Hecla Mining Co (HL) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Jeannie, and I will be your conference operator today. I would like to welcome you to the Q4 2023 Hecla Mining Company earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Thank you.

早安.我叫珍妮，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。歡迎您參加 Hecla Mining Company 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）謝謝。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Anvita Patil. You may begin your conference.

我現在想把會議交給安維塔·帕蒂爾。您可以開始您的會議了。

Good morning, Jeannie, and thank you all for joining us for Hecla's fourth-quarter 2023 financial and operations results conference call. I'm Anvita Patil, Hecla's Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer. Our financial results news release that was issued yesterday, along with today's presentation, are available on Hecla's website.

早安，Jeannie，感謝大家參加 Hecla 2023 年第四季財務與營運績效電話會議。我是 Anvita Patil，Hecla 投資者關係副總裁兼財務主管。我們昨天發布的財務業績新聞稿以及今天的簡報可在 Hecla 網站上取得。

On today's call we have Phil Baker, Hecla's President and Chief Executive Officer; Russell Lawlar, Hecla's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Carlos Aguiar, Hecla's Vice President of Operations.

參加今天的電話會議的有 Hecla 總裁兼執行長 Phil Baker； Russell Lawlar，Hecla 資深副總裁兼財務長；以及 Hecla 營運副總裁 Carlos Aguiar。

Phil and Russell will make most of the presentation. Carlos, who's at Keno Hill, will make a couple of comments. All of them will be available to answer questions.

菲爾和拉塞爾將進行大部分演講。基諾山的卡洛斯將發表一些評論。他們所有人都可以回答問題。

Any forward-looking statements made today by the management team comes under the private securities litigation reform act and involve risks, as shown on slide 2, in our earnings release, and in our 10-K and 10-Q filings with the SEC. These and other risks could cause results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

管理團隊今天做出的任何前瞻性聲明均受私人證券訴訟改革法案管轄，並涉及風險，如幻燈片 2、我們的收益報告以及我們向 SEC 提交的 10-K 和 10-Q 文件中所示。這些風險和其他風險可能導致結果與前瞻性陳述中預測的結果不同。

Non-GAAP measures cited in this call and related slides are reconciled in the slides or the news release. I want to remind you, if you would like to have a call with the management, you can do so by using the link under the section, virtual investor event, in the earnings release that was issued yesterday.

本次電話會議和相關幻燈片中引用的非公認會計原則措施在幻燈片或新聞稿中進行了調整。我想提醒您，如果您想與管理層通話，可以使用昨天發布的收益報告中虛擬投資者活動部分下的連結進行。

I will now pass the call to Phil.

我現在將把電話轉給菲爾。

Thanks, Anvita. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining our call. I'm going to start on slide 3. 2023 was a year that was marked by wins and faced with challenges. Some of the challenges were expected, some not. So let me first start with the successes we achieved.

謝謝，安維塔。大家，早安。感謝您加入我們的通話。我將從幻燈片 3 開始。2023 年是充滿勝利但也面臨挑戰的一年。有些挑戰是預料之中的，有些則不是。首先讓我從我們所取得的成功開始。

We reported the second highest reserves in our history. Our silver reserves have increased almost 40% over the past 10 years, and we've accomplished this by not only replacing 130 million ounces of silver production, but adding 65 million ounces through the drill bit, primarily at the Lucky Friday and Greens Creek, and most recently by our acquisition of Keno Hill. We've also had a successful year in exploration with some spectacular results at Keno and Greens Creek.

我們報告了歷史上第二高的儲量。我們的白銀儲量在過去10 年裡增加了近40%，我們不僅透過取代1.3 億盎司的白銀生產來實現這一目標，而且透過鑽頭（主要是在Lucky Friday 和Greens Creek）增加了6,500 萬盎司的白銀產量，最近我們收購了 Keno Hill。我們在勘探方面也取得了成功的一年，在基諾和格林斯溪取得了一些驚人的成果。

We recorded our second highest revenue in silver production, and this was achieved despite Lucky Friday not being in production for five months. Both Greens Creek and Lucky Friday recorded their lowest all injury frequency rate of all time, and we continue to be rewarded for the innovative culture we've created at our long legacy of 133 years. We received a patent on the Underhand Closed Bench mining method.

我們在白銀生產方面取得了第二高的收入，儘管「幸運星期五」已經五個月沒有生產了，但還是實現了這一目標。Greens Creek 和 Lucky Friday 都創下了有史以來最低的所有受傷頻率，我們將繼續因我們在 133 年的長期遺產中創造的創新文化而獲得回報。我們獲得了地下封閉台式採礦方法的專利。

Now in terms of challenges, this year was really marked by three events: the unexpected fire at the Lucky Friday, our decision to pivot to a surface-only operation at Casa, and to prioritize safety over production at Keno, which has resulted in slower-than-expected ramp-up of the mine.

就挑戰而言，今年確實發生了三件事：「幸運星期五號」發生意外火災，我們決定在卡薩號轉向僅地面作業，以及將安全置於基諾號生產之上，這導致了生產速度放緩- 礦山產能超預期。

Now, the Lucky Friday is already back in production, and we expect to ramp up to full production by the end of the first quarter. Our decision in late August to transform Casa to a full open pit operation by mid '24 was a recognition that we needed radical change, and we prioritized margin over volume, and our execution of this strategy is already yielding results.

現在，「幸運星期五」已經恢復生產，我們預計將在第一季末達到全面生產。我們在 8 月下旬決定在 24 年中旬之前將 Casa 轉變為完全露天作業，這是我們認識到我們需要徹底改變，我們優先考慮利潤而不是數量，並且我們對這一策略的執行已經產生了結果。

At Keno Hill, exploration drilling has highlighted the potential and the opportunity of this mine. And while our ramp-up at Keno Hill has gone slower than expected, we firmly believe that by focusing on safety and the environment and getting the mine to Hecla standards is critical if we're going to be successful and provide that long-term value that Keno has the potential to provide.

在基諾山，勘探鑽探凸顯了該礦的潛力和機會。雖然我們基諾山的產能成長速度比預期要慢，但我們堅信，如果我們要取得成功並提供長期價值，那麼透過專注於安全和環境並使礦場達到赫克拉標準至關重要基諾有潛力提供。

Now, we've navigated through the challenges of 2023, and we entered 2024 with four operating mines that will give us significant growth over the next three years. So I'm going to talk about exploration and operations after Russell talks about the financial and technical reports, and Carlos makes a few comments. Russell?

現在，我們已經度過了 2023 年的挑戰，進入 2024 年時，我們有四個正在運營的礦山，這將使我們在未來三年內實現顯著增長。因此，在拉塞爾談論財務和技術報告以及卡洛斯發表一些評論之後，我將談論勘探和營運。拉塞爾？

Thanks, Phil. I'll start on slide 5. By several measures, 2023 was a very good year. We generated $720 million in revenue. Silver contributed 39% of our revenue, which is more than any other metal, demonstrating Hecla as a true silver company. We continue to have very strong margins from our silver operations, with a margin of 50% of the average realized price of silver for the year.

謝謝，菲爾。我將從幻燈片 5 開始。從多項指標來看，2023 年都是非常好的一年。我們創造了 7.2 億美元的收入。白銀貢獻了我們收入的 39%，高於任何其他金屬，這表明 Hecla 是一家真正的白銀公司。我們的白銀業務持續保持非常強勁的利潤，利潤率為當年白銀平均實現價格的 50%。

As expected, and as we reported in the last quarterly call, we did see our net leverage ratio tick up from 2.2 times last quarter to 2.6 times this quarter. This is primarily due to Lucky Friday not being in production for the last five months of the year. Our goal remains to manage the net leverage ratio to be less than 2 times.

正如預期的那樣，正如我們在上一季度電話會議中報告的那樣，我們確實看到我們的淨槓桿率從上季度的 2.2 倍上升到本季的 2.6 倍。這主要是因為《幸運星期五》在今年最後五個月沒有投入生產。我們的目標仍然是將淨槓桿率控制在2倍以下。

I'll now turn to slide 6 to discuss the company's priorities with its free cash flow as well as liquidity. On the previous slide, I mentioned the strong margins we see at our silver operations. These margins equate to significant free cash flows, with 12 months of production at Greens Creek and 6-plus months at Lucky Friday. These operations generated $155 million in free cash flow. With this cash flow and using our balance sheet, we've made some strategic investments for production growth, the $64 million investment at both Keno Hill and Casa Berardi.

我現在將轉向幻燈片 6 來討論公司的優先事項及其自由現金流和流動性。在上一張投影片中，我提到了我們白銀業務的強勁利潤率。這些利潤相當於大量的自由現金流，Greens Creek 的生產期為 12 個月，Lucky Friday 的生產期為 6 個多月。這些業務產生了 1.55 億美元的自由現金流。憑藉這些現金流並利用我們的資產負債表，我們為產量成長進行了一些策略性投資，即在基諾山 (Keno Hill) 和卡薩貝拉迪 (Casa Berardi) 投資 6,400 萬美元。

In 2024, we anticipate seeing strong free cash flow generation from Lucky Friday and Greens Creek, and relatively small investments at Keno and Casa, as well as we expect $50 million from the insurance on the Lucky Friday fire. Our priorities will be continued investment in the long-term production growth of our assets, which include development and exploration in all of our mines, but we'll also be prioritizing delevering our revolver debt.

到 2024 年，我們預計 Lucky Friday 和 Greens Creek 將產生強勁的自由現金流，而 Keno 和 Casa 的投資相對較小，我們預計 Lucky Friday 火災保險將帶來 5000 萬美元的資金。我們的首要任務將是繼續投資於我們資產的長期生產成長，其中包括我們所有礦場的開發和勘探，但我們也將優先考慮去槓桿化我們的左輪債務。

We have full access to our revolver and can access the accordion if necessary. We expect to have adequate sources of cash flow to not only finance our production growth, but also reduce the revolver debt. Our belief is revolvers are meant to provide liquidity when needed, which ours has, but are best undrawn. As we turn to the next couple of slides, I'll walk through some of the highlights of the technical reports.

我們可以完全使用我們的左輪手槍，並且在必要時可以使用手風琴。我們期望擁有充足的現金流來源，不僅可以為我們的生產成長提供資金，還可以減少循環債務。我們的信念是左輪手槍旨在在需要時提供流動性，我們的左輪手槍也有這種流動性，但最好不要提取。當我們轉向接下來的幾張投影片時，我將逐步介紹技術報告的一些重點。

On slide 7 is the summary of the technical report for Keno Hill. This report confirms the value which we've had the opportunity to capture at Keno Hill. The mine projects to have 55 million ounces of silver in reserves, at a reserve grade of more than 26 ounces per tonne, with an expected reserve life of 11 years and an undiscounted cash flow of $420 million. After tax cash flows discount of 5% is just over $300 million at $22 silver.

第 7 張投影片是 Keno Hill 技術報告的摘要。這份報告證實了我們有機會在基諾山獲得的價值。該礦預計擁有5,500萬盎司白銀儲量，儲量品位超過每噸26盎司，預計儲量壽命為11年，未折現現金流為4.2億美元。22 美元的白銀稅後現金流折扣 5% 剛剛超過 3 億美元。

This report demonstrates the value of reserves at Keno Hill, which is only partially why we made this strategic acquisition. Phil will speak to this later in the presentation, but the value that we expect to be added at Keno Hill through the drill bit and our exploration success confirms the significant exploration potential.

本報告展示了基諾山儲量的價值，這只是我們進行此次策略性收購的部分原因。菲爾將在稍後的演講中談到這一點，但我們預計透過鑽頭在基諾山增加的價值以及我們的勘探成功證實了巨大的勘探潛力。

Turning to slide 8, we've owned the Casa Berardi mine for more than a decade, and it has been a good mine over that time. However, when we acquired it back in 2013, we realized then that there was the potential for significant value in the open pits, which were anticipated to start production later in the mine life. We see that value crystallizing as we work through the 160 pit and move our way toward the West Mine Crown Pillar and Principal pits, where we anticipate seeing this mine generate substantial free cash flows.

轉向幻燈片 8，我們擁有 Casa Berardi 礦場已經十多年了，在那段時間裡它一直是一個很好的礦場。然而，當我們在 2013 年收購它時，我們意識到露天礦坑具有巨大的價值潛力，預計露天礦坑將在礦山壽命後期開始生產。當我們穿過 160 個礦坑並向西礦冠柱和主礦坑前進時，我們看到這種價值正在結晶，我們預計該礦將在那裡產生大量的自由現金流。

However, it's not all investment in the property until then. Based on this report, we anticipate seeing the cash flow from the property be slightly negative this year, turn positive next, and be significant in 2026, which should return a large portion of our investment of the past couple of years, prior to taking a production pause while accommodating a permitting timeframe for the higher grade pits.

然而，在那之前，這還不是全部的房地產投資。根據這份報告，我們預計今年該物業的現金流將略有負值，明年將轉為正值，並在2026 年顯著增加，這應該會收回我們過去幾年投資的很大一部分，然後再採取行動。生產暫停，同時為更高品位的坑提供允許的時間範圍。

In 2027, we expect to process the stockpile followed by a production gap of three years when the higher grade pits start production. The revised technical report anticipates a mine life of 14 years, returning an undiscounted cash flow of nearly $600 million and a discounted cash flow of almost $350, which demonstrates the value this mine brings to the Hecla portfolio.

我們預計到 2027 年，將處理完這些庫存，隨後，當更高品位的礦坑開始生產時，將會有三年的生產缺口。修訂後的技術報告預計礦山壽命為 14 年，返回近 6 億美元的未折現現金流和近 350 美元的折現現金流，這表明了該礦山為 Hecla 投資組合帶來的價值。

Turn to slide 9, and I'll turn the call to Carlos.

請翻到投影片 9，我會將電話轉給卡洛斯。

Thanks Russell. I will make only a few comments since I'm outside and remote from Phil and Russell. First, on safety, we have a strong overall safety record, off of one of the mines inspected by MSHA [have done]

謝謝拉塞爾。由於我在外面並且遠離菲爾和拉塞爾，所以我只會發表一些評論。首先，在安全方面，我們擁有良好的整體安全記錄，在 MSHA 檢查過的一個礦場之外 [已經完成]

Greens Creek's all of injury frequency rate was 0.29 and Lucky Friday 0.66, both the lowest in their history. Casa Berardi was not where it should be but had lots of changes. Keno's safety was unacceptable. For all the operations, we have started a safety program that is focusing more on leading indicators like near misses, risk assessments, interactions, and inspections. We expect to make all our operations safer from [serious injury]

綠溪的全部傷病頻率為0.29，幸運星期五為0.66，均為歷史最低。Casa Berardi 並不在它應該在的地方，但發生了很多變化。基諾的安全令人無法接受。對於所有操作，我們啟動了一項安全計劃，該計劃更專注於未遂事故、風險評估、互動和檢查等領先指標。我們希望使我們所有的營運更加安全[重傷]

Our four operations started this year strong. Lucky Friday restarted as planned in the first week of January, and Keno Hill is safer and therefore is beginning to ramp up faster. Greens Creek got the weather events behind it, and Casa Berardi has continued the good performance of the last few months. What a difference we will have this year by having all four properties operational.

我們的四項業務今年開局強勁。幸運星期五按計劃在一月的第一周重新啟動，基諾山更安全，因此開始更快地增加。Greens Creek 受到天氣事件的影響，Casa Berardi 延續了過去幾個月的良好表現。今年，如果所有四處房產都投入運營，我們將帶來多大的變化。

With that, I will pass it on to Phil, starting on slide 10.

接下來，我會將其傳遞給 Phil，從投影片 10 開始。

Thanks, Carlos. We've labeled Greens Creek on this slide, the foundation of Hecla's future. Since as we grow, Greens Creek will continue to be the foundation providing stability and consistency in our cash flow and production well into the future.

謝謝，卡洛斯。我們在這張投影片上將 Greens Creek 標記為 Hecla 未來的基礎。隨著我們的成長，Greens Creek 將繼續成為我們未來現金流和生產穩定性和一致性的基礎。

The mine reported a strong year, which could have been even better without the weather reducing 12 days of production in the fourth quarter. Now we expect the mine to have another consistent year in 2024 with production expected to be about 8.8 million to 9.2 million ounces. So a little less silver and also produce a little less gold due to mine sequencing, where we're mining lower grades, but we will produce a bit higher zinc, the zinc grades are a bit higher. So the cost per ounce will be higher.

該礦報告了今年的強勁表現，如果沒有天氣因素導致第四季度 12 天的產量減少，情況可能會更好。現在，我們預計該礦將在 2024 年再次保持穩定，產量預計約為 880 萬至 920 萬盎司。因此，由於礦山排序，銀的產量會減少一些，金的產量也會減少一些，我們開採的品位較低，但我們會生產更高的鋅，鋅的品位會更高一些。所以每盎司的成本會更高。

We also are increasing the capital, replacing some mobile and mill equipment as risk mitigation of operating at around 2,600 tonnes per day becomes particularly important. At this higher throughput, we really need everything to be more reliable because there's not really an opportunity to catch up if we have an upset. And like we've done at Greens Creek for 30 years, we still see opportunities to have lower costs, these investments allow that lower cost, and also increased recoveries with some of the investments.

我們還增加了資本，更換了一些行動設備和工廠設備，因為降低每天約 2,600 噸的營運風險變得尤為重要。在這種更高的吞吐量下，我們確實需要一切都更加可靠，因為如果我們遇到麻煩，就沒有真正的機會來趕上。就像我們在 Greens Creek 30 年來所做的那樣，我們仍然看到了降低成本的機會，這些投資可以降低成本，並且還可以提高某些投資的回收率。

Slide 11 shows our planned '24 surface and underground exploration programs, which will be testing multiple targets with significant potential to add resources. When Greens Creek started, the mine had a mine plan of seven years, and now 37 years later, the mine plan is 14 years. This past year's underground exploration had good success in seven of the eight zones drilled with four of those zones in the fourth quarter. So we're very excited about this year's program that coordinates the drilling underground with the surface drilling in the East Ore, the Upper Plate, and the Gallagher.

幻燈片 11 顯示了我們計劃的 24 年地面和地下勘探計劃，該計劃將測試具有增加資源巨大潛力的多個目標。Greens Creek 啟動時，該礦的開採計劃為 7 年，而 37 年後的今天，該礦計劃為 14 年。去年的地下勘探在八個區域中的七個中取得了良好的成功，第四季度鑽探了其中的四個區域。因此，我們對今年的計劃感到非常興奮，該計劃將東礦區、上板塊和加拉格爾的地下鑽探與地表鑽探相協調。

We will also drill in the land package we recently acquired, that's the Mammoth claims. We've had an interest in acquiring these claims for at least 20 years. And then at Cliff Creek which has been known to be a very prospective area, but as it's called Cliff Creek, it's almost inaccessible.

我們還將在我們最近獲得的土地上進行鑽探，這是猛獁象聲稱的。至少 20 年來，我們一直對收購這些索賠感興趣。然後是懸崖溪，這裡被認為是一個非常有前景的地區，但由於它被稱為懸崖溪，所以幾乎無法到達。

We started mapping this past year but had logistical issues. But we noted what we need to do, and we have a contractor who we think he's going to be able to do it. So our focus is not just on expanding high-grade mineralization, but it's also in making new discoveries, new discoveries at Cliff Creek potentially and at Mammoth claims.

我們去年開始繪製地圖，但遇到了後勤問題。但我們注意到我們需要做什麼，我們有一個承包商，我們認為他能夠做到這一點。因此，我們的重點不僅在於擴大高品位礦化，還在於在 Cliff Creek 和 Mammoth 礦區進行新發現、潛在新發現。

Now, Greens Creek is a premier silver mine. It's actually the 11th largest in the world, and I just want to congratulate the team on delivering excellent and consistent results and giving it a great future because this is truly a world-class asset. So let's turn to slide 12.

現在，格林斯克里克是一個首屈一指的銀礦。它實際上是世界上第 11 大資產，我只想祝賀團隊取得了出色且一致的成果，並為其創造了美好的未來，因為這確實是一項世界級資產。讓我們轉向投影片 12。

And if Greens Creek is the foundation of Hecla's future, Lucky Friday is the pillar of near-term growth. The value, consistency, culture, and leadership that Lucky Friday brings makes it our second cornerstone asset. If you put this together with Greens Creek, these two mines make us the largest silver producer in the United States.

如果 Greens Creek 是 Hecla 未來的基礎，那麼「幸運星期五」就是近期成長的支柱。幸運星期五帶來的價值、一致性、文化和領導力使其成為我們的第二個基石資產。如果將其與 Greens Creek 放在一起，這兩個礦山使我們成為美國最大的白銀生產商。

The mine restarted in early January, as Carlos mentioned. Production should be about 5 million ounces. Cost per ounce should be similar to Greens Creek. Capital will be about 15 million less this year than last year, and that's about the same as what we had in 2022.

正如卡洛斯所提到的，該礦於一月初重新啟動。產量應約 500 萬盎司。每盎司的成本應該與 Greens Creek 相似。今年的資本比去年少了1500萬左右，跟2022年差不多。

Despite a 19-year mine plan, we are focusing on the potential to expand the mine to the east at the current elevation. So we are doing drilling and exploration to the east. Now, there's lots of unknowns, but success could mean more production and lower costs. And with the mine already stabilized, we're starting to work on small improvements to allow higher throughput, like the five new cyclones that we're putting in at the mill, which will be installed in June.

儘管制定了 19 年的採礦計劃，但我們仍將重點放在當前海拔位置向東擴展礦井的潛力上。所以我們正在東部進行鑽探和勘探。現在，還有很多未知因素，但成功可能意味著更多的產量和更低的成本。隨著礦場的穩定，我們開始進行一些小的改進，以實現更高的吞吐量，例如我們將在工廠安裝五個新的旋風分離器，這些旋風分離器將於 6 月安裝。

Now I'm going to move to slide 13. At Keno Hill, we're struck by two things. First, the ore body is growing with a similar or better quality. And I'm going to take a minute to talk about exploration that makes me say that. I'll do that in a couple of minutes. First though, I want to talk about the second thing we're struck by, which is the safety and environmental performance that has not met our standard. Fixing them is not an overnight exercise, and given the long life that we see, we are laser-focused but patient on improving it.

現在我要轉到投影片 13。在基諾山，有兩件事讓我們震驚。首先，礦體正在以相似或更好的品質生長。我將花一點時間來談談讓我這麼說的探索。我會在幾分鐘內完成。首先，我想談談我們感到震驚的第二件事，那就是安全和環保表現沒有達到我們的標準。修復它們不是一朝一夕的事，考慮到我們看到的使用壽命很長，我們會專注但耐心地改進它。

On safety, it means changing people's attitudes and habits and, where we can, engineering out risks. So we've taken many of our senior people from our corporate technical team and also at the Lucky Friday and have them rotating site. Basically what they're doing is mentoring the Keno team. And then an example of engineering out the risk, we've budgeted a cemented tailings backfill plant for Bermingham to enable it to underhand mining which would be safer than the way we're mining now.

在安全方面，這意味著改變人們的態度和習慣，並盡可能消除風險。因此，我們從公司技術團隊和幸運星期五中抽調了許多高級人員，讓他們輪流擔任現場。基本上他們所做的就是指導基諾團隊。然後是一個消除風險的例子，我們為伯明罕預算了一座水泥尾礦回填廠，使其能夠進行秘密採礦，這比我們現在的採礦方式更安全。

For the environmental issues we have at Keno, we're doing studies to make the site meet our standards. So one of the things that has come out of these studies is putting in a new water filtration plant at Bermingham, which we'll build this year, that will cost maybe $3 million to $5 million.

對於基諾的環境問題，我們正在進行研究以使該場地符合我們的標準。因此，這些研究得出的結果之一是在伯明罕建立一個新的水過濾廠，我們將在今年建造，這將花費 300 萬至 500 萬美元。

Now at this point, we're not giving guidance as to when we'll be in production and reporting unit costs. We want to make sure that we have the safety and the environmental issues right without the pressure of having the combined production targets with cost.

目前，我們不會就何時投入生產和報告單位成本提供指導。我們希望確保安全和環境問題得到解決，而無需承受生產目標與成本相結合的壓力。

What I can say is, though, that we think we're going to produce about 3 million ounces of silver. We expect to spend about $15 million to $17 million a quarter, and then we'll be $30 million to $34 million of capital. So in 2024, current prices should be a small investment year that we do make at Keno. But given the exploration potential and the long mine plan, now's the time to get it right, similar to what happened at Greens Creek, almost 40 years ago.

不過，我可以說的是，我們認為我們將生產約 300 萬盎司白銀。我們預計每季支出約 1500 萬至 1700 萬美元，然後我們的資本將達到 3,000 萬至 3,400 萬美元。因此，從目前的價格來看，2024 年應該是我們在基諾進行的小額投資一年。但考慮到勘探潛力和長期採礦計劃，現在是時候採取正確措施了，類似於近 40 年前 Greens Creek 發生的情況。

So speaking of Greens Creek, what we've decided to do is to try to create more value by having Greens Creek and Keno try to implement as many synergies as possible. They're actually only two hours apart, and it's a seven-hour drive between the two sites once you get to Skagway, which is a short 40-minute flight.

因此，說到 Greens Creek，我們決定透過讓 Greens Creek 和 Keno 實現盡可能多的協同效應來創造更多價值。實際上，兩者相距僅兩個小時，而到達史凱威後，兩個地點之間的車程為 7 小時，飛行時間僅需 40 分鐘。

Now, many of the supplies for Keno actually go by Greens Creek to Skagway, and then they get trucked to Keno. So what we're going to do is, we're going to promote Brian Erickson, who's our VP and GM at Greens Creek, and Kim Campbell, our Greens Creek controller, to provide leadership to both operations.

現在，基諾的許多物資實際上都是通過格林溪到達斯凱威，然後用卡車運送到基諾。因此，我們要做的是，提拔 Greens Creek 的副總裁兼總經理 Brian Erickson 和 Greens Creek 的財務總監 Kim Campbell 來領導這兩項業務。

Brian, in addition to having had the job as Greens Creek's GM over the last two decades, has led various departments. He's headed up mining, he's done surface ops, he's done maintenance. And Kim has led purchasing, warehousing, accounting, and a number of other functions. So we don't know exactly what the synergies will be or what their value will be, and we'll try to outline that over time. But given the maturity of the systems that we have at Greens Creek, this really should accelerate Keno into becoming a strong cash flow generating mine.

Brian 除了在過去二十年中擔任 Greens Creek 的總經理之外，還領導過多個部門。他負責採礦、地面作業和維護。Kim 曾領導採購、倉儲、會計和許多其他職能部門。因此，我們並不確切地知道協同效應是什麼，或者它們的價值是什麼，隨著時間的推移，我們將嘗試概述這一點。但考慮到我們 Greens Creek 系統的成熟度，這確實應該加速 Keno 成為一個產生強大現金流的礦場。

So now let me go to the exploration at Keno, and this is on slide 14. Our drilling programs continue to provide quite remarkable mineralized drill hole intercepts from both underground definition and surface exploration drilling. And I'm only going to talk about Bermingham this morning, but realize that there are a series of other targets at Keno that some of which we will drill this next year, that will actually get more drilling than -- or as much drilling as Bermingham will get from surface.

現在讓我去探索基諾，這是幻燈片 14 上的。我們的鑽探計劃繼續提供相當出色的地下定義和地表勘探鑽探的礦化鑽孔截距。今天早上我只想談論伯明翰，但要意識到基諾還有一系列其他目標，我們明年將鑽探其中一些目標，實際上鑽探的數量將超過——或者鑽探的數量伯明翰將從地面獲取。

If you look at the plan view that's in the middle of the slide, and it's marked B, B prime in the upper corners, you'll see that the Bermingham deposit has a number of zones: the Etta, Arctic, Bear, Northeast, and Deep Northeast. And then the small image to the right shows B, B prime going through those zones, and then you can see A, A prime is a cross section that actually goes through the Bear zone.

如果您查看幻燈片中間的平面圖，並且其上角標有 B、B 素數，您會發現伯明翰礦床有多個區域：埃塔、北極、熊、東北、和東北深處。然後右邊的小圖顯示了 B, B prime 穿過這些區域，然後您可以看到 A, A prime 是實際上穿過熊區的橫截面。

And if you look at the leftmost image, that's the A, A prime in the upper corners. And the Bear zone has three veins: the main vein, the footwall vein, and the Bear vein. And what I want to draw your attention to is the 54 ounce over 39.5 feet, that is the transverse vein between the main and the footwall vein. This is the widest, highest grade intercept that we're aware of. We had a similar grade intercept a quarter earlier, just not quite as wide.

如果你看最左邊的圖像，那就是上角的 A，A 質數。熊帶有3條脈：主脈、下盤脈、熊脈。我想提請您注意的是 39.5 英尺長的 54 盎司，即主脈和下盤脈之間的橫脈。這是我們所知的最寬、等級最高的攔截。四分之一年前我們也有類似的坡度截距，但寬度沒有那麼寬。

Looking back at the B, B prime image that's in the middle, there's a red star, that it's the high-grade mineralization that's more than a thousand feet deeper than in previous drilling. The longstanding view is that Keno's potential was only in the top 300, 400 feet from the surface. We now have evidence that the high grade mineralization can be hosted, the full depth of the 1-kilometer favorable basal quartzite host rock unit. And so these two holes, I really think, are emblematic of the potential of Keno.

回頭看中間的 B, B prime 圖像，有一顆紅星，表明這是比之前鑽探深一千多英尺的高品位礦化體。長期以來的觀點是，基諾的潛力只存在於離地 300 至 400 英尺的頂部。我們現在有證據表明，在 1 公里有利的基底石英岩主岩單元的全深度，可以存在高品位礦化。所以我真的認為這兩個洞象徵著基諾的潛力。

Now turning to slide 15, last year we concluded that we could not generate enough margin mining two separate underground deposits in open pit, like I said, at the beginning of our remarks. We just had too many people. We actually had 1,100 people between employees and contractors. And there just wasn't enough value in the rock to operate the mine that way, so we made the decision to simplify the operations by shutting down the underground. And so our team has really very successfully implemented the change. 2024 will have about 0.5 year of underground operations as we mine out the already developed stopes, and then we'll have only surface tonnes coming out of the 160 pit.

現在轉向投影片 15，去年我們得出的結論是，我們無法在露天開採兩個獨立的地下礦床時產生足夠的利潤，就像我在發言開始時所說的那樣。我們只是人太多了。實際上，我們有 1,100 名員工和承包商。而且岩石中沒有足夠的價值來以這種方式運作礦山，因此我們決定透過關閉地下來簡化營運。因此，我們的團隊確實非常成功地實施了這項變革。到 2024 年，我們將進行大約 0.5 年的地下作業，因為我們將開採已經開發的採場，然後我們將僅從 160 個礦坑中開採出地面噸的礦石。

Then go to slide 16, and what this shows is our production costs and capital guidance. Our 2024 silver production guidance shows an increase of about 15% to 20%. This year 30% by 2026. Silver cost guidance is slightly higher than '23, cash costs are at $3 to $3.75, AISC between $13 and $14.50.

然後轉到第16張投影片，這顯示的是我們的生產成本和資本指引。我們的 2024 年白銀產量指引顯示成長約 15% 至 20%。今年到 2026 年將達到 30%。白銀成本指引略高於 23 年，現金成本為 3 至 3.75 美元，AISC 為 13 至 14.50 美元。

So we still have substantial margin at current and even lower prices and proves that we're really the low-cost leader in the industry. Gold cost guidance is lower. Capital guidance is lower as well as we've completed and seen the benefits of the major projects such as the service hoist and the ore bunker at the Lucky Friday.

因此，在當前甚至更低的價格下，我們仍然擁有可觀的利潤，並證明我們確實是行業中的低成本領導者。黃金成本指引較低。資本指導較低，而且我們已經完成並看到了幸運星期五的服務提昇機和礦石倉等主要項目的效益。

Before I open the call to questions, I want to leave you with the increasing role that silver is playing in solar and energy transition. And on slide 17, you'll see some of the key numbers that highlights this.

在開始提問之前，我想先向大家介紹白銀在太陽能和能源轉型中所扮演的日益重要的角色。在投影片 17 上，您將看到一些強調這一點的關鍵數字。

2023 was the 22nd year in a row that renewable capacity set a new record. So it just continued to grow year after year. And 75% of this renewable capacity in 2023, the additions were solar. Just in the United States, solar capacity has expanded by 44% a year on average since 2009. Now it takes about a $0.5 million ounces of silver per gigawatt of solar that's installed. So in 2023, silver demand in solar increased by about 50 million ounces to 190 million ounces, and that's a 12% growth rate in the last 10 years.

2023 年是再生能源發電量連續 22 年創下新紀錄。所以它只是年復一年地繼續成長。到 2023 年，新增再生能源發電量中的 75% 是太陽能。僅在美國，自 2009 年以來太陽能發電量平均每年增長 44%。現在，安裝每千兆瓦太陽能大約需要 50 萬盎司白銀。因此，到2023年，太陽能領域的白銀需求將增加約5,000萬盎司，達到1.9億盎司，這是過去10年12%的成長率。

So to put this 50 million ounces in context, that's the equivalent of five new Greens Creeks or 10 new Lucky Fridays, so not likely to happen that we're going to have production that's going to increase at the same pace that this demand for silver for solar is growing at. So that means we're going to have to rely upon above-ground silver. In order to get that, I think you're going to need higher prices to meet that demand.

因此，將這 5000 萬盎司放在上下文中，相當於 5 個新的 Greens Creeks 或 10 個新的 Lucky Fridays，因此我們的產量不太可能以與白銀需求相同的速度增長太陽能正在增長。因此，這意味著我們將不得不依賴地上白銀。為了實現這一目標，我認為您將需要更高的價格來滿足這一需求。

So with that, Jeannie, I'd like to open the call to questions. Jeannie, I'd like to open the call to questions.

因此，珍妮，我想開始提問。珍妮，我想開始提問。

(Operator Instructions). Lucas Pipes, B. Riley Securities.

（操作員說明）。盧卡斯‧派普斯 (Lucas Pipes)，B. 萊利證券 (Riley Securities)。

This is Nick Giles asking a question on behalf of Lucas. Really appreciate the update on Keno here. It sounds like you've already made some nice progress. Is there still any ongoing assessment or is it now down to purely implementation?

我是尼克吉爾斯，代表盧卡斯提問。非常感謝這裡對基諾的更新。聽起來你已經取得了一些不錯的進展。是否仍在進行任何評估，或現在是否純粹實施？

Yeah, it's really execution. We're just working through getting people where they need to be, when they need to be there. Certainly, one of the things that we've seen is that we have a lot of young, relatively inexperienced people that come from all over Canada. And so that's why having this mentoring, we think, is so important.

是的，這確實是執行力。我們只是努力讓人們在需要的時候到達他們需要的地方。當然，我們看到的一件事是，我們有許多來自加拿大各地的年輕人，相對缺乏經驗。因此，我們認為，這就是為什麼這種指導如此重要。

And it's had real effect. It has been remarkable, the improvements that we've seen over the course of the last few months. But having said that, we want to be cautious that we're not pushing the organization faster than it's really capable of moving safely.

並且確實起到了實實在在的效果。在過去的幾個月裡，我們看到了顯著的進步。但話雖如此，我們要保持謹慎，不要讓組織的行動速度超過真正能夠安全移動的速度。

Nice to hear the synergies with Greens Creek as well. I can appreciate you're not --

很高興聽到與 Greens Creek 的協同效應。我很欣賞你不是--

Yeah, I'm really excited about the potential for the synergies. I mean, one of the things is some back office things that Canada is responsible for. Brian certainly brings a load of experience, and the mining methods are similar. Equipment is a bit different because it's larger at Greens Creek. But one of the things we're thinking about is doing rebuilds. We do them in Juneau for Greens Creek. Maybe we'll also do them for Keno in Juneau.

是的，我對協同效應的潛力感到非常興奮。我的意思是，其中一件事是加拿大負責的一些後台事務。Brian 當然帶來了豐富的經驗，而且挖掘方法也很相似。設備有點不同，因為 Greens Creek 的設備更大。但我們正在考慮的事情之一是進行重建。我們在朱諾為 Greens Creek 進行這些工作。也許我們也會為朱諾的基諾做這些事。

Got it, got it, that's great to hear. I can appreciate you're not ready to give guidance like you outlined, but it's safe to say it's kind of a second half event before we see anything, or any color you could give around timing, just rough estimates?

明白了，明白了，很高興聽到這個消息。我可以理解你還沒有準備好提供你所概述的指導，但可以肯定地說，在我們看到任何東西之前，這只是下半場的事件，或者你可以在時間上給出任何顏色，只是粗略的估計？

Look I'm not going to -- it will be as fast as we can do it safely and have a stabilized organization there. As we indicated when we made the change, we had fortunately no incidents that have resulted in injury, major significant injury. But we have the potential for that, and we're just not going to take a risk.

聽著，我不會——我們會盡可能快地安全地做到這一點，並在那裡建立一個穩定的組織。正如我們在做出改變時所指出的，幸運的是，我們沒有發生導致傷害、重大傷害的事件。但我們有潛力做到這一點，但我們不會冒險。

Got it. I appreciate the color here. I'll go ahead and jump back into queue. But continued best of luck.

知道了。我很欣賞這裡的顏色。我會繼續並跳回到隊列中。但繼續祝你好運。

Joseph Reagor, Roth MKM.

約瑟夫·雷戈爾，羅斯·MKM。

On Keno Hill, as you look at the guide you gave this year versus the guide that was given at the beginning of last year, what do you think is the biggest dilemma for why there isn't as big of an increase as we might have anticipated for the mine this year? Is it not getting enough workers to site? Is it still underground development being behind schedule? Is it mine sequencing? How do you think about that? And then what do you guys think is the biggest things you need to do in the future to try to get it to where you want it to be?

在基諾山，當您查看今年提供的指南與去年年初提供的指南時，您認為最大的困境是什麼，為什麼增幅沒有我們可能的那麼大預計今年該礦的產量？是不是沒有足夠的工人來現場？地下開發仍落後於計畫？是我的定序嗎？您對此有何看法？那麼你們認為未來為了達到你們想要的目標而需要做的最重要的事情是什麼？

Yeah, I mean, look, I think there's an element of caution here, Joe, that we want to make sure, as I said, that we're not pushing the organization too fast. I think what we didn't appreciate was the ability of the organization to deal in a systematic way with the issues that arose. And we're getting those systems in place to be able to do that.

是的，我的意思是，聽著，我認為這裡有一個謹慎的因素，喬，我們希望確保，正如我所說，我們不會太快推動組織。我認為我們沒有意識到該組織以系統化的方式處理出現的問題的能力。我們正在將這些系統安裝到位，以便能夠做到這一點。

I think it will take a little bit of time, but I'm highly confident that over the course of the coming year that we'll get there. Number one, we've taken our most senior experienced people in our organization and they are spending time, hence why Carlos is there at site, with this reorganization with Brian heading up the activities at both of these operations, Greens Creek and Keno. We'll have that leadership, and the leadership will be close by. And so I think it puts us on a good path to see the improvements.

我認為這需要一點時間，但我非常有信心在來年我們將實現這一目標。第一，我們聘請了組織中最資深、經驗豐富的人員，他們花時間，這就是卡洛斯在現場的原因，這次重組由布賴恩負責格林斯溪和基諾這兩個業務的活動。我們將擁有這樣的領導力，而且領導力就在附近。所以我認為這讓我們走上了一條看到改進的好道路。

Technically, it's not -- there's challenges, but technically they're all manageable challenges. Carlos, is there anything you would like to add?

從技術上講，並不是存在挑戰，但從技術上講，這些挑戰都是可以管理的。卡洛斯，您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Well, it's just that the mentoring and the training and trying to hire the most adequate people, retain, train, promote, and build the team in the proper way.

嗯，這只是指導和培訓，並試圖僱用最合適的人員，以正確的方式留住、培訓、晉升和建立團隊。

Okay. And then shifting over to Casa, looking at the long-term plan, do you guys have off the top of your head the after tax IRR for that expansion project?

好的。然後轉向 Casa，看看長期計劃，你們是否清楚該擴建項目的稅後 IRR？

When we put the technical report together, it'll be filed with our 10-K, we actually didn't calculate an IRR just because we're mid-project here in terms of Casa. Casa is interesting because we're going to put a little bit of investment in this year. We should see some nice cash flows over the next few years, then a pause, and then an investment. So we actually didn't calculate the IRR, but what we did do is calculate the discounted cash flow there.

當我們將技術報告放在一起時，它將與我們的 10-K 一起提交，我們實際上並沒有計算 IRR，只是因為我們正處於 Casa 專案的中期。Casa 很有趣，因為我們今年將投入一點投資。未來幾年我們應該會看到一些不錯的現金流，然後暫停，然後進行投資。所以我們實際上沒有計算IRR，但我們所做的是計算那裡的現金流量折現。

We're laughing, Joe, because one of our directors asked the same question.

喬，我們笑了，因為我們的一位董事問了同樣的問題。

Well, the reason I ask is, general rule of thumb, like if it was not an operating asset, a CapEx that exceeds the NPV after tax would suggest the IRR is in the 25% or lower range. And I was just wondering if there's any risk at all that you guys decide that there's a better use of capital than that?

嗯，我問的原因是，一般經驗法則，就像如果它不是營運資產一樣，超過稅後 NPV 的資本支出將表明 IRR 在 25% 或更低的範圍內。我只是想知道你們認為有比這更好的資本利用是否有任何風險？

I guess, the first thing I'd say is that the investment that's going to end up happening there is really just the stripping from the pits that will happen in '28, '29. And so it's a relatively -- and we'll have much of the equipment already in hand. So there is very little equipment that needs to be purchased relative to just the cost of moving the rock. We have a place to store that waste rock. So I think certainly we can do the math to figure out what that would be. We have very good cash flow between now and that pause time when we're doing that stripping.

我想，我要說的第一件事是，最終將發生的投資實際上只是從 28 年、29 年發生的維修站剝離。所以這是一個相對的——我們手頭上已經有很多設備了。因此，相對於移動岩石的成本而言，需要購買的設備非常少。我們有地方存放廢石。所以我認為我們當然可以透過數學來弄清楚那會是什麼。從現在到我們進行剝離的暫停時間之間，我們有非常好的現金流。

The other thing, you'll see this in the technical report, but the payback on those pits, the Principal and the West Mine Crown Pillar pit comes very, very quickly in the early 2030s. So that investment period of '28, '29 and then a little bit into 2030 gets paid back quickly in '31, '32, et cetera. So that speaks to what Phil just said in terms of us already -- today, we're investing in the surface fleet, et cetera, setting ourselves up for this mine for the long run.

另一件事，你會在技術報告中看到這一點，但是這些礦坑、Principal 和 West Mine Crown Pillar 礦坑的回報會在 2030 年代初期非常非常快地到來。因此，「28」、「29」以及 2030 年的投資期間將在「31」、「32」等時期迅速得到回報。這符合菲爾剛才所說的關於我們的內容——今天，我們正在投資水面艦隊等，為這個礦場的長期發展做好準備。

Okay. And one final thing, if I could. I saw an article a couple of weeks ago. Phil, I believe you made the comment that you guys are looking at South America as an opportunity to maybe expand the company and the production profile. Is this something that's a long-term thought, or is there any potential to do M&A in the next year or two?

好的。最後一件事，如果可以的話。幾週前我看到一篇文章。菲爾，我相信你曾說過，你們正在將南美視為擴大公司和生產規模的機會。這是一個長期的想法，還是有可能在未來一兩年內進行併購？

Well, there is always the potential, Joe, to do it. What we have said consistently is we are prepared to go outside the United States and Canada for silver assets. We won't do that for gold or any other metal, but we will consider it for silver.

好吧，喬，總是有潛力做到這一點。我們一貫表示，我們準備走出美國和加拿大購買白銀資產。我們不會對黃金或任何其他金屬這樣做，但我們會考慮對白銀這樣做。

Having said that, the ability to do those transactions are difficult. And so we are not going to -- we don't have to push it. We're fortunate in that we have growth in the near term. We should get to close to 20 million ounces by 2026. We have in our portfolio, we actually have -- to include the operating properties, we have 20 properties in our portfolio, half of which are silver assets, half of which are gold assets, and we'd like to advance those.

話雖如此，進行這些交易的能力還是很困難的。所以我們不會——我們不必推動它。我們很幸運，我們在短期內實現了成長。到 2026 年，我們的產量應該會接近 2000 萬盎司。在我們的投資組合中，我們實際上有——包括經營性房產在內，我們的投資組合中有 20 處房產，其中一半是白銀資產，一半是黃金資產，我們希望推進這些資產。

Some of them are in the permitting process. Some we need to do more exploration on, but we do have the ability to do things within our portfolio. But having said that, our long-term objective is to be really the premier silver company, which means more production, as well as become -- and this is a super long-term goal, but as well as become an S&P 500 company. And we think with more production and higher prices, which we're as I indicated, why we think we'll see higher prices, we think that that's something that could be achieved in the long term.

其中一些正在申請許可過程中。有些我們需要做更多的探索，但我們確實有能力在我們的投資組合內做一些事情。但話雖如此，我們的長期目標是真正成為首屈一指的白銀公司，這意味著更多的產量，以及成為——這是一個超長期目標，但同時也成為一家標準普爾 500 強公司。我們認為，隨著產量的增加和價格的上漲，正如我所指出的，為什麼我們認為我們會看到更高的價格，我們認為從長遠來看這是可以實現的。

Okay. Thanks for the color. I'll turn it over.

好的。謝謝你的顏色。我會把它翻過來。

Sure thing.

當然可以。

Don DeMarco, National Bank Financial.

唐‧德馬科 (Don DeMarco)，國家銀行金融部門。

My first question, maybe just building on the last caller's question about M&A, we've seen -- with regard to pursuing silver assets, we've seen some of your peers challenge that silver assets to diversify into gold. I think I heard from you that still your priority is silver. You wouldn't certainly go for gold outside of North America. But would you consider gold assets, or are you still firmly focused in any M&A, if it met all your hurdles, primarily focused on silver?

我的第一個問題，也許只是基於最後一個來電者關於併購的問題，我們已經看到 - 關於追求白銀資產，我們已經看到一些同行挑戰白銀資產多元化到黃金。我想我聽你說你的首要任務還是白銀。你肯定不會去北美以外的地方買黃金。但如果它滿足了您的所有障礙（主要集中在白銀），您是否會考慮黃金資產，或者您仍然堅定地專注於任何併購？

We're absolutely primarily focused on silver. We will, however, consider gold and maybe even other metals that are in the jurisdictions, in the places that we operate. So we're in Alaska, we're in Yukon, we're in Idaho, we're in the Abitibi, Quebec, and I would characterize just across the border geologically as being the same.

我們絕對主要關注白銀。然而，我們會考慮黃金，甚至可能是我們經營所在地司法管轄區的其他金屬。所以我們在阿拉斯加，我們在育空地區，我們在愛達荷州，我們在阿比蒂比，魁北克省，我會在地質上將邊界的另一邊描述為相同。

So would we consider things other than silver in those places? The answer is, yes. Is it our first priority? No, but we certainly think -- you saw the ATAC transaction that we did in the Yukon. We think that it was a strategic acquisition that really sets up Hecla for a very long-term potential of things that could be very, very meaningful. So we are prepared to consider those things.

那麼在那些地方我們會考慮白銀以外的其他東西嗎？答案是，是的。這是我們的首要任務嗎？不，但我們當然認為——您看到了我們在育空地區進行的 ATAC 交易。我們認為這是一次策略性收購，真正讓 Hecla 發揮了非常長期的潛力，這可能非常非常有意義。所以我們準備考慮這些事情。

Okay. Yeah, it makes sense, looking at potential jurisdiction synergies. Looking at the production outlook, we see that silver production is increasing over the next three years. We see 20 million ounces at the high end of the range in a few years. Costs weren't included, we get that, but how should we think about costs over this timeframe? Should we think about costs as increasing or flat? Is there any -- just kind of for the sake of modeling, what trends we should think about?

好的。是的，考慮到潛在的管轄權協同效應，這是有道理的。從產量前景來看，我們看到未來三年白銀產量將會增加。我們預計幾年後產量將達到 2000 萬盎司的上限。我們明白，成本沒有包括在內，但我們該如何考慮這段時間內的成本？我們應該考慮成本增加還是持平？是否有任何——只是為了建模，我們應該考慮哪些趨勢？

I would generally say that you'll have some inflationary pressure, so you'll see costs increase as a result of that. I'm going to talk about first in terms of the quantum of costs, rather than on a unit basis. You'll see some slight increases, but nothing at Greens Creek and the Lucky Friday. I'm not anticipating any sort of significant sort of cost increase.

我通常會說，你會面臨一些通膨壓力，因此你會看到成本增加。我將首先討論成本量，而不是單位成本。您會看到一些輕微的增長，但 Greens Creek 和 Lucky Friday 沒有任何增長。我預計成本不會有任何顯著增加。

And at Keno, it will be in a transitional period. I think Keno will -- the objective we will probably have long term given the exploration results we have is to see that property increase its throughput. We, in fact, in the technical report have an assumption that we get to, I think, 550 tonnes or 600 short tonnes per day in three or four years from now. So as a result, you'll see more dollars needing to be spent at that location.

而在基諾，這將處於一個過渡時期。我認為基諾會——鑑於我們所擁有的勘探結果，我們的長期目標可能是看到該財產增加其吞吐量。事實上，我們在技術報告中假設，我認為，從現在開始的三、四年內，我們每天的產量將達到 550 噸或 600 短噸。因此，您會發現需要在該地點花費更多的錢。

But then when you look at it on a unit basis, for Greens Creek and the Lucky Friday, it's really going to be a function of the by-products and the prices of those by-products. To the extent we're at the similar sort of price levels that we are now, I wouldn't anticipate much of a change.

但當你以單位為基礎來看時，對於 Greens Creek 和 Lucky Friday 來說，它實際上是副產品和這些副產品價格的函數。就我們目前的價格水平而言，我預計不會有太大變化。

For Keno, I think over time, we will be able to drive the cost down pretty substantially. But it's going to take more tonnes. And I think trying to get some of these synergies with Greens Creek, I think, could be a benefit to both properties.

對於基諾，我認為隨著時間的推移，我們將能夠大幅降低成本。但這將需要更多噸。我認為，嘗試與 Greens Creek 取得一些協同效應，可能對兩家酒店都有好處。

Anything to add, Russell?

有什麼要補充的嗎，拉塞爾？

I agree with what you've said. There's really nothing that we have coming at us that we would say -- we could point to that would say this is going to change our cost profile dramatically, especially at the Lucky Friday and the Greens Creek. And I'm thinking about it from the kind of just as-produced production costs, the costs we're going to spend on a monthly or a yearly basis.

我同意你所說的。我們確實沒有什麼可以說的——我們可以指出這將極大地改變我們的成本狀況，特別是在幸運星期五和格林溪。我從生產成本、我們每月或每年要支出的成本來考慮這個問題。

Keno Hill's cost structure has quite a bit of fixed costs within it. And so as we are able to scale that up and see more throughput, there will be additional variable costs. But we should see on a per-unit basis, those should come off. And then Phil mentioned the treatments or the by-product credits, but we also have the treatment charges in there as well. Right now, I think the outlook for the treatment charges should be relatively stable, but we'll see those things can fluctuate and actually have an impact on our cost profile as well.

基諾山的成本結構中有相當多的固定成本。因此，當我們能夠擴大規模並獲得更多吞吐量時，就會產生額外的變動成本。但我們應該看到，在每個單位的基礎上，這些應該會成功。然後菲爾提到了治療或副產品積分，但我們也有治療費用。目前，我認為治療費用的前景應該相對穩定，但我們會看到這些事情可能會波動，實際上也會對我們的成本狀況產生影響。

Pretty dramatic treatment charges over time.

隨著時間的推移，治療費用相當可觀。

Okay. And just as a final question, Phil, you mentioned Keno Hill, they are ramping up to a throughput rate of around 550 short tonnes per year. And what should we think about? You see 2024 production at 2.7 million to 3 million ounces silver. And what should we pair up in terms of throughput rate for that? Rather than 550 tonnes per day, I would imagine. So what should we think about in terms of tonnes per day in '24?

好的。Phil，作為最後一個問題，您提到了 Keno Hill，他們的吞吐量正在提高到每年 550 短噸左右。我們該思考什麼？您預計 2024 年白銀產量為 270 萬至 300 萬盎司。我們應該在吞吐率方面搭配什麼？我想，而不是每天 550 噸。那麼，我們應該以 24 年每天的噸數來考慮什麼呢？

That's certainly what we're still working through because we do have higher grade areas, but generally speaking, somewhere between 300 tonnes and 400 tonnes per day. But again, we're not going to push it. If we're at the lower end of the range of ounces, then we're at the lower end of the tonnes per day. If we're at the higher end of the range, then it's just more tonnes that we've been able to process, so between 300 tonnes and 400 tonnes.

這當然是我們仍在努力解決的問題，因為我們確實有更高品位的區域，但一般來說，每天的產量在 300 噸到 400 噸之間。但同樣，我們不會推動它。如果我們處於盎司範圍的下限，那麼我們每天的噸數也處於下限。如果我們處於該範圍的高端，那麼我們能夠處理的噸數只是更多，因此在 300 噸到 400 噸之間。

Okay. That's all for me. And good luck with the rest of the quarter.

好的。這就是我的全部。祝本季剩下的時間一切順利。

(Operator Instructions) John Tumazos, John Tumazos Very Independent Research.

（操作員說明）John Tumazos，John Tumazos 非常獨立的研究。

Was the $21 million inventory adjustment solely related to falling zinc prices and zinc concentrates in transit?

2,100 萬美元的庫存調整僅與鋅價下跌和運輸中的鋅精礦有關？

John, I think the short answer to that is it's the Lucky Friday.

約翰，我認為簡短的回答是今天是幸運星期五。

So John, you're looking at the cash flow statement, correct? The non-cash, the add back?

那麼約翰，您正在查看現金流量表，對嗎？非現金，加回來？

Correct.

正確的。

On the cash flow? Yeah, that's a couple of things. First, that's related to Casa Berardi, I would say is the largest part of it, where the cost per ounce, especially when you take into account the non-cash charges, the depreciation that goes into the inventory, there was a net realizable value right down there. And that was accelerated because when we stopped development of some new resources or new reserves at the West Mine Underground, we accelerated the depreciation because we anticipate that will mine out mid-2024.

靠現金流？是的，有幾件事。首先，這與 Casa Berardi 有關，我想說的是其中最大的部分，每盎司的成本，特別是當你考慮到非現金費用、庫存摺舊時，有一個可變現淨值就在那裡。這是加速的，因為當我們停止開發西礦地下的一些新資源或新儲量時，我們加速了折舊，因為我們預計這些資源將在 2024 年中期開採完畢。

So we see the non-cash charges at Casa Berardi have gone up. And I think that detail -- if you go into the 10-K, you'll see that detail as the non-cash charges have gone up. So that's the biggest driver of that. There is some changes as well at Greens Creek, where you ship concentrate and you get -- you have to true up estimates of what the inventory is that you have in the concentrate barn, so those will flow through there as well, but it's primarily Casa.

因此，我們看到 Casa Berardi 的非現金費用有所上漲。我認為這個細節 - 如果你進入 10-K，你會看到這個細節，因為非現金費用已經上漲。所以這是最大的驅動力。Greens Creek 也發生了一些變化，在那裡你運送精礦，你得到的——你必須準確估計精礦倉中的庫存量，所以這些也會流經那裡，但主要是卡薩。

What I would say is, you mentioned the change in the price of zinc, and we have seen a big change in the price of zinc has come off. A couple of things though, if you look at the realized price of zinc, it's actually pretty healthy, because we had hedges in place that caused us to not have to take that lower price, right, so it's above $1.30 for the quarter. But also, even at $1 or $1.10 zinc, both Greens Creek and Lucky Friday, have strong positive margins. So there's really no NRV write-downs at either of those mines.

我想說的是，你提到了鋅價的變化，我們看到鋅價已經發生了很大的變化。但有幾件事，如果你看一下鋅的實際價格，它實際上相當健康，因為我們有對沖措施，使我們不必接受較低的價格，對吧，所以本季度的價格高於 1.30 美元。而且，即使鋅價為 1 美元或 1.10 美元，Greens Creek 和 Lucky Friday 也具有強勁的正利潤率。因此，這兩個礦場實際上都沒有 NRV 減記。

Second question, if I may. The $76 million in idle facilities cost, does that largely disappear after the January restart at Lucky Friday and then say mid-year when Keno Hill starts to produce revenue?

第二個問題，如果可以的話。7600 萬美元的閒置設施成本，在 1 月份幸運星期五重新啟動之後，然後說年中基諾山開始產生收入時，這是否會大部分消失？

Short answer is, yes. Yeah, that's correct. In 2023 it was primarily driven by Lucky Friday, and then also there's a chunk of it that was Keno Hill as well, right. That's ramped up at Keno Hill, where we essentially have our cost of goods sold match our revenue, and then the rest of the costs go through that. So as we see Keno Hill produce more, that should shrink as well. And a little bit -- yeah, a little bit of Casa and some of Nevada is in there as well.

簡短的回答是，是的。是的，這是正確的。2023 年，它主要是由“幸運星期五”推動的，還有很大一部分是由基諾山推動的，對吧。在基諾山，這種情況有所增加，我們的銷售成本基本上與我們的收入相匹配，然後其餘的成本也隨之而來。因此，當我們看到基諾山產量增加時，產量也會減少。還有一點——是的，還有一點卡薩和內華達州的一些地方也在那裡。

Remember Casa, we had the fire in Quebec that caused this to have to be shut down.

記住卡薩，我們在魁北克發生了火災，導致它必須關閉。

Right.

正確的。

Lucas Pipes, B. Riley Securities.

盧卡斯‧派普斯 (Lucas Pipes)，B. 萊利證券 (Riley Securities)。

Hey, thanks, operator. This is Nick Giles again on behalf of Lucas. Could you provide any color around the cadence of insurance payments throughout the year? I know first proceeds were here in February. And then, how should we think about timing as far as paying down the revolver? Is paying that down contingent upon receiving these payments?

嘿，謝謝，接線生。這是尼克·賈爾斯（Nick Giles）再次代表盧卡斯（Lucas）發言。您能否提供有關全年保險付款節奏的任何資訊？我知道第一筆收益是在二月。那麼，我們該如何考慮還清左輪手槍的時機呢？支付首付是否取決於收到這些付款？

Well, Nick, this is an insurance company, so I'm not going to render a guess as to when they'll actually pay us. But we did -- they have actually been very good, and they did make a payment just a couple of days ago. But what they have said is that they would anticipate during the course of the year, so just sometime over the course. As far as paying down the revolver, it will be a function of both that and the cash flow from our operations. So it's ideally, we will -- as we build that cash position, we'll pay it down.

嗯，尼克，這是一家保險公司，所以我不會猜測他們什麼時候會真正向我們付款。但我們做到了——他們實際上非常好，幾天前他們確實付款了。但他們所說的是，他們會在這一年中進行預期，所以只是在過程中的某個時候。就償還左輪手槍而言，這將取決於該金額和我們營運的現金流。因此，理想情況下，當我們建立現金頭寸時，我們將償還它。

Got it. Got it. Okay. Well, fair enough. Appreciate the color. Best of luck.

知道了。知道了。好的。好吧，很公平。欣賞顏色。祝你好運。

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Phil Baker, CEO, for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。現在，我將把電話轉回給執行長菲爾貝克 (Phil Baker)，他將發表結束語。

Okay. Well, thanks everyone for participating in the call. I'll remind you that we have the opportunity. If you'd like to have a one-on-one meeting with us, you can schedule one with us in the next hour or two. And if that doesn't work, then please feel free to reach out to Anvita and we'll be happy to schedule you at a different time.

好的。好的，感謝大家參與此次通話。我會提醒你，我們有機會。如果您想與我們進行一對一的會面，您可以在接下來的一兩個小時內安排與我們的會面。如果這不起作用，請隨時聯繫 Anvita，我們很樂意為您安排其他時間。

I just appreciate the interest, and I definitely think that we're in a place with silver that we've not been before, and we're going to keep banging that drum to try to get people to realize what's happening in the silver space with the growth in silver. So thanks so much, and I'll talk soon.

我只是很欣賞大家的興趣，而且我絕對認為我們正處於一個以前從未去過的白銀領域，我們將繼續敲鼓，試圖讓人們意識到白銀領域正在發生的事情隨著白銀的增長。非常感謝，我很快就會講。

This concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。