Morning everyone, welcome to Wesdome Gold Mines' fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results conference call. I will hand the call over to Heather Laxton to begin today's call.
Great. Thanks, operator. Good morning everyone. Thanks for joining us today. Before we begin, we'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that during this call we'll discuss our business outlook and make forward-looking statements. These comments are based on our predictions and expectations as of today. Actual events or results could cause outcomes to differ materially due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those mentioned in the detailed cautionary note contained in yesterday's press release and in the company's management discussion and analysis dated February 22, 2023. Both documents are available on our website and on SEDAR. Please note that all figures discussed on this call are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. The slides used for this presentation and a recording of this call will be posted on the company's website.
Now it's over to Lindsay Dunlop, Vice President, Investor Relations.
Thanks, Heather. Speaking on the call today will be board chair and interim CEO, Warwick Morley-Jepson, COO, Fred Langevin, CFO, Scott Gilbert, and Vice President Exploration, Mike Michaud. Also on the call today is Raj Gill, Vice President, Corporate Development. Warwick will open up our call.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. To those I have yet not met, I have been involved with the company since 2017 and am currently Board Chair and Interim CEO. By way of background, I am an operator with over 35 years experience in deep-level underground gold mines, including several years working in Russia in comparable climates and conditions as northern Canada. I am intimately familiar with the operations of Wesdome, I've moved my home base to Toronto and will remain here until a permanent CEO is hired and settled in. While 2022 was a challenging year in many ways, our accomplishments we are very proud of is putting a second mine into production, funded almost entirely from internal generated cash flow. The guidance we have provided for 2023 is achievable, our production is weighted more heavily in the second half of the year.
The work we are doing this year is setting up the company for a strong 2024 and beyond. Fred will now provide a detailed review of our operations. Over to you, Fred.
Hi everyone, thank you for calling in this morning. Starting with Eagle in Q4, we achieved excellent production rates from the underground mine with an excess of 62,000 tons of ore moved. This quarterly throughput from the underground mine is the result of improved ventilation after the commissioning of the five-level booster fans earlier this year, combined with operational efficiency measures put forth in HD. Q4 numbers contributed to achieving a new productivity record for the underground mine with a total of 231,000 tons of ore moved in 2022. Grade in Q4 came in slightly above expectations as a result of some very high-grade production from the Falcon Zone starting in November with one particular stope yielding almost 14,000 tons of 28 grams per ton material over the two months of November and December.
Unfortunately, a significant part of the high-grade ore produced in December could not be sent to the mill before the end of the quarter to be processed as the major winter storm that rolled over most of Canada at the end of December caused road closures at site with complete interruption of the flow of ore from the mine to the mill for several days. This resulted in the operation ending the year with approximately 6,000 tons of ore at 18 grams per ton left unprocessed until later in January. At Kiena, the team at core achieved record throughput from the restart of operations in Q4 with 35% more tons processed than previous best established in Q4 of 2021.
The lower grades achieved during the quarter were due to the source of ore, whereby limited production capacity in Kiena Deep caused us to supplement production from the lower grade Martin, S50, and BC zones. Low grades are expected to continue into 2023 as we will continue to supply the mill with lower grade ore from those zones to supplement the Kiena Deep material that will be available to mine, which is now mostly lower grade fringe material and diluted ore from previously mined areas. Despite Q4 being a miss on the production side, our team was able to achieve key milestones instrumental to the successful ramp up of mining activities into 2023 and beyond. First, the paste fill plant was successfully commissioned and delivered to production in November. The plant has been operating since, performing in line with expectations.
Paste fill has always been identified as a critical component to the successful mining in Kiena Deep. Now that it is available to the operation, it helps reduce stope stand-up time, minimizing the risk of instability. It also helps better controlling dilution and will allow for a more rapid overall extraction sequence. Demonstrating the viability of the paste fill plant was the final element for Kiena to meet its commercial production criteria and commercial production was declared on December 1st. As for development at Kiena, a lot of great good things have happened in Q4. Now that the paste fill plant is online, operators and equipment previously allocated to cemented rockfill operations have been freed up and reallocated to production and more importantly to development activities. The team was very resourceful given the very competitive market and successfully sourced rental bolting equipment critical to achieving development rates.
As a result, we now have three rental MacLean bolters underground. We also took delivery in Q4 of the first of our two long-delayed Boltecs. Bringing our total underground fleet of bolting equipment to four, two more than the PFS called for. This redundancy that we now have will guarantee that we have the required capacity to offset availability of parts issues as we're still facing supply chain challenges for mobile equipment repair parts. All of this combined with the ventilation upgrades completed at the end of Q3, resulted in our team at site achieving the site's best quarterly development performance to date in Q4. Likewise, developments in the ramp to Kiena itself has exceeded expectations. As a result, we have started 2023 ahead of our budget schedule, and we have continued to exceed budgeted development rates in the ramp in January.
We are therefore very well positioned as we enter 2023, and the team at site is laser focused on execution of the ramp. As the slide is showing, the mining method requires us to develop the ramp going down multiple levels to accept the lower level of new mining blocks, to then proceed to mine these blocks upwards. Even though development of the ramp is currently tracking ahead of budget, the benefits of overperforming are not immediate and unlikely to change 2023 in terms of ounces, but it will provide earlier access to the 129 mining block to achieve 2024 production. Over to you, Scott.
Thanks, Fred. In Q4 2022, Wesdome sold 31,500 ounces of gold, which generated CAD 75 million. The cash margin was CAD 26.5 million. The cash generated from operations was CAD 10.3 million, and the free cash outflow was CAD 31.6 million. We incurred CAD 39.2 million in capital spending, which includes CAD 26.5 million at Kiena. At December 31, 2022, the liquidity position was approximately CAD 130 million, which includes CAD 33 million of cash and equivalents and CAD 95 million undrawn under the credit facility. We established an ATM equity program on December 2, 2022, which allows the company to issue and sell up to CAD 100 million of common shares from treasury. We are using an ATM as it incurs lower commissions and can be used opportunistically.
In December, the ATM was only active for approximately half of the available days, the company raised CAD 13.1 million of gross proceeds by issuing approximately 1.6 million common shares at an average price of CAD 8.21 per share. Shares cannot be issued through the ATM program while the company is in a blackout period. Per Wesdome's internal policy, the typical period extends 6 weeks post quarter end. At the end of 2022, the company has drawn CAD 55 million from the credit facility and the variable interest rate is approximately 7.6%. Over to you, Mike.
Thanks, Scott. At Kiena, we continue to be pleased with the underground exploration drilling results at three main targets. First, at the down plunge extension of the A zone, recent drilling has extended the zone an additional 125 meters down plunge. 1 hole returned 24 grams per tonne gold over four meters true thickness. Second, at the footwall zones, infill drilling continues to better define these lenses and increase our confidence in the geologic model. Based on our announcement of last week, many holes returned high grade, confirming previous results. One hole returned 34 grams per tonne over 22 meters core length. Third, at our most recently discovered zones, namely the south limb of the A zone and the 2 hanging wall basalt zones, drilling along the south limb of the A zone returned 16 grams per tonne over 5.4 meters true width.
Meanwhile, drilling of the hanging wall basalt zone returned a high grade of 2,850 grams per tonne gold over 1.5 meters from a quartz vein, and also 4.1 grams per tonne gold over 22.8 meters from a silicified mafic volcanic. This discovery is significant in that mineralization occurs in a host rock not expected to host gold mineralization in this area. Because of the length of the intersection, it represents size potential. The overall drilling results not only confirm the A zone keeps going to depth, but also that these results have the potential to increase the number of ounces per vertical meter that will provide additional working faces during mining of the A zone.
Also, the hanging wall basalt zones occur within volcanic rocks, where the rock quality is significantly better than in the neighboring ultramafic rocks. On surface, based on the positive drilling results at Crestkill last year, the company is moving ahead with the development of an exploration ramp from surface to explore this zone. In the future, this ramp could be leveraged to easily connect to Kiena's existing underground ramp network, providing access to surface for the existing operation that comes with many benefits. At Eagle River, given some initial challenges with forecasting at Falcon, we have completed 95 definition drill holes and several hundred meters of development on various levels to better understand the grade variability, which is being incorporated into the end-of-year resource and reserve estimates.
A portion of this drilling was completed from the recently established 355 meter level, which extends approximately 400 meters west of the existing mine workings. From this level, we were able to test for continued mineralization both up plunge and in parallel zones. This drilling successfully extended the zone up plunge to surface. In addition, a number of drill holes intersected mineralization in sub-parallel zones in the hanging wall of the Falcon Seven Zone, possibly the Mine 5 and 311 West zones. We also are continuing to explore further to the west along strike from the Falcon Seven Zone, zone near the historic 9 Zone with felsic volcanics, which provide competency contrast with surrounding basalts that provide a favorable location for gold mineralization similar to that of the Mai Nyerere.
Another exciting area which has the same host rock volcanics as the Falcon Zone, has been recently tested on the eastern side of the Mai Nyerere. Initial surface drilling intersected altered volcanic rocks with quartz veining and visible gold. One hole returned 233 grams per tonne over 0.4 meters. Follow-up will be a priority going forward. The site teams are currently updating the annual mineral resource and reserve estimates. We expect to release in March, which is our typical timeframe. Over to you, Warwick
Thank you, Mike. In summary, I want to underscore that Wesdome's management, including myself, are focused on delivering 2023 guidance through operational execution. All indications at this time are that we remain well on our way. We will need to execute on four fronts, most importantly, laying the groundwork for Kiena to reach its full potential. This will be driven primarily by the ramp development, which is currently tracking ahead of schedule. Once we reach 129 level at year-end, we can then begin developing higher grade reserves, thereby starting to generate production in line with the PFS levels as well as a strong cash flow margins. Secondly, we look to accelerate the pay down of the outstanding balance on our credit facility. Wesdome has a long track record of organic funding of projects, including the delivery of a second producing asset with minimal equity dilution.
While implementing the ATM tool was a difficult decision, it will allow us to limit equity issuance only to what is absolutely necessary to reach the net cash position. Another area of focus is upgrading our internal technical bench strength within the business. Recently, there have been several very welcome hires in key operational planning and procurement personnel. We believe that bolstering our technical strength internally will be a strategic advantage and translate to higher performance at all levels of the business. We are committed to continuing our ESG initiatives. Despite having a relatively low carbon footprint for the space, we continue to drive focus and attention to defining our climate change targets and initiatives. This concludes our call today. We now open up the line for questions and answers.
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Ryan Walker with Echelon Partners. Your line is now open.
Hi. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for the call. Glad to hear that you've received one of the new rock bolters. What's the ETA on the second one there, and would the plan be to retain the rental units once you get both units up and running there? Or will you just go with your own units at that point?
Thanks, Ryan, for that question. I'm gonna give it to Fred to give you an answer there.
Yeah. The ETA for the second bolter is actually sitting at the supplier's warehouse right now. We haven't taken delivery of it right now. It is certainly the plan as our equipment comes in. We also have two MacLean bolters on order. As those equipments come in, we will definitely remove those rental equipment that we have right now.
Okay, great. You mentioned, you know, the positive grade reconciliation in the Falcon Zone. Can you quantify that at all? Is it substantial positive reconciliation?
Yeah, certainly, Fred speaking. Certainly in Q4, we've seen very good grades coming from the Falcon. I would say it's in the range of 30%-50% more than we expected, especially in November and December. We're happy with those results. It does offset some of the underperformance that we've seen earlier this year.
Great. Okay. Then just finally, from me here, any update on the, on finding a new CEO to replace Duncan?
I could answer that for you, Ryan. We have established a search committee which is at the board level. It is chaired by our chairman of the Comp and HR committee, he has 2 directors working alongside with him. They have established an agreement with a well-known search company, they are currently at work compiling the mandate and the search has already started. Prior to the actual search starting, we have had a number of people, some of which are well-known to the industry, that have actually approached us. That's where it is. As far as timing is concerned, our best estimate is in the order of three to six months. Why the long range to six months? It really is dictated by any notice period that might have to be worked.
That's the best I can give you right now, and we'll certainly, be working hard at it.
Okay, great. Thanks very much. I'll pass the baton now.
Thanks, Ryan.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Andrew Mikitchook with BMO Capital Markets. Your line is now open. Andrew, your line is open. Please check your mute button.
Yes, the mute button. Thank you for taking my question. Could we just get a further maybe commentary on availability of spare parts and, I don't know, even maintenance or specialist contractors to be able to perform better than than in 2022 at both mines, because I think that, to some degree, impacted performance?
Okay. I'm gonna hand this one to Fred to give you some of the detail, but, you know, what we're experiencing is, I believe, a global phenomenon. Supply chain globally has been a challenge. We certainly see things turning around, but they are not quite there as to where we were prior to the pandemic. Over to you, Fred, if you could give some more color on that.
Yeah, of course. Basically, the situation in 2022 was much different than this year in the sense that in 2022, we had difficulties getting the equipment at the site, which has been a challenge. Now that we have sourced those rental bolters, they are sitting at the mine and they are operating. We now have four of those, as opposed to what the PFS called for, which is two. Now the remaining, I would say, constraint here is really the availability of parts. As Warwick mentioned, this is really a global phenomenon right now. That being said, with the supplier of those MacAans, we have, same thing for the Voltex.
We have secured contracts with the suppliers to have their specialized mechanics come to the site and teach our mechanics for the best maintenance practices on these equipment. Also the fact that we basically the sheer number of equipment that we've brought to site now also secures that availability to some extent. The PFS called for two equipment that would be available at 85%. We now have fourr, so we can go down to as low as 50% availability before we see an impact, I guess, on our performance. That is the whole rationale for sourcing more equipment, really, than what the PFS called for. We're confident that with the fleet that we have right now, we're gonna be able to deliver on what we committed.
Okay. Just to confirm that you are broadly still seeing some level of constraint in spare parts, maintenance contractors even, and that you guys are trying to adjust plans to that situation.
That's exactly right, Andrew. You know, certainly the items that would typically be on the shelves of the OEMs prior to the pandemic are not as complete as one would see right now. As a result of that, we've addressed it in a number of ways. One, we are in discussions with OEMs to ensure that they or ourselves hold those parts and make sure that they are available. Two, we've got extra complete machines, as Fred described, that ensure that the collective gives us sufficient access to machinery working at the optimum efficiency. Then thirdly, addressing our own inventory is something that we have to consider increasing, but certainly it would not be a responsibility that we wanna take away entirely from the OEMs.
Maybe, two very quick, additional questions. Should or can you provide any commentary on whether we should expect a continued drawdown for at least part of 2023 on the debt facility as you continue to advance Kiena and covering the expenses involved in that? Secondly, what would be the scale of the cost of this ramp on Presqu'ile?
Okay. I, let me just start with the cost of the ramp for Presqu'ile. It is included in our budget for 2023. It is a, not a ramp specifically to, into Presqu'ile and to mine it, but rather an exploration facility that gives us access underground to drilling platforms, so that we can have better access at the right elevation into that ore body. That CAD 6 million is catered for in our current capital program. As far as the, drawdown is concerned, you will notice that, we were able to maintain our position of CAD 55 million from, Q3 into Q4. Going forward, it very much depends, as you would expect on our cost program, maintaining of our cost program, the ounces that we are able to produce ahead of budget, and certainly that is always our objective.
Thirdly, the gold price. I mean, at the start of this year, you would have seen that we had that CAD 19, CAD 20 an ounce, which certainly that helped us a great deal, but it didn't take long to get down to current levels, which are nearly CAD 100 an ounce lower. We are seeing a sensitivity of almost CAD 20 million per CAD 100 an ounce variance. You know, keeping those issues in mind, we will continue to maintain our position on our revolver as long as we can, but there's a. We've got moving inputs and outputs, as you would expect. Does that answer your question?
Yes. Thank you very much. I'll hand over the microphone to somebody else.
Thanks, Andrew.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Wayne Lam with RBC. Your line is now open.
Yeah, thank you very much. Morning, guys. I guess just wondering, maybe at Eagle River, can you give us an idea of the percentage of ore planned from the Falcon Zone this year? Just given the variability in grade, has there been anything you've been able to glean in terms of improving the internal block modeling? Do you feel, given the grades that you've seen in the early part of this year, do you feel there's a level of conservatism baked into the guidance?
Okay, there's multiple directed questions there. I'm going to first give it to Fred to talk to that one, and then Mike, he can talk a little bit around what we saw with the significant number of holes that we drilled into the Falcon Zone earlier last year. Fred.
Yeah. We are gonna be sourcing about 30% of the ounces in 2023 from the Falcon Zone. This is a much lower proportion than would have been included into our 2022 budget. Mike, if you can talk about our grade, I guess.
Yeah, certainly the, you know, when we look back at the Falcon, when we drilled this off, certainly, you know, in our press releases, showed that the number of high-grade hits that we had. You know, one of the things that going into a new zone, I would say that, you know, maybe we didn't have as much shrinkage development out in front of us when we went into that zone as part of our forecasting and relied a bit more on diamond drilling. That sort of caused us a problem to forecast incorrectly, I would say, in the early part of the years. To fix that problem, we've certainly gone back in.
We've done a lot of shrinkage development, and we've added another 95 holes for about just over 20,000 meters, and we have a much better feel for the local variability in grade. you know, we've been able to incorporate that into our budgeting and to our forecasting, and now we're incorporating that into our end-of-year resource and reserve estimate there. I certainly feel, you know, more comfortable with the additional data and our understanding of the deposit now than we were a year ago.
Thanks, Mike. I think, Wayne, you know, just to emphasize the fact that there's a large nugget effect here. There's also a large component of free gold. We are seeing both swings and roundabouts. Some months we are certainly seeing a higher grade variability and then months that follow lower grade. What the drilling has helped us to do is to understand that variability to a much greater extent and to predict our gold production through 2023.
Okay, perfect. Thank you. Sounds like some good progress being made. I guess on the balance sheet, just wondering, what's the level of working capital required to fund the ongoing operations? Just given the working capital deficit and the spend remaining at Kiena, how aggressive do you plan to be on the ATM, or will you look to fully draw down the facility, before ramping up on equity?
Okay, I'm gonna hand over to Scott to talk about the balance sheets and our working capital position. Just as far as the ATM is concerned, you know, we do understand that in the eyes of many, it is not the preferred route. I think from a point of where we sit as a company, we needed to understand how we can ensure our continued liquidity. The revolver, while we have the ceiling of CAD 150 million, it doesn't come cheap, and it certainly is also a large cost component to our operating expenses. What we would prefer to do is to draw down the revolver to the point that we can become cash neutral.
In doing that, we certainly are in a position to use the ATM very prudently to ensure that it is done at opportune times and at a time where funds are required, and that we don't sit in a position where we've drawn down more than what we require. We need to demonstrate diligence, which I believe to date we've done exactly that. It is a tool, as I say, that we find necessary to have at this point in time. Nothing would make me happier than to close it out. However, I don't see that happening in the immediate short term, given that we have got debt to deal with, and we need to ensure the flexibility of the company. Lastly, I would say this issue of the unknowns.
The gold price is playing a significant role in our liquidity, and we need to ensure that we can deal with large fluctuations in the event of them coming. Scott, would you like to comment on the working capital?
Yes. Thank you, Warwick. As you mentioned, it has diminished since last year. A lot of that is just the result of building out Kiena as as we've done in commercial traction now. We still have some, you know, significant spending going forward. With the revolver on the ATM, both those tools will assist us in, you know, controlling our working capital. We feel that we're well positioned for 2023 to execute on our plans based on having the two tools.
Okay, great. Thank you. Maybe just last one. Just on the upcoming reserve update, should we expect any impact or perhaps a more conservative reserve grade at Eagle River given what you've learned through mining to date with the reconciliation?
Yeah, Wayne , would you like to comment on that?
Certainly. We certainly are incorporating that into the resource estimate going forward. We wanna make sure we're looking at all the resources and reserves. Now we wanna make sure that we're have the same level of comfort everywhere. If anything is widely spaced drilled, we might back off the confidence level of that and continue more drilling throughout 2023. We have a healthy budget to do the infill drilling and expansion drilling. Really, we're working through that now. We'll be releasing that shortly.
Great. Look forward to it. Good luck in the year ahead.
Thanks, Wayne. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Michael Fairbairn with Canaccord Genuity. Your line is now open.
Great, thank you very much for taking my questions. Two from me. I wanted to start at Eagle. Just taking a look at guidance that was previously released, it does seem to imply only a very modest increase in throughput from Eagle in 2023 relative to 2022 and 2021. I know in the past you've talked about ramping up that throughput towards 800 tons a day. I just wanted to see if that's still the longer term goal, and if you can provide any color on the longer term ramp-up plans there.
Okay. I'm going to hand this one to Fred. I think what we also must be very aware of is the fact that we are mining in an area which is at the similar depth to what we did in 2021 and 2020 in the 300 zone. The 300 zone, in comparison to that of the Falcon Zone, did carry higher grades. Those higher grades, whilst at the similar tonnages, did give us the overall outputs of Eagle River, close to the 100,000 ounce per annum mark. There is that difference, but certainly our objective of filling the mill has always been there. Let me hand over to Fred, and I might be able to, you know, give you some understanding.
Well, Fred will give you some understanding of the other areas that Mark has been drilling into, which might contribute to larger production going forward.
Yeah. Fred speaking. The current bottleneck at Eagle is really on really ventilation and the total amount of material that we can truck and hoist from the mine as the mine is getting deeper. Interesting for us as well is that recent expansion of the Falcon Zone towards surface. This of course is away from that congested area. It is also much shallower. This has the potential for us to add that shallower production away from congested, currently congested areas. We're gonna be very keen on looking at the results in that area.
Okay. Perfect. Thank you. Just one more for me around Kiena. You've mentioned how you expect the Kiena costs are gonna move closer to those outlined in the PFS in 2024 once you get into the higher grade areas, you know, with the barring any inflationary pressures. Wondering if you can quantify the level of inflation that you've seen at Kiena from the PFS?
Okay. I, you know, clearly the inflationary areas that we focus on, primarily labor, number one, we've seen certainly the increases in the cost of labor have escalated if we compare that to the period 2018 to 2021. Certainly, we saw 2.5% in those years. We now seen closer to 4.5% this year. The second point being electrical power and energy. Certainly there has been escalations on Diesel generated underground mining equipment, so their consumption certainly has been affected. We have been very fortunate on the electrical side that given that we are fed from the national grid, that cost has been pretty consistent. Then into the procurement area where we see a lot of our consumables, explosives, underground support drilling equipment.
Certainly those items have certainly increased as well. There's been a variation of anything from 5%-15% on across in different commodity types or not commodity or part types, consumables. So, you know, to give you a understanding of what escalation you could put onto the numbers that we have in the PFS would be challenging right now. What I have said in many of my discussions with investors and analysts is that we certainly would be coming in below CAD 1,000 an ounce at Kiena, that's for sure. The numbers that we have in the PFS will certainly be worked on during the course of this year, and it is a number that we need to come out and supply yourselves in the second half of 2023.
Just to confirm, is that CAD 1,000 an ounce cash cost or all-in sustaining costs?
That's with all-in sustaining costs.
Okay. Perfect. Thank you. That's it for me. I'll pass it over to someone else.
Thanks very much, Michael.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of John Tumazos with John Tumazos Very Independent Research, LLC. Your line is now open.
Thank you for the webcast and for taking my question. First, looking at the 35,000 ounces you just produced in the December quarter, 25 at Eagle, 10 at Kiena. How much is the abnormal output from good grades in the Falcon Zone? Would the normal output have been, say, 18 at Eagle and 10 at Kiena?
Thanks for your question, John. A little challenging to answer that with any definite accuracy, but Fred, have you got any thoughts on that?
Well, I would say the normal run rate at Eagle would be in the range of 20,000 ounces per quarter. The normal run rate that we expect from Kiena is more in the range of 7,500 per quarter, based on the reserves that we currently have developed. This is certainly expected to pick up at Kiena in as we develop that ramp and get access to that higher grade, new mining horizon at 129.
Thank you. If I could ask a second question. A business problem is that your share price trades like Kiena is a liability and not an asset, or, the market seems to think the project is farcical. I know that might just be a short-term market psychology, but, you know, those of us that might own your stock feel the pain. I know this might seem reckless to you, but why not borrow money and buy in your stock right now, kill the ATM, draw down your credit lines, and have confidence in your bodies and your personnel and your business plan?
Well, thanks for that question, John. Let me first of all say that in my current position, I have extreme confidence in personnel, the team, and the plans that we have put together. It was asked of me within my first week of arriving here in this interim CEO's position, whether I was gonna change guidance, and I have a, an astounding no, emphasizing that as a board member, we were all party to the guidance that management had recommended. We provided oversight, we believe that that is achievable, and we are setting out to do exactly that. As far as how the market might be thinking of Kiena, it is very unfortunate. I believe that the explanations that we've given as to why we have lost the time we have are honest, true, and they certainly can be verified at any time.
The issue of going forward, and buying stock at a time where it is increasingly more important to ensure the liquidity of the company, it really is one that we are using the tools that we have, which are typically used within the industry, and to bring Kiena to a position that we know it can achieve in 2024. I think, you know, everyone, including ourselves, are very excited with the exploration work that has been done on the A zone. As we progressively move down with the decline, we would also be drilling laterally into the ore body to better define both its volume as well as grade.
You know, through that period, we expect that we're going to increase our level of confidence and that when we get down to really 129 level, which as we've said, will be at the end of this year, develop that level and then start mining up, that the position we're in now will change dramatically. We wanna be in a position in 2024 that we are not paying down debt, but we have opportunities ahead for us to grow the company. We have seen where we've been, and we know that we can make up from where we are right now as far as our share price is concerned. We're not happy where it is.
Certainly, I personally, and I don't want to affect anyone's influence or thinking on this call, but I certainly believe personally that it is a stock that I want to buy more of. That's the confidence that I have, and I am convinced the rest of this executive do have as well.
Thank you for your very earnest response. You would bear with me for a little more. Sometimes the concept of having a CEO is a little overrated. Fortescue Metals, a CAD 40 billion company, had the CEO slot vacant for over a year in the past year. It might eliminate one layer and shorten communications and save a budget item to have the CEO vacant. From my standpoint as a shareholder, it's not the biggest problem. Now during this juncture where you don't have a CEO, it's also possible to consider other strategic alternatives in the context of this situation where the stock is trading like, kinda is a liability and not an asset. Across the street, practically, you've got Eldorado, which operates in Greece and Turkey. I can speak from personal experience about how difficult those Greeks are.
I was asked to get an archeological permit to renovate my grandmother's house, and I gave up. In the course of your CEO search, are you gonna call people across the street and ask them if they'll give you CAD 150 million for Kiena? It might simplify a couple problems. You wouldn't have to worry so much about debt, and the stock would double instantly.
Yeah, maybe I can answer that by saying that Kiena as an opportunity within Wesdome is significantly greater than the value that you described there, John. I think, you know, the fact that the market saw great value in it, taking it to our company to share prices, and which it did in 2022, demonstrates that fact. Our job right now is to focus on delivery. We know that there's been a loss of trust what happened in 2022. It's our job to make sure that we regain that position. I'm very confident that not only will the team be able to achieve that, but also we have the assets and know-how on how to bring the full potential of Kiena to the table. That is our focus area.
As far as, whether a CEO is a necessary entity within a company, I think from a legal point of view, there's a few issues to consider. Certainly from a leadership point of view or driving it any entity forward, one needs to have someone at the top who's pulling all the strings. I think that we need to consider that in what you said there. Thanks very much for your comments, John. I appreciate it.
Thank you. I'm a shareholder, I'm rooting for you. You know, you don't need a CEO if you can sell the company for a good price.
I'm not sure that our shareholders would want that, for us to give it away, at least. Yeah, thanks very much for your comments, John Tumazos.
Thank you. This concludes the Q&A session. Thank you for your participation. This concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.