Hello and welcome to the Andean Precious Metals Third Quarter Conference Call and Webcast. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session, and if you would like to ask a question during this time, please press star one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to turn the conference over to Amanda Mallough, Director of Investor Relations. You may begin.
Thank you, Operator, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining Andean Precious Metals for the conference call to discuss our financial and operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025. Our press release, MD&A, and financial statements are available on both SEDAR+ and our corporate website at andeanpm.com. Before we get started, I would like to point out that during today's call, we may make forward-looking statements as defined under the Canadian Securities Law. Please refer to our cautionary statements and forward-looking information and risk factors contained in our MD&A and other filings. With us on today's call are Alberto Morales, Executive Chairman and CEO; Yohann Bouchard, President; Juan Carlos Sandoval, Chief Financial Officer; and Dom Kizek, Vice President, Finance and Corporate Controller. Following management's prepared remarks, we'll open the line for questions, and with that, I'll turn the call over to Alberto.
Thank you, Amanda, and good morning, everyone. The third quarter was a strong period for Andean, marked by record revenue, record earnings, record liquid assets, and record earnings per share. We delivered revenue of $90.4 million, adjusted EBITDA of $36.8 million, net income of $43.7 million, or $0.29 earnings per share, the highest in the company's history. These results reflect the combination of strong metal prices, disciplined cost management, and higher consolidated production versus the previous quarter. Importantly, we generated $11.2 million of free cash flow and increased liquid assets to $121 million, up from $82 million a year ago. Operationally, San Bartolomé delivered another excellent quarter, benefited from higher silver production, higher silver prices, and continued efficiency. Golden Queen faced a short-term production impact related to the leach cycle timing, and the team moved quickly to recondition the cell and optimize the process.
Looking ahead to year-end, we expect San Bartolomé's silver production to be within the high end of its guidance, offsetting the lower production at Golden Queen, which was impacted by the leach cycle timing, although showing improvements into the initial part of Q4. On a consolidated basis, production is expected to finish near the lower end of the guidance, with a solid cost and margins performance at both assets, maintaining a robust financial performance despite production variances. Our focus on cost and capital discipline continued to pay off. Total CapEx was just $0.6 million in the quarter, and we expect our year-end CapEx to be in line with our guidance. In November, we also filed a Base Shelf Prospectus qualifying up to $200 million of securities over 25 months, giving us the flexibility to access capital markets efficiently when needed. This is a strategic step that strengthens our long-term optionality.
Overall, this was a very strong financial quarter despite production variances, highlighting the resilience of our portfolio, our financial discipline, and the capability of our people across both jurisdictions. With that, I will hand it over to Yohann to review operational and explorational performance.
Thank you, Alberto, and good morning, everyone. Let's start with production. Andean delivered just under 25,700 gold equivalent ounces in Q3, bringing year-to-date production to about 71,400 gold equivalent ounces. That's a 6% increase over the previous quarter, thanks to a strong contribution from San Bartolomé. At San Bartolomé, the operation continued to perform extremely well. Milled throughput averaged roughly 4,100 tons per day, with 85% silver recovery. Production totaled 1.4 million silver ounces, or about 15,600 gold equivalent ounces. Cost performance was strong. Cash gross operating margin came in at $16.13 per silver equivalent ounce, and our gross margin ratio was 43.8%, both near the upper end of guidance. Increasing our purchase volumes and consistent processing supported these healthy margins. At Golden Queen, production was slightly below 10,100 gold equivalent ounces.
This reflects the impact of leaching cycle timing, which temporarily slowed recovery in one of our leach cells. The team acted quickly, reconditioning the cell, optimized our blending, and lowered the solution application rate to mitigate fine particle migration. The five lower ounces produced are cash costs for $1,623 per ounce, and all-in sustaining cost was $1,807 per ounce, both well within our guidance range. As we move into Q4, we expect consolidated production to finish near the lower end of our full-year guidance, with all financial metrics trending within our guidance range. We also made strong progress in our exploration program at both operations. At Golden Queen, the phase three program has been extended to 8,100 meters after encouraging drilling results at the hilltop and Starlight Vine areas.
Recent assays include intersections of up to 1.67 g per ton gold and 20 g per ton silver over 5.9 ms, confirming continuity and potential extension along strike. This program is focused on extending mine life by extending main pit two and defining new near-mine resources. At San Bartolomé, we advance our partnership with COMIBOL, securing exploration permits and social licenses across multiple oxide targets. The shallow core drilling program of 5,500 meters started earlier in Q4. The goal is to test roughly 800,000 tons, grading 150g-250g per ton silver. Ultimately, this will help extend mine life and fully utilize the planned 5,000-ton per day capacity without major capital investments. Operationally and strategically, we're in a strong position with exploration adding meaningful future potential. With that, I will pass it over to JC for financial review.
Thank you, Yohann, and good morning, everyone. From a financial standpoint, Q3 2025 was the strongest quarter in Andean's history. Revenue reached $90.4 million, driven by higher silver production and strong realized prices of 3,448 pounds of gold and $40.09 per ounce of silver. Gross operating income increased to $36.8 million, and income from operation was $30.7 million. We generated EBITDA of $58 million and adjusted EBITDA of $36 million. Net income of $43.7 million and earnings per share of $0.29 fully diluted, each a record for the company. Free cash flow was $11.2 million, supported by strong operating performance and lower capital spending. CapEx totaled $1.1 million in the quarter. Our balance sheet significantly strengthened this quarter. Total assets grew to $370.8 million, while total liabilities fell to $145.2 million, reflecting debt repayment and higher working capital.
Liquid assets rose to a new record high of $121 million, up from $82 million at the same time last year and $81.6 million at year-end 2024. Our financial position remains strong. We continue to have a negative net debt position and significant cash reserves. Combined with the recently filed Base Shelf Prospectus, Andean has the flexibility to pursue further growth opportunities. With that, I'll turn it back to Alberto for closing remarks.
Thank you, JC. To close, I want to highlight that Q3 reinforced everything that we have been building on: a resilient cash-generating business, a clean balance sheet, and a clear path to pursue transformative initiatives. As this slide shows, we are well-positioned for continued growth with robust financials, maintaining financial flexibility, evaluating selective opportunities to build further growth, and value creation through advancing exploration programs across both of our assets. We deliver record financial results and meaningful exploration progress. San Bartolomé continues to perform consistently. Golden Queen is returning to normal production parameters, and both assets are well-positioned for a stronger fourth quarter. We look ahead. We remain focused on executing safely, maintaining cost discipline, and advancing our organic growth pipeline. With our financial flexibility, exploration upside, and a disciplined team, Andean is well-positioned for continued success into 2026 and beyond. Thank you all for your continued support.
Operator, please open the line for questions.
Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, simply press star one again. Please ensure that your phone is not on mute when called upon. Thank you. Your first question comes from Omeet Singh with SCP Resource Finance. Your line is open.
Hi, everyone. Congrats on the quarter. I had a question on CapEx. You were mentioning that CapEx will be hitting roughly guidance for the year. I know Q3 was a lot lower than the prior two quarters. Could you speak to what types of CapEx spending you envision for the fourth quarter? Because I think at this run rate, correct me if I'm wrong here, but it'll come in significantly below guidance.
Hi, Omeet. It's JC. Thanks for your question. This quarter, it was just in relation to our CapEx spending plan. As we've said, our plan is to be within the guidance, within the average of our guidance by the end of the year.
Okay. Appreciate that. If I may, I'd like to ask another question. The second one would be in relation to inventory, which increased significantly, obviously, quarter on quarter. I'm assuming that's related to the percolation issue this quarter. Should we expect that to come off in Q4 or early next year? Is that the right way to be thinking about it?
Yeah, Yohann here. Thanks for the question. Yes, you're absolutely correct. I mean, with the, I would say, the issue that we had in our cell 11, the inventory is still there. We really use a prudent approach to resume leaching. I mean, the main contributor to that is we leach using really a slower rate applying solution. For sure, I mean, and we see and I saw it that our production is coming back slowly but sustainably. We're expecting it to, I mean, we've pretty much come back at this moment to the production rate that we had in Q1 and Q2, and we're setting the tone to increase further in the beginning of next year. As you know, those ounces cannot be recovered over a single quarter, but they can be recovered over a longer period of time.
You're absolutely correct on your assumptions.
Appreciate it. Thanks, Yohann.
Yeah.
All clear. Bye.
The next question comes from Allison Carson with Desjardins. Your line is open.
Thanks. Good morning, Alberto and team, and thank you for taking my questions this morning. My first is a bit of a follow-up with the CapEx. I think there was a negative growth capital expense this quarter. Could you give more color on what that was?
Yeah. Hey, Allison down here. We adjusted our CapEx metrics this quarter to be on a cash flow basis. That was just a catch-up.
Just to further JC's comment, we are expecting to be within the guidance range at the end of Q4. Some of those projects are going to be including our new leach pad that we're starting to build up.
Okay. Great. It sounds like everything is working well back at Golden Queen, and the leach cycling is improving. If this issue arises again, do you think you'll be able to resolve the issue with less of an impact to production?
I'm not so sure to understand the question. Sorry.
Sorry. It sounds like everything, leach cycling is improving following the issues that you had in Q3. If you have more issues with the fine particles and clay again, based on going through this this time, do you think that you should be able to resolve the issue quicker with less of an impact to production, or could this still have another big impact to production in the future?
Thank you for that. I mean, I think that we took a lot of action to make sure that it will not happen again. I would say that that was more related to an operational problem. For sure, I mean, we questioned the way that we blend and everything that we did upstream of leaching. All the extra measure that we took, and also, I mean, we're considering that we're going to also commission a new agglomeration drum in December and looking at also a fine bypass next year to mitigate that project further before the clay hits the HPGR. I believe that we're going to be in really good shape to mitigate such a problem going forward. Absolutely.
Again, we took many actions, and we still have many other actions to take, not only improving our processes, but also improving the equipment and also doing proper investment to mitigate such issues.
That's great. Thanks for the color on that. My last question is just I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the election results in Bolivia and how you expect that to impact San Bartolomé, if at all.
Yes, Alison. Good morning. The elections in Bolivia, as probably you have read on some of the editorials, the new president is more center-driven than the previous governments. We believe that there will be, or at least the rhetoric that they've been using is that they are basically changing the tone of the philosophy that it's been ruling the government from being more of a stream left towards the center and welcoming further investments. Under that tone, if that was to materialize, certainly, I think that the international markets will view very favorably if they were to be opening themselves up for further investments. Most importantly, that may also, or at least in order to pursue further initiatives to promote that, it may include some initiatives on legal reforms, tax reforms, but it's too early to tell. We're cautiously optimistic. I will still keep the word cautious.
Thank you very much. It's great to get that additional information. I think that's all the questions I have today. Congratulations on a great quarter.
Thank you. Thank you, Alison.
The next question comes from Ben Pirie with Atrium Research. Your line is open.
Hi, Alberto, Yohann, and JC. Congrats on another good quarter. Just a couple of quick questions. Most of mine have been answered. Yohann, I guess given the improvements you've been making and are continuing to make to the leaching system and the grinding circuit, can you talk about potential increases in recovery? Is there any opportunity there? That goes with the new leach pad as well.
I would say, I mean, the recovery is mostly based, is directly related to the way that, I mean, we apply solution and making sure that the solution reached all of the little corner, I would say, of the leach pad. Again, I mean, it took some time, I think, to recover from, I would say, the shortfall that we had because of the prudent approach and sustainable approach that we have undertook to apply the solution again. We see it, like, week after week, production is increasing, and it is still increasing at this moment in time. Do not forget that the last two or three quarters, we put really high grade on the leach pad. I mean, we start to see some benefits out of it.
Basically, the other thing that I have to add to that, we're also completing the project to increase our capacity to do more Merrill-Crowe with very little investment. We can increase from treatment of 3,000 gallons- 4,000 gallons per minute. We're looking into it. We would like maybe instead of deviating some of the solution to the low-grade pond, we'd like to leverage that and send that to more Merrill-Crowe that would also increase production. That can be done within months, basically. Overall, I mean, be certain that it's increasing. Production is increasing. Recovery is increasing as well. You know by the nature of the leach pad that recovery is not like you're losing gold. It's just like postponing, I would say, the recovery of some gold in the following quarters.
Our goal is to capture that water within a certain amount of time. We'll get to that for sure.
Right. Understood. Thank you. I guess in terms of drilling at Golden Queen, is everything progressing as planned? Are you guys still on track to report the updated resource in H1 2026?
No, it's progressing really well, actually. I mean, as you know, I mean, we decide to invest furthermore. I mean, we increased to 8,100 meters total drilling for this year. I mean, you saw the drill. We have that drill. That team is performing really, really well. We're looking to have a third drill at this moment. We're going to keep drilling, I mean, nonstop until, I mean, we see some significant result. Everything at this moment is still aligned to deliver a technical report and reserve upgrade by the end of next of this year. Everything is going according to plan on that aspect.
Perfect. Thank you. I guess just my last question. Just given the higher gold prices over the last couple of quarters, is there any changes? Are you seeing any issues with the ore sourcing at San Bartolomé?
I think on that aspect, it's interesting. We're doing a lot of progress with our 7 million ton agreement. We start to do some drilling in one of those places like a few weeks ago, which is quite encouraging. We secure a lot of, I would say, agreements with the local community. It's going really well. On top of that, and outside of that 7 million ton agreement, we are also negotiating with our community. It's really encouraging to see the momentum that's been created. We're not publishing everything, all the new agreement that we're having up there. I mean, I feel really good with the continuity of San Bartolomé based on the, I would say, the expertise that we get at sourcing ore from third party. We have a solid reputation there. It's going really well for us. I'm very pleased.
Perfect. Okay. That's all I had today. Thanks. And congrats. Thanks guys.
Thank you.
This concludes the question and answer session. I'll turn the call to Alberto for closing remarks.
Thank you, everyone, for joining. We certainly look forward to Q4 and end of the year. My thanks to all of you for your continued support.
This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.