Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Source Energy Services First Quarter 2025 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 then zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Scott Melbourn, CEO. Mr. Melbourn, please proceed.
Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to Source Energy Services First Quarter 2025 Conference Call. My name is Scott Melbourn. I'm the CEO of Source. I'm joined today by Derren Newell, our CFO. This morning, we will provide a brief overview of the quarter, which will be immediately followed by a question- and-a nswer period. Before I get started, I'd like to refer everyone to the financial statements and the MD&A that were posted to CDAR and the company's website last night, and remind you of the advisory on forward-looking information found in our MD&A and press release. On this call, Source's numbers are in CAD and metric tons, and we will refer to adjusted gross margin, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow, which are non-IFRS measures, as described in our MD&A. Except for the items just mentioned, our financial information is prepared in accordance with IFRS.
During the quarter, we completed the initial phases of two strategic important projects. The first is the installation of the new dryer at our Peace River facility. The second phase of the Peace River expansion will be adding new washing capacity that is expected to be completed in early Q3. This expansion, which is partially funded by our customers, will see our production capability increase to over 1 million t. Secondly, and of equal strategic importance, the first operations commenced at our new Taylor, BC terminal. We expect the full facility will be operational in early Q3. Underpinning these strategic initiatives is our belief that the continued development of the [marketing] will be a key driver for activity in the industry.
In response to this growth, Source is focused on enhancing its logistics capabilities in Northeast BC, with the expansion of the [Kettling] terminal, the development of the Taylor terminal, and the acquisition of the trucking assets. When these logistics capabilities are combined with the Peace River facility, Source can provide an unparalleled mine-to-well site offering for both northern white sand and domestic. Ultimately, by using our northern white and domestic sand offerings, we are able to offer the lowest landed cost in the region. For the first quarter of 2025, completion activity levels in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin were very strong, which led to record sand sales volumes of just over 1 million t in the quarter. Record last-mile volumes to our customers' well sites and the 11 units to Hera Fleet was 88% utilized in the quarter.
Record sand revenue, which increased by CAD 29.9 million or 22% for the first quarter of 2024, to reach CAD 162.9 million. We generated total revenue of CAD 208.6 million, a CAD 39 million increase from the first quarter of last year. G ross margins for the quarter were CAD 36.8 million, while adjusted gross margin was CAD 46.2 million. Excluding gross margin from mine gate volumes, adjusted gross margin per ton was CAD 45, which was impacted by record 100 mesh sales in the quarter. Net income for the quarter was CAD 23.6 million, an increase of CAD 21.7 million over the first quarter of 2024. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was CAD 33.8 million, a CAD 1.7 million improvement from the first quarter of 2024.
We generated CAD 11.9 million of free cash flow in the quarter, a decrease of CAD 3.6 million compared to the prior year, due to the impact of cash taxes, higher capital expenditures, and higher lease payments. We settled outstanding litigation in the quarter, and we recognized a recovery of CAD 12.5 million. The Board of Directors has approved the initiation of a normal course issuer bid, which we released the details on earlier this morning. We continue to monitor the impact of the trade wars on the global economy, specifically on commodity prices and the potential impact that it may have on our customers' capital programs.
While we believe in the short term, it will not likely have a material impact on activity levels in the basin, in the longer term, a prolonged lower commodity price may impact activity levels. The additional export capability via LNG Canada will help provide some stability in a lower commodity price environment. To date, we have seen resiliency in our customers' capital programs, and we have not changed our outlook for the year. With that, I will turn it over to Derren to provide a brief overview of our financial results for the quarter.
Thanks, Scott. As Scott mentioned, Source sold 1.041 million t of sand in Q1 2025, from which we generated CAD 162.9 million in sand revenue. Sand volumes were 19% higher than 2024, while sand revenue increased by CAD 29.9 million. Source's ability to service the large completion jobs has allowed us to continue to capture key customers, particularly in Northeast BC.
A shift in product mix to more 100 mesh sales lowered our average sand sales price during the quarter. Mine gate sales also impacted the average realized sand price by $0.69 per metric ton in the quarter. The broad spectrum of mine production sold through more 100 mesh and mine gate sales has a favorable impact on production costs, by creating sand processing efficiencies throughout the year. [Well site] solutions revenue for Q1 2025 was CAD 44.4 million, an increase of CAD 8.7 million or 24% compared to Q1 2024.
Higher sand sales volumes impacted volumes held to the well site, resulting in higher trucking revenue for the quarter. The U.S. Sahara fleet was 100% utilized, while the Canadian fleet was 84% utilized for the quarter. Terminal services revenue was CAD 1.2 million, an increase of CAD 0.4 million, compared to the first quarter 2024, due to higher revenue from chemical elevation volumes. Cost of sales, excluding depreciation, increased by CAD 36 million for the quarter compared to the same period in 2024. Due to the increased sand volumes sold, higher truck volumes, increased rail transportation rates were partly offset by a shift in terminal mix compared to Q1 2024.
People costs and repairs, and maintenance expenses were higher due to the impact of the sand trucking assets purchased last year, while a weaker Canadian dollar contributed to an increase of CAD 6.78 per metric ton on U.S. dollar-denominated components of cost of sales compared to the same period last year. This currency impact was largely offset by U.S. dollar-denominated revenue for the quarter. Adjusted gross margin benefited from the higher sales volumes trucked to the well site, and incremental gross margin generated from the sand trucking assets acquired last year. Excluding gross margin from mine gate volumes, adjusted gross margins were CAD 45 per metric ton compared to CAD 50.93 per metric ton last year. Adjusted gross margin was impacted by the change in product mix, which resulted in a reduction of approximately CAD 3.20 per metric ton due to the 23% increase in sales of 100 mesh.
Compared to the first quarter of 2024, challenging road conditions impacted access to well sites, resulting in additional costs incurred in the quarter. Finally, the weakening Canadian dollar impacted adjusted gross margin by CAD 0.70 per metric ton for the quarter. Total operating and general admin expenses increased by CAD 1.4 million compared to Q1 of 2024. Operating expenses in Q1 of 2025 increased by CAD 1.9 million, due to higher people costs attributed to higher activity levels, higher selling and admin costs related to increased royalties on shipments from mines with royalties, and increased professional fees. Repairs and maintenance costs were also higher for Source's railcar fleet, and there were incremental costs related to trucking and the ramp-up of the Taylor facility.
General and administrative expenses decreased by CAD 0.4 million during the quarter, primarily due to lower variable incentive compensation costs, partly offset by increased IT expenses related to the amortization of our implementation costs for the new GL system put in last year. Finance expense was CAD 6.9 million for Q1 2025, a decrease of CAD 1.9 million compared to last year. The reduction was driven by lower expenses due to no draws outstanding on the ABL facility during the quarter, as well as lower accretion expense. Source did recognize interest income on the commencement of the sub-leases for the Sahara units deployed to Alaska, and cash balances on hand. These reductions were partly offset by higher interest incurred for outstanding lease obligations, driven by the timing of replacement of heavy equipment leases in the latter half of 2024. At quarter end, Source had available liquidity of CAD 72.3 million.
Capital expenditures for Q1 net proceeds on disposals, and excluding expenditures related to the Taylor facility were CAD 7.1 million, an increase of CAD 2.5 million compared to the first quarter of last year. Gross capital expenditures were relatively flat compared to last year, excluding the construction of the Taylor facility. Maintenance capital expenditures increased largely due to the improvements at Peace River, and higher amounts for overburden removal driven by increased volumes and amounts related to Source's trucking operations. Lease obligations increased from the prior year quarter, largely due to the timing of addition of heavy equipment for Peace River, which was done in the latter half of 2024, as well as the replacement of yellow iron leases for the Wisconsin mine operations that were also done late in 2024 at higher rates.
Lease payments for railcars and yellow iron in Wisconsin have also been impacted by the weakening of the Canadian dollar, compared to the first quarter of 2024. I would point out, Source is now cash taxable in the U.S. and expects to be cash taxable in its Canadian operations next year. I will also mention from a net income perspective, that we settled the outstanding Fox Creek litigation in the quarter and because of that, we recognize the recovery of CAD 12.5 million in other expenses, where we have been reporting all of the costs related to this event. With that, I'll turn it back to you, Scott.
Thanks, Derren. As we look ahead, we recognize that uncertainty and volatility continue to dominate the macroeconomic picture. With this uncertain outlook, we have and will continue to build flexibility into all areas of business in order to react to rapidly changing environments. Despite the lack of visibility, we continue to believe that the Canadian industry activity levels will remain resilient and will favorably impact sand supply and demand fundamentals. Over the long term, we continue to believe the increased demand for natural gas driven by LNG exports, increased natural gas pipeline export capability and power generation will drive incremental demand for Source's services. We see the completion of LNG Canada later this year, and the accelerated permitting on additional LNG export capability as positive developments for the basin and for our business.
Source continues to focus on enhancing our industry-leading frac sand logistics chain, and we have and will continue to execute on a number of opportunities to grow the company and further our competitive advantage. In addition to growth in our core markets, we continue to explore opportunities to diversify and expand our service offering and further utilize our Western Canadian terminals. Thank you for your time this morning. That concludes the formal portion of the call. We'll now ask the operator to open lines for questions.
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 are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. The first question comes from Nick Corcoran with Acumen Capital. Please go ahead.
Good morning, guys. Congrats on the records and volumes of the quarter.
Good morning, Nick.
Just a question from me. Obviously, strong sand volumes in the quarter, just looking at the order book going out. Maybe, can we get some commentary on what we should expect for the balance of the year in terms of overall volumes, and potentially just volume growth year over year?
Yeah. You know, Nick, I think as I mentioned in our prepared remarks, our outlook hasn't changed on the year. We continue to expect somewhere in the range of between 5%-10% growth in the overall market, and in our overall volumes for the year. Nothing has changed on that aspect. We're in the throes of a very busy Q2, and we expect Q3 to be just as busy. I think maybe a little bit of a wildcard will be Q4, which it always is for us. It just depends on where we're at in commodity prices and where our customers are at in their capital programs. All in all, the outlook hasn't changed and we do still expect some fairly robust growth this year.
That's helpful. With tariff being put on frac sand, how have your discussions with the federal government been to potentially have these removed?
Yeah. I do not know that discussion is the right term for it. We have followed the process, and we have been engaged with the federal government to get the tariffs removed. I do not want to just say it is us. I would say, most industry participants in frac sand or consumers of frac sand have been engaged with the federal government on this topic. W e are well aware that they understand our concerns and they are working on the file, but I do not have any update beyond that.
That's helpful. Maybe one last question from me. Just adjusted gross profit per metric ton was around CAD 45 in the quarter. Is that a level we should expect for the balance of the year?
Yeah. I think what we've seen over the last several quarters, is we've sort of been in that CAD 45 range. It's going to move up a little bit related to well site servicing, and/or the types of the mesh sizes that we're selling of sand. W e're going to probably hover in that CAD 45-CAD 46 range this year.
Thanks. That helps a lot.
Thanks, Nick.
Once again, if you have a question, please press star then one. This concludes the question- and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Scott Melbourn for any closing remarks.
Thank you, everyone for your time today, and thank you, everyone, for your interest in the business. If you have any follow-on questions, please feel free to reach out to myself or Derren.
This brings to a close today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.