Welcome to the Andean Precious Metals fourth quarter and year-end 2021 results conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star and zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Simon Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you, Claudia. Thank you and good morning, everyone. Welcome to today's call to discuss our fourth quarter and year-end results, which we released earlier this morning. Please note that during this call, all dollar amounts are expressed in US dollars. Last year, 2021 was a transformative year for Andean. In March, we completed our listing on the TSX Venture Exchange. During the year, our total shareholder return was 72%. In 2021 we exceeded all our expectations as a publicly traded company in our first year, finishing only second to Aya in the internal comparison of our peer group. We've attracted a strong book of institutional investors, and we continue to work hard building on our retail following. We're pleased to advise that we met our full year production and cost guidance.
Production of 5.8 million oz of silver at an all-in sustaining cost of $18.17 /oz . Most importantly, we've accomplished this safely with zero lost time incidents and zero environmental incidents. Our Total Recordable Incident Frequency Rate, which is the industry metric used for safety performance, was 0.28, one of the lowest in the industry. We finished the year with more than $90 million in cash and short-term investments with no debt, supported by free cash flow in 2021 of $30 million. In 2021, we had revenues of $144 million from sales of 5.8 million oz, compared with $130.7 million from sales of 6 million oz in the previous year. The increase in revenue, mainly due to the difference in realized silver pricing.
In the fourth quarter, we sold 1.3 million silver equivalent ounces at a realized price of $23.21 /oz for revenue of $31 million. Again, for comparison, in the fourth quarter of 2020, we sold 2.2 million oz at an average realized price of $24.99 /oz . The higher sales volume in fourth quarter of 2020 reflect the sale of inventory produced in the prior periods. Adjusted EBITDA for the year was $34.4 million, compared to $39.7 million for the same period in 2020. This higher revenue was partially offset by a rise in direct costs from increased tons milled and mined.
Our G&A expenses were higher for the year, largely due to the cost associated with coming to the capital markets, to the public markets, management, governance, regulatory compliance costs associated. At San Bartolomé, we increased our mineral resource estimate by 100%, so effective December 31st, 2021, and then measured and indicated resources stood at 27.5 million oz of silver, and we added 12,000 tons of tin in-situ to our mineral resource. We also have a small quantity of inferred resources, just short of 4 million oz of silver and 1,300 additional tons of tin. At San Bartolomé, we're targeting completion of our PEA for the FDF expansion study. We're expecting to release that during quarter two.
We're still drilling our dry stack tailings, which is also expected to contain silver and tin, and we expect to release drill results as they become available during the coming months. While silver remains our primary focus, the incorporation of tin as a co-product at San Bartolomé has the potential to extend our mine life and to further strengthen our cash flow profile while driving all-in sustaining costs significantly lower. In exploration, during 2021, our team focused on our San Pablo gold exploration property, which is 100% owned, where we have early indications of a porphyry target. The drilling we did last year, along with the geophysical work which was completed in Q4, have resulted in a new drill program this year where we're targeting anomalies suggesting a large porphyry gold system.
We look forward to continuing that drilling. Those drill rigs have started, and we expect to release results in the next one or two months. Looking to this year, we're pleased to provide our investors with guidance targeting silver equivalent production this year, 5.3 million oz-5.8 million oz at an all-in sustaining cost of, on a by-product basis, $17.25/oz-$18.75 /oz of silver sold. Our outlook builds on our strong operational financial performance last year. We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet that provides us with a strategic advantage for negotiating merger and acquisition transactions, and we're actively evaluating projects both in Bolivia and in Latin America. Before opening the call to questions, I want to take the opportunity to thank our investors for their support during the past year.
We're very excited and optimistic about the year ahead, and we look forward to making 2022 another transformative year for Andean and all its stakeholders. Thank you for your time today. I will now open the line to questions.
Thank you. We will now begin the question- and- answer session. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. We will pause for a moment as callers join the queue. Our first question is from Justin Chan with Sprott. Please go ahead.
Hi, Simon and Jeff. I'm Fraser. Congrats on a very strong year. Lots of cash generated. My first one's just I know the FDF-DSF study is coming Q2. One is just when in the quarter are you thinking kinda earlier or later in the quarter? And then just looking ahead to it, a few questions on some of the parameters, if you're able to share that information. If not, I understand. One is just on potential to sort it before coming into the plant. I'm wondering what the test work is showing there, whether you can pre-concentrate. And then just yeah, perhaps on recoveries, what you think for silver and tin, and has that changed at all?
Maybe I'll start with those two and then third might be in terms of timeline. When do you think that might come into production?
Yeah. Thank you, Justin. The resource release recently for the San Bartolomé operation requires the technical report, as you know, to follow on 45 days from-
Yeah.
The release of the resource. We're on target for that. On the 25th, you'll be getting the technical report. That will contain additional, more up-to-date information. The mining study for the FDF is complete for this phase. The capital cost estimate is almost complete as well. The metallurgical test work is the most important element, and that's advancing quite nicely. To answer your question, I would say early in Q2, if not late April, first week of May for release of the PEA. In terms of pre-concentration, Sorry, Justin?
Oh, sorry. I was just verifying. Got it.
Okay.
Late April, early May. Sorry to interrupt.
Yes. That's okay. To your second question, pre-concentration is still part of our thinking. As we all know, it'll be down to the test work that determines which direction we end up going with this. The tin price is actually having a considerable influence. If the tin price and the outlook for tin continues to be very strong, then that comes into the decision, Justin. We would not want to leave any tin or any metal behind. With such a low CapEx, it might be that the economics tell us it's better to process everything. Those decisions are pending, but by the time the PEA comes out, you'll have a better picture.
In timing, we're still expecting to be close to a decision to invest, towards the end of this year, early in 2023. The backlog and the delays at the laboratories worldwide in the mining industry have also impacted us. I'd say when we've been knocked, maybe one or two months, but we may get that back. I'd expect announcements throughout Q3, Q4 with updates. In terms of production, we will be targeting production late in 2023, subject to the availability of the long lead items.
Got you. All right. That makes a lot of sense. Just on this year's guidance and production, I'm wondering if there's two things. One, any seasonality that you expect. Two, should we expect pretty similar proportions of third-party processed ore?
The answer to your second question is yes. We continue to build relationships. We continue to strengthen that side of our business. On a depletion basis, we only deplete approximately 50%-55% of our compliant resources. That's an important point that we're looking to strengthen. As for the guidance, more of the same, Justin. It's very similar to last year.
Gotcha. Any seasonal aspect? I know Catri is coming towards the end, per your statement today. Will that have any impact on kind of quarter-over-quarter or pretty stable, do you think, between the quarters this year?
Yeah, in terms of seasonal, weather-related, we've just come through the wet season, so quarter one will be the best indicator of any weather impacts. In terms of Catri, that property is depleting. It's a very low tonnage. It's a very low proportion of our feed into our mine plan. The impact from Catri will be negligible. We are looking to do some more drilling, so some more resource definition at Catri just outside of the current pit. There may be an opportunity to exploit more tons from Catri going forward.
Got you. Then just my last one. I'll clear up the line. I realize I've hogged it for a while now. Just on deferred tax versus cash tax, should we expect any change in 2022 in terms of more cash tax versus deferred or yeah, could you just give me a sense of what you're expecting in that regard?
Yeah, I'll bring Drew in on this one, if I may, Justin.
Absolutely.
Hi, Justin. Just to answer your question, yes, I would say that after the 2021 year, as you can see from our deferred tax balance, we have consumed a significant amount of our loss carryforward balance. In terms of the timing of cash tax that's paid in Bolivia, those would be due sort of January 2023 for the fiscal 2022 year. Although we do not expect a significant cash tax impact through 2022, we will start to see that impact in 2023 and beyond.
Got it. Just to reiterate my understanding on that one. In terms of 2022, you would expect similar sort of free cash flow to, I guess, how would I phrase it, the relationship between production in AISC and free cash flow should be similar in 2022 as it was in 2021, and in 2023, that may start to change because of tax. Is that an accurate way to summarize that?
Yes.
Okay.
Simple answer.
Thanks very much.
Once again, if you have a question, please press star then One on your telephone. There are no further questions registered at this time. I would like to turn the conference back over to Simon Griffiths for any closing remarks.
Thank you once again, Claudia, and thank you everybody for participating. Please feel free to reach out to the IR team at ir@andeanpm.com if you have any further questions. Claudia?
Thank you, sir. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.