...Good morning to all of you, and a warm welcome to our 2024 final results presentation. Thank you very much for taking time out of your schedules to join us today. We will keep the presentation fairly brief, with an opportunity for questions afterwards. Joining me in presenting today will be Deon Louw, our Financial Director. You are welcome to refer to our SENS RNS announcements, and to the supplementary information available on the Pan African website, should you require detail not dealt with in today's presentation. Please note the disclaimers and information on forward-looking statements on slides two and three. Pan African's strategy is to position ourselves as a safe and sustainable, high margin, and long life gold producer.
I believe the last year, again, demonstrated Pan African's resilience, our ability to generate attractive returns on our assets, to grow in a responsible and value-accretive manner, and to continue to pay a sector-leading dividend to our shareholders. In terms of dividends, we have paid almost $200 million to shareholders in the last 10 years. Today also marks the tenth instance that I am presenting the year-end results as Pan African CEO. Reflecting on the last decade, it would be fair to say the group, on occasion, experienced tumultuous times. We don't get everything right all of the time. I think that is not possible in business and certainly not in mining. What is, however, critical is to demonstrate tangible value creation for all stakeholders over the long term, and I believe Pan African can be proud of our record in this regard.
Today, we have the added tailwind of a gold price, pretty much at record highs in US dollar and rand terms, and also a generally bullish view in the market on the metal's short and medium-term prospects. Let me assure you that the gold price windfall will not be wasted on Pan African. We are outlining focus areas for the year ahead. If we then proceed to slide number six, our safety, performance, and our journey to zero harm. We continue to focus on safety initiatives and interventions, and on maintaining an industry-leading record. We can also celebrate a number of safety milestones achieved during the last year. During our interim results, we reported on the tragic fatal accident at Elikhulu earlier in the year. We are doing our utmost to ensure that the group has a safe year ahead.
Slide number eight, a high-level representation of our unique portfolio of surface re-mining and underground assets. The addition of MTR or Mogale Mintails means that we now have three large mining complexes in South Africa. Surface operations reduce unit costs and turn legacy liabilities into profits, while the underground provides long life of mines, solid returns on investment as a result of a large sunk capital base, and also attractive optionality, which we are bringing to account in a circumspect and concerted manner, as demonstrated by our progress on the Evander underground. If there's one takeaway from this slide, it is that we are growing profitable production very materially in the years ahead. We expect to be well north of two hundred thousand ounces of annual production in 2025, with MTR coming online. Pan African might not be the biggest gold miner, but and that is also opportunity.
None of the majors can grow their production by 25% or more in a short space of time. This is what we will do in the next year. Slide 9. The coming year will also see us moving towards an even more balanced portfolio of low cost and stable surface re-mining and high-grade, long life underground assets. This asset mix should also reduce our group all-in sustaining cost profile, with both Elikhulu and Mintails producing at an all-in sustaining cost of approximately $1,000 per ounce, and the BTRP, even lower. Slide 10. A bit more detail on our current asset mix. I think what is very helpful is that all of our assets now have extended lives, with the shortest life being the BTRP at seven years, which is still quite a while.
If we compare ourselves with the rest of the sector, many producers are running out of life on their assets, or have to spend massive capital for future production. Not the case for Pan African. We do not have to go and acquire more assets to maintain and grow production. Slide 12, our operating environment. We continuously seek ways of making our business less susceptible to adverse external impacts in South Africa. Some matters to highlight in terms of our operating environment over the year include the following: I think before the fact, there was significant concern around the South African general elections, which were held in May this year. Following these free and fair elections, and the successful formation of a government of national unity, we are definitely seeing some green shoots, so to speak, and quite a bit of optimism in terms of the South African economy.
South Africa enjoyed strong foreign investment inflows over the last month. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange saw an over 5% uptick over the last two months, and SA Bonds have also surged. The rand has been the best performer amongst a group of leading emerging market currencies against the US dollar over the last month. And this trend can improve further should we see positive reforms coming from government... Pan African is reducing our reliance on Eskom, the South African electricity utility. Some more information on this in the ESG section of this presentation. Also, positively, South Africa has now experienced more than 100 days without any load shedding. In terms of title, Pan African's assets have long lives with extended mining rights. The Evander complex rights are valid until twenty thirty-eight, and those at Barberton until twenty fifty-one.
MTR's new order mining right is currently valid until 2029. We will obviously seek extension in due course. As far as stakeholder interaction is concerned, we invest heavily in our social license to operate. Pan African's mines make a meaningful, positive impact in the areas where we operate. We also announced a five-year wage deal at Barberton this year, which will provide stability and the ability to further optimize this operation while limiting cost increases. Finally, from a security perspective, our efforts to safeguard our people and operations and minimize the impact of illegal mining and criminality are ongoing. I'm pleased to report that the people of Kagiso and Krugersdorp can already see a marked improvement in their area since we started our work at MTR.
To conclude on this slide, Pan African's track record demonstrates that we can operate and grow in South Africa and do so very successfully. If we then proceed to key production, cost, and financial features from the year past, on slide 14, some of the highlights from 2024 include the following: We reported an improvement in overall safety rates. We produced just over 186,000 ounces of gold, an increase of more than 6% when compared with the previous year. Our teams did well in terms of managing costs, with a globally competitive all-in sustaining cost for the group. We are reporting an increase in profits of more than 30%, with very manageable net debt levels and healthy liquidity.
It is worthwhile noting that the US dollar gold price only really started surging late in the financial year, and therefore, the full impact of the higher price should only come through in the year ahead. Gold in US dollar terms is currently at approximately $2,500 per ounce versus the circa $2,080 we received in the financial year. Despite all the growth and capital reinvestment, we are able to maintain our sector-leading dividend to shareholders. Slide 15 should be an interesting one for our investors, demonstrating how nicely we have expanded margins in recent years, and this excludes any coMTRibution from MTR. We believe that if we deliver, our share price should take care of itself, and the recent while has reaffirmed this view.
That being said, I think we are still in a strong position to benefit from the current gold price environment and from our own growth plans in the time ahead. If we then move on to more detail on the performance per operation, starting with Elikhulu on slide 17, this really is a flagship asset for the group. Nine years of production remaining, producing at just over $1,000 per ounce. Our team managed to increase both production times and recoveries through the mining of the Leslie Bracken Tailings facility, with gold production increasing by some 9%. We look forward to another year of more than 50,000 ounces of production and clearly excellent cash flow generation in the current gold price environment. The asset generated $57 million of EBITDA in the last year.
We are currently completing phase III and IV of the Kinross Tailings Facility, the final expansion. These will be delivered on budget and on schedule in the next months. As we've said before, we are also carrying all of the learnings on building and operating Elikhulu over to MTR as we ramp up operations there. Slide number 18, BTRP, another sterling performance from our first gold tailings retreatment plant, commissioned in 2013, and the lowest cost producer in the group. The BTRP management team also again deserves special mention, managing to reduce unit costs of production. I think very exciting news for the BTRP is that we have now managed to extend the life of this operation from surface re-mining only to seven years. We will be reprocessing the Bramber Tailings Storage Facility and other sources again.
The capital requirements for this new initiative is also relatively modest, around ZAR 100 million, or some $5 million, for a new pump station, and then a new tailings storage facility for all of the Barberton complex in due course. So the bottom line, BTRP will continue to form an integral part of Pan African's tailings retreatment story for many more years, and also allow us to develop Royal Sheba at a much slower pace. MTR, on slide number nineteen. Large-scale construction on site is now nearing completion, and we will be pouring first gold at this operation on the third of October. Yes, the third of October of this year. The project will be delivered under budget and ahead of schedule, which you will appreciate is not that common in the mining industry.
We have built all of the plant and infrastructure in a little over 14 months, a testament to Pan African's ability to secure, conceptualize, fund, and then execute world-class mining projects. In the current gold price environment, the payback on this $135 million initial investment should be under 3 years, with a project life of more than 20 years when we include the Soweto reserves. In terms of the Mogale cluster at Mintails, the life is 13 years, with total gold recovered more than 600,000 ounces. Additionally, the Soweto cluster consists of more than 130 million tons of tailings, currently containing a mineral reserve of more than 500,000 ounces of recoverable gold. This mineral reserve will extend MTR's life from 13 years to 21 years. Total gold recovered will increase to 1.1 million ounces.
It's also important to note that we believe that we have enough gold reserves at the Soweto Cluster to sustain a standalone operation, treating one million tons per month over an approximate ten-year life of mine. On slide number twenty, a picture of construction progress on site, and you can see that we are currently firmly on track in terms of the project execution timelines. Slide twenty-one. We cannot say enough about the socioeconomic and environmental benefits of this project. Concurrent rehabilitation is in progress. We are uplifting local communities, providing much needed economic and employment opportunities, and working with law enforcement to eradicate illegal mining. There were some skeptics on Mintails' MTR when we announced our intention to proceed with the project. I'm so pleased that we are about to prove them wrong. Slide twenty-two.
I think it's fair to say that Pan African has a record second to none in terms of construction and operation of tailings retreatment projects. These long life assets now form the cornerstone of our business, and I believe we have further room to grow in this space, which should be very attractive for our investors. Slide 23. The Evander underground team delivered in line with expectations, producing some thirty-eight thousand ounces for the year at an all-in sustaining cost of just over $1,300 per ounce. Now, the delay in commissioning of the sub-vertical shaft for hoisting has impact, impacted us somewhat. This project will now be completed by the end of this month. We are pretty much then doubling our hoisting capacity, which should allow us to play a bit of catch-up in the months ahead.
I really believe this shaft, with a hoisting capacity of 40,000 tons per month, will be a game changer for Evander. No more cumbersome conveyors, lower costs with a higher mine call factor. If we then proceed to slide 24, dealing with Fairview, our flagship underground operation at the Barberton Mines Complex. At Fairview Mine, the Rossiter ore body enhanced production during the reporting period. Exploration drilling has identified a second high-grade structure, which intersects the Rossiter ore body and doubled the mineralized width, thereby increasing the volumes that can be extracted. This ore body averaged at over 30 grams per ton throughout the year. Additionally, down dip development at the MMR ore body on the deeper levels at Fairview progressed according to plan, with top access to the high-grade 261 platform completed during May 2024. This platform grade averages 27 grams per ton.
The down-dip development is being extended deeper towards the lower axis of 261, as well as to the 262 platform, where exploration drilling successfully intersected the down-dip extension of the MRC. Rehabilitation of the existing ramp infrastructure from 38 level downwards is progressing according to schedule. This decline will be used to transport personnel and material to the working phases on a 3-shaft section, and will further alleviate logistical pressures on 3 shaft, which will then mainly be used for rock hoisting and improving logistics. Continuous operations at Fairview, implemented in February 2023, resulted in a significant improvement in terms of tonnage output, with tons increasing by 11% year-on-year from underground. Additionally, the processed grade improved from 11.7 to over 12 grams per ton, a circa 4% increase year-on-year.
The all-in sustaining cost for Fairview also improved from $1,546 in FY 2023 to $1,434, mainly as a result of the 14% increase in gold production. The smaller underground operation at Barberton on slide 25. At Sheba, development towards additional mineral reserve blocks on both the high-grade MRC and ZK ore bodies are progressing according to plan, with production improvements noted during the year. Development in the Sheba Fault Project's western cross ore body is ongoing, with initial mineralized intersection being exposed on the crosscut. This project is planned to eventually supplement feed sources to the BTRP plant, as well as to offsetting the treatment of low-grade surface sources at the Consort and Sheba plants. The continuous operating cycle had an even greater impact at Sheba Mine, with tons increasing by 18% year-on-year.
The processed grade also improved from 4.9 grams per ton to over 5 grams per ton, a circa 6% increase year on year. In terms of Consort, following some geotechnical and mining difficulties, the group replaced the coMTRact miner in order to improve production at the mine. The rehabilitation of the PC Shaft has been completed and now enables the coMTRactor to recommence mining on a high-grade 41- to 45-level mining sections. Additional development is ongoing on the MMR Shaft and the PC Shaft to access mineral reserve blocks, which will give us access to more ground to mine. On slide number 27, section dealing with all-in sustaining cost. Almost 85% of our portfolio produced at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,170 per ounce.
Now, slide 28 illustrates that our cost performance continues to be very much in line and better than the average for the global sector, with most producers having experienced significant cost pressures in the last couple of years. Despite inflation, we should be able to maintain an all-in sustaining cost at between $1,350 and $1,400 per ounce in the coming financial year, in US dollar terms. On slide number 30, group capital projects. We continue to invest into our assets and into growth, with most of MTR's upfront capital now spent. For Evander, we expect CapEx to reduce in the next year, as most of the large capital for 24 to 26 levels would have then been spent. Elikhulu CapEx will also be fairly pedestrian in the year ahead, with Barberton spend fairly stable. ESG, slide 32.
I'm very proud of our achievements on this front, particularly on progress with renewable energy, water treatment, and social projects. We really do make a positive difference where we operate. To elaborate further on our renewable energy roadmap on slide number 33, we've completed construction of our Barberton Solar Facility, and we are currently ramping up generation from this plant, which should be fully ramped up in the next month. We further anticipate first power from our 40-megawatt Sturdee Energy power purchase agreement during 2026. You can also expect other announcements on renewables from Pan African in the months ahead. Hopefully, we can add even more capacity. In terms of our Sudanese exploration venture, we are continuing activities on a scaled-back basis. We are hoping that the warring parties can come to a resolution soon.
I will now hand over to Deon, who will provide an overview of the financial results for the year.
Thank you, Cobus. From slide 36, you will notice the positive impact of the increased gold production and gold price on the 2024 financial year's revenue, which increased by 17% to $374 million relative to the prior financial year. Production costs were well contained, with all-in sustaining costs increasing by only 3.4% in dollar terms, assisted by the average rand dollar exchange rate depreciation of 5.3% year on year. The tailwinds of an increasing US dollar gold price and depreciating rand during the year levered EBITDA by 23% to $141 million relative to the prior year. Attributable earnings increased by 30% to $79 million, and earnings per share commensurately, as no new shares were issued in the year.
The 9% decline in operating cash flow to $91 million is due to an increase in income tax and royalties paid of $8 million, and finance costs of $5 million. It also needs to be borne in mind that the prior year's cash flows were also boosted by the upfront receipt of ZAR 400 million, approximately $22 million from the synthetic gold forward sale transaction. We spent $166 million in capital during the year, the bulk of it on the MTR project, and drew $71 million on our debt facilities, resulting in a predictable increase in net debt by $84 million to $106 million. Slide 37 demonstrates the extent of the group's available senior debt facilities and funding of the MTR project.
As mentioned in the past, our funding approach to projects of Elikhulu and MTR scale and nature is to fully fund the project's upfront capital with a debt redemption profile sculpted to its cash flow profile, leaving the rest of the group's cash flows largely unencumbered for other capital expenditure programs and returning cash to shareholders. Our core facilities comprise the RCF of $54 million and GBF of $8 million. The bar chart on the right of this slide shows a composition of the two senior debt facilities of $113 million, dedicated to MTR's construction, which, together with the $22 million received from the synthetic gold forward sale transaction, fully funded the project's development costs without having to raise equity. Evident also is a green loan of $19 million dedicated to the funding of our renewable energy plants.
This facility, which became effective in June, also provides for an embedded accordion option of $40 million for future funding requirements of this nature. By thirty June 2024, these senior facilities were fully drawn as expenditure on MTR peaks, and to reduce the risk of a severe decline in the rand gold price, we have entered into a number of gold price hedges that lock in the rand proceeds on 49% of the lower end of the group's 2025 financial year's guided ounces. The effect of these hedges is that 18% of the 2025 financial year's production is locked in at a fixed price of ...
of $1,942 an ounce in terms of the synthetic gold forward sale transaction, and 31% locked in at a floor price of $2,137 an ounce, and a cap price of $2,995 an ounce, assuming an exchange rate of 18 rands and 19 cents to the dollar. The synthetic gold forward sale transaction expires in February 2025, and the zero-cost collars by 30 June 2025, whereafter the group is unhedged. It is, however, likely that we'll continue to make use of short-term hedges of this nature, especially zero-cost collars, to lock in cash margins and reduce short-term financial risk, while participating in the upside to the level of the capped gold price.
Slide 38 illustrates the magnitude of the quarterly principal and interest redemptions on the group's senior debt to June 2029, when all existing senior debt is extinguished. Until June 2025, senior debt redemptions are muted, with only quarterly principal installments of the renewable energy facility being payable. But from September 2025, the MTR facility's redemptions commence, and in December 2025, the three-year bond with a nominal value of ZAR 585 million, approximately $32 million, matures. The large spike in debt redemptions in June 2026 comprises the $54 million bullet redemption on the RCF. Mintails' updated cash flow projections now calculates a payback period of approximately two years post-commissioning on the original upfront capital of $135 million.
Notwithstanding, it is likely that the RCF will again be extended, as has been the case in the past, as it constitutes a key component of our core financing facilities. We have also had numerous approaches from financial institutions to participate in a refinance of the inaugural bond issue, should further capital expenditure funding be required in due course. Senior debt is expected to peak at approximately ZAR 3.5 billion, approximately $190 million, towards the end of this calendar year, resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of approximately 52%, still well within the senior debt covenant of one to one. Slide 39 tracks the group's historical dividend yields and yield of the proposed dividend of ZAR 489 million, or approximately $26.8 million, for the 2024 financial year.
The proposed 2024 financial year dividend is a payout ratio of approximately 53% of cash flow, as defined by the dividend policy, and is an increase of 22% in rand terms and 26.5% in dollar terms relative to the prior year. With the share price doubling year on year, the dividend yield has declined to 3.6% relative to the 5.9% of the prior year, when the share closing share price was ZAR 3.03, or £0.125 per share. On the basis that the proposed 2024 financial year dividend is approved by shareholders and paid in December, the total dividends paid to shareholders during the past decades is $193 million.
Finally, slide 40 shows the return on the group's shareholder funds for the 2024 financial year relative to a gold mining peer group. Return on equity and cash flow per share are two of the key parameters for measuring the success of our value creation drive and to inform our circumspect approach to capital allocation decisions and M&A. After a decline in the group's return on equity in the prior financial year, it has now increased to 25% for this financial year, and post the imminent commissioning of MTR, we should again see it enter the aspirational range of 25%-30%, as MTR coMTRibutes high margin ounces to the group. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Deon. If we conclude on slide 41, Pan African continues to be focused on delivery and execution. Key areas for us in the next year include the following: We will continue our proactive journey to zero harm. We will successfully execute into our capital projects, including a very exciting MTR development, that will increase and sustain our future gold production profile at approximately 250,000 ounces per year. We will continue optimization and improvement initiatives to increase gold production as per our guidance and to further reduce costs. We look forward to progressing our ESG initiatives and our focus on maintaining our social license to operate, while also expanding our renewable energy footprint and rehabilitating old areas for the benefit of our communities. We will maintain our focus on generating sustainable shareholder returns, creating value for all stakeholders.
And finally, we will continue to explore value accretive options for further growth in a very circumspect manner, as always. I would like to end my presentation by extending my thanks and appreciation to Deon Louw, who is retiring for some very well-deserved R&R.
Deon will, however, remain available as a consultant to the group. Deon and I have known each other for more than twenty years, and have worked together at Pan African for more than a decade. His acumen, experience, and advice have greatly assisted in positioning Pan African where we find ourselves today. Deon, you are a fantastic colleague and a friend, and we wish you all the best for the future. I would also like to congratulate Marileen Kok, our new Financial Director. The promotion is well deserved. Thank you very much for your time this morning. We look forward to continue mining for a future in the year ahead.
Thank you very much again for taking time.
In terms of questions, we will first go to the conference call, and see if we have any queries or questions from the conference call, and then we'll go to the webcast.
Thank you, sir. First question comes from Cody Hayden of Berenberg. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you for taking my question, and congratulations on the results. First, I have two questions. First, on the Evander underground expansion project, can you speak a bit more to the delays and how confident you are the Evander 8 Shaft project won't be further delayed beyond September? And then second, on costs, can you give any insight into your inflation assumptions? And with MTR, can you bring costs lower further, as well as with some of the renewable energy deployment? Thank you.
Thanks, Cody. Yeah, so, definitely, the delay in the commission of sub-vertical shaft at Evander has set us back somewhat, but it's a temporary delay. I think generally the team has done well in terms of managing. And, yeah, we're pretty confident that we are sort of weeks away now from commissioning. Fortunately, the project is progressing much better now, and that's just sort of the nature of underground operations. It's sometimes a bit more difficult, and that was the case here. So yeah, we, as we've said, I mean, we expect to make up. There's a lot of gold sitting underground in the decline sections, which we'll be vamping, and then just doubling the hoisting capacity obviously will have a massive impact on that operation.
In terms of inflation, you know, we sort of when we do our budget, we look quite carefully at all of the cost drivers, and then so we, we have a good understanding of sort of escalations, et cetera. So I think we're fairly comfortable in terms of managing inflation. And Mintails, in terms of the budget, because of the fact that we're running Elikhulu, we understand the cost structure and what it entails, so I think we're quite comfortable with our guidance in terms of Mintails costs. And then, yeah, definitely renewable energy projects have a quite significant impact on the group. I mean, we see the savings that we are currently banking at Evander on the first 10 megawatts, and obviously Barberton now is coming in, should be steady state in terms of production, solar production in the next month.
So, as we expand this footprint, definitely, I think it'll stand a good group in good stead.
Great. That's very helpful. Thank you.
At this stage, we have no further questions from the lines.
Thank you. Shall we then go to the webcast?
Sure. Thank you. Thank you. We've got a question from Lebo Mofokeng from Truffle Asset Management. Hi, Cobus and team. Thanks for the opportunity. Can you guide us on CapEx for FY twenty-six, please? As Mintails's project CapEx falls off and forward sales run off, Pan should be generating a lot of free cash flow. What are your plans with the cash?
Yeah. So, Lebo, that's correct. I mean, if the, certainly if the gold price hold and holds, I mean, we should be in for some very good times. It's also important to note that, I mean, this is the last year, FY twenty-five, where we'll be spending so much money on the Evander underground. So you have Mintails, with the capital being done in the next couple of months. You have the Evander underground, with the spend pretty much complete by the end of this year. Barberton's fairly stable. So, yeah, CapEx will, should go down. Also, Elikhulu, the capital is very ped- fairly pedestrian, in this next year, and then sort of ramps up again. So generally, I mean, in terms of de-gearing, we can expect the group to de-gear.
Also, I mean, in the last year, the gold price received was $2,080, and it was currently sitting at above $2,500 per ounce, so obviously that's gonna come through. So yeah, I mean, I think, generally, Pan African has been quite good in terms of, capital allocation, and that we will continue to be circumspect and balance growth, reinvestment in our assets with cash returns to shareholders in the form of dividends. And that's what we've done in the past, and there's no reason to change that going forward.
Thank you, Cobus. The next question is: Would you use the gold price windfall to accelerate the debt repayment? And that's from Arnold van Graan at Nedbank.
Arnold, yes, yes and no. We'd obviously like to, at the same point in time, accelerate our dividends, so shareholders participate in the upside on the gold price. So it, it's not mutually exclusive, one or the other. We have demonstrated in the past that we can do both by paying the debt on Elikhulu back to the bankers well before its four-year term. I think we paid it back in three years. So yes, if our projections are correct on Mintails, we should pay our debt back in roughly two, two and a half years. But at the same point in time, we wanna balance that with increased returns in the form of cash to our shareholders.
Thanks very much, Deon. We've got a question from Nkateko Mathonsi at Investec Bank. Please, can you give us color on the cash generation by operation?
It's probably best to look at the segment analysis, but your two primary cash generators at this point in time pre Mintails' commissioning is obviously Barberton. And Barberton generated an EBITDA of roughly $63 million relative to Evander's as a complex $86 million. So that you know that's really the gist of your cash generation at this point in time within the group and roughly the split between the two.
Thanks, Deon. We've got a question from Lisa Steyn at News24. Please, could you provide more color on the illegal miner issue around MTR? Have you encountered resistance or challenges related to zama zamas? How exactly or practically are you managing to mitigate this threat? What kind of security do you have in place there?
Lisa, yeah, so I wouldn't wanna elaborate too much about what we're doing in terms of detailed security measures, but suffice to say that security is a major focus for us in that area. Generally, I have to say, our experience in terms of constructing MTR has been very positive. We've had a great impact in terms of the communities and cleaning up the site, working with law enforcement to reduce the issue of illegal miners. I mean, we always say the safest place to keep your gold is actually in these tailings facilities. I mean, it's not zama zamas or illegals do not have the ability to process point three grams per ton, so they sort of focus on old foot plant footprints and outcrop areas.
But yeah, generally, I think the fact that we managed to construct and will now operate MTR sort of bodes well for SA mining. It shows you can get major projects done in a very short space of time. Yeah, I mean, our approach has been certainly fair to say multifaceted in terms of working with communities, with other stakeholders, regulators, and all interested parties, and it's really been a fantastic success for us.
Thanks, Cobus. A related question from Arnold van Graan: Could you please elaborate on your experience with working with law enforcement? Have you seen positive developments on this front?
I think so. I think there's definitely a willingness from law enforcement to make a difference and to cooperate. And, I mean, that's a good model to work with law enforcement for the benefit of all of the legitimate stakeholders, and that's what we're doing pretty much at Barberton and at MTR at this point.
Thanks, Cobus. We've got Ntuthuko Sithole from SBG Securities. Could you please expand on the BTRP Sheba Fault Project? Are there any technical reasons for slowing down development? How does this impact CapEx over the next three years? Does this mean a different project or resource will be prioritized?
I think, I mean, it's a great win for us, the fact that we have managed to now extend the life of the BTRP, which was our first tailings retreatment business in gold, from two years to seven years, with very limited capital, about a hundred million rand for the pump station. And then we have to also construct a new Barberton tailings facility, probably to FY 2027-2028. So, I mean, the BTRP has been a star performer. Obviously, costs will go up as we then reprocess, but limited capital and very good returns. And, there's nothing wrong with the Royal Sheba project. It's quite simply a question of capital allocation and capital priorities.
You know, many other places, this deposit would have been developed three grams per ton, with a lot of prospectivity still. But I think that just speaks to the Pan African portfolio and the extent of the optionality actually, we actually have. That means we have to rank projects, because, again, we have to balance all of the cash, sort of, all the calls on capital.
Thanks, Cobus. A question, I think, for Deon: What is the dividend policy, as a percentage of cash flow or profit for this dividend and the coming years? Would Pan African consider biannual dividends? And that question is from Gavin King.
The dividend policy is unchanged from last year. It's still 40% of cash flow as defined by the policy, which is after capital which has not been funded. It's essentially discretionary cash flow available to the company. So this year, you know, given the circumstances, the imminent commissioning of the Mintails project, the group's cash flows, obviously, the gold price, as Cobus referred to, we felt it's appropriate to be a little bit more aggressive, and we have recommended a 52% payout of discretionary cash flow as is defined. But yes, going forward, we think, you know, 40% is healthy as it relates to the interim dividend, that's something we consider on an ongoing basis, especially once we are comfortable with the cash flow generation from Mintails.
Then we have a third complex, cashflow-generating complex, and it's an easier decision to make at that point in time.
Thanks a lot, Deon. René Hochreiter from Noah Capital or Sieberana Research. Noah says, "Excellent results, and congrats to you and Deon for a remarkable ten years growing the business. Please, can you give us the CapEx guidance for FY 2025 and as many years as possible thereafter?
Sure. There's a detailed slide. Thank you for that comment. There's a detailed slide in the presentation. So we're spending the last of Mintails' capital this year in the next couple of months, actually, and then also pretty much the last big slug in terms of Evander Underground. And then from FY 2026, the capital will reduce. With obviously, Mintails will be very limited capital. Elikhulu, a bit more as we now sort of look to go, sort of start constructing re-mining facilities at Winkelhaag. Evander Underground capital will come down quite a lot, 'cause as I said, major capital is done, and then Barberton is pretty stable.
So, I mean, I do think that differentiates Pan African from many of our peers, where you just have seen these capital bills escalate and become larger and larger just for guys to maintain production, and it's not the case for us. I think we're quite fortunate from that perspective.
Thanks, Cobus. A follow-up question from René is: What do you estimate your additional percentage cost over and above cash cost of security for reducing the impact of illegal miners?
Well, it's in our cash cost already, so, you know, it's quite a-- We don't foresee that sort of security costs to escalate by anything more than inflation in the years to come. I think we have the situation pretty much under coMTRol. Our teams do an excellent job, and really, the drive from our side is to use more technology-based solutions to combat illegal mining, and we're seeing that being very effective and actually also means that we can save costs. So security costs are very much into our cash costs, so I would not expect any huge surprises going forward from that perspective.
Thanks, Cobus. A few questions from Edward Smythe. Firstly, on Mintails. What Mintails volumes are you currently expecting for 2025? Did you not say in a recent report that Mintails can now produce 60,000 ounces per annum at $900 all-in sustaining? And integrating the Soweto Cluster. At $2,200 gold price, you said the payback was less than 2 years, not less than 3 years. Please confirm.
Yeah, well, look, I mean, Ed, whether it be two or three years, I mean, I think we're trying to be a little bit conservative there. Give ourselves a better headroom. I mean, this is a new operation, and we're starting out. But, I mean, if it's two and a half or three years, I just think it's an excellent success for us. So in terms of the production, on a steady state basis, full year of production, probably about 55,000-odd ounces a year. So yeah, it's 55-60 thousand ounces. Yeah, obviously, we're ramping up now, with the first gold being smelted in October, and then, you know, we've guided that we will be steady state by December. Hopefully, we can get there a bit sooner.
The teams on the job, on it, on the ground are doing an excellent job. Yeah, Mintails, the Soweto Cluster is quite interesting. I mean, you know, in itself, it could justify the construction of a new facility or a standalone facility, as we've said, producing sort of, you know, a million tons per month. We have significant resources and reserves in Soweto. So the fact that we now have that footprint, it gives us a lot of optionality in that area. Yeah. So certainly, what we've said in the past holds true, but I mean, we're not gonna sort of pressurize ourselves into a sort of a two-year payback.
I think if we achieve a two-and-a-half-year or three-year payback on $2.5 billion or $135 million of upfront capital, it really is an excellent achievement.
Thanks, Cobus. In terms of Consort, it seems that Consort production fell to less than 6,000 ounces, implying well less than 15 kilograms per month of gold. Consort costs might be $2,500-$3,000, all-in sustaining. What is the hope now to dramatically reduce costs here?
Yeah, I mean, it's fair to say, Ed, that Consort - I mean, if we look at what we've done at Barberton, continuous operations really have benefited both Fairview and Sheba. Consort is a bit of a cash. It's the only operation in our group that, from an operating perspective, is negative, and it's not great, but we continue to believe in the future of Consort. I mean, we're doing what we can. If we did not believe that there was certainly the ability to turn it around, we would close the mine. If you look at the history of Consort, it is unfortunately been boom and bust.
You have two, three bad years, and then you have sort of one or two excellent years that sort of make up for the more difficult periods. So, yeah, I mean, the gold is down there. We've had to do a lot of development now on that, the PC Shaft and development's done, so we should be able to get into better ground and ensure that Consort performs better going forward.
Thanks, good. Also from Ed: What is the long-term aspiration for all-in sustaining cost at Evander as you increase output towards long-term target of 65,000 ounces per annum, and after 2026?
Yeah, I think we calculated that you're probably looking at about long-term $1,300-$1,400 all-in sustaining for the Evander underground, which compares very well to the rest of the global sector. So that, well, that would be where we would like to get to.
Thanks, Cobus. Lastly from Ed: As net debt falls rapidly this year and becomes net cash in 2026, can you promise investors that returns to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks at less than five PE, based on your guidance, will now take precedence over CapEx that has reached a historic record?
The CapEx reached an historic record for the right reasons. I mean, we invested $135 million into a massive project for the benefit of shareholders over the next 20 years. That's capital CapEx for the right reasons. If you look at our return on equity, I think we can rival pretty much anybody in the sector as far as our returns are concerned. And that demonstrates the ability to allocate capital in the correct manner, I think, and that will continue. Yeah, certainly dividends will continue, and any capital allocation will be done in a very circumspect manner. You know, if you look at the cost of...
What's called the opportunity cost of the structure we put in place to fund Mintails without any call on shareholders, that opportunity cost in the last year was in the order of ZAR 200 million. So, if that wasn't there, then, yes, the dividend, even this year, with all of the capital, would have been quite a bit higher.
Thank you very much. Question from Jackson Motena: Given the current prices of gold, how much of priority is given to the Sudanese exploration project, and when can the development feasibility be expected to conclude?
Yeah, so, I mean, it's fair to say that, I mean, we so Sudan at this point, I mean, exploration is continuing, but at a scaled back, on a scaled-back basis. The war obviously is ongoing, and it's a humanitarian crisis in the couMTRy, and we can't see ourselves investing large amounts of money until the situation stabilizes. So it's unfortunate. Geologically, it's incredibly prospective. But, I mean, our exposure as a group there is very limited. I think the carrying value of the Sudanese venture is an order of five or six million USD on our balance sheet, so it's not a huge exposure. And it doesn't make sense for us to invest, hugely until the political environment stabilizes.
Okay, thanks, Cobus. Arnold, van Graan from Nedbank again. Well done on the results and progress at Mintails. What's next for Pan after Mintails in terms of growth or projects?
I think the nice thing for us, Arnold, is that we don't really have to go do much more. As we've mentioned, there's such a lot of opportunity in our own portfolio, and unlike many of the other producers, we don't have our production falling off a cliff anytime soon. I mean, we calculate we can sort of maintain the two hundred and fifty odd thousand ounces for many years. So, yes, I mean, again, it comes down to assessing opportunities and making sure that whatever we do, we can generate appropriate returns for shareholders, and I think that's a good position for us to be in.
And Arnold follows up with: Please share your views on M&A and geographical diversification. Are you looking at assets, or do you have enough internal growth?
Well, I-
Are you comfortable... Sorry, are you comfortable with South African exposure?
I guess we have to be comfortable with South Africa, given that all of our assets are here. Obviously, all of us know that there seems to be quite a bit more positivity around the couMTRy following the national elections and some progress that the couMTRy appears to be making. And we have a long and demonstrated track record of operating successfully, so we don't have to go and look elsewhere just for the sake of diversification. It comes down to a specific opportunity, and again, if we can see the returns that we have demonstrated, we can generate on investments. So that's what it really comes down to.
Obviously, at this sort of gold price, which is elevated, but still with, I think, a lot of positivity and potentially some tailwinds, you have to be very circumspect. You can't run models on $2,500 indefinitely and make investment decisions on that basis.
Thanks, Cobus. Last question: Congratulations on the positive result and project execution. This is from SBG Securities, Ntuthuko Sithole. Could you please expand on your investment in TCMG? How does this fit into your long-term strategy?
Yeah, thanks. Yeah, again, I mean, we have a number of tailwinds. It's quite exciting for us. It's a very good time. TCMG is a strategic stake in a, what we think is a prospective gold and copper area in Australia, and it's not big in any way. So it's not a strategic focus or a large focus for us at this point. Again, we have so many things to do in our own portfolio, and that's really the focus in the next while.
Thanks. And the last comment from Arnold at Nedbank. Deon, thank you for all your help and assistance over the years. I enjoyed our debates. All the best for the future.
Thank you. Thanks, Arnold.
Thanks very much, Arnold. And I think we have one question on the conference call line.
Yes, thank you, sir. Last question was asked and answered. Thank you.
Thank you again to everybody for making time, and, if there is anything else, you know where to find us. Have a great day. Thank you.
Thank you.