne sort of run rate, and that was a 25% uplift. We've been able to maintain that Right. So we had a significant jump quarter 4 last year. We've maintained and just almost bettered that rate or maintained that rate into this quarter.
The upside for this quarter, of course, was we had if you remember back in quarter 4, we had lower grade than we anticipated. This quarter, we got higher grade than we So together, we got a much better result. I think the by the time We get our 28 to 30 headings. Intermediates, Trevor Borer, well, obviously Trevor Borer, I think The intermediates and the shallows will be around that 1,100,000 ton run rate by the end of this year. So I think that balances out with where we want to go with Gualea Deeps, in particular Gualea Mine.
I think then if we continue with some of the opportunities in the province that are very high, But we've got some really good targets, and I hope there's a lot more to come in the next quarter or so. So I think we're looking Encouraged the way that Leonora is starting to look at the moment.
Okay. Thanks. Then maybe just to follow-up on Gymboree. The sort of reported cash outflow of $39,000,000 I think it was $5,000,000 of sustaining growth. So that's operating cash cost of around $34,000,000 which seems just sort of shy of the normal kind of operating spend.
But I'd note that the mining rate was sort of well down on, I guess, what it's been in previous quarters. So just trying to think, Were there other costs there aspects there that we needed to consider that sort of kept that really high with the lower activity? Or should we just think about Gymboree is just being very high sort of fixed cost operation?
Yes. No, look, I think there's 2 aspects So that's Barry. And I think the COVID, the inability to get technical people there, a whole range of different things certainly has caused Some issues. I think some of the high costs are, we're doing catch up maintenance on our fleet, particularly our trucks and our shovels. We've also been doing a lot of maintenance work, and I'm talking mine maintenance work with roads and berms and setting the mine up for future production Looking at the mine design for keeping in mind the mine design for the sulfide project.
So that's driving our cost up oil because we're not feeding the mill as well, But we're still doing that activity. The other thing I think while we have not been working on night shift, we've been doing most of the mining on day shift at this point in time, and that's not efficient. But really, the catch up work in the processing plant, some of our mobile fleet is driving our costs up probably higher than where we would be. And clearly, the labor force there, and we took the decision to keep as many of our labor force intact could, given the labor shortage in PNG, the threat with COVID, it was the right insurance premium to pay by keeping our people on. The efficiency of those people, productivity in particular, is not as good as we would like it to be.
So there's a lot of costs going into that operation. That's certainly not getting paid for now, but that will change at the end of this quarter. So yes, There will be a lot of significant change once we get going on oxides and producing gold in our operating costs.
Okay. That makes sense. Thanks for that. I'll pass it on.
Thanks, David.
Thank Your next question comes from Reg Spencer of Canaccord. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Good morning, Craig. If I can start at Leonora. Obviously, the grade can vary quarter to quarter upon where you are in the stoping cycle, based on your quarterly production split or your guides for quarterly production, That kick up that you guys are expecting in the December quarter, this calendar year, is that likely to be a combination of grades and throughput or just Grades or just throughput? I was just wondering if you could give me a little bit of color on that one, please.
Yes. Look, I think if we hold the grade as we've guided us on, I think my view with the productivity, the cost coming down and certainly The rates out of the mine these days are certainly better than where they were, and they're increasing. We still haven't got the headings that we need. We still haven't Got the development where we'd like it to be. Productivity with the mining contractors, I'd have to call them out and say they're doing a great job with what they've got.
We are struggling with operators and mechanics and all the typical things that keep the fleet going. But having said all that, To achieve the rates that they've been achieving is exceptional, in my view. And to do it reasonably safely as well is also been good. But I think the grade will hold is my understanding. The throughput will stay the same or It will start to increase a little bit more as the headings come online.
And again, the shallows here and the medias come online later this year.
Understood. That's very useful. Thanks, Craig. And just lastly, I see that you've finalized your offtake for So in berry sulfidegoldcon, are you able to disclose what the final pay abilities on that would be? I think from memory in the last study that you put out, you expect that to be around that 87% or 88% from memory.
Yes. Have you got something a little bit further that you're able to disclose?
Look, because of the commercial sensitivity, No, not at this point. I'd have to say the guidance we put out is still the guidance and it's accurate on what we've been able to achieve. There will be a lot more to talk about the Saipai project in the next quarter, and I'll give you more of a Clear number on that then, but the guidance we gave back then, 80% to 88% has been realized.
Excellent. Great. Thanks very much. I'll pass it on.
Thank Your next question comes from Matthew Friedman Of Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Yes, sure. Thanks. Good morning, Craig. Firstly, Iguala, You made a decision during the quarter not to process any surface stockpiles. Just wondering what drove that?
Was it lack of capacity in the mill during the quarter or Are the remaining stockpiles in the region just not economic at the moment? Just pondering what drove that decision?
Yes, Matthew, I think there's just a business decision really. One is we decided clearly not to do that. They're there for the future if we need them. There was none available to us at the grade that we will want to put through at this stage. I think with Linden being processed towards the end of the quarter, Our own productivity pushing the mill up in terms of throughput.
We did have a week Downtime, we had oil contamination in the girth gear and that took the mill out for 4 or 5 days. So there was a few Hills decline, so when you have the better material to process, you process a better material. It's just a business decision, that's all.
Yes, sure. So we might still expect at times over the coming quarters that you'd still process some surface stockpiles if the opportunity arises?
No, absolutely. I don't like it sitting on the surface, it needs to go through the mill. So every chance we get, the team led by Peter will certainly deal with that.
Thanks. And then just looking at Slide 20, the development timeline that you've given across the Llanow province. Just wondering what's driven the priority of triple boil And I guess just for region over Tower Hill or Harbor Lights, etcetera, which I guess might be a bit more of a known quantity. I mean, you obviously alluded to the you had during the quarter earlier in terms of grade. So is it a decision that's driven by grade, economics, just less work required to develop those Jasper bits?
Yes. What's driving the timing there?
Yes. Look, Matthew, there's not an easy one silver bullet for these sorts of So if you remember, a bit over a year ago, we mentioned that we were strengthening the technical bench strength The organization, and we did that. We had reorganization of technical people, different focus on exploration Globally and within the province. So the whole thing started to come together about a year ago. That identified When I guess I spoke about the opportunity of the province plan, the complexity I think with Harbor Lights, Taylor Hill, Trevor Boor and the mix and others was how much information did we have and how much How many decisions could we make based on that information?
Well, the cover was quite late, and the technical team are really calling out for more drilling, more data, more To bring all those, I guess, minds together to see what it looked like and there's different ore types as well, which also increases complexity. So with a focus on different areas for exploration and potential targets, We changed, if you remember, middle of last year, I talked about a different exploration strategy and where the drills were turning. And this is the upside by focusing on the areas that's close to us and certainly with the capacity that we have in the mill, what can we do differently? And here's a prime example how that sort of technical thinking with the team at Leonora and in Perth coming up with the right targets. So there will be this would be one of many, I would suggest, over the period of time.
So it's really a technical overview. Then There's some other complexities around Tar Heel harbor lots that have to be brought into a province plan. And that is what is your mine design? Are you going underground? Is it open Do we have an ore body knowledge?
And the answer to all that was probably no. But we've also been able to have a look at These operations with unconstrained eyes to then put together a strategic business plan and strategy going forward to be able to unfold A province plan that made sense. And I think it's a combination of all that coming together is the benefit you're seeing. And optimistically, there'll be more upside to come.
Yes, sure. Thanks. You talked a bit there about The importance of gathering more geological knowledge, finding more targets across the region to build into that plan, Just noting that you only spent $1,000,000 of exploration expenditure across the province during the quarter. Is that a sufficient Spend rate, is there an opportunity to, I guess, deploy more cash in the region and really accelerate those plans or were there other constraints that led to the pretty low spend during the quarter?
No, the only constraint we've got on that is ourselves been able to mobilize, get people there. There's a frantic, I suppose, Drilling program unfolding in that region now given what we are seeing, the $1,000,000 expenditure is way off The spend rate that we need to spend this quarter, for example, and we'll certainly do better in that space, but it will be targeted.
Got it. Thanks Craig.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Peter O'Connor of Shaw and Partners. Please go ahead.
Craig, just to follow-up on the same province plan and how it's playing out. Thoughts on Kin Mining and what played out in the last month or so and any lessons learned from dealing with partners?
Yes, exactly. I think the so Kin Mining in particular still is the strategic, I guess, partner that we were looking for and things haven't changed from A justification and a need of why we entered into, I guess, being a significant shareholder with Kin and the synergies are still The same, we still value their exploration programs and what they do as a business. I think the interesting part for me is which What you're alluding to is what's happened in the last month. And that was quite a strange process, to be honest. And to be very clear, we were approached by King to see if there was something more that we could do together.
And The outcome of that conversation was obviously positive that led to an MBIO being presented, which it was. The conditions to that NBIO was clearly subject to due diligence. When we presented that, then it was rejected,
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Jetson for closing remarks.
Thank you very much for that, and thanks everybody for dialing in this morning. I think you'll see the headwinds of the last 12 months Really starting to blow themselves out somewhat with some positive outlook going forward. Our main focus now clearly Is on and I'll start with Leonora is to finish what we started a year ago, optimize that operation, have as many headings as we possibly can heading to that 30. Intermediates, more of the Trevor Bores of the world and continue on with the progress plan. And of course, more synergies like Kin and beyond.
So we're looking at all aspects of that growth. The challenge now will be to finish the DSTP and all the work that's gone on at Simberry, managing the COVID In country issues that we've got in commissioning the plant in this quarter, that's well advanced and well and truly underway. And of course, the permitting at Atlantic with the Beaver Dam submissions and also the White Rock submissions to TUKOIL. And all of those things together have certainly got resources and activity around them. So I look forward to continuing the positive uptick that we're seeing in our business performance, getting business continuity at Atlantic In particular and also bringing some Berry back on to be a very good mine that it should be and finish off some of our work at Leonora.
But thank you everybody for your questions today. Certainly appreciate the interest and the support, and we'll now get on and deliver the next quarter and the rest of this year. So thank you very much.