Coeur Mining Inc (CDE) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Coeur Mining fourth-quarter 2024 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Coeur Mining 2024 年第四季財務業績電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mitchell Krebs, Chairman, President, and CEO. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給董事長、總裁兼執行長 Mitchell Krebs。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining our call today to discuss our fourth-quarter and full-year results. Before we start, we want to quickly point out our cautionary language regarding forward-looking statements in today's slide deck and refer you to our SEC filings on our website. I'll start with some quick highlights before turning the call over to Mick, Aoife, and Tom for some more color on our results and on our 2025 outlook.

大家早安，感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議，討論我們的第四季和全年業績。在開始之前，我們想快速指出今天的幻燈片中關於前瞻性陳述的警告性語言，並請您參閱我們網站上的美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 文件。我將首先簡要介紹一些要點，然後將電話轉給 Mick、Aoife 和 Tom，讓他們進一步闡述我們的業績和 2025 年展望。

By any measure, 2024 was one of the most consequential years in Coeur's nearly 100 year history. The company is in the midst of an inflection point following a period of heavy investment to reposition us as a larger scale, growing, lower-cost silver and gold producer with a more conservative balance sheet. The second half of last year marked the beginning of this inflection point with $85 million of free cash flow, $80 million of debt reduction, nearly $90 million of earnings, the successful ramp up of our Rochester expansion, and the announcement of the SilverCrest acquisition.

無論以何種標準衡量，2024 年都是科爾近 100 年歷史上最重要的年份之一。經過一段時間的大量投資，公司正處於一個轉折點，將我們重新定位為規模更大、成長更快、成本更低、資產負債表更為保守的白銀和黃金生產商。去年下半年標誌著這一轉折點的開始，自由現金流達到 8,500 萬美元，債務減少 8,000 萬美元，收益接近 9,000 萬美元，羅徹斯特擴張成功，並宣布收購 SilverCrest。

Our full-year 2024 adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $339 million compared to the prior year. Looking ahead to 2025, we're entering the year incredibly well positioned to deliver record results and be a true global leader among silver companies at just the right time. We expect production levels from our five North American operations to reach over 400,000 ounces of gold and over 18 million ounces of silver this year, which are 20% and 62% higher than last year's levels.

我們 2024 年全年調整後的 EBITDA 與前一年相比成長了一倍多，達到 3.39 億美元。展望 2025 年，我們正處於極其有利的一年，預計在適當的時機取得創紀錄的業績，成為白銀公司中真正的全球領導者。我們預計，今年我們在北美的五個礦場的黃金產量將達到 40 多萬盎司，白銀產量將達到 1,800 多萬盎司，分別比去年高出 20% 和 62%。

We anticipate delivering record levels of EBITDA, earnings, and free cash flow that can be used to aggressively pay down debt and leave us with a peer-leading balance sheet by year end. The combination of Rochester's first full year post expansion, 10.5 months of the newly acquired Las Chispas operation, steady performance from our other operations, and higher prices are the key drivers to this expected record year.

我們預計將實現創紀錄的 EBITDA、收益和自由現金流，這些現金流可用於積極償還債務，並使我們在年底擁有同業領先的資產負債表。羅徹斯特擴張後的第一個全年業績、新收購的 Las Chispas 業務的 10.5 個月營運、我們其他業務的穩定表現以及更高的價格是今年預期創紀錄的關鍵驅動因素。

Looking further out, our news release on Tuesday covering year-end 2024 reserves and resources showcased the company's strengthening pipeline of mineral inventory. Just a few quick highlights looking at slide 10, over the past five years we've invested $285 million in exploration that has led to a 26% increase in gold reserves, 30% increase in silver reserves, along with material increases in both gold and silver resources, putting us in a great position to further extend mine lives at our operations.

展望未來，我們週二發布的 2024 年底儲量和資源的新聞稿展示了該公司不斷加強的礦產庫存管道。請看第 10 張幻燈片中的幾個重點，過去五年來，我們已投資 2.85 億美元用於勘探，導致黃金儲量增加了 26%，白銀儲量增加了 30%，同時黃金和白銀資源均有實質性增加，這讓我們處於有利地位，可以進一步延長我們的礦山壽命。

Two great examples of this from last year's results are the sharp resource increases at Palmarejo and Wharf. Palmarejo's inferred resources jumped by 75% year over year, while Wharf's M&I resources doubled and its inferred resources tripled year over year, giving us a high level of confidence in delivering meaningful mine life extensions at these two operations in coming years. One other highlight from Tuesday's release is the addition of the high-grade Las Chispas asset which provided a 12% boost to our overall reserve grade which reflects the quality of this newly acquired asset.

去年業績的兩個很好的例子就是 Palmarejo 和 Wharf 的資源量急劇增加。Palmarejo 的推斷資源量同比增長了 75%，而 Wharf 的 M&I 資源量同比增長了一倍，推斷資源量同比增長了兩倍，這讓我們對未來幾年在這兩個礦場實現有意義的礦山壽命延長充滿信心。週二發布的另一個亮點是增加了高品位的 Las Chispas 資產，這使我們的整體儲量品位提高了 12%，反映了這項新收購資產的品質。

Mick, over to you.

米克，交給你了。

Thanks, Mitch. Coeur's portfolio finished the year on a strong note, highlighted by great results at Wharf and Palmarejo and continued growth at Rochester coming less than a year since start-up and initial production. Beginning with Rochester, the newly expanded operation continues to trend positively, with tons placed during the quarter delivered within our targeted level of 7 million to 8 million tons on the way to a 34% increase in silver production compared to the third quarter, and a 63% increase in gold production over the same period. This growth contributed to over $12 million of free cash flow during the quarter.

謝謝，米奇。Coeur 的投資組合以強勁的業績結束了這一年度，其中 Wharf 和 Palmarejo 的出色業績以及 Rochester 自啟動和首次生產以來不到一年的持續增長尤為突出。從羅徹斯特開始，新擴展的業務繼續呈現積極趨勢，本季交付的噸數達到了我們 700 萬至 800 萬噸的目標水平，與第三季度相比，白銀產量增加了 34%，黃金產量增加了 63%。這一增長為本季度貢獻了超過 1200 萬美元的自由現金流。

We are also seeing continued success in the first month of the year as the team placed an additional 2.4 million tons on the leach pad, which was right on plan. Mining, crushing, and recoveries continue to show strong sequential improvement even as periodic pauses to the circuit have taken place to address planned modifications and typical start-up work.

我們也看到，今年第一個月我們繼續取得成功，團隊在浸出平台上又放置了 240 萬噸，一切都按照計畫進行。儘管為了進行計劃中的修改和典型的啟動工作而對電路進行了定期暫停，但採礦、破碎和回收仍然繼續顯示出強勁的連續改善。

Placement of high-grade backfill material once again contributed to pad placement rates during the quarter. The relatively large size fraction of this material led to increased leach cycle times of silver, which presented a slightly lower-than-planned silver production in the quarter, but contributed to a strong overall finish to the year. As expected, costs applicable to sales were within full-year guidance ranges and declined by 14% in the fourth quarter as throughput rates continue to claim.

本季度，高等級回填材料的鋪設再次提高了墊塊的鋪設率。該材料的尺寸相對較大，導致銀的浸出循環時間增加，導致本季銀產量略低於計劃，但有助於今年整體業績強勁增長。正如預期的那樣，由於吞吐率持續上升，銷售成本在全年指導範圍內，第四季度下降了 14%。

Looking ahead, 2025 production guidance of 7 million to 8.3 million ounces of silver and 60,000 to 75,000 ounces of gold represent year-over-year increases of 75% and 72%, respectively. Higher sustained throughput rates are expected to continue driving down unit costs, which are shown on slide 7 on a per ton and per ounce basis.

展望未來，2025 年的產量預期為 700 萬至 830 萬盎司白銀和 6 萬至 7.5 萬盎司黃金，分別年增 75% 和 72%。預計更高的持續吞吐率將繼續降低單位成本，如幻燈片 7 中以每噸和每盎司顯示的那樣。

Turning to Palmarejo, the team delivered another solid quarter to cap a great year, with gold and silver production increasing 8% and 3% year over year, respectively, leading to $108 million of free cash flow which was the highest level in seven years. Palmarejo also continues to position itself for the future with the completion of the Hidalgo portal leading to enhanced flexibility and access to new ore drives in 2025 and beyond. We expect another typical year of silver gold production at Palmarejo in 2025.

談到 Palmarejo，該團隊又交出了一份穩健的季度業績，為這一年畫上了圓滿的句號，其中黃金和白銀產量分別同比增長 8% 和 3%，帶來了 1.08 億美元的自由現金流，創下七年來的最高水平。隨著伊達爾戈門戶的建成，Palmarejo 也將繼續為未來做好準備，這將增強靈活性，並可在 2025 年及以後獲得新的礦石驅動。我們預計 2025 年 Palmarejo 將迎來另一個典型的銀金產量年。

Moving to Kensington, gold production increased throughout 2024, leading to a strong bounce back year with 13% growth compared to 2023. With Kensington's multiyear investment and underground mine development and exploration now beginning to wane down, 2025 production guidance reflects the enhanced flexibility and successful reserve additions, we achieved to set up Kensington for another 5% increase in production compared to 2024 and a return to positive free cash flow this year.

轉向肯辛頓，2024 年全年黃金產量增加，與 2023 年相比強勁反彈 13%。隨著肯辛頓多年的投資和地下礦山開發與勘探現在開始減弱，2025 年的生產指導反映了增強的靈活性和成功的儲量增加，我們實現了肯辛頓的產量與 2024 年相比再增加 5%，並在今年恢復正的自由現金流。

Finishing up with Wharf. As expected, fourth-quarter production moderated compared to the unusually high third-quarter result, but still managed to deliver annual gold growth of 5%, leading to a full-year free cash flow of $95 million which sets a new record for the operation. Wharf's 2025 guidance reflects a similar year of stable production ahead.

以碼頭結束。正如預期的那樣，第四季度的產量與異常高的第三季度業績相比有所放緩，但仍實現了 5% 的年度黃金產量增長，全年自由現金流達到 9500 萬美元，創下了運營的新紀錄。九龍倉的 2025 年預期反映了未來一年產量將保持穩定。

Turning briefly to a couple of key items on CapEx guidance. Slide 11 highlights a year of more typical sustaining CapEx spending following the completion of the Rochester expansion with a few additional focused, high-return capital investments anticipated in 2025. At Kensington, we plan to commence a tailings dam raise to realize the value from its extended mine life.

簡單介紹一下資本支出指導中的幾個關鍵項目。投影片 11 重點介紹了羅徹斯特擴建完成後一年較為典型的持續資本支出，預計 2025 年還會進行一些額外的重點高回報資本投資。在肯辛頓，我們計劃開始提高尾礦壩，以實現延長礦山壽命的價值。

At Rochester, we plan to complete some modifications after start-up projects across the crushing system to further improve flexibility and drive efficiency. And finally, the recent success at Juneau and the North Foley targets at Wharf requires a modest increase in capital this year to support an expected material extension to its mine life.

在羅徹斯特，我們計劃在啟動專案後對整個破碎系統完成一些改造，以進一步提高靈活性和驅動效率。最後，由於最近在朱諾和沃夫的北福利目標上取得的成功，今年需要適度增加資本，以支持預期的礦山壽命的實質延長。

With that, I'll pass the call over to Aoife.

說完這些，我將把電話轉給 Aoife。

Thanks, Mick. The fourth quarter closed out a very successful year for Coeur's exploration programs. Starting with the good news at Kensington, the multiyear underground development and drilling program is proving very successful with the doubling of reserves since the program began in mid-2022. Multiple new zones were discovered last year, which will be followed up on in 2025. Given this much more comfortable mine life, our focus will pivot towards maintaining the steady five-year life of mine and targeting higher grade zones to maximize the operation's cash flow.

謝謝，米克。第四季為科爾勘探計畫非常成功的一年畫上了圓滿的句點。首先從肯辛頓的好消息開始，多年的地下開發和鑽探計劃被證明非常成功，自 2022 年中期計劃啟動以來，儲量翻了一番。去年發現了多個新區域，並將於 2025 年進行後續追蹤。鑑於礦山壽命更加舒適，我們的重點將轉向維持穩定的五年礦山壽命，並瞄準更高品位的區域，以最大限度地提高營運的現金流。

We also had a very busy year at Palmarejo, where the aim was to further bolster the inferred pipeline for future conversion to reserves. A new discovery was made in the Hidalgo corridor, the Libertad footwall vein, which was a significant contributor to the overall ounce addition there. Furthermore, early-stage work on the newly acquired Fresnillo claims is outlining multiple new veins with an additional 12 kilometers of strike length outlined on the Independencia Sur block. These are located directly southeast of existing mine infrastructure, and we recently commenced drilling to test the southeast extensions of the veins in the main mine corridor.

我們在帕爾馬雷霍度過了非常忙碌的一年，目標是進一步加強推斷管道，以便未來轉化為儲備。在伊達爾戈走廊發現了新的金礦，即利伯塔德底盤礦脈，這對該地金礦產總產量的增加做出了重要貢獻。此外，新收購的 Fresnillo 礦區的早期工作正在勾勒出多條新礦脈，並在 Independencia Sur 區塊勾勒出額外的 12 公里走向長度。這些礦井位於現有礦山基礎設施的東南方向，我們最近開始鑽探以測試主礦井走廊礦脈的東南延伸。

39% of last year's exploration budget at Palmarejo was spent outside the area of interest impacted by the Franco-Nevada gold stream, and this is expected to increase to 60% in 2025 now that we fully consolidated the land position to the east of existing operations. At Rochester, one program of note last year was the campaign targeting the previously undrilled portion of East Rochester, the wedge, and also targeting higher grades on the Black Ridge and other faults.

去年 Palmarejo 的勘探預算有 39% 花費在了受到 Franco-Nevada 金流影響的利益區域之外，而隨著我們全面鞏固現有作業區東部的土地位置，預計到 2025 年這一比例將增至 60%。在羅徹斯特，去年值得注意的一項計劃是針對東羅徹斯特以前未鑽探的部分、楔形部分以及黑嶺和其他斷層的更高品位進行的活動。

Higher grades were found on a subvertical structure in East Rochester and a large portion of colluvium in the wedge previously thought to be waste was shown to have mineralization. The impacts of this work will be evaluated after a more aggressive drill program planned for late this year and continuing into 2026.

在東羅徹斯特的一個近垂直結構中發現了更高的品位，並且先前被認為是廢料的楔形中的大部分崩積層被證明具有礦化作用。該計劃將於今年稍後開始並持續到 2026 年，屆時將進行更積極的鑽探計劃，屆時將對此項工作的影響進行評估。

Last but not least, the three-pronged program at Silvertip paid off in bind. The underground near-mine drilling extends the Southern Silver and Saddle zones along strike, program of large drill step-outs intersected massive sulfide mineralization in five of five holes up to 1 kilometer from the most recent resource shape for Southern Silver zone. And two more Silvertip lookalikes were outlined in the regional program.We plan to follow up on these during the upcoming summer seasons.

最後但同樣重要的是，Silvertip 的三管齊下計畫獲得了成功。地下近礦鑽探沿走向延伸了南銀帶和馬鞍帶，大型鑽探步進計劃在五個孔中的五個孔中與塊狀硫化物礦化相交，距離南銀帶最近的資源形狀最遠 1 公里。區域計劃中還概述了另外兩種 Silvertip 相似物。我們計劃在即將到來的夏季繼續追蹤它們。

Looking at slide 9, we expect to invest about $85 million on exploration in 2025. Like last year, this year's exploration will be weighted towards scout and expansion drilling with the aim of further bolstering our inferred resources for future conversion. We also aim to maintain steady mine lives now that we have successfully extended them across the portfolio over the past few years.

從投影片 9 可以看出，我們預計 2025 年勘探投資約為 8,500 萬美元。與去年一樣，今年的勘探工作將專注於偵察和擴展鑽探，目的是進一步增強我們推斷的資源以供未來轉換。我們也致力於保持穩定的礦場壽命，因為過去幾年我們已成功延長了整個礦場投資組合的壽命。

With that, I'll pass the call to Tom.

這樣，我就把電話轉給湯姆。

Thanks, Aoife. The third quarter was the beginning of the major inflection point that we had all been waiting for since the launch of the Rochester expansion in 2020. The momentum continued during the fourth quarter with Rochester joining the free cash flow party with its first positive free cash flow quarter since 2019, driven by the steady progress of the ramp-up of the crusher and the increase in ounces placed on the leach pad, as Mick described.

謝謝，Aoife。第三季是我們自 2020 年羅徹斯特擴張計畫啟動以來一直在等待的重大轉折點的開始。這一勢頭在第四季度得以延續，羅徹斯特公司加入了自由現金流的行列，自 2019 年以來首次實現正自由現金流季度，正如米克所描述的，這得益於破碎機產能提升的穩步推進以及浸出墊上礦石數量的增加。

Turning to the financial summary on slide 8, key 2024 headlines included revenue exceeding the $1 billion mark; adjusted EBITDA increasing by almost $200 million to $339 million; capital expenditures at $183 million were cut in half versus the prior year, which allowed us to increase our exploration expenditures to approximately $60 million; and our average quarterly free cash flow was $43 million during the second half of 2024.

轉到幻燈片 8 上的財務摘要，2024 年的關鍵頭條包括收入超過 10 億美元大關；調整後的 EBITDA 增加近 2 億美元，達到 3.39 億美元；資本支出為 1.83 億美元，比上年減少了一半，這使得我們的勘探支出增加到約 6000 萬美元；

Turning to the balance sheet summary on slide 12, our planned debt reduction continued during the fourth quarter with another $30 million repaid on our revolving credit facility, leaving us with a significantly improved net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 1.6 times versus 3.4 times one year ago. Coeur's rapid balance sheet strengthening will accelerate in 2025, off the back of higher gold and silver production, stronger commodity prices, and of course, the closing of the SilverCrest transaction last Friday. We expect that our revolver balance, which stood at $195 million drawn at December 31, 2024, will be repaid by the second half of 2025. And our long-stated goal of net debt-to-EBITDA of zero is insight.

轉到幻燈片 12 上的資產負債表摘要，我們的計劃債務削減在第四季度繼續進行，我們用循環信貸額度償還了另外 3000 萬美元，這使我們的淨債務與 EBITDA 比率顯著改善，從一年前的 3.4 倍降至 1.6 倍。受黃金和白銀產量增加、大宗商品價格走強以及上週五 SilverCrest 交易結束的推動，Coeur 的資產負債表將在 2025 年加速增強。我們預計，2024 年 12 月 31 日提取的 1.95 億美元循環信貸餘額將在 2025 年下半年償還。我們長期以來的目標是淨債務與 EBITDA 之比為零，這是一種洞察力。

We are excited to present the 2025 guidance on slide 14, which includes Las Chispas for the first time, albeit for only 10.5 months. Key themes for 2025 include production growth driven by Rochester and Las Chispas and an acceleration of free cash flow and debt repayment.

我們很高興在第 14 張幻燈片上展示 2025 年的指導，其中首次包括 Las Chispas，儘管只有 10.5 個月。2025 年的關鍵主題包括由羅徹斯特和 Las Chispas 推動的產量成長以及自由現金流和債務償還的加速。

Using a $2,700 gold price and a $30 silver price, we expect to average $75 million to $100 million per quarter of free cash flow beginning in Q2 2025, which will be applied to debt reduction. This free cash flow generation includes an elevated exploration investment versus 2024 as we continue to find excellent opportunities to invest across our portfolio to generate returns above our cost of capital. The potential material mine life extension at Wharf jumps out as a poster child for our focus as a company on ROIC. Exciting times indeed.

以 2,700 美元的黃金價格和 30 美元的白銀價格計算，我們預計從 2025 年第二季開始，每季平均自由現金流將達到 7,500 萬至 1 億美元，這些資金將用於減少債務。這項自由現金流的產生包括與 2024 年相比更高的勘探投資，因為我們繼續在我們的投資組合中尋找絕佳的投資機會，以產生高於資本成本的回報。九龍倉材料礦山壽命延長的潛在效應成為我們公司關注投資回報率的典型案例。確實是令人興奮的時刻。

One note of caution, Q1 2025 will be a bit messy and not representative of the go-forward business as Q1 will only include 45 days of Las Chispas operating results, and we will incur several onetime outflows, which will impact our operating cash flow during the quarter. Those outflows include an estimated $80 million of 1Q tax payments in Mexico related to the strong financial results at both Palmarejo and Las Chispas in 2024.

需要注意的是，2025 年第一季將會有點混亂，並且不能代表未來的業務，因為第一季僅包括 Las Chispas 45 天的經營業績，並且我們將發生幾次一次性資金流出，這將影響我們本季的營運現金流。這些資金流出包括墨西哥第一季約 8,000 萬美元的稅款，與 2024 年 Palmarejo 和 Las Chispas 的強勁財務業績有關。

The payments associated with Coeur's annual incentive plan and the semiannual interest payment on our long-term notes, a much larger annual property tax payment at the expanded Rochester mine and Silver Press transaction costs. It is important to highlight that absent these onetime outflows, first-quarter free cash flow would have been expected to be positive.

與 Coeur 年度激勵計劃相關的付款和我們長期票據的半年利息支付、擴建的羅徹斯特礦的更大的年度財產稅支付以及 Silver Press 交易成本。值得強調的是，如果沒有這些一次性資金流出，第一季的自由現金流預計為正。

I will now pass the call back to Mitch.

我現在會把電話轉回給米奇。

Thanks, Tom. Before moving to the Q&A, I want to quickly highlight slide 13 that summarizes our top priorities for 2025. With the completion of the SilverCrest acquisition last Friday, I just want to take a moment and quickly thank our team and the SilverCrest team for their efforts in making this transaction happen and welcome the Las Chispas team to the company as well as welcome Eric Fier and Pierre Beaudoin to our Board of Directors.

謝謝，湯姆。在進入問答環節之前，我想快速強調第 13 張投影片，其中總結了我們 2025 年的首要任務。隨著上週五 SilverCrest 收購的完成，我只想花一點時間快速感謝我們的團隊和 SilverCrest 團隊為促成這筆交易所做的努力，並歡迎 Las Chispas 團隊加入公司，同時歡迎 Eric Fier 和 Pierre Beaudoin 加入我們的董事會。

Thanks to a lot of hard work by a lot of people over many years, coupled with incredibly strong fundamentals for both gold and silver, we're seeing several key catalysts converge at once that have the company positioned better than ever heading into 2025. From a solid platform of five North American operations, Coeur provides near-term growth, unmatched silver exposure, dramatic cash flow increases, a rapidly strengthening balance sheet, peer-leading liquidity, and a fertile pipeline of exploration targets to support the next phase of growth in the years ahead.

由於許多人多年來的辛勤工作，再加上黃金和白銀極其強勁的基本面，我們看到幾個關鍵催化劑同時匯聚，使公司在邁向 2025 年時處於比以往任何時候都更好的位置。Coeur 憑藉其在北美的五大業務平台，實現了短期增長、無與倫比的白銀敞口、大幅增加的現金流、快速增強的資產負債表、同行領先的流動性以及豐富的勘探目標渠道，以支持未來幾年的下一階段增長。

With that, let's go ahead and open it up for questions.

好了，讓我們開始提問吧。

(Operator Instructions) Joseph Reagor, Roth Capital Partners.

（操作員指示）羅斯資本合夥公司 (Roth Capital Partners) 的約瑟夫·里格 (Joseph Reagor)。

Congrats on all the accomplishments. So I guess, first thing on the Las Chispas acquisition. Can you give us an update on what cash and bullion equated to at the time of the closing?

祝賀你所取得的所有成就。所以我想，首先要考慮的是 Las Chispas 收購案。您能否向我們介紹一下收盤時現金和金條的等值情況？

Yes. Obviously, the balance sheet that SilverCrest had was one of the key deal rationale points using that cash and bullion to reduce debt here in the first quarter, and then combined with the free cash flow from Las Chispas during the year that should help us delever quite quickly.

是的。顯然，SilverCrest 的資產負債表是交易的關鍵理由之一，即利用現金和金條在第一季減少債務，然後結合 Las Chispas 在年內的自由現金流，這應該可以幫助我們快速去槓桿。

Tom, do you want to talk a little bit more about where they were, at least at the short end, and how we see that playing out from here?

湯姆，你想再多談談他們的情況嗎，至少是短期情況，以及我們如何看待這種情況的發展？

Sure. Sure. Thanks, Joe. So as they noted in their news release, $153 million in cash and $40 million in bullion. And they didn't sell any of the bullion between year end and Valentine's Day when we closed the transaction. They did pay a bunch of bills in the first 44 days, including a lot of their transaction costs, et cetera, et cetera. So that balance is closer to $100 million as we approached the closing date.

當然。當然。謝謝，喬。正如他們在新聞稿中指出的那樣，有 1.53 億美元現金和 4000 萬美元金條。從年底到情人節我們完成交易期間，他們沒有賣出任何金條。他們確實在前 44 天支付了一堆帳單，包括很多交易費用等等。因此，當我們接近截止日期時，餘額已接近 1 億美元。

But as Mitch said, the game plan here is it's going to be a bit of a messy quarter as we deal with our transaction costs, the big tax bill. I mean, it's nearly $40 million for each of the two subsidiaries, given the strong performance. So anyway, I just want to highlight that Q1 is going to get a bit messy.

但正如米奇所說，這裡的計劃是，這將是一個有點混亂的季度，因為我們要處理交易成本和巨額稅單。我的意思是，考慮到強勁的業績，這兩家子公司每家的收入都接近 4,000 萬美元。無論如何，我只想強調一下，第一季將會變得有點混亂。

Okay. That's helpful. Two other specific operational things I noticed. One, Kensington, the cost per ounce is going up a decent amount from last year. And then at Rochester, there was a mention of crush size in Q4 that that was part of the reason for production being a little lower. Can you just touch on what crush size issue is? Is it behind you? And then on Kensington, what's driving the higher costs?

好的。這很有幫助。我注意到另外兩個具體的操作事項。首先，肯辛頓，每盎司的成本比去年上漲了不少。然後在羅徹斯特，提到第四季的壓榨規模是產量略低的原因之一。能簡單談談粉碎尺寸問題嗎？它在你身後嗎？那麼在肯辛頓，是什麼原因導致了成本的上漲？

Yes, I can -- maybe I'll go with the second question first and then we'll hit Kensington second. Just on Rochester, I'll offer a couple of comments, and then, Mick, you can give Joe some additional detail. Yes, we did place a little bit more of that direct-to-pad material, that we call DPP, in the fourth quarter. I think about 3 million tons that went out onto the leach pad came from that material.

是的，我可以──也許我會先回答第二個問題，然後再討論肯辛頓。僅就羅徹斯特而言，我將提供一些評論，然後，米克，你可以向喬提供一些額外的細節。是的，我們確實在第四季度投放了更多這種直接用於焊盤的材料，我們稱之為 DPP。我認為，進入浸出層的約 300 萬噸物質都來自這種材料。

And that's previously mined, higher grade, slightly larger sized material, more like a couple of inch size. And we did that to really offset some crusher downtime that we took during the quarter to take care of a few items that had been identified, leading up to the fourth quarter, and we pulled some 20 -- first-quarter 2025 planned maintenance into the fourth quarter and decided to take care of those items just to set us up better for a good, strong clean 2025.

那是以前開採的、品位更高、尺寸稍大一些的材料，更像是幾英寸大小。我們這樣做是為了真正抵消我們在本季度處理第四季度之前已確定的一些項目的破碎機停機時間，並且我們將 2025 年第一季度的大約 20 個計劃維護工作拉到第四季度，並決定處理這些項目，只是為了讓我們更好地為良好、強勁、清潔的 2025 年做好準備。

So that did impact slightly the crush size in the fourth quarter and it was really the driver to the slightly lighter silver production. And when you think about 2025, we'll crush probably right around 30 million tons and then place on top of that another probably 5 million or 6 million tons of that direct-to-pad material. The permit limit on the crusher is 32 million tons. So that direct to pad material is profitable and it gives us an opportunity to kind of exceed that permit limit on the crusher. It does have a slight impact on recovery given that larger crush size, but it's profitable material.

因此，這確實對第四季度的壓榨規模產生了輕微影響，並且是白銀產量略有下降的真正原因。想想 2025 年，我們大概會粉碎大約 3000 萬噸，然後再在上面添加另外 500 萬或 600 萬噸直接用於墊層的材料。該破碎機的許可限額為3,200萬噸。因此，直接使用墊料是有利可圖的，並且它為我們提供了超越破碎機許可限制的機會。由於破碎尺寸較大，它確實對回收有輕微影響，但它是一種有利可圖的材料。

And just I'd say on the crush size overall, the progress toward the 5/8s goal continue to make a lot of progress. Mick can give you some additional details on that. I know we've run a couple of specific campaigns focused on hitting that in December and again in January. And we've definitely -- the crusher has proven its ability to deliver that 5/8-inch product that we're targeting.

我想說的是，就整體粉碎規模而言，朝著 5/8 目標的進展繼續取得了很大進展。米克可以為您提供有關此問題的更多詳細資訊。我知道我們在 12 月和 1 月開展了幾次專門的活動來實現這一目標。而且我們確實已經證明——破碎機能夠提供我們所期望的 5/8 英寸產品。

But Mick, do you want to fill any blanks on that? And then also hit the Kensington question.

但是米克，你想填補這個空白嗎？然後也談到了肯辛頓的問題。

Yes, for sure. Thanks, Joe. We're absolutely pumped. Actually, we're seeing that momentum build right across 2024. Since we started on March 8, it's not that long ago, right, feels like a while, but it's really not. We look across the whole of 2024, and we had around 70% of that material through the whole year that was passing that 5/8-inch size fractions.

是的，當然。謝謝，喬。我們非常興奮。實際上，我們看到這種勢頭在 2024 年不斷增強。自從 3 月 8 日開始以來，時間並不算太長，對吧，感覺好像有一段時間了，但實際上並非如此。縱觀整個 2024 年，全年約有 70% 的材料都超過了 5/8 英寸的尺寸分數。

So that performance is getting better and better. Still a bit of work to do. We did those tests, as Mitch mentioned, in December and January, and they were very specifically to understand the nature of the ore body and what the control limits were to ensure we can send that right blend to the crusher to hit that size fraction.

所以表現會越來越好。還有一些工作要做。正如米奇所提到的，我們在 12 月和 1 月進行了這些測試，目的是非常具體地了解礦體的性質以及控制限度，以確保我們可以將正確的混合物送到破碎機以達到該尺寸分數。

And we're not going to be able to do that all of the time because we are -- as the higher up in the ore body, we get some pretty soft ores, and they're not really applicable to putting through the tertiary crusher. So we bypass those a little bit, and we see a slightly higher size fraction now and again. But overall, those tests showed that when we want to, and we provide that crusher with the right blend of hard and soft ores, it can hit that 5/8-inch size fraction well. So overall, really, really happy about that.

而我們無法一直這樣做，因為——在礦體較高處，我們會得到一些非常軟的礦石，它們實際上並不適合通過三級破碎機。因此，我們稍微繞過它們，並且我們不時會看到略高的尺寸分數。但總體而言，這些測試表明，當我們願意並且為破碎機提供正確的硬礦石和軟礦石混合物時，它可以很好地破碎 5/8 英寸大小的礦石。所以總的來說，我真的非常高興。

On Kensington (multiple speakers) --

在肯辛頓（多位發言者）——

Yes. Joe, a couple of things on Kensington. As we've talked about, there's been a lot of work on the multiyear program. And so as a result, a few more people on site. So labor and camp costs were higher, more expensed underground mine development.

是的。喬，關於肯辛頓有幾件事。正如我們所討論的，這個多年期計劃已經做了大量工作。因此，現場的人就多了一些。因此勞動力和營地成本更高，地下礦山開發費用更高。

But the real thing to monitor there is just the sensitivity to the grade, right? If you pull out the chart on page 9 of the earnings release, you start to see, right, when Kensington's at 0.14, those costs really pop up, and we need -- the more 0.16 quarters, like we had in Q3, Q4, the better the cost go. So it's a bit of the increased activity and then that sensitivity grade.

但真正需要監控的只是對等級的敏感度，對嗎？如果您查看收益報告第 9 頁的圖表，您就會開始看到，當肯辛頓的成本達到 0.14 時，這些成本確實會上升，我們需要 - 0.16 個季度越多，就像我們在第三季度、第四季度那樣，成本就越好。因此，它的活動有所增加，然後是敏感度等級。

And a little bit of time, Tom. There's a couple of power plant [overhauls] that were just scheduled for this year where we only did one last year. So there's just a little bit of time around maintenance and reliability for the site.

還有一點時間，湯姆。我們今年計劃進行幾座發電廠的[大修]，而去年我們只進行了一次。因此，只需要一點時間來維護網站並保證其可靠性。

(Operator Instructions) Mike Parkin, National Bank.

（操作員指示）國家銀行邁克·帕金。

Looking at slide 5, great slide there, kind of given the quarterly expectations of the portfolio. Just wondering with Rochester, with cold weather in the winter months and the size of the pad, is there a thermal load that isn't quite sufficient there, and that's when you get that bit of a softer Q1 on your gold production, your silver because your leach kinetics just slowed down and it kind of picks up as it warms up? Or is it still more just grade tons under leach that are driving that more back half weighted? Obviously, because you're still getting up on a slower recovery there on a slower leach curve. But just wondering what's driving that significant back half weighted outlook for Rochester in the second half?

看幻燈片 5，這是一張很棒的幻燈片，它給出了投資組合的季度預期。我只是想知道，在羅徹斯特，由於冬季天氣寒冷，而且墊子很大，那裡的熱負荷是否不夠，這時你的黃金產量和白銀產量會不會比較弱，因為你的浸出動力學剛剛減慢，而隨著溫度升高，它會有所回升？或者，僅僅是瀝出的等級噸位推動了更多後半部的加權？顯然，這是因為您仍然在較慢的浸出曲線上以較慢的速度恢復。但我只是想知道是什麼推動了羅徹斯特下半年的顯著後半段加權前景？

Yes, Mike. Thanks, Mike. I think it's a little bit of both, actually. But Mick can give you a little more detail.

是的，麥克。謝謝，麥克。我認為實際上兩者都有一點。但米克可以提供你更多細節。

Yes, absolutely. So the main driver behind that really is though that momentum play that I talked about. So we get those residual ounces over a long period, particularly with silver, right? Because the leach curves for gold are much faster, as you know, but silver takes a little bit longer.

是的，絕對是。因此，背後的主要驅動力實際上是我所說的動量效應。所以我們會在很長一段時間內得到這些剩餘的盎司，特別是白銀，對嗎？因為如你所知，黃金的浸出曲線要快得多，但銀的浸出曲線則需要更長的時間。

And because of the size fractions that we saw through last year, the momentum and the leach curves through for that contribution through 2025, just build up throughout the year.So you see that momentum build through Q1, Q2, and into the back end of the year as we continue to feed those lower better size fractions to the heap leach pad. There is a bit of weather and obviously loading rates during those adverse weather conditions also impact that typically in more open pit mines, Wharf and Rochester, a little bit trickier in Q1. But overall, that's the main key reason.

而且由於我們去年看到的尺寸分數，到 2025 年，這種貢獻的動量和浸出曲線會在全年不斷累積。因此，隨著我們繼續將這些較低且更好的尺寸分數送入堆浸墊，您會看到這種勢頭在第一季、第二季和年底不斷增強。有一些天氣因素，顯然在惡劣天氣條件下的裝載率也會對露天礦場、碼頭和羅徹斯特產生影響，這在第一季會有些棘手。但總的來說，這是主要的關鍵原因。

Okay. And on that, you guys are almost there on size. I just didn't remember to look for that actually last night. Where are you in terms of your fragmentation or like your grind size, stacking size at Rochester? Are you at your [same] target? Or is there still a little bit of work to be done there?

好的。從這一點來看，你們的規模已經差不多了。我只是昨晚沒記得尋找它。就碎片化程度或研磨尺寸、羅徹斯特的堆疊尺寸而言，您處於什麼位置？您是否達到了[同一]目標？或者那裡還有一些工作要做？

Yes, I think it's fair to say that Mick mentioned some numbers earlier around 70%. Last year, it was hitting 5/8s. So we still got a little bit of work to do to get that up to 80%.

是的，我認為可以公平地說，Mick 之前提到的一些數字大約是 70%。去年，它的命中率達到了 5/8。因此，我們還需要做一些工作才能將這一比例提高到 80%。

And we're seeing numbers that are north of that when we're feeding it with the right ore, which we can do. We did those tests in December and January, and they showed that we can do that. And we've now just got to optimize a little bit more and more blasting practices in the pit and then a little bit more controls and tuning on the crusher as to be expected. We're really only getting towards one year in now on that ramp-up curve, and it's really controlling in well there.So yes, a little bit more work to do, but not too far to go.

當我們在其中添加合適的礦石時，我們看到的數字會高於這個數字，而我們可以做到這一點。我們在 12 月和 1 月進行了這些測試，結果表明我們可以做到這一點。現在，我們只需要對礦坑中的爆破實踐進行更多的優化，然後對破碎機進行更多的控制和調整，這是可以預料的。我們實際上現在才剛剛進入這個上升曲線的一年，而且它確實控制得很好。所以，是的，還有一些工作要做，但不會太遠。

One thing that you will see, and you have to think about is, of course, that direct-to-pad material is of a higher size fraction. We don't put that through the crusher at all because it's already pretty well broken material, and we wouldn't have any value put in DTP through the crusher. So that goes straight to pad, and that's at a slightly higher size fraction. So you have to think about how to unpick that from a recovery curve perspective.

您將會看到並且必須考慮的一件事是，直接到焊盤的材料具有更高的尺寸分數。我們根本不會將其放入破碎機，因為它已經是破碎得很好的材料，而且透過破碎機我們在 DTP 中不會產生任何價值。因此它直接進入墊片，並且尺寸分數略高。所以你必須從恢復曲線的角度來思考如何解決這個問題。

But the fantastic thing about DTP is, of course, that that doesn't go against our air permit for the crusher. So that limit of 32 million tons is crushed material where DTP can actually be put on the pad and generate value, I would say, that 32 million-ton limit. So very positive.

但 DTP 的奇妙之處在於，它當然不會違反我們破碎機的空氣許可證。因此，3200 萬噸的限制是破碎材料，DTP 實際上可以放在墊子上並產生價值，我想說，3200 萬噸的限制。非常積極。

A couple of things, Mike, I'd just tack on there to what Mick said. Recovery rates are tracking expectations or predicted rates for the size of the material that we're putting out there. So we feel good about that, that we've got a good handle on that. And I think as we look at 2025 and the setup there at Rochester of getting into that 7.5 million to 8 million-ounce silver production level, 70,000 ounces or so of gold.

麥克，有幾件事我只是想補充一下米克說的話。回收率是根據我們所投放的材料的大小進行預期或預測的。因此，我們對此感到滿意，我們已經很好地掌握了這一點。我認為，展望 2025 年，羅徹斯特的白銀產量將達到 750 萬至 800 萬盎司，黃金產量將達到 7 萬盎司左右。

And then those costs per ton, there's a good slide -- I thought maybe when you said a good slide, Mike, you were going to say slide 7 of that Rochester, the cost per ton, we spent a lot of years telling people last year that we'd be getting into that kind of sub $2 a ton mining cost and $3 a ton processing and $1 a ton or so on G&A.

然後是每噸成本，有一張很好的幻燈片——我想也許當你說一張很好的幻燈片時，邁克，你會說羅徹斯特的第 7 張幻燈片，每噸成本，我們去年花了很多年告訴人們，我們將進入那種每噸低於 2 美元的採礦成本、每噸 3 美元的加工成本和每噸 1 美元左右的 G&A 成本。

And sometimes people have looked at us with a little bit of [cynicism]. So it's nice to see that we're targeting those levels and obviously driving the -- at these prices, especially the kind of cash flow out of Rochester this year that's going to be a key driver for us, along then with obviously the addition of Las Chispas.

有時人們會用一種有點[玩世不恭]。因此，很高興看到我們瞄準了這些水平，並且顯然在這些價格下推動了這一進程，尤其是今年羅徹斯特的現金流將成為我們的主要驅動力，同時顯然還有 Las Chispas 的加入。

No, for sure. I really appreciate the additional color you got there on '24, just showing the great improvement quarter over quarter on all your inputs. So congrats on doing well on Rochester.

不，肯定不是。我真的很欣賞您在 24 號上添加的額外顏色，它顯示了您所有輸入的季度環比大幅改善。恭喜你在羅徹斯特取得好成績。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mitchell Krebs, Chairman, President and CEO, for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給董事長、總裁兼執行長 Mitchell Krebs 來做閉幕發言。

Okay. Well, thank you. Thanks, everyone, for taking the time. I know it's a busy reporting day. Appreciate it. We look forward to speaking again after we release our first-quarter results here in the spring. Have a good day, and thanks again for your time.

好的。好的，謝謝你。謝謝大家抽出時間。我知道今天是忙碌的報道日。非常感謝。我們期待在春季發布第一季業績後再次與您交談。祝您有美好的一天，再次感謝您的時間。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。