Ramaco Resources Inc (METCB) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Ramaco Resources third-quarter 2025 results conference call. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎參加 Ramaco Resources 2025 年第三季業績電話會議。（操作說明）

Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jeremy Sussman, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

請注意，本次活動正在錄影。現在我將把會議交給財務長傑里米·薩斯曼。請繼續。

Thank you. On behalf of Ramaco Resources, I'd like to welcome all of you to our third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. With me this morning is Randy Atkins, our Chairman and CEO; Chris Blanchard, our EVP for Mine Planning and Development, and Mike Woloschuk, our EVP for Critical Mineral Operations. Before we start, I'd like to share our normal cautionary statement. Certain items discussed on today's call constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

謝謝。我謹代表 Ramaco Resources，歡迎各位參加我們 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。今天早上和我在一起的有：我們的董事長兼首席執行官蘭迪·阿特金斯；我們的礦山規劃和開發執行副總裁克里斯·布蘭查德；以及我們的關鍵礦產運營執行副總裁邁克·沃洛舒克。在開始之前，我想先分享我們通常的注意事項。今天電話會議上討論的某些事項構成 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》意義上的前瞻性陳述。

These forward-looking statements represent Ramaco's expectations concerning future events. These statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of Ramaco's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.

這些前瞻性陳述代表了 Ramaco 對未來事件的預期。這些聲明受到風險、不確定性和其他因素的影響，其中許多因素超出 Ramaco 的控制範圍，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性聲明中討論的結果有重大差異。

Any forward-looking statements speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and except as required by law, Ramaco does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. I'd also like to remind you that you can find a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures that we plan to discuss today in our press release, which can be viewed on our website at www.ramacoresources.com. Lastly, I'd encourage everyone on this call to go on to our website and download today's investor presentation.

任何前瞻性聲明僅代表其作出之日的觀點，除法律要求外，Ramaco 不承擔任何更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。我還想提醒各位，您可以在我們今天計劃討論的非GAAP財務指標的調節表中找到相關信息，該新聞稿可在我們的網站www.ramacoresources.com上查看。最後，我鼓勵所有參加本次電話會議的人員造訪我們的網站並下載今天的投資者簡報。

With that said, let me introduce our Chairman and CEO, Randy Atkins.

接下來，讓我來介紹一下我們的董事長兼執行長蘭迪·阿特金斯。

Thanks, Jimmy. First, I want to thank everyone for being with us this morning. Again, we've got a lot to unpack today. We had another exceptionally busy quarter on the rare earth front and somewhat of a continuation of last quarter's results on met coal. Since our rare earth transition has grabbed most of the attention, we will start there.

謝謝你，吉米。首先，我要感謝今天早上到場的各位。今天我們又有很多東西要梳理了。我們在稀土業務方面又經歷了一個異常繁忙的季度，而冶金煤業務方面則延續了上個季度的業績。由於稀土轉型吸引了大部分人的關注，我們就從這裡開始。

Both myself and later, Mike Woloschuk, our Head of Critical Minerals are going to go through a number of updates on various developments since our last call. After our July groundbreaking with Secretary of Energy right, we have moved to rapidly capitalize on this momentum to derisk our future execution as we move forward on this unique corporate transformation.

我和我們的關鍵礦產主管邁克·沃洛舒克（Mike Woloschuk）稍後將介紹自上次通話以來各種進展的最新情況。繼 7 月與能源部長舉行奠基儀式後，我們迅速利用這一勢頭，降低未來執行的風險，並推進這一獨特的企業轉型。

Here is a short breakdown of where we are headed as we build out this vertically integrated and Mountain mouth critical minerals platform. First, of course, we start with our large deposits. That is what frankly provides us all the optionality. We believe we will have the largest upstream production platform in the US for heavy magnetic rare earth as well as the three critical minerals we possess, which are gallium, germanium, and scandium.

以下是我們建構這個垂直整合的山口關鍵礦產平台的發展方向的簡要概述。當然，首先我們先從大額存款開始。坦白說，正是這一點給了我們所有人選擇的權利。我們相信，我們將擁有美國最大的重磁性稀土上游生產平台，以及我們擁有的三種關鍵礦物—鎵、鍺和鈧。

On the midstream front, following an optimization at our pilot plant, which is now under construction, we intend to build a large commercial oxide separation and processing facility. It will be large enough to have refining capacity for not only our own coal-based feedstock but also to hopefully process third-party feedstock should that be an attractive accretive proposition.

在中游方面，經過對目前正在建設中的試點工廠的最佳化後，我們計劃建造一座大型商業氧化物分離和加工設施。它的規模將足夠大，不僅可以提煉我們自己的煤基原料，而且如果這是一個有吸引力的增值方案，它還有可能加工第三方原料。

This is the concept of developing somewhat of a regional or perhaps even national processing hub. We intend to try and keep optionality on the size of the plant, dependent, of course, on market dynamics as we get further along. And lastly, on our downstream operations, we just announced that we intend to establish a national strategic stockpile and terminal for rare and critical minerals at our brick mine. We're calling it the strategic Critical Minerals terminal. We plan to develop this in collaboration with a leading commodity structuring and financial adviser who will be announcing shortly.

這是發展區域性甚至全國性加工中心的理念。我們打算盡量保持工廠規模的彈性，當然，這取決於我們後續的市場動態。最後，關於我們的下游業務，我們剛剛宣布，我們打算在我們的磚礦建立一個國家戰略稀有和關鍵礦物儲備庫和碼頭。我們稱之為策略性關鍵礦產終端。我們計劃與一家領先的大宗商品結構和財務顧問公司合作開發此項目，該公司將很快發佈公告。

We feel that being a significant or even dominant factor in each component of the RARA supply chain will position Ramaco as the most comprehensive vertically integrated upstream, midstream and downstream producer of critical minerals in the United States. In terms of advancing this platform, as you know, in August, we raised $200 million in a common stock placement. We now have a record level of liquidity, and of course, will require even more as we move forward.

我們認為，在 RARA 供應鏈的每個環節中成為重要甚至主導因素，將使 Ramaco 成為美國最全面的垂直整合上游、中游和下游關鍵礦產生產商。為了推進這個平台的發展，如您所知，我們在 8 月透過普通股配售籌集了 2 億美元。我們現在擁有創紀錄的流動資金，當然，隨著我們不斷向前發展，我們將需要更多的流動資金。

In September, we announced plans to increase the base size of the Brook mine by 2.5x to a level of approximately 5 million tons. We would provide increased feedstock for a greater level of annual oxide production of more than 3,400 tons per year. I'd also point out that depending on ultimate market demand, we have the operational and technical capacity subject to normal approvals to again upsize this production level to an even higher level of at least 8 million tons of annual coal production. That would then produce by our estimate, roughly 5,000 tons of oxide production. As detailed in my shareholder letter in September, we're currently estimating that at the 5 million-ton coal base production level, that in the first year of commercial oxide production, which we now estimated in 2028, our rare earth platform could generate more than $500 million of EBITDA and it could also have a projected NPV of more than $5 billion.

9 月，我們宣布計劃將布魯克礦的基礎規模擴大 2.5 倍，達到約 500 萬噸的水準。我們將提供更多原料，以實現每年超過 3400 噸的氧化物年產量。我還要指出，根據最終的市場需求，我們擁有營運和技術能力，只要獲得正常的審批，就可以再次將產量水平提高到更高的水平，至少達到每年 800 萬噸煤炭產量。據我們估計，這將產生約 5000 噸氧化物產量。正如我在 9 月致股東的信中所詳述的，我們目前估計，在 500 萬噸煤炭基礎產量水平下，在商業氧化物生產的第一年（我們現在估計是在 2028 年），我們的稀土平台可以產生超過 5 億美元的 EBITDA，並且預計淨現值 (NPV) 也將超過 50 億美元。

These are, of course, projections but show the magnitude of the project. I'll note that these estimates though, were arrived at deploying the same price deck that was used in the summary of Fluor's preliminary economic analysis report in July.

當然，這些只是預測，但足以說明該專案的規模。不過要指出的是，這些估算結果採用的正是 Fluor 公司 7 月發布的初步經濟分析報告摘要中所使用的相同價格表。

And candidly, they were prepared and reviewed by the same person who is Mike Woloschuk, who, of course, has now joined us along with another senior member from Fluor. Obviously, as we move forward with design, engineering and optimization, we will refine these numbers along with current market prices and other figures. Since July, given market conditions, we have seen Western offtake deals for substantially higher prices than what was the case in the Fluor report. There is now a clear decoupling of Western price realizations, which were in the past, tied to Chinese published prices. There is going to be a premium for reliable Western supply lines.

坦白說，這些文件都是由同一個人準備和審核的，這個人就是 Mike Woloschuk，當然，他現在已經和 Fluor 的另一位高級成員一起加入了我們。顯然，隨著我們推進設計、工程和優化工作，我們將根據當前市場價格和其他數據來完善這些數字。自 7 月以來，鑑於市場情況，我們看到西方國家的承購協議價格遠高於 Fluor 報告中所述的價格。目前西方實際價格與中國公佈的價格已經明顯脫鉤，而過去西方實際價格與中國公佈的價格是掛鉤的。可靠的西方供應鏈將會獲得更高的溢價。

This is becoming more apparent by the day and is caused by Chinese export restrictions. As you have read, it now appears Trump and President may have kicked the can down for a year on enforcement of China's new REE restrictions. But the overhang of Chinese control is not going away. Like it or not, we are in a full long-term mineral war with China. This is especially true for Scandium, where the Department of Wars Defense Logistics Agency recently signed an offtake to purchase Scandium at more than $6.2 million a ton. That pricing is 2/3 higher than the $3.7 million level used in both the Fluor report and my shareholder letter.

這種情況日益明顯，原因是中國的出口限制。正如你所讀到的，現在看來，川普和總統可能已經將執行中國新的稀土限制的問題推遲了一年。但中國控制的陰影不會消失。不管你喜不喜歡，我們都正與中國進行一場全面的長期礦產資源戰爭。對於鈧來說尤其如此，美國戰爭部國防後勤局最近簽署了一份承購協議，以每噸超過 620 萬美元的價格購買鈧。這個價格比 Fluor 報告和我給股東的信中使用的 370 萬美元水準高出 2/3。

There are similar upward adjustments across the board for several of the other oxides we will produce. But to focus on scandium for a moment, although Mike will also discuss in more detail later. It is a particular interest given our large future production level. It is called the forgotten rare earth.

對於我們將要生產的其他幾種氧化物，也存在類似的全面上調。但我們先集中討論一下鈧，雖然麥克稍後也會更詳細地討論。鑑於我們未來龐大的生產規模，這一點尤其值得關注。它被稱為被遺忘的稀土。

The US is 100% import reliant on scandium. We have no stockpile, no recycling capability nor current production capacity. It is used in lightweighting autos and plans, solid oxide fuel cells, semiconductors, 6G wireless for drones -- satellite communications and other defense capabilities. Global production is very scarce with a small global market of frankly under 50 million tons per annum. We will produce almost 180 million tons per annum, and it's estimated that scandium alloys in the auto sector alone would require over 1,000 tons per annum which is frankly not currently available.

美國對鈧的進口依賴程度高達100%。我們沒有庫存，沒有回收能力，也沒有目前的生產能力。它被用於汽車和飛機的輕量化、固體氧化物燃料電池、半導體、無人機的 6G 無線通訊、衛星通訊和其他國防能力。全球產量非常稀少，全球市場規模也很小，坦白說，每年需求量不到 5,000 萬噸。我們將每年生產近 1.8 億噸鈧合金，據估計，光是汽車產業每年就需要超過 1,000 噸鈧合金，坦白說，目前這種合金是無法取得的。

In line with that, from recent discussions with potential scandium oxide offtakers, we expect almost price insensitive demand to exceed the Brook mines projected annual production. The mineral, as I said, is critical to lightweighting of cars and planes as well as technologies used in a variety of military applications. It is just simply not available for these types of uses to make long-term planning for a mineral, which is now under complete Chinese control. Its demand growth is exceptionally strong and as I said, there has been no ability outside of China to develop any meaningful reliable Western supply. We will be well positioned to provide that meaningful supply in Scandi.

根據最近與潛在的氧化鈧承購商的討論，我們預計幾乎不受價格影響的需求將超過布魯克礦預計的年產量。正如我所說，這種礦物對於汽車和飛機的輕量化以及各種軍事應用技術至關重要。對於這種用途而言，對一種目前完全由中國控制的礦產進行長期規劃，是根本不可能的。它的需求成長異常強勁，而且正如我所說，中國以外的地方還沒有能力發展出任何有意義的、可靠的西方供應。我們將做好充分準備，為北歐市場提供有意義的供應。

Looking forward, in order to support the expansion of our rare earth operations, we plan to actively engage with federal and state officials to expand the existing approved Brook mine permit. It now covers roughly 4,500 acres, and we expect to expand it to ultimately include most of our nearly 6,000 acres of control.

展望未來，為了支持我們稀土業務的擴張，我們計劃積極與聯邦和州政府官員接洽，以擴大已批准的布魯克礦許可證。目前覆蓋面積約 4,500 英畝，我們預計最終將其擴大到我們控制的近 6,000 英畝土地的大部分。

Since our groundbreaking in July, we've now mined about 125,000 tons of coal and material, which frankly provides us with enough ore feedstock to operate the pilot plant for a considerable period. We expect to intermittently mine additional coal once we start the pilot operations as well as mine for possible sale of coal to third-party local utility customers.

自 7 月破土動工以來，我們已經開採了約 125,000 噸煤炭和材料，坦白說，這為我們提供了足夠的礦石原料，可以維持試驗工廠相當長一段時間的運作。我們預計在試點營運開始後，將間歇性地開採更多煤炭，並開採煤炭以備可能出售給當地第三方公用事業客戶。

Chris Blanchard will speak more on our mining in a moment. As far as our midstream operations, our commercial oxide processing facility will be engineered and designed to have the optionality to increase its capacity to accommodate production of higher levels of oxide. As I said, we are doing this not only to accommodate our own increased capacity, but also for the possibility that we might want to do some form of third-party merchant processing.

克里斯·布蘭查德稍後將就我們的採礦活動發表更多看法。就我們的中游業務而言，我們的商業氧化物加工設施將經過精心設計和建造，以便能夠選擇增加產能，從而滿足更高水平氧化物的生產需求。正如我所說，我們這樣做不僅是為了適應我們自身不斷增長的產能，也是為了應對我們未來可能需要進行某種形式的第三方商家處理的情況。

But before advancing to a full-scale commercial plan, we will, of course, work to de-risk this complex execution by the design, testing and optimization of various separation and refining processes at our pilot plant, which, as I said, is now under construction outside Sheraton. Our goal is to appropriately size, design and execute on the plant development, focusing on controlling both capital cost as well as future operational expenses of the plan. We broke ground on the pilot last week and expect to begin initial operations in 2016. Mike will be discussing this further in much detail.

但在全面推進商業計劃之前，我們當然會努力降低這個複雜執行過程的風險，方法是在我們的試點工廠中設計、測試和優化各種分離和精煉工藝。正如我所說，該試點工廠目前正在喜來登酒店外建設中。我們的目標是合理規劃、設計和實施工廠開發，重點是控制該計劃的資本成本和未來營運費用。我們上週為試點計畫舉行了奠基儀式，預計將於 2016 年開始初步運作。麥克將在後面更詳細地討論這個問題。

In the interim, to accelerate the pilot process, the plant components are currently being designed, engineered and tested on a shakedown basis at a facility in Canada owned by a company called Zeton. Zeton is the world's largest pilot plant design and fabrication company. Most of this testing will also be coordinated with Hatch Ltd, which is also Canadian and then preparing our feasibility analysis. Our commercial processing plant will focus on refining a number of rare earths and critical minerals, including, of course, our heavy magnetic rares, like turbine and dysprosium, and critical minerals like Galan, Scandium and Germanium. All of these have been banned by China from export to the US

在此期間，為了加快試點進程，工廠組件目前正在加拿大一家名為 Zeton 的公司擁有的工廠進行設計、工程和試運行測試。Zeton是全球最大的試驗工廠設計和製造公司。大部分測試工作也將與同樣位於加拿大的 Hatch Ltd 公司協調進行，然後我們將進行可行性分析。我們的商業加工廠將專注於提煉多種稀土和關鍵礦物，當然也包括我們的重磁性稀有礦物，如鈦鐵礦和鏑，以及關鍵礦物，如鎵、鈧和鍺。中國已禁止所有這些產品出口到美國。

In some cases, we will be the sole US producer of these oxides. And in many, we will also be the largest or dominant producer in the country. We are now taking steps to accelerate the engineering and planning for the commercial oxide facility. We hope to begin the engineering and procurement work on this plant next spring. Our goal is to initiate site work and initial construction on the facility in late '26 or early '27. This would, of course, be subject to normal issues of availability and timing of equipment and related purchasing.

在某些情況下，我們將是美國這些氧化物的唯一生產商。在許多領域，我們也將成為全國規模最大或占主導地位的生產商。我們現在正採取措施加速商業氧化物設施的工程設計和規劃。我們希望明年春天開始該工廠的工程和採購工作。我們的目標是在 2026 年末或 2027 年初啟動場地施工和設施的初步建設。當然，這也要取決於設備供應情況和時間安排以及相關採購等正常問題。

Our record liquidity levels, however, should help us be in a position to prepurchase some of this equipment to help expedite the process and fast track it as best we can. We appreciate the execution risk associated with any new development. Indeed, the DNA of our whole operations since this company was founded, is to build projects from scratch, on budget and on time.

然而，我們創紀錄的流動資金水準應該能夠幫助我們預購部分設備，從而加快流程，並盡我們所能地快速推進。我們充分認識到任何新開發專案都存在執行風險。事實上，自公司成立以來，我們所有營運的DNA就是從零開始，以預算、按時完成專案。

I'd point out that since Ramaco was formed, we have deployed in excess of $0.5 billion in capital on greenfield development projects. We have already hired both in-house and externally and exceedingly talented and experienced group of professionals to help guide our execution in this area.

我想指出的是，自從 Ramaco 成立以來，我們已在新建開發案上投入了超過 5 億美元的資金。我們已經聘請了一群才華橫溢、經驗豐富的內部和外部專業人士，來指導我們在這個領域的執行。

We will be hiring many more as we move forward. And we will continue to refine the project size and design as I said, to bring the project in with the greatest levels of cost control we can develop both on the CapEx spend as well as on the future operating costs.

隨著公司發展，我們將招募更多員工。正如我所說，我們將繼續改進專案規模和設計，以盡可能最大程度地控制資本支出和未來營運成本，從而實現專案目標。

Given the importance of this project, frankly, to our country, we will have a lot of help. We will continue to work with our long-time partners at the Department of Energy's National Labs to deploy some very novel science and technology to achieve, hopefully some important technical results. And of course, as we have always said, we will only move forward with actual construction of the full commercial facility once we have a sufficient level of long-term offtake contracts in place. And on that front, we are very encouraged with the procurement discussions that we continue to have.

坦白說，鑑於這個計畫對我們國家的重要性，我們將得到很多幫助。我們將繼續與能源部國家實驗室的長期合作夥伴攜手合作，運用一些非常新穎的科學技術，以期取得一些重要的技術成果。當然，正如我們一直所說，只有在簽訂了足夠多的長期承購合約後，我們才會推進整個商業設施的實際建設。在這方面，我們對目前進行的採購討論感到非常鼓舞。

I would point out that since the Chinese embargo and export controls were announced, there has been a market decoupling away from China. As we get feedback from counterparties, there will probably not be a future point where any customer in the West is going to feel comfortable with China as a reliable long-term supplier. This has direct implications for us, both in terms of customer demand as well as long-term pricing. Going forward, the historic prices quoted from China will now be dramatically different than prices from a reliable Western supplier, which is what we intend to be. Also, as I mentioned last week, we announced that our Board had approved creating the US's first and currently only strategic critical mineral terminal and stockpile at the Brook mine.

我想指出的是，自從中國宣布實施禁運和出口管制以來，市場已經與中國脫鉤。從交易對手那裡得到的回饋來看，未來西方的任何客戶可能都不會再對中國作為可靠的長期供應商感到放心了。這對我們而言具有直接影響，無論是在客戶需求方面，還是在長期定價方面。展望未來，中國的歷史報價將與可靠的西方供應商（而這正是我們想要成為的供應商）的報價截然不同。另外，正如我上週提到的，我們宣布董事會已批准在布魯克礦建立美國第一個也是目前唯一的戰略關鍵礦物碼頭和庫存。

For Ramaco, this operation will create a fee-based terminal services business. This is going to leverage not only our own production, but our existing logistical and infrastructure advantages of being located on our own vertically integrated Brook Mine site. We anticipate no commodity price exposure on the terminal and will receive predictable revenue streams. For our customers, the terminal will provide a secure, auditable storage of strategic rare earths without capital outlay or operational burden. The terminal will have a rapid deployment capability and provide domestic supply chain resilience.

對於 Ramaco 而言，此次營運將創建一個以收費為基礎的終端服務業務。這將不僅利用我們自身的生產能力，還將利用我們位於自有垂直整合的布魯克礦場的現有物流和基礎設施優勢。我們預計該碼頭不會受到商品價格波動的影響，並將獲得可預測的收入來源。對於我們的客戶而言，該終端將提供安全、可審計的策略性稀土存儲，而無需資本投入或營運負擔。該碼頭將具備快速部署能力，並能增強國內供應鏈的韌性。

Our strategic adviser will assist in the development and execution of offtake agreements with both private and public customers as well as on the development of the financial contracting and operational implementation of the terminal. We will be speaking more about this as our plans progress.

我們的策略顧問將協助制定和執行與私人和公共客戶的承購協議，以及製定碼頭的財務合約和營運實施方案。隨著計劃的推進，我們將就此進行更多討論。

Now I'd like to move to our metallurgic coal business. The overall met markets still remain challenged. The reason is the same as we have highlighted basically all year. China continues to flood cheap steel into world markets with the impact of depressing both prices and production worldwide. Jeremy is going to discuss markets in more detail in a moment.

現在我想轉到我們的冶金煤業務部門。整體而言，大宗商品市場仍面臨挑戰。原因與我們今年以來一直強調的相同。中國持續向世界市場大量投放廉價鋼鐵，導致全球鋼鐵價格和產量雙雙下降。傑里米稍後將更詳細地討論市場狀況。

As we have talked about on previous calls, we made what seems like a very logical decision to refuse to sell tons at a loss into an oversaturated market. We're fortunate that we now have the strongest liquidity position we have ever had, which allows us the flexibility to take this posture. As a result, we are again modestly trimming production guidance despite the fact that our mines continue to produce extremely well and with solid lower mine costs. It is about as straightforward as the fact that we intend to match our production with demand.

正如我們在之前的電話會議中討論的那樣，我們做出了一個看似非常合乎邏輯的決定，即拒絕虧本向過度飽和的市場出售大量產品。我們很幸運，目前擁有有史以來最強勁的流動性，這使我們能夠靈活地採取這種策略。因此，儘管我們的礦山繼續保持非常好的生產狀態，並且礦山成本也大幅降低，但我們仍然小幅下調了產量預期。道理很簡單，就是我們打算讓生產與需求相符。

And to be clear, this guidance reduction is solely caused by weak pricing conditions in export spot markets. It's not because of high mine cost. Indeed, we are one of the only US met coal producers with cash costs now below $100 per ton with our third quarter cash cost coming in at about $97 a ton. I'd point out that starting in Q4, our costs are currently even below that figure.

需要明確的是，此次下調業績指引完全是由於出口現貨市場價格疲軟所致。這並非因為採礦成本高。事實上，我們是美國為數不多的現金成本低於每噸 100 美元的冶金煤生產商之一，第三季現金成本約為每噸 97 美元。我想指出的是，從第四季開始，我們的成本目前甚至低於這個數字。

We are now, of course, also currently in discussion with North American steel mills for the annual 2026 domestic contracts. We'll talk about that more in a moment, but the negotiations are still taking place with, frankly, reality checks on both sides. No producer should have to sell to steel companies at loss-making prices. We are certainly not going to. We will talk about those negotiations more, frankly, when they are complete. And consistent with what we have already said, until markets begin to improve, we will keep future growth CapEx at our met mines at minimal levels.

當然，我們目前也在與北美鋼鐵廠洽談 2026 年國內年度合約。我們稍後會詳細討論這個問題，但坦白說，談判仍在進行中，雙方都在進行現實檢驗。任何生產商都不應該以虧本的價格將產品賣給鋼鐵公司。我們當然不會這麼做。坦白說，等談判結束後，我們會更詳細地討論這些談判。正如我們之前所說，在市場開始好轉之前，我們將把冶金礦山的未來成長資本支出保持在最低水準。

We intend instead to focus on the rapid commercialization of our rare earth elements and critical minerals business. Yet, we're always going to keep an eye out on opportunistic low-cost asset acquisitions in the met space as they might present themselves. Our view is to try and position Ramaco's met business for longer-term growth on an advantaged financial basis when the situation might present itself. So I'm going to wrap up on a very positive note. The bottom line is that we are in the best liquidity position we have ever been in as a company.

我們計劃轉而專注於稀土元素和關鍵礦產業務的快速商業化。但是，我們會始終密切關注氣象領域可能出現的低成本資產收購機會。我們的觀點是，當機會出現時，要努力使 Ramaco 的肉類加工業務在財務上處於有利地位，從而實現長期成長。所以，我要以非常正面的方式結束我的發言。最重要的是，我們公司目前處於有史以來最佳的流動性狀況。

And we're now moving rapidly along a multiyear path to transition Ramaco into becoming the only US dual critical mineral platform in both rare earths and met coal. The task ahead is large, but we intend to rise to the occasion. We are going to approach the transition with the same sense of capital, financial and operational discipline that we have shown to date.

我們現在正快速推進一項多年計劃，將 Ramaco 轉型成為美國唯一一個同時擁有稀土和冶金煤雙重關鍵礦產平台。擺在我們面前的任務艱鉅，但我們決心迎接挑戰。我們將以迄今為止所展現的同樣的資本、財務和營運紀律來應對轉型。

And as we move forward, I strongly feel we will serve both our shareholders and our nations well for the years to come. And with that, I'd like to turn the floor back to the rest of our team to discuss finances, operations and markets.

展望未來，我堅信我們將在未來的歲月裡為我們的股東和國家做出貢獻。接下來，我想把發言權交還給團隊其他成員，讓他們討論財務、營運和市場方面的問題。

And first, I would like Mike Woloschuk, who leads our critical mineral business, to share some further thoughts on our rare earth business. Mike?

首先，我想請負責我們關鍵礦產業務的 Mike Woloschuk 先生就我們的稀土業務分享一些想法。麥克風？

Thank you, Randy. There has been a ramp-up in third-quarter activities, and I would like to highlight some of them. Firstly, we hired Martin Van Wick as Senior Vice President of Critical Minerals Processing. Martin joined us from Fluor Australia, where he was the global subject matter expert for rare earths. He has over 20 years of experience in mineral processing, hydrometallurgy and rare earth element flow sheet development.

謝謝你，蘭迪。第三季各項活動增加，我想重點介紹其中的一些活動。首先，我們聘請了 Martin Van Wick 擔任關鍵礦物加工資深副總裁。Martin 先前在 Fluor Australia 工作，擔任稀土全球專家。他在礦物加工、濕式冶金和稀土元素製程流程圖開發方面擁有超過 20 年的經驗。

He holds a Master of Chemical Engineering and a post-graduate certificate in corrosion engineering from Curtain University in Perth, Australia as well as a Bachelor of Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. We anticipate his relocation to the US with his family in early 2026.

他擁有澳洲珀斯柯廷大學化學工程碩士學位和腐蝕工程研究生證書，以及南非比勒陀利亞大學冶金工程學士學位。我們預計他將於 2026 年初攜家移居美國。

On September 4, we awarded the Brook Mine pre-feasibility study to Hatch. As Randy mentioned, Hatch has a world-class expertise in rare earths and critical minerals, hydrometallurgical flow sheet development. Hatch's scope includes the development and management of the metallurgical test work programs to support the pre-feasibility study as well as process flow sheet optimization and pilot plant design. The final PFS report is scheduled to be completed in April. We also awarded the metallurgical test work programs to two commercial laboratories, Element USA and SGS Lakefield.

9月4日，我們將布魯克礦預可行性研究計畫授予了Hatch公司。正如蘭迪所提到的，Hatch 在稀土和關鍵礦物、濕式冶金製程開發方面擁有世界一流的專業知識。Hatch 的工作範圍包括冶金測試工作計畫的製定和管理，以支援預可行性研究，以及製程流程圖優化和中試工廠設計。最終的PFS報告計劃於4月完成。我們也把冶金測試工作計畫授予了兩家商業實驗室，分別是 Element USA 和 SGS Lakefield。

Both of these labs are known to Ramaco and they come with extensive experience developing rare earths and critical minerals, hydrometallurgical flow sheets. We are executing test work in parallel to accelerate the optimization of the flow sheet. We also completed umbrella agreements and task statements for the US Department of Energy National Labs to execute test work scope there when they return from the US from the government shutdown.

Ramaco 對這兩個實驗室都很熟悉，它們在稀土和關鍵礦物開發、濕式冶金流程圖方面擁有豐富的經驗。我們正在並行進行測試工作，以加快流程圖的最佳化。我們也為美國能源部國家實驗室完成了總括協議和任務說明，以便在政府停擺結束後，這些實驗室從美國返回時執行測試工作範圍。

Also, in late September, we published an updated SK 1300 compliant technical report which included an inferred resource estimate for the currently permitted area. The results of this report suggests potential opportunity to increase the cutoff grade and increased throughput to achieve higher critical mineral production compared to the previous phase.

此外，9 月下旬，我們發布了一份更新的符合 SK 1300 標準的技術報告，其中包括對目前許可區域的推斷資源量估算。該報告的結果表明，與上一階段相比，有可能提高截斷品位和提高處理量，從而實現更高的關鍵礦物產量。

We commenced a drilling program at the Brook Mine that is currently in progress. to complete infill drilling in the permitted zone aiming to increase geological confidence necessary to support selective mining. We are also completing step-out drill holes to evaluate the extension of high-grade trends southward and to grow the size of the total resource beyond the currently permitted area.

我們在布魯克礦啟動了一項鑽探計劃，目前正在進行中。該計劃旨在完成許可區域內的加密鑽探，以提高地質可靠性，從而為選擇性採礦提供支援。我們也正在進行延伸鑽孔，以評估高品位礦脈向南延伸的情況，並將資源總量擴大到目前許可區域之外。

As Randy mentioned, we awarded the detailed engineering, procurement and construction package for the pilot plant to Zeton, a recognized global specialist and leader in the design fabrication and construction of pilot and demonstration plants. The pilot plant will be built on skids and shipped to our pilot facility in Wyoming.

正如蘭迪所提到的，我們已將試點工廠的詳細工程、採購和施工方案授予了 Zeton 公司，該公司是公認的全球專家，也是試點和示範工廠設計、製造和建造領域的領導者。該試驗工廠將建在滑橇上，然後運往我們在懷俄明州的試驗工廠。

We completed architectural and engineering designs for the book mine pilot plant and laboratory facility, which Chris will get into a bit more detail soon. This complex will be constructed on Ramaco's property directly across the interstate from Ramaco's existing ICAM facility.

我們完成了圖書礦山試驗工廠和實驗室設施的建築和工程設計，克里斯很快就會詳細介紹。該綜合設施將建在 Ramaco 的土地上，就在 Ramaco 現有 ICAM 設施的州際公路對面。

A high voltage electrical power the geotechnical work and foundations were completed, and we've placed orders for analytical equipment that will be put into the laboratory facility for our own on-site analytical lab. Ramaco has fielded queries in the media related to the grade of the deposit. And I'd like to talk a little bit about that. Unlike other commodities such as gold and copper, which report equivalent grades to account for byproduct credits, the rare earth industry does not account for this in reporting parts per million total rare earth oxide and it does not have a neodymium or perceodemium equivalent grade concept. As a result, deposits with high-grade critical minerals such as the Brook mine must be compared on an equivalent basis, which is referred to in the industry as a basket price.

高壓電力供應、岩土工程和地基工程均已完成，我們已訂購分析設備，這些設備將安裝到實驗室設施中，用於我們自己的現場分析實驗室。Ramaco 已收到媒體關於礦藏品級的相關詢問。我想就此談談我的看法。與其他商品（如黃金和銅）不同，稀土產業在報告每百萬分之幾的稀土氧化物總量時，不會考慮副產品積分，也不會考慮釹或高鈰當量等級的概念。因此，像布魯克礦這樣含有高品位關鍵礦物的礦床必須以等效的方式進行比較，這在業界被稱為一籃子價格。

If you compare the Brook mine basket price on an ND PR equivalent grade, we are more than 10x higher than the industry trend for our parts per million TREO. And that's a reflection of the high-value components that we have in our deposits.

如果將 Brook 礦的籃子價格與 ND PR 同等等級進行比較，我們的百萬分之幾 TREO 含量比行業趨勢高出 10 倍以上。這反映了我們礦藏中蘊藏高價值的元素。

Furthermore, typically higher parts per million TREO deposits are dominated by low-value lanthanum plus serium. Many of the highest-grade deposits are about 70% to more than 80% lanthanum plus serium which are costly to basically remove from those flow sheets.

此外，通常較高濃度的百萬分之幾的TREO礦床主要由低價值的鑭和硒組成。許多高品位礦床中鑭的含量約為 70% 至 80% 以上，加上硒，從這些礦床中去除這些元素成本很高。

With that said, I would like to now turn the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Jeremy Sussman.

接下來，我想把電話交給我們的財務長傑里米·薩斯曼。

Thank you, Mike. Starting with the balance sheet, I'm pleased to note that we had record liquidity of $272 million at the end of Q3. This is the strongest level of liquidity that we've ever had. Liquidity was up over 237% compared to the same period of 2024. We ended the quarter with a net cash position of $77 million.

謝謝你，麥克。首先來看資產負債表，我很高興地指出，截至第三季末，我們的流動資金達到了創紀錄的 2.72 億美元。這是我們有史以來擁有的最強勁的流動性水平。與 2024 年同期相比，流動性成長超過 237%。本季末，我們的淨現金部位為7,700萬美元。

During the third quarter, we issued $200 million of common stock underwritten by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. In addition, we announced the redemption of the $34.5 million 2026 senior notes at 9% the issuance of $65 million of 2030 senior notes at 8.25%. As noted, focusing on our core met coal business, our third quarter 2025 operational results were again solid, with cash cost per ton of $97. This continues to put Ramaco in the first quartile of the US cash cost curve.

第三季度，我們發行了由摩根士丹利和高盛承銷的 2 億美元普通股。此外，我們宣布以 9% 的利率贖回 2026 年到期的 3,450 萬美元優先票據，並以 8.25% 的利率發行 2030 年到期的 6,500 萬美元高級票據。如前所述，專注於我們的核心冶金煤業務，我們 2025 年第三季的營運表現再次表現穩健，每噸現金成本為 97 美元。這使得 Ramaco 繼續位居美國現金成本曲線的前四分之一。

Cash cost per ton sold fell $6 from the second quarter on stronger overall productivity. As we head into Q4, our mine costs continue to have dropped throughout October. We would note that November and December are holiday months, which will have some impact on costs. Our Q3 production fell modestly from the second quarter to 945,000 tons. This was the result of both the typical July 4 minor vacation as well as our continued focus on value over volume.

由於整體生產力提高，每噸銷售的現金成本比第二季下降了 6 美元。進入第四季度，我們的礦山成本在整個十月持續下降。需要注意的是，11月和12月是假期月份，這將對成本產生一定影響。第三季產量較第二季略有下降，至94.5萬噸。這既是由於典型的 7 月 4 日小假期，也是由於我們持續注重價值而非數量。

As Randy noted, we would rather leave production in the ground versus selling it at a loss into the spot market. Thankfully, our strong balance sheet, including our record liquidity position allows us this flexibility. Overall tons sold fell to roughly $900,000 in Q3 from roughly 1.1 million tons in Q2 and this was largely due to the fact that some shipments originally scheduled for July ended up shipping in the back end of June, coupled with our disciplined approach to spot sales. Unfortunately, metallurgical coal spot price indices have continued to decline US indices fell another 6% in Q3 versus Q2 and almost 20% year-over-year.

正如蘭迪指出的那樣，我們寧願讓石油留在地下，也不願虧本賣到現貨市場。值得慶幸的是，我們強勁的資產負債表，包括創紀錄的流動性狀況，使我們能夠擁有這種靈活性。第三季總銷售額從第二季的約 110 萬噸下降到約 90 萬美元，這主要是因為一些原定於 7 月發貨的貨物最終在 6 月底發貨，再加上我們對現貨銷售採取了嚴格的策略。不幸的是，冶金煤現貨價格指數持續下跌，美國指數在第三季比第二季又下跌了 6%，比去年同期下跌了近 20%。

This caused a year-on-year decline in earnings despite strong operational achievements.

儘管營運業績強勁，但這導致獲利年減。

Despite the continued fall in index pricing, we managed to print Q3 financial results that were similar to Q2 financial results. To get into some specifics, Q3 adjusted EBITDA was $8.4 million compared to $9 million in Q2. Q3 net loss of $13 million compared to Q2's net loss of $14 million. Class A EPS showed a $0.25 loss in Q3 versus a $0.29 loss in Q2. While none of our primary peers have yet reported Q3 results, we suspect that our $23 per ton cash margins in Q3 will be among the highest of our peer group.

儘管指數價格持續下跌，但我們第三季的財務表現與第二季的財務表現基本持平。具體來說，第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 840 萬美元，而第二季為 900 萬美元。第三季淨虧損1,300萬美元，而第二季淨虧損為1,400萬美元。A類股每股收益第三季虧損0.25美元，而第二季虧損0.29美元。雖然我們的主要同業尚未公佈第三季業績，但我們預計第三季每噸 23 美元的現金利潤率將在同業中名列前茅。

As a reminder, our Q1 cash margins of $24 per ton were the highest among our peer group. Since then, our cash margins have declined just $1 per ton. This is despite an almost $20 per tonne fall in US coal indices from Q1 to Q3. And Again, this is a strong testament to execution from both our operations and sales teams.

再次提醒大家，我們第一季的現金利潤率為每噸 24 美元，是同業中最高的。自那以後，我們的現金利潤率每噸僅下降了 1 美元。儘管美國煤炭指數從第一季到第三季每噸下跌了近 20 美元，但情況依然如此。再次證明，我們的營運和銷售團隊都展現了卓越的執行力。

Looking forward, we are making a few small adjustments to our 2025 operational guidance given current market conditions. Specifically, we're optimizing our overall production and sales. We're reducing selective higher cost production to limit any need to move tons at potentially lower price spot sales, especially into Asia. Current prices, this should provide a net benefit to free cash flow. As a result of the idling of our Laurel Fork mine at the Berwind complex, full year 2025 production is now anticipated to come in at 3.7 million to 3.9 million tons versus 3.9 million tons previously.

展望未來，鑑於目前的市場狀況，我們將對 2025 年的營運預期做出一些小的調整。具體來說，我們正在優化整體生產和銷售。我們正在減少部分成本較高的產品生產，以減少以可能更低價格現貨銷售的方式運輸大量產品的必要性，尤其是運往亞洲。以當前價格計算，這應該會對自由現金流產生淨收益。由於伯溫德礦區的勞雷爾福克礦停產，預計 2025 年全年產量將達到 370 萬至 390 萬噸，而此前預計為 390 萬噸。

Full year 2025 sales are now anticipated to come in at 3.8 million to 4.1 million tonnes versus 4.1 million tons previously. We're generally maintaining the midpoint of all other guidance other than lowering DD&A from $71 million to $76 million to $70 million to $72 million, lowering the estimated tax rate by 5% to 20% to 25% slightly increasing idle expenses from $1 million to $2 million to $2 million to $2.5 million. Please note that our SG&A guidance now includes stock comp to guide apples-to-apples to the income statement figures.

預計 2025 年全年銷量將達到 380 萬至 410 萬噸，而先前的預測為 410 萬噸。除了將折舊和攤銷費用從 7,100 萬至 7,600 萬美元下調至 7,000 萬至 7,200 萬美元，將預計稅率下調 5% 至 20% 至 25%，並將閒置支出略微增加 100 萬至 200 萬至 250 萬美元之外，我們的基本指導方針。請注意，我們的銷售、一般及行政費用指導原則現在包括存貨比較，以便與損益表數據進行公平比較。

Now turning to our rare earth elements and Critical Minerals business. I'd encourage you all to read Randy's September shareholder letter, which is on our website, which goes through the recently announced upside of the Brook mine. Specifically, the economics show a pretax NPV using an 8% discount rate of $5.1 billion and an IRR of more than 150% with a total initial capital cost of $1.1 billion.

現在讓我們來談談我們的稀土元素和關鍵礦產業務。我建議大家閱讀蘭迪九月寫給股東的信，這封信可以在我們的網站上找到，信中詳細介紹了最近公佈的布魯克礦的利好因素。具體來說，經濟分析表明，使用 8% 的折現率計算，稅前淨現值為 51 億美元，內部收益率超過 150%，總初始資本成本為 11 億美元。

At full year, almost steady state production by 2028, we show achieving more than $500 million of EBITDA from the Brook Mine. Given the multiples on the rare earth names, needless to say, we're incredibly excited about the potential of this new business line.

在 2028 年實現全年穩定生產後，我們預計 Brook 礦將實現超過 5 億美元的 EBITDA。考慮到稀土名稱的倍數，毋庸置疑，我們對這條新業務線的潛力感到無比興奮。

With Jason Traveling, I'll briefly touch on markets for metallurgical coal and REEs. First, on the metallurgical coal side, markets continue to be plagued by continued oversupply of Chinese steel exports. This dynamic has negatively impacted steel production in virtually all of our traditional markets.

我將跟隨 Jason Traveling，簡單介紹冶金煤和稀土元素的市場。首先，冶金煤方面，市場持續受到中國鋼鐵出口持續過剩的困擾。這種動態對幾乎所有傳統市場的鋼鐵生產都產生了負面影響。

While China's anti-evolution rhetoric regarding supply side reform has been encouraging, we have not yet seen a meaningful decline in Chinese steel exports. One positive dynamic that we've seen in the market is that supply in each of the main markets of Chinese domestic met coal, seaborne US met coal production has all been under pressure. This is due to the fact that price indices are currently trading into the third quartile of the global cost curve and much of the supply is underwater at these price levels. we've even begun to see Tier 1 Australian producers idle some supply due to challenging market conditions.

儘管中國在供給面改革方面表現出的反進化論調令人鼓舞，但我們尚未看到中國鋼鐵出口出現實質下降。我們看到市場上一個正面的動態是，中國國內冶金煤和美國海運冶金煤等主要市場的供應都面臨壓力。這是因為目前物價指數處於全球成本曲線的第三區間，在這樣的物價水準下，大部分供給都處於虧損狀態。我們甚至開始看到，由於市場環境充滿挑戰，一些澳洲一級生產商暫停了部分供應。

Now as the calendar shifts to 2026, we anticipate further supply rationalization. At this point, we don't see any meaningful upward trend in pricing. Speaking of 2026, we're currently in negotiations for the sale of Miller coal in 2026 to North American Steel Group, which is ongoing.

隨著日曆翻到 2026 年，我們預計供應將進一步合理化。目前來看，價格並沒有出現任何明顯的上漲趨勢。說到 2026 年，我們目前正在與北美鋼鐵集團就 2026 年出售 Miller 煤炭進行談判，談判仍在進行中。

As Randy said, we will provide an update on such sales once this process is complete. The rare earths and critical minerals markets clearly have been dominated by recent political headlines coming out of the United States and China. As you know, earlier this month, China again put further restrictions on exports of its rare elements. These additional restrictions further underscore the need for a reliable domestic REE industry especially for the heavy REEs in critical minerals such as gallium, germanium and scandium. Collectively, these very elements comprise more than 90% of the anticipated revenue of the Brook Mine.

正如蘭迪所說，一旦該流程完成，我們將提供有關此類銷售的最新資訊。稀土和關鍵礦產市場顯然受到了近期美國和中國政治新聞的影響。如您所知，本月初，中國再次對稀有元素的出口實施了進一步的限制。這些額外的限制進一步凸顯了建立可靠的國內稀土產業的必要性，特別是對於鎵、鍺、鈧等關鍵礦物中的重稀土而言。這些因素加起來佔布魯克礦預期收入的 90% 以上。

These elements have also been banned for export to the US from China, and there's virtually no production in the United States today of any of these REEs in critical minerals. To that end, what we've seen over the past quarter is truly a bifurcated market between Chinese and Western pricing. As Randy said, perhaps the best example of Scandium. There's currently no reliable Western index for Scandium.

這些元素也被禁止從中國出口到美國，目前美國幾乎沒有生產任何關鍵礦物中的這些稀土元素。因此，過去一個季度我們看到的確實是中國定價和西方定價之間的兩極化的市場。正如蘭迪所說，這或許是鈧的最佳例證。目前西方尚無可靠的鈧指數。

That said, the US Department of Bar recently signed a deal with Rio Tinto to purchase their Scandium byproduct for $6.25 million a ton. This price is 67% higher than the $3.75 million price that was used in both the summary of the Fluor PDA and in Randy's shareholder letter and it's more than 5x greater than the Chinese manipulated index prices. Overall, we believe political tensions will only lead to this bifurcation between Chinese and Western REE markets increasing. We've met with a number of potential customers since our Q2 call.

儘管如此，美國礦業部最近與力拓集團簽署了一項協議，以每噸 625 萬美元的價格購買其鈧副產品。這個價格比 Fluor PDA 摘要和 Randy 的股東信中使用的 375 萬美元價格高出 67%，比中國操縱的指數價格高出 5 倍以上。總的來說，我們認為政治緊張局勢只會導致中國和西方稀土市場之間的分化加劇。自從第二季電話會議以來，我們已經與許多潛在客戶進行了會面。

While we will certainly let the market know when we have definitive offtake agreements in place, I'm encouraged by the wide range of inbound calls that we have received from industry-leading companies and sectors ranging from aerospace and defense to automotive, just to name a couple.

雖然我們一定會在達成最終的承購協議後通知市場，但令我感到鼓舞的是，我們已經收到了來自各行各業領先公司和行業的廣泛諮詢電話，這些公司和行業涵蓋航空航天、國防、汽車等等。

I'd now like to turn the call back to Chris Blanchard, our EVP for Mine Planning and Development.

現在我想把電話轉回給我們的礦場規劃和開發執行副總裁克里斯·布蘭查德。

Thank you, Jeremy, and good morning to everybody who is with us today. Following some of Mike's earlier comments, I'll start with some of the ongoing work on the ground at the Brook Complex since our last call. At our pilot plant location, the geotechnical drilling commenced and was completed during the month of September and the subsequent engineering report to allow our foundation design was completed just in the last weeks. In parallel with this, we have also obtained all local zoning permits to begin construction and cite the pilot plant. We broke ground on the facility last week, as Randy mentioned, and we expect to get the actual foundation work begun in November.

謝謝你，傑瑞米，也祝今天在場的各位早安。繼 Mike 之前的一些評論之後，我將首先介紹自我們上次通話以來 Brook Complex 正在進行的一些實地工作。在我們的試驗工廠所在地，岩土鑽探工作於 9 月開始並完成，隨後的工程報告（用於我們的基礎設計）也在最近幾週完成。同時，我們也獲得了所有當地的規劃許可，可以開始建造和建造試點工廠。正如蘭迪所提到的那樣，我們上週為該設施舉行了奠基儀式，預計將於 11 月開始實際的基礎工程。

We expect to have the building under roof early in 2026 to receive delivery of the first pilot plant modules from Zeton. As Mike mentioned, in this facility, we will also house our own analytical testing laboratory. (inaudible) among those components will be two ICP-MS machines which have been ordered and will accelerate the testing of our ore for rare earth elements and critical minerals. At the Brook Mine itself, as Randy mentioned, we moved a large amount of cold rock and ore during the initial months of operation. To be more granular on some of this, we mined and isolated approximately 300 tons of high-grade REE critical mineral ore for further bench testing and pilot testing, both on-site and off-site.

我們預計將於 2026 年初完成建築封頂，以便接收 Zeton 交付的首批試點工廠模組。正如麥克所提到的，在這個設施裡，我們也將設立自己的分析測試實驗室。 （聽不清楚）其中包括兩台已訂購的電感耦合等離子體質譜儀（ICP-MS），它們將加快我們對礦石中稀土元素和關鍵礦物的檢測速度。正如蘭迪所提到的，在布魯克礦，我們在營運的最初幾個月搬運了大量的冷岩石和礦石。為了更具體地說明其中的一些問題，我們開採並分離了約 300 噸高品位稀土關鍵礦石，用於進一步的現場和非現場台式測試和試點測試。

All of this material was located in one band of strata between our (inaudible) team and our Monarch team. We have already sent bulk samples approximately kilograms each to the national labs as well as third-party commercial labs for continued flow sheet optimization and testing.

所有這些材料都位於我們（聽不清楚）團隊和我們的君主團隊之間的一個地層帶中。我們已經向國家實驗室以及第三方商業實驗室發送了大約幾公斤的散裝樣品，以便繼續進行流程優化和測試。

To put the amount of stockpiled high-grade ore in perspective, we anticipate our pilot plant once on site and operational to process approximately 3 tons per day of ore. With what we have already accumulated, we have approximately 20 weeks of continuous operation available to process at full pilot plant capacity. Nevertheless, we are active in the mine this month and expect to ship and sell our first thermal coal from the Brook Mine in the coming weeks for a test from at a local utility. Assuming that the testing is satisfactory, we expect we may enter into a time agreement to commercially sell thermal coal separate from our rare earth ore. While we are active in the pit for the collecting the coal for the test burn, we will also be separating new critical mineral ore from the next stratigraphically lower horizon from the partings in the Monarch seam floor.

為了讓您更直觀地了解高品位礦石的庫存量，我們預計我們的試驗工廠一旦建成投產並投入運營，每天將處理約 3 噸礦石。憑藉我們目前累積的資源，我們大約可以連續運作 20 週，以中試工廠的滿載產能進行加工。儘管如此，我們本月仍在礦區積極作業，預計將在未來幾週內從布魯克礦運送並出售我們的第一批動力煤，供當地一家公用事業公司進行測試。假設測試結果令人滿意，我們預計可以簽訂一份時間協議，將動力煤與我們的稀土礦石分開進行商業銷售。在我們積極參與礦坑煤炭收集工作以進行試驗燃燒的同時，我們也將從君主煤層底部夾層中分離出下一個地層下層的新關鍵礦石。

We expect this to be similarly high concentration from all of our initial drilling and testing. This mark or zone will likely allow us to gather enough additional ore to support our pilot plant through its first full year of operation. The mine continues to remain an active status to allow us to obtain additional samples for testing as needed and also to advance the larger project. Longer term, we have already engaged with Sheridan's regional power supplier to begin the upgrade process for the high-voltage transmission lines in the area to support the high-voltage power needs of the full commercial processing plant at Brook. Now moving to the East and to the metallurgical operations.

我們預計這次鑽探和測試的結果也將與我們最初的鑽探和測試結果一樣，濃度很高。這個標記或區域很可能讓我們能夠收集到足夠的額外礦石，以支持我們的試驗工廠在第一年全面運作。該礦將繼續保持活躍狀態，以便我們根據需要獲取更多樣品進行測試，並推進更大的項目。從長遠來看，我們已經與謝裡丹的區域電力供應商接洽，開始對該地區高壓輸電線路進行升級改造，以支援布魯克商業加工廠的高壓電力需求。現在前往東部，參觀冶金作業區。

The third quarter was operationally successful. We saw progressively better and lower cash cost each month following the July holiday month, culminating in company-wide cash costs of $86 per ton for the month of September. As we've been mentioned, early in September, we made the difficult decision to idle production at our Local World Fork mine, which is located at the Berlin Complex.

第三季營運狀況良好。7 月假期過後，每個月的現金成本逐漸降低，公司整體現金成本在 9 月降至每噸 86 美元。正如我們之前提到的，9 月初，我們做出了一個艱難的決定，暫停位於柏林礦區的 Local World Fork 礦的生產。

Unfortunately, given the current and near-term sentiment of the market, financially, it did not make sense to continue to operate the mine as our holding costs were in line with our net operating costs. The impact of the removal of the relatively higher oral for cost did contribute a couple of dollars to the lowering of the overall company cash cost in September. And of course, we would expect that to continue. We're keeping the mind on a hot-idle status and are maintaining the mining infrastructure until such time as the market fundamentals have improved enough to bring back these incremental tons. Despite the fact that we are now operating three underground sections less than we originally budgeted to be operating in 2025, September productivity levels exceeded budgeted levels enough to almost match the full original budget for produced tons.

不幸的是，鑑於當前和近期的市場情緒，從財務角度來看，繼續營運該礦場沒有意義，因為我們的持有成本與我們的淨營運成本一致。取消相對較高的口服藥物成本確實為該公司 9 月的整體現金成本降低了幾美元。當然，我們預計這種情況會持續下去。我們目前處於閒置狀態，並維護採礦基礎設施，直到市場基本面改善到足以恢復這些增量噸位。儘管我們目前運營的地下礦段比原計劃在 2025 年運營的少了三個，但 9 月份的生產率超過了預算水平，幾乎達到了原計劃的全部產量。

I would remind everyone that the fourth quarter does have two months with the traditional shutdown vacation weeks. So while we expect productivity and production to continue at its current levels, the impact of these two vacation months will temper the cash cost performance level seen in September and that we expect to continue or be better in October.

我想提醒大家，第四季有兩個月是傳統的停工休假週。因此，雖然我們預計生產力和產量將繼續保持在目前的水平，但這兩個月的假期將緩和9月份的現金成本表現水平，我們預計10月份的現金成本表現水平將保持不變或更好。

Operationally, as we complete our budgets for '26 and the years beyond, we are positioning all of our complexes to be able to quickly pivot as the market improves. However, little material capital for met coal growth is planned to be deployed in 2026. In line with that, we are also working with all of our vendors and suppliers to reduce costs anywhere we can.

在營運方面，隨著我們完成 2026 年及以後年份的預算，我們正在調整所有綜合設施的定位，以便在市場好轉時能夠迅速轉型。然而，2026 年計畫投入用於冶金煤成長的物質資本卻很少。為此，我們也正與所有供應商合作，盡可能降低成本。

Similarly, we are working with our lessors to get relief on royalty rates or strategically move our sections where we can from higher third-party royalty areas to our own coal. Simply put, as we close out '25 and head into 2026, on the metallurgical side of the business, we will put ourselves in the best position we can and control the things we can control, that is volume and operating costs. We will continue to maintain our position as one of the lowest cost domestic producers and be ready to reinitiate our growth targets as soon as it is responsible to do so.

同樣，我們正在與出租人合作，爭取降低特許權使用費率，或盡可能地將我們的煤礦從第三方特許權使用費率較高的地區轉移到我們自己的煤礦。簡而言之，隨著 2025 年即將結束，2026 年即將到來，在冶金業務方面，我們將盡最大努力讓自己處於最佳狀態，並控制我們能夠控制的因素，即產量和營運成本。我們將繼續保持國內成本最低生產商之一的地位，並隨時準備在情況允許的情況下重新啟動我們的成長目標。

With that said, I would now like to turn the call back over to the operator for any questions from those on the line. Operator?

綜上所述，我現在想把電話轉回給接線生，回答電話那頭聽眾的任何問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Ben Kallo, Baird.

（操作說明）Ben Kallo，Baird。

Thank you for all the detail. Just a big picture, lots of talks about deals with the United States and our allies could you maybe kind of give your viewpoint on that? And then how that impacts any kind of support that you get to the United States government for your development? And then I have a follow-up, too.

謝謝你提供的所有細節。從大局來看，關於與美國及其盟友達成協議的討論很多，您能否就此談談您的看法？那麼，這會對你從美國政府獲得的任何發展支持產生什麼影響呢？然後我還有一個後續問題。

Well, I think in the political arena, when the US starts making deals with foreign countries that obviously has macro political implications as far as the supply implications. I think it remains to be seen specifically what type of supply that those countries will be supplying to the US So I think the jury is still out. I'll let Mike maybe comment on that because he's probably much more familiar with some of the operational aspects of some of the countries over there.

我認為在政治領域，當美國開始與外國達成協議時，這顯然會對宏觀政治產生影響，尤其是在供給方面。我認為這些國家究竟會提供美國何種類型的物資還有待觀察，所以目前還無法下定論。我還是請麥克來評論一下吧，因為他可能對那邊一些國家的運作方面比較熟悉。

As far as it has to do with the US and what it will do or not do with trying to support its own domestic industry over here. I think the government is moving forward on various fronts to try to be as supportive as they can, as we've seen over the last several months. But Mike, please go ahead and comment on that.

至於這與美國以及它將採取或不採取什麼措施來支持其國內產業有關。我認為政府正在各個方面努力提供盡可能多的支持，正如我們在過去幾個月中所看到的那樣。但是麥克，請你繼續發表一下看法。

Yes. Look, my view on this is that these are short-term agreements. Until the US ramps up domestic supply of these critical minerals. There's a need perhaps to close window in the short term. But I think given the application of what these critical minerals are used for, that there will be domestic supply in the US, and this is really a short-term solution.

是的。我認為這些都是短期協議。直到美國加大國內這些關鍵礦產的供應量。短期內或許有必要關閉窗口。但我認為，考慮到這些關鍵礦物的用途，美國國內會有供應，這實際上只是一個短期解決方案。

My follow-up is just about extracting are from coal. Can you talk about what you've done and what you still need to be done to derisk that process and that it's been done elsewhere? Or just give us some thoughts around that.

我的後續研究是關於從煤炭中提取鋁。您能否談談您已經做了哪些工作，以及為了降低流程的風險還需要做些什麼，並說明其他地方已經採取了哪些措施？或者您也可以就此提出一些想法。

Sure. I think some of the industry thinks we're extracting coal from rare from fly ash, we're not doing that. We spent a good part of a calendar year testing various processes and metallurgical flow sheets to achieve one main objective, and that is to solubilize all of the high-value critical minerals. So we are -- our process plant is basically taking the plays and the shales that are intermingled with coal, and we're extracting the rare earths from those.

當然。我認為業內有些人以為我們是從粉煤灰中提取稀有煤炭，但我們並沒有這樣做。我們花了近一年的時間測試各種製程和冶金流程圖，以實現一個主要目標，那就是溶解所有高價值的關鍵礦物。所以，我們的加工廠基本上就是開採與煤炭混雜在一起的頁岩和礦藏，並從中提取稀土元素。

Once soluble, the flow sheet is less risk in terms of purification and separation because there's technologies out there and examples and commercial applications that do that. So my view is that the high-risk part of this flow sheet was proving that we can extract the minerals which we've done. So currently, in the pre-feasibility study. We're spending more time on that downstream purification, looking at options, for instance, do we look -- do we use precipitation, ion exchange. We're concentrating our rare earths and critical minerals for further downstream processing and optimization.

一旦可溶，流程圖在純化和分離方面的風險就會降低，因為已經有相關的技術、實例和商業應用可以做到這一點。所以我認為，該流程圖中風險最高的部分是證明我們可以提取礦物，而我們已經做到了。所以目前，正處於可行性研究的預階段。我們正在花更多時間研究下游純化，尋找各種方案，例如，我們是否應該採用沉澱法、離子交換法。我們正在集中開採稀土和關鍵礦物，以便進行進一步的下游加工和最佳化。

So like in every project as we advance through the engineering studies, where we're looking for more engineering design definition and optimization.

所以就像我們在每個專案中不斷推進工程研究一樣，我們尋求更多的工程設計定義和最佳化。

Yes. I'll make one other comment, which is what that we've said before, but probably merits saying again, so coal is essentially an unconventional source of rare earth. It's unconventional on a number of capacities, one of which, of course, is most rare are found in hard mineral. So coal is much easier to mine. It's a much softer material to process as well.

是的。我還要補充一點，雖然我們以前也說過，但可能值得再說一遍，煤炭本質上是一種非常規的稀土來源。它在許多方面都不同尋常，其中最罕見的當然是在堅硬的礦物中發現的。所以煤炭開採要容易得多。這種材料加工起來也容易得多。

And of course, from a processing and mining standpoint, it is not radioactive. So most of the other hard rock minerals have radioactive tailings, which has to be dealt with, both in terms of the mining the waste side of that after the mine has been done as well as, obviously, through the processing. So coal is a much more benign feedstock to work with.

當然，從加工和開採的角度來看，它不具有放射性。因此，大多數其他硬岩礦物都有放射性尾礦，必須對其進行處理，既包括採礦後的廢料處理，也包括加工處理。因此，煤炭是一種更環保的原料。

Colin Rusch, Oppenheimer.

科林魯什，奧本海默。

Could you talk about how modular your plans are for the processing facilities and how we could think about some of this capacity coming online? Is it possible that you could start ramping some of this capacity a little bit earlier as you ramp up certain segments of the facility?

您能否談談您的加工設施規劃是如何模組化的，以及我們如何考慮讓其中一部分產能上線？隨著工廠某些部分的產能逐步提升，是否有可能提早一點開始提升部分產能？

Yes. Look, we are -- and I think we've announced the acceleration. What I spoke about today is we're conducting test work programs in parallel. So we have two commercial labs working on this flow sheet optimization as well as the US government labs when they get back to work, we intend to have testing being conducted at three facilities.

是的。你看，我們正在加速——而且我認為我們已經宣布了這項加速計劃。我今天談到的是，我們正在並行進行測試工作項目。因此，我們有兩家商業實驗室正在進行流程圖優化工作，美國政府實驗室復工後，我們計劃在三個設施進行測試。

I think in terms of ramp-up, we've talked about that. We have some optionality with ramp up, whether that's staging to meet the demand.

我認為關於產能提升方面，我們已經討論過了。我們在產能提升方面有一定的選擇餘地，可以根據需求分階段進行調整。

But I think in terms of what we need to achieve first is confirmation of the flow sheet, early engagement with technology providers, and we are having some of those conversations now to make sure that they advance the engineering with us and identification of long lead items, which Hatch is working on now so that we can place equipment orders early. I think the fact that we're permitted gives us some advantage because we can get into this site to do some early site works versus projects that are still waiting for permits. So all of those factors are going to help us ramp up more quickly.

但我認為，我們首先需要實現的是確認流程圖，儘早與技術供應商接洽，我們現在正在進行一些這樣的對話，以確保他們與我們一起推進工程設計，並確定長週期物料，Hatch 目前正在進行這項工作，以便我們能夠儘早下設備訂單。我認為，我們獲得許可這一事實為我們帶來了一些優勢，因為我們可以進入這個工地進行一些早期的場地施工，而其他項目仍在等待許可。因此，所有這些因素都將有助於我們更快地擴大生產規模。

And then just given some of the substantial value that is coming from the facility or coming from the site through Scandium, can you talk about how much are those conversations are any sort of issues around pricing, either higher or lower that you see potentially impacting some of these estimates as some of the incremental capacity comes online. I think some folks may get a little concerned that you start impacting some of broader market prices, but that may not be the case. Just want to get a sense of how substantial those conversations are and some of the impact around some of the stats

鑑於該設施或場地透過鈧元素帶來的巨大價值，您能否談談隨著新增產能上線，定價方面是否存在任何問題（無論是上漲還是下跌）可能會對這些估算產生多大影響？我認為有些人可能會擔心你會對更廣泛的市場價格產生影響，但這種情況可能不會發生。我只是想了解這些討論的實質內容，以及一些統計數據的影響。

Sure. We're not going to get too far Yes, we're not going to get too far under the weeds in terms of discussions about negotiations that are taking place in real time. I will say that we are having discussions with both domestic and international customers as it relates to Scandium, we've not gotten to price specifics at this point. But as I mentioned, the last, frankly, major price marker was the one that the US government established with their deal with Rio here a couple of weeks ago.

當然。是的，我們不會走得太遠，不會在即時進行的談判討論中陷入太多細節。我想說的是，我們正在與國內外客戶討論有關鈧的問題，但目前還沒有談到具體的價格。但正如我之前提到的，坦白說，最後一個主要的價格標誌是美國政府幾週前與力拓達成的協議所確立的價格標誌。

And in terms of negotiations, we obviously don't negotiate in public like anyone else does. And once we get to a point where we have actually agreement on any points, then obviously, that will be disclosed.

至於談判方面，我們顯然不會像其他人一樣公開談判。一旦我們在某些​​方面達成共識，那麼很顯然，我們會公佈這些共識。

Matthew Key, Texas Capital.

馬修·基，德克薩斯資本。

Staying on kind of the rare earth side. We've seen some other coal companies hit at the potential for rare earth development in the PRB. Could you maybe share some color on why you view growth as unique compared to other PRB assets? And kind of what's the major differentiator there in your view?

保持稀土元素的姿態。我們看到其他一些煤炭公司也對珠江三角洲稀土開發的潛力感到擔憂。您能否詳細解釋一下，為什麼您認為Growth與其他PRB資產相比具有獨特性？那麼，在你看來，主要的差異是什麼呢？

Sure. I'll give you basically what we have been told by NETL which did a national assessment of rare earth sites, frankly, all over the country and specifically in the Powder River Basin. So in the Powder River Basin, of course, there are areas where there is REE concentrations. The unique thing about the Brookside is that we are, frankly, on the far western edge almost the edge itself of the Powder River Basin to our West is where there was a great deal of volcanic activity, millions of years ago, which we benefited by having that volcanic ash rain down on our site.

當然。我基本上會把我們從美國國家能源技術實驗室（NETL）那裡得到的資訊告訴你們。 NETL 對全國各地的稀土礦址進行了全國性評估，坦白說，評估範圍涵蓋了整個國家，特別是粉河盆地。所以，在粉紅河盆地，當然存在一些稀土元素濃度較高的地區。布魯克賽德的獨特之處在於，坦白說，我們位於粉紅河流域的最西端，幾乎就在盆地的邊緣。在我們西邊，數百萬年前曾發生過大量的火山活動，火山灰如雨般落到我們這裡，使我們受益匪淺。

And we also had similarly a lot of deposits of rare earth that frankly were co-mingled with the alluvial seas, and they permeated up through the crust on to our site. The comment that was made to us by NETL was that you might go just a few miles from where we are, and we have a -- we probably have about a 7 or 8-mile site and you might not find anything. Indeed, when we've mined, you can go and find high concentrations and then go probably 10 to 15 feet away and you don't hit any. So we can't really comment on what somebody else's site might or might not have, but we have been led to believe that we have a particularly unique site with some geological anomalies that might not be repeatable elsewhere.

同樣，我們也發現了大量稀土礦藏，這些礦藏與沖積海混合在一起，並滲透到地殼中，最終到達了我們的礦址。美國國家能源技術實驗室 (NETL) 向我們表示，即使你離我們只有幾英里遠，而我們這裡可能有一個七、八英里的場地，你可能什麼都找不到。事實上，當我們開採礦石時，你可以找到高濃度的礦石，然後走開 10 到 15 英尺，但一個礦石都找不到。因此，我們無法評論其他人的遺址可能擁有或不擁有什麼，但我們一直認為，我們的遺址非常獨特，具有一些在其他地方可能無法複製的地質異常現象。

Got it. That's super helpful context. And staying on Brook, I was curious in regards to the strategic Critical Minerals terminal, is that expected to add a material amount of CapEx to the overall project? Or should it be relatively small?

知道了。這個背景資訊非常有幫助。繼續討論布魯克項目，我很好奇，關於戰略性關鍵礦物碼頭，預計它會給整個項目增加大量的資本支出嗎？或者它應該相對較小？

It should be relatively small. And certainly, the overall context, the big spend, of course, is going to be on our commercial oxide plant. But I think it does add a very unique dimension because it allows us to control some of the downstream, we will sort of be a unique site there where we can act as sort of certainly, as I said, either regional or a national hub to stockpile rare earth for whether they are public or private uses and it gives us some price visibility on what we're doing and also allows us to put our own feedstock and oxides into the stockpile to be able to have some form of controlled marketing as well as some finance opportunities.

它應該比較小。當然，總體而言，最大的投入肯定是在我們的商業氧化物工廠上。但我認為這確實增添了一個非常獨特的維度，因為它使我們能夠控制一些下游環節，我們將成為一個獨特的場所，正如我所說，我們可以充當區域或國家級的稀土儲備中心，用於公共或私人用途，這讓我們能夠了解我們正在做的事情的價格，並且還允許我們將我們自己的原料和氧化物放入準備

Nick Giles, B. Riley Securities.

Nick Giles，B. Riley Securities。

My first question, I just wanted to follow up. I better understand the rationale behind the strategic critical minerals terminal, what kind of economics will be third-party received? And I guess my question is, why not sell directly to customers with a smaller footprint for potentially more attractive economics?

我的第一個問題，我只是想跟進一下。我更了解戰略性關鍵礦產碼頭的建設邏輯，以及第三方將從中獲得的經濟效益。我想問的是，為什麼不直接向客戶銷售產品，降低成本，從而獲得可能更具吸引力的經濟效益呢？

I'm not sure I understood your second question. But I mean the first question, what a customers received, basically, we will be able to have sort of a clearing house, think of it more in the context like a regional petroleum hub where you can basically market from that site to third parties in a controlled manner, which provides some optionality both for other producers as well as for ourselves. And in terms of the overall economics, I think it will be a net benefit. It's obviously not going to be a heavy CapEx requirement for us, but it does provide us some visibility into the market that we might not otherwise have.

我不太明白你的第二個問題。但我的意思是，對於第一個問題，即客戶能獲得什麼，基本上，我們將能夠擁有一個清算中心，可以把它想像成一個區域石油中心，在那裡你可以以可控的方式從該站點向第三方進行銷售，這為其他生產商和我們自己都提供了一些選擇。從整體經濟角度來看，我認為這將帶來淨收益。顯然，這不會為我們帶來沉重的資本支出需求，但它確實為我們提供了我們原本可能無法獲得的市場資訊。

My second question was, you announced the pilot plant boxes facility every day and -- or the groundbreaking at least. And it's hard just to be operational by mid-26 and then you expect to operate it for a 6-month period I believe that's fairly accelerated relative to other pilot facilities across the space. So my question is what ultimately gives you the confidence that you'll be able to fine-tune and validate the processing techniques on this time line?

我的第二個問題是，你們每天都宣布試驗工廠箱體設施的建設，或至少宣布破土動工。而且，要在 26 年中投入營運就已經很困難了，然後還要運作 6 個月，我認為這相對於該領域的其他試點設施來說速度相當快。所以我的問題是，最終是什麼讓你有信心在這個時間範圍內微調和驗證處理技術？

We get into -- I'll let Mike get into some of the technical aspects. But as I said earlier, what we're trying to do is kind of fast track it by first of all, while we're actually constructing a facility to build the pilot plant in, we are going to have that basic engineering design and testing done off-site at a spot that's already got all of the equipment infrastructure and testing facilities to do that in real time for a period of months, maybe as long as six months before we even have to get our own site positioned to basically have all that material moved into it. So we'll accelerate that from that standpoint. That's the Zeton arrangement. But Mike, go ahead and touch on some other aspects here.

接下來——我請麥克來談談一些技術方面的問題。但正如我之前所說，我們正在努力加快進度。首先，在我們實際建造試驗工廠的同時，我們將把基本的工程設計和測試異地完成，那裡已經擁有所有設備基礎設施和測試設施，可以實時進行數月甚至長達六個月的測試，然後再將我們自己的場地佈置好，把所有材料都運進去。所以我們將從這個角度加快進程。這就是澤頓排列方式。但是麥克，你不妨再談談其他方面。

Yes. I think it's worth mentioning. I mean we've been designing the pilot plant now for a couple of months. So although we've just announced where we're at, there's been -- Hatch has been involved with us putting together a basic engineering package. So we've got the mass balances the flow sheet to excise the equipment.

是的。我覺得值得一提。我的意思是，我們已經設計這個試驗工廠好幾個月了。雖然我們剛剛宣布了我們目前的進展，但 Hatch 一直參與到我們共同建立基礎工程方案的過程中。所以我們已經有了物料平衡圖和流程圖，可以去除設備了。

We've handed over a detailed engineering package to Zeton. So this is well underway. We know what equipment the sizing where we're going to source them Chris mentioned, we came to a 3 tonne per day or throughput to the pilot plant.

我們已將詳細的工程設計方案提交給澤頓公司。這項工作已經進展順利。我們知道了設備的尺寸，也知道了我們將從哪裡購買這些設備。正如克里斯所提到的，我們最終確定了試驗工廠每天的吞吐量為 3 噸。

We picked Zeton because this is their wheelhouse. design and build these plants. They have technical skills in-house that can fabricate vessels if they need to be custom designed for instance. So we're not sending things to third parties to get fabricated I think the other thing to mention is Zeton was involved with them more than 20 years ago on a very complicated pilot plant also. In terms of your answering your question about ramp-up.

我們選擇Zeton是因為這是他們的強項：設計和建造這些工廠。他們擁有內部技術能力，可以根據需要客製化設計製造船舶。所以我們不會把東西送到第三方去製造。我認為還有一點要提的是，Zeton 20 多年前也曾與他們合作過一個非常複雜的試驗工廠。關於您提出的關於加速的問題，我回答如下。

Frankly, we've got Hatch who's got several subject matter experts in rare earths in the Americas. We brought Martin on board which coming from Fluor, we -- there were similar unit operations with separation purification. So we have some knowledge in-house about what we're going to do with the design to help us get ramped up.

坦白說，我們有哈奇公司，該公司在美洲擁有多位稀土領域的專家。我們聘請了 Martin，他之前​​在 Fluor 公司工作，我們——分離純化方面也有類似的單元操作。因此，我們內部對如何進行設計有一些了解，這有助於我們加快進度。

The 6-month operation period is really to generate product that's going to be quality spec for our off-takers but that pilot plant is going to be an asset that we're going to continue to run for years ahead as needed and testing and continually optimizing like other facilities when they have pilot plants on site, it's really an asset for the company long term.

6 個月的營運期實際上是為了生產出符合承購商品質規格的產品，但這個試驗工廠將成為一項資產，我們將根據需要在未來幾年繼續運營，並像其他擁有試驗工廠的工廠一樣進行測試和不斷優化，從長遠來看，它確實是公司的一項資產。

I'd just like to add, I think we are doing a lot of stuff behind the scenes that we're not exactly announcing on a daily basis. We have been at this now for about, I guess, going on our seventh year. So the amount of behind-the-scenes work is a lot more substantial than I think might meet the eye.

我只想補充一點，我認為我們幕後做了很多事情，但並沒有每天對外公佈。我們從事這項工作至今已經有大約七年了。所以幕後工作量比我看到的還要大得多。

Nathan Martin, Benchmark.

Nathan Martin，基準。

Thanks, operator. A lot of information discussed already. I guess maybe at a high level, what do you guys need to see from the pilot plant process, customer conversations, et cetera, to make you feel comfortable enough to move forward with full commercialization? And do you still expect to make that decision by the end of next year, possibly?

謝謝接線生。已經討論了很多資訊。我想從宏觀層面來說，你們需要從試點工廠流程、客戶溝通等方面看到什麼，才能讓你們感到足夠放心，從而推進全面商業化進程？您是否仍預計在明年年底前做出決定？

Sure. I'll make a comment on the high level probably from a financial and strategic standpoint. I'll let Mike comment from a high level on the technical side. So obviously, as a normal development project, particularly in a new business line. We're going to want to see confirmation of customer acceptance of our product, appropriate pricing for our product and appropriate contracts, hopefully, on a long-term basis to establish the underlying credit it to do normal forms of finance.

當然。我大概會從財務和策略角度發表一些看法。我將請麥克從技術層面進行高屋建瓴的評論。顯然，這是一個正常的開發項目，尤其是在新的業務領域。我們希望看到客戶對我們的產品表示認可，我們的產品定價合理，並簽訂合適的合同，希望能夠長期維持合作關係，從而建立起開展正常融資活動的基礎信用。

This is not going to be an inexpensive project. We know that. It's a critically important project, not only course for Ramaco, but frankly, we feel for the country.

這不會是一個便宜的項目。我們知道這一點。這不僅對 Ramaco 而言是一個至關重要的項目，坦白說，我們也對這個國家感同身受。

And so we will take all deliberate steps. We are not gunslingers. We are not promoters in the sense that we're trying to get out in front of markets that aren't there. But I think we will be deploying the same sort of careful discipline that we have used in our met coal business to ensure that we've got a market for the product that we will build. And we will finance it conservatively, and we will try to make sure that operates efficiently and at low cost.

因此，我們將採取一切審慎的步驟。我們不是槍手。我們並非傳統意義上的推銷者，我們不會試圖搶佔尚未存在的市場。但我認為，我們將運用我們在冶金煤業務中採用的同樣謹慎的紀律，以確保我們生產的產品有市場。我們將採取保守的融資方式，並努力確保其高效、低成本地運作。

So Mike, I'll let you pick up from there.

麥克，接下來就交給你了。

Sure. I think the purpose of piloting is twofold. It's prudent for us to provide confidence that we have a flow sheet that works, and we can produce product on spec for our off-takers. There's plenty of projects, commercial plants that are built without piloting. But given we have an unconventional deposit, it provides people with confidence that technically our flow sheet works and that we can achieve the product spec.

當然。我認為試飛的目的有兩個面向。對我們來說，謹慎的做法是讓客戶相信我們擁有可行的流程圖，並且能夠以規格為承購商生產產品。有很多項目，也就是商業工廠，都是在沒有進行試點的情況下建造的。但鑑於我們擁有一個非常規礦床，這讓人們相信，從技術上講，我們的流程圖是可行的，我們可以達到產品規格。

So that's really what I'm aiming to achieve is on the technical validation, and that's why we're piloting.

所以，我真正想要實現的就是技術驗證，這也是我們進行試點的原因。

I appreciate those comments, guys. And then maybe just one question on the met coal side of the house, updated full year sales guidance looks like it assumes about 900,000 to 1.2 million tons shipped in the fourth quarter. It looks like 3.9 million tons committed, I believe. So where do you think you ultimately kind of end up within that range? What could be some puts and takes there?

感謝各位的評論。那麼，關於冶金煤方面，或許可以問一個問題：更新後的全年銷售預期似乎假設第四季出貨量約為 90 萬至 120 萬噸。我認為，已投入的量似乎是390萬噸。那麼你認為你最終會在這個範圍內處於什麼位置呢？這裡可能會有哪些買賣機會？

Nate, so I mean I think as Randy said and Chris said as well, the mines are running great. But obviously, we've continued to sort of rationalize production because we're just not going to sell at a loss into the spot market. So certainly, we've got inventory on the ground and the ability to hit the high end of the range, but kind of similar to Q3, where you saw us obviously come in a little bit more towards the lower end of the range on shipments. We will monitor the market and sort of see where things shake out. So I would say probably the vast majority of the range is just candidly market driven.

內特，我的意思是，就像蘭迪和克里斯說的那樣，礦井運作良好。但很顯然，我們一直在不斷調整生產，因為我們不可能虧本在現貨市場上銷售。所以，我們當然有現貨，也有能力達到高端水平，但與第三季的情況類似，你們也看到了，我們的出貨量顯然更接近低端水平。我們會密切關注市場動態，看看最終結果如何。所以我認為，絕大多數產品系列純粹是受市場驅動的。

Yes. I'd say that, one of the things we always find in the fourth quarter is that at least for the last couple of years, a lot of the domestic steel guys have frankly, underbought as they go into their original contract procurement and you get to the fourth quarter and they need to play catch up. This is perhaps particularly true in a year where there is a supply rationalization. So as you well know, we've seen a number of suppliers in the market cut back or frankly, go under. So I think it's going to be interesting how the fourth quarter plays out.

是的。我想說，我們在第四季總是會發現，至少在過去幾年裡，許多國內鋼鐵企業在最初的合約採購階段都採購不足，到了第四季度，他們就需要迎頭趕上。在供應合理化的年份，這點或許特別如此。正如您所知，我們已經看到市場上許多供應商縮減了規模，或者坦白說，倒閉了。所以我覺得第四節的比賽會很有趣。

[Alex Furman, Lucid Capital Markets].

[Alex Furman，Lucid Capital Markets]

You have a really diverse portfolio of critical metals at the Brook Mine. Is the pilot prototype that you're building in Ontario, is that designed to process the entire range of minerals that you have? Or is it possible that you're going to need some additional partnerships to process some of the less common metals? Would love to get some more color on that.

布魯克礦擁有種類繁多的關鍵金屬礦產資源。你們在安大略省建造的試點原型機，是否旨在處理你們擁有的所有礦物種類？或者，您可能需要一些額外的合作夥伴關係來加工一些不太常見的金屬？很想了解更多細節。

Yes. We aren't anticipating any partners. I think there has been some conversations recently about -- is there -- is there an opportunity to pull something else out of this mix. You're right. It's a very unique basket.

是的。我們目前沒有尋找合作夥伴的計劃。我認為最近有一些討論是關於——是否有——是否有機會從這種組合中提取出其他東西。你說得對。這是一個非常獨特的籃子。

There's been interest in itrium, potential samarium and others gadolinium has been mentioned. So I think the beauty of a pilot plant is there is some flexibility in being able to test other things. So we are designing with that in mind that we have flexibility with the pilot plant that if we want to bolt something on to test or to validate that we have the opportunity to do that.

人們對釔、釤和其他金屬（例如钆）都產生了興趣。所以我認為中試工廠的優點在於它有一定的彈性，可以測試其他東西。因此，我們在設計時考慮到了這一點，即中試工廠具有一定的靈活性，如果我們想添加一些東西進行測試或驗證，我們就有機會這樣做。

[Jeff Graham, Northland Capital Markets].

[傑夫·格雷厄姆，北地資本市場]

I wanted to talk on the permitting side of things. Can you guys give us a sense of the timeline to get the remainder of the mine permitted to handle the increased throughput plans you guys have talked about?

我想談談許可證辦理方面的問題。你們能否大致說明一下，為了滿足你們之前提到的提高產能的計劃，礦山剩餘部分的審批流程需要多長時間才能完成？

We are already meeting with some of the federal groups on permitting. We've had ongoing dialogue, of course, at the state level. We just received our next 5-year renewal on our original mine permit, which frankly lets us continue to do everything we want to do without further amendment what we're developing right now, and I'll maybe let Chris speak just a little bit to it, but we are developing our mine plans as it relates to the balance of our acre site.

我們已經在與一些聯邦機構就許可事宜進行會面。當然，我們一直在州一級進行對話。我們剛剛收到了原始採礦許可證的下一個 5 年續期，坦白說，這讓我們能夠繼續做我們想做的一切，而無需對我們正在開發的專案進行進一步修改。我可能會讓克里斯稍微談談這方面，但我們正在根據我們剩餘的英畝​​場地制定採礦計劃。

Of course, the original mine plans only covered about 1/3 of that or less. And once those plans are developed, then we will proceed probably on somewhat of a combination of both a federal and state expanded permitting. So Chris, you might want to just talk a little bit about your mine planning.

當然，最初的礦山規劃只涵蓋了大約三分之一甚至更少的面積。一旦這些計劃制定完成，我們可能會採取聯邦和州擴大許可相結合的方式進行。克里斯，你或許可以稍微談談你的礦場規劃。

Yes, just to add a little bit of color to what Randy said. We already have the permitted areas a huge area. It's about a 30-year mine plan at the base rate. So we have the ability to deploy two or three fleets for the size that we ultimately choose to mine a book within the permitted area. So that will require minor modifications to the permit as far as the staging of the line but not actually having to have the entire property permitted on day 1.

是的，只是想為蘭迪的話增添一些色彩。我們已經擁有了許可區域，面積非常大。這是以基準利率計算的為期 30 年的礦業計畫。因此，我們有能力部署兩到三支艦隊，以達到我們最終選擇在允許區域內挖掘書籍的規模。因此，只需要對許可證進行一些小的修改，例如線路的搭建，但實際上不需要在第一天就獲得整個地塊的許可。

So we've got a lot of runway in front of us. We are drilling all the testing wells that are required for water outside that permit area and quite frankly, to go deeper as well. But with the amount of area that we have at Brook, that's not even a start-up concern on the initial mine permit.

所以我們還有很長的路要走。我們正在鑽探許可區域外所需的所有水質測試井，坦白說，我們還要鑽得更深。但是，就布魯克礦區的面積而言，這甚至不是初始採礦許可證上的一個需要考慮的問題。

Yes. I mean the one thing I'd point out, just given the frankly, massive size of the deposit, depending upon the sort of velocity of our mining. We've got, on one end, probably north of 150 year mine life. If we want to accelerate the mining, obviously, that number goes down, depending on how quickly we intend to mine on an annualized basis, but we have more than enough to say grace over at the moment. And the interesting a permitting standpoint, I would add also one other aspect.

是的。我的意思是，鑑於礦藏規模龐大，我想指出的一點是，這取決於我們的開採速度。從一端來看，礦山壽命可能超過 150 年。如果我們想加快挖礦速度，顯然，這個數字就會下降，這取決於我們打算以每年的速度挖礦，但目前我們擁有的資源已經足夠了。從許可的角度來看，我還想補充一點。

We have only, frankly, tested, as I've said before, on a sort of conventional Powder River surface mine program where we have core drilled down to about 150, 200 feet.

坦白說，正如我之前所說，我們只在一個傳統的粉河露天礦項目中進行了測試，我們鑽取了大約 150 到 200 英尺深的岩芯。

We have discovered or, frankly, NETL helped us discover that we have deposits that frankly are much deeper. We have done some cores now that have found, frankly, much higher concentrations down in about the 500 to 600-foot levels in some of our areas of the site. So in addition to what we've got, at the surface. We've also got potentially a very large sort of untapped and unexplored area in a much more subterranean area, which might lend itself to a different kind of mining. We've talked about before the notion that we could do some form of in-situ injection well mining for some of the deep stuff which will probably encompass another type of permitting exercise. But it just shows how big this deposit really is.

我們發現，或者更確切地說，是 NETL 幫助我們發現，我們擁有的礦藏實際上要深得多。我們現在進行了一些岩芯取樣，結果發現，坦白說，在我們場地的一些區域，大約 500 到 600 英尺深的地下，濃度要高得多。所以除了我們目前所擁有的，表面上看。我們還有一個可能非常大的未開發、未勘探的區域，位於地表以下，這可能適合進行不同類型的採礦。我們之前討論過，我們可以對一些深層礦藏進行某種形式的原位注入井開採，這可能涉及另一種類型的許可程序。但這正好說明了這筆礦藏的規模有多龐大。

That's really interesting. Just a quick follow-up. Randy, you mentioned being on a lookout for some opportunistic bolt-on acquisitions. Can you just shed a little light on what kind of opportunities you guys are looking for and how you characterize the overall attractiveness of the acquisition market?

這真有意思。再補充一點。蘭迪，你曾提到正在尋找一些機會性的補充收購目標。能否簡單說明一下你們正在尋找什麼樣的機會，以及你們如何評價收購市場的整體吸引力？

Yes. I mean when we get asked about M&A opportunities, I always quip, we're not particularly interested in the IM, but we'll take a look at the (inaudible) So we have kind of had a program of the past of picking up somewhat opportunistically assets, be they reserves or infrastructure in the coal space that are accretive to us and that we're able to pick up on an advantage basis based on perhaps market distress that others might have.

是的。我的意思是，當被問及併購機會時，我總是打趣說，我們對投資管理公司（IM）沒有特別的興趣，但我們會看看（聽不清楚）。所以我們過去一直有一個計劃，就是抓住一些機會，收購煤炭領域的資產，無論是儲量還是基礎設施，只要這些資產對我們有利，我們就能基於市場困境（其他人可能遇到的困境）而以優勢收購它們。

And frankly, we're looking at some of those now. We've also made a small acquisition out, frankly, the Brook Mine area where we bought about 1,200 acres of surface property on top of what we already own, which is going to provide us a lot of optionality for some of the planning for where we might want to cite some of the industrial areas out there. So we're always on the lookout, but we're kind of a rather opportunistic buyer.

坦白說，我們現在正在研究其中的一些問題。坦白說，我們還在布魯克礦區進行了一筆小規模收購，在我們已經擁有的土地基礎上，我們又購買了大約 1200 英畝的地面土地，這將為我們規劃一些工業區提供很大的選擇餘地。所以我們一直在尋找機會，但我們其實是比較機會主義的買家。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Randall Atkins, Chairman and CEO.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我謹將會議交還給董事長兼執行長蘭德爾·阿特金斯。

Well, I'd just like to thank everybody for being on the line today. I realize this was a little bit longer than our normal quarterly call. But as we move forward, we're basically giving a rundown on two separate operations, both of which are very important. So we appreciate you bearing with us. And we'll certainly look forward to keeping everybody apprised as we move forward, and we'll look forward to our next call after the end of the year.

我只想感謝今天所有線上的各位。我知道這次電話會議比我們平常的季度電話會議時間稍長。但接下來，我們將詳細介紹兩項獨立的行動，這兩項行動都非常重要。感謝您的耐心等待。我們一定會隨時向大家通報最新進展，也期待在年底後與大家進行下次通話。

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

會議已經結束。感謝各位參加今天的報告會。您現在可以斷開連線了。