Good morning. Welcome to Wesdome Gold Mines' Q3 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. I will turn the call over to Lindsay Dunlop, VP Investor Relations, to begin today.
Great! Thanks, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Wesdome Gold Mines' Third Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. Before we begin today, 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 notes contained in yesterday's press release and in the company's Management Discussion and Analysis dated November 8, 2023. Yesterday's release should be read in conjunction with the MD&A and financial statements, all of which can be found on SEDAR+ and on our website. Following the prepared remarks, we will open the call up for questions.
All figures discussed on this call are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted. I will now turn the call over to Anthea Bath, President and CEO, to begin today.
Thanks, Lindsay, and good morning, everyone. With one full quarter at Wesdome concluded, I continue to be impressed with the team and the enthusiasm and the many opportunities and potential of the assets. Speaking on the call with me today will be our COO, Fred Langevin, Interim CFO, Jonathan Singh, and VP, Exploration, Michael Michaud. Before we get into the operational details, I'd like to begin with a brief overview. As we disclosed with our last quarter, Q3 was expected to be the lightest quarter from a production and cash flow perspective, while we completed planned shutdowns at Eagle River related to annual mill maintenance, along with some other infrastructure upgrades. As well, we spent approximately CAD 30 million in CapEx in the quarter, mostly related to the planned production ramp, Kiena.
I'm very pleased to say that post-Q3, access to the 129-meter level has been achieved, and Fred will walk through this in a bit more detail a little later. With 87,119 ounces produced at the end of Q3 and a production uptick expected in Q4 , we are well positioned to meet the midpoint of annual guidance at 110,000-130,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,620-$1,800 an ounce. With that, I'll pass the call over to Fred to walk through some operational details.
Thank you, Anthea. Hi, everyone, and thank you for attending this morning. As Anthea noted, Q3 was a lighter quarter on production at the two sites, in line with internal projections. That being said, the two operations continued to deliver on key initiatives in Q3 that position us very well for Q4 and beyond. Starting with Eagle River, production in Q3 came in at 20,391 ounces as we performed our annual mill maintenance shutdown in July. Planned repairs were performed on the grinding, filtration, and leach circuits, which resulted in the mill being down for a period of 14 days. Throughput was maintained at similar levels in Q3 of last year, despite the fact that the mill did not have the Mishi stockpile for reliance on, with the underground mine bridging the gap.
Development performances in Q3 continued to exceed budget targets, and production grades were consistent with expectations, with the bulk of production coming from the high-grade Falcon and 300 zones. With productivity and grades now consistently achieving forecasted numbers at Eagle, we're very confident that the operation can reliably sustain 80,000-90,000 ounces per year. That being said, we're launching a thorough benchmarking exercise at Eagle River, both on productivities and on costs, to try and improve our cost structure with a view to value. We will provide updates on this initiative in the coming quarters. Kiena Q3 production came in at 7,369 ounces.
Grades continued to track slightly higher than the upper end of guidance as a result of continued positive reconciliation in the A2 Zone, where we continued to successfully cycle stopes entirely in shifts in Q3, demonstrating our ability to mine in some of the most challenging ground conditions on Kiena. We continue to be excited with our paste fill plant, which not only is proving an invaluable tool in cycling stopes effectively, but also enables us to return up to 45% of our tailings underground, a much higher proportion than what the PFS called for, putting less strain on our tailings capacity. The ramp to Kiena Deep remained a key focus for the team in Q3, and we're happy to report that development performances continued to track ahead of schedule during the quarter. In fact, as of earlier this week, we've now reached 129 level access.
We will now be focusing on developing the level infrastructure required to support mining activities such as ventilation raises, escapeways, and power distribution on levels 127 and 129, with development into the ore in the A Zone set to start in early Q1 of next year. As we establish production on the horizon, high-grade production from stoping is expected to ramp up to reach steady state by the end of Q2. During Q3, we've been taking advantage of the ramp positioning to strategically target delineation holes into next year's production. The results received to date confirm the continuity, thickness, and high grade of the A Zone at depth as per the reserve block model. Finally, we received the required authorizations to proceed with the excavation of the Presqu'ile ramp.
The contractor has been selected, and we are currently installing support infrastructure at surface to begin excavation of the portal. In addition to providing an exploration platform for the western side of Kiena, this 1,700-meter ramp is expected to yield significant debottlenecking of material handling in the mine and ventilation benefits, as it will provide a second access to surface for Kiena. So overall, our lighter production in Q3 at the two sites, combined with gold sales somewhat lagging production, plus cash costs and all-in sustaining derived outside of guidance range. That being said, year-to-date costs remain in line with expectations, and we're very confident that full, full year production from both mines, as well as unit costs, will fall within the guide range, the, the guidance range that we provided in January. Over to you, Jonathan.
Well, thank you, Fred. I guess I'll start with just an overview of the results from the third quarter. Previously reported Q3 production of 27,760 ounces was largely in line with expectations and brought year-to-date production to 87,119 ounces. Sales in Q3 were 27,000 ounces and were slightly impacted by the timing of final Doré sales. All-in sustaining costs of CAD 2,711, or $2,021, were up meaningfully over the first half results, but included the impact of a planned shutdown at Eagle River and the timing of capital spend. We do expect to see improvement on performance in the Q4 of 2023, however, and continue to see the midpoint of cost guidance.
We also project to be within the CAD 100 million capital budget set forth in January. Cash flow from operations was CAD 45 million or CAD 0.30 per share, including a CAD 12.5 million tax refund and CAD 13 million of non-cash working capital adjustments. As a result of cash flow during the quarter, total liquidity stands at CAD 143 million. As we were able to maintain our revolver draw at CAD 39 million and increase our quarter-over-quarter cash position by CAD 9.5 million to CAD 31 million. Subsequent to quarter end, we did draw down CAD 10 million of our revolving credit facility, which we plan to pay down by the end of the year.
Balance sheet strength remains a priority for us, and we expect higher grades at Kiena to drive costs lower and support strong cash flows in coming quarters, especially at current gold prices, allowing us to pay down the remaining balance of a revolving credit facility, as well as fund a range of opportunities to reinvest in the organization. Mike will now take us through an exploration review.
Thanks, John. For Exploration, it was a very exciting quarter at Eagle River. Although it's early days, it looks like we have discovered another gold zone at the Eagle River Mine that occurs within the volcanic rocks immediately west of the mine area. Initial surface drilling returned high-grade hits within 200 meters from surface, with one hole returning 64.4 grams per tonne gold over 0.4-meter core length. Meanwhile, underground drilling, 750 meters down the interpreted plunge of this new zone, has also intersected a similar style of mineralization and returned 33.4 grams per tonne over 0.4-meter core length.
The gold mineralization occurs within an intermediate volcanic clastic, similar to the host rock of the Falcon 7 Zone, which is known to be a more brittle and a better host for gold mineralization than the encompassing mafic volcanic flow units. The drilling suggests the potential of a new sub-parallel zone, with results consistent with those seen in early drilling of the Falcon 7 Zone in 2019. Not only is this new zone near existing mine infrastructure, but demonstrates the potential for high-grade mineralization in a rock type that has seen limited drilling to date. Additionally, gold mineralization has also been discovered further to the west, near the historic 9 Zone. Gold occurs within steeply plunging shoots that have a similar periodicity to the gold mineralization in the mine area.
All of this surface drilling is part of a renewed strategy focused on the upper areas of the mine, which also includes an assessment of remnant mine areas. Developing and optimizing the strategic plan around these potential resources could add incremental tons for processing at Eagle River Mine's mill, which has spare installed capacity. Since the recent announcement of the new discovery, drilling has been ongoing along the interpreted plunge of the zone. Most recently, an underground drill hole returned 12 meters of alteration, quartz veining, and sulfided mineralization, as you can see in the slide. All the assays are pending. We're excited to continue drilling this area, as 12 meters thickness is well beyond the typical thickness of the mine. Elsewhere within the Eagle River Mine, underground drilling continues to confirm the continuity, continuity and high grades of the 300 East Zone at depth.
With wider widths returned locally could represent an area similar to the previously mined 303 lenses. The continuity of the mineralization down plunge at 300 East also suggests that the other parallel zones, namely the 8 and 7 zones, have the same potential to continue at depth. The company has commenced directional drilling to aid in the extensions of the known zones at wider step outs at depth to provide an indication for future mining. At Kiena, recent surface and underground drilling was focused on better defining our known resources. On surface, drilling was focused at the Presqu'ile Zone, which is located 1.3 kilometers northwest of the Kiena Mine. The surface drilling has confirmed the continuity of the gold mineralization, with one hole returning 32 grams per ton of gold over 3-meter core length.
However, as importantly, the drilling has confirmed the down plunge potential depth, and this is going to be an area that we're going to continue to explore with the development of the ramp. The recent drill results support the decision to proceed with the exploration ramp from surface to test the down plunge extension of the deposit. The excavation of the ramp is now proceeding with the recent receipt of the required permits. Of course, the Presqu'ile zone is just one of several zones having the potential to offer a supplementary source of mill feed near surface or in the upper area of the mine for the spare installed capacity at the Kiena Mill. Recent drilling results from the Shawkey and Dubuisson, Dubuisson zones earlier this year, including 2.3 grams per ton of gold over 72 meters, indicates this potential.
Both of these zones are accessible from the existing 33-level development that extends across the property. With so many styles of gold mineralization observed east of the Kiena Mine, we are confident that as our exploration continues, we will be able to identify more zones of gold mineralization. Within the Kiena Mine, drilling has been focused on better delineating Kiena Deep A zones to de-risk the 2024 mine production, particularly given the high grades in the reserve model. To date, the delineation is in agreement with the previously drilled, wider-spaced exploration holes. One delineation hole returned 4,190 grams per ton of gold, or just over 4 kilograms per ton of gold over 0.8 meters. You can see this in the attached slide. Obviously, these types of intercepts provide confidence in the forecast for next year. Over to you, Anthea.
Thanks, Mike. As you have heard, we remain on track for a strong Q4 , and we're excited about the future of the business. As we highlighted on our recent investor and analyst tour of both operations, we see four main near-term area objectives for success. Firstly, we need to continue executing on Kiena ramp developments, which is now at the 129-meter level. Concurrent delineation drilling is improving our understanding of the resource, giving us a high degree of confidence in our near-term plans. Secondly, I continue to see opportunities for organic growth by utilizing the sustained store capacity of our mill and refocusing the strategy to reoptimizing our mine plans from first principles. Combined with an exploration strategy focused on developing near mine potential, we are more effectively leveraging our fixed costs to sustainably improve our unit economics.
Thirdly, the leadership team is coming together nicely, with a genuine cohesion developing between all levels of organization. Lastly, looking ahead, we expect a marked increase in cash flow in 2024, particularly at current gold prices. Preliminary budget plans suggest we are well positioned to achieve a net cash position in the coming months, in the coming quarters, but also invest significantly in increasing our developed ore inventory through capital development, aggressively advancing our pipeline of near mine exploration opportunities, and make overdue infrastructure upgrades to maximize the long-term value of these assets. Consequently, I'm expecting the capital budget for next year to be consistent with this year's levels. We look forward to providing the market with two years of production and cost guidance at each asset in January. This initiative is part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining clear and forward-looking communication with our stakeholders.
Thanks for listening today, and with that, I'll turn this line back to operator for any questions.
Thank you. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star one, one. If your question has been answered and you'd like to remove yourself from the .. Thank you. If you're still having issues, please dial in using the Call Me feature. Our next question comes from Arun Lamba with TD Securities. Your line is open.
Hi. Yeah, thanks for the update and congrats on the good quarter. You mentioned you're gonna give two-year guidance in January, and you mentioned the higher grades at Kiena are gonna kind of kick in sometime in the first half of 2024. But can you just remind us, like, what the mine and mill is kind of capable at Kiena? Just trying to get a rough guidance on what potentially you can do next year. I know you're catching up on development this year, and when I look at the last feasibility study, there's a little bit of a ramp up in terms of tons processed in the first couple of years versus later in the mine plan.
So any color, just to remind us on what the mine and mill can do there, would be appreciated.
So, I mean, thank you for the question. I think just first of all, we should talk about permitted capacity on the mill and the potential of the mill. I think the mill's capacity and potential is about 2,040 tons per day. In the current plan, we're running more likely around 750-850, if I'm not mistaken. Fred, is that correct? Yeah. So, so we're way below the current capacity of the mill and the permitted capacity of the mill. Yeah. Is it on cue?
That's it for me. Thanks.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Don DeMarco with National Bank. Your line is open.
Well, hi, good morning. Thank you, operator, and hello, Anthea and team. Congratulations on the quarter. I guess there are a couple of questions here. First one is, so you broke through on the 129 level. The ramp is there. Seems like this is earlier than targeted at the end of November. So does this shift your schedule forward for Kiena Deep production in any way?
Well, Don, thank you, and nice to hear your voice. Yeah, and I think in terms of the internal updated plan, definitely we are a quarter ahead of our internal plans, but obviously different from what you perceive in the PFS. But from an internal perspective, we are a quarter ahead, and yes, it certainly will result in uptick next year ahead of our previously perceived plans.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Ryan Walker with Echelon. Your line is open.
Hi, good morning, guys. Thanks for the call. So I just wanted to go back to the debt. So you said you, subsequent to quarter's end, you drew down another CAD 10 million. What's kind of the net movement going to be in Q4 there? Do you still plan aggressive payback during the quarter?
Sorry, Ryan, could you repeat that?
Yeah. So just on the drawdown from the facility, subsequent to quarter end, you drew down another CAD 10 million. So I'm just wondering, during the balance of the quarter, are there repayments still planned on the.. You know, you've been fairly aggressive on the repayment front. Still plan to do that in Q4?
We planned, Ryan, to go back to pay back the CAD 10 million that we drew down by the end of the year.
Okay. And then, just on the capital budget, so around about the same, CAD 100 million-ish this year into next year, is that, you know, X, any kind of savings identified during this cost initiative program? And is that kind of a number we should be sticking with, into the foreseeable future?
Yes, absolutely. It's net any savings, but I think I can give you a bit of an understanding what it really is. It's really for, you know, focused on the third development or development. We're trying to keep pushing on the ramp. And secondly, obviously looking at Presqu'ile development as well. And lastly, I think it's important to note that it's about exploration and growing that exploration budget too. So I think it's really important to understand that we're gonna keep pushing these three initiatives that help build the mine in the longer term. So you can assume that that will continue for next year.
Great. Okay, thank you. That's it for me.
Thank you. Our next question comes from John Sclodnick with Desjardins . Your line is open.
Hey, yeah, thanks for taking my question, guys. I guess I'll just follow up on Ryan's question with that CapEx, and not sure if I'm getting ahead here, but I wonder if you're able to break out kind of how you see that flat CapEx year-over-year, broken out between maybe assets and sustaining versus growth or exploration.
Yeah, I look at them together, John, but I, and it's sort of, you must get the guys to break it out better for me. But from a—if you look at it together, I think what you'll see is that number continuing next year. And like I said, I'll, I'll repeat it again. It really is around pushing development and ensuring that we keep pushing that ramp down, because what we want to do is get to the next level in that mine. And obviously continue with our development and get ahead of ourselves inside Eagle as well. And secondly, we really want to push our exploration and ensure that we're getting those programs really strong to grow out the business in a more longer term. And obviously, Presqu'ile is included in that capital as well for next year, which will obviously continue the year thereafter as well.
Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. I guess one more, just on depreciation. It's been a bit elevated in the last three quarters, and just curious kind of how you see that going forward in a run rate into Q4, and into 2024, in terms of a per ounce number, if you have that handy.
Sure. I'll ask Ross to actually cover that. Ross?
Sure. So John, you can basically model it on units, units of production on a dollar per ton basis. We use two key reserves for that. And, given Kiena ramping up, that's why you're seeing that income-marked increase. So that's just the way I would model it.
Okay. No, that makes sense. Appreciate that, and that, that's all for me. Thanks, guys.
Thanks.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Wayne Lam with RBC. Your line is open.
Yeah, thanks. Morning, everyone. Just wondering, at Presqu'ile, what's the kind of magnitude of CapEx spend, for the ramp, and what's kind of the, timeline of events you're kind of contemplating there in terms of development, the ramp and mining and connection to the 33 level? Just curious if you're able to provide a bit more context around that.
Sure. Wayne, I'll hand over to Fred on this one, if that's okay.
Yeah, I feel right now we're still working out the detailed numbers, I would say, for the budget exercise. But I guess in terms of scale for the ramp, it's about 1,700 meters, like I stated in the statement earlier, factor in the development cost of about CAD 6,000 and so on. That's gonna be in the schedule right now that we see as development in this year and a little bit into next year. Well, in 2024, sorry, and then a little bit in 2025 as well, in terms of scheduling.
Okay, great. Thanks. And then just in relation to that CapEx commentary, should we also be thinking about a catch-up in exploration spend as well next year?
Yeah, you can absolutely assume that that's included inside the capital spends too.
Okay, great. Thanks. That's all for me.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Jeremy Hoy with Canaccord Genuity. Your line is open.
Hi, all. Thanks for taking my questions. So Wayne actually covered a few of the things I wanted to ask. I guess just a clarification for me then. The Kiena is permitted to 2,040 tons per day. Can you remind us of what type of capital would be required in addition to get to that level, or can it do that in its current state?
Yeah, Jeremy, it's very little capital that's required to do that. It actually is. I would almost call it non-relevant, actually, capital to do this. I'll go ask Fred to actually articulate a bit further, because it really is all the equipment is there; it's merely about connection. Fred, do you want to just comment?
Yeah, just provide a little bit more flavor here. Basically, the mill has the installed capacity. It's just that we're currently not using the secondary crusher at surface. This is really the infrastructure that will bump up the tonnage to 3,000+. And right now, we're bypassing this infrastructure. It's been dormant, I would say, for a few years. So ultimately, the CapEx is only to update a bit the electrics, change a few conveyor belts, and away we go. So minimum.
Okay, excellent. Thank you for the clarification.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. Thank you for your participation. This does conclude the program, and you may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.