McEwen Inc (MUX) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to McEwen Mining's second quarter 2024 operating and financial results conference call. Presenting from the company today, Rob McEwen, Chairman and Chief Owner; William Shaver, Chief Operating Officer; Perry Ing, Chief Financial Officer; Jeff Chan, Vice President, Finance; Stefan Spears, Vice President, Corporate Development; Michael Meding, Vice President and General Manager of McEwen Copper; and Carmen Diges, General Counsel and Secretary.

女士們、先生們，大家好，歡迎參加 McEwen Mining 的 2024 年第二季度營運和財務業績電話會議。今天，公司董事長兼首席所有者 Rob McEwen 發表演說；威廉‧謝弗，營運長； Perry Ing，財務長； Jeff Chan，財務副總裁； Stefan Spears，企業發展副總裁； Michael Meding，McEwen Copper 副總裁兼總經理；以及總法律顧問兼秘書 Carmen Diges。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Again, I'd now like to turn the call over to Mr. Rob McEwen, Chief Owner. Please go ahead, sir.

我現在想再次將電話轉給首席所有者 Rob McEwen 先生。請繼續，先生。

Thank you very much, operator. Good morning and welcome, ladies and gentlemen. It was a quarter we've all been waiting to see. It was our most profitable quarter since 2016. It was a quarter where our gross profit was $10.8 million and adjusted EBITDA of $7.2 million versus losses recorded in the second quarter of last year. It was a quarter of improved financial liquidity. Our cash was up 77% to $40.7 million, working capital was up 28% to $29.1 million, and our debt remained unchanged at $40 million since year end.

非常感謝您，接線生。早安，歡迎光臨，女士們先生們。這是我們一直在等待的一個季度。這是我們自 2016 年以來利潤最高的季度。該季度我們的毛利為 1,080 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 720 萬美元，而去年第二季則錄得虧損。這是金融流動性改善的一個季度。自年底以來，我們的現金成長了 77%，達到 4,070 萬美元，營運資金增加了 28%，達到 2,910 萬美元，債務維持在 4,000 萬美元不變。

It was a quarter when both McEwen Mining and myself increased our investment in McEwen Copper. And based on the last financing of McEwen Copper, the implied value has risen to $947 million, which makes McEwen Mining's 48.3% interest equal to $457 million. On a per share basis, that Is $8.45 behind every fully diluted share at McEwen Mining. It's worth noting that this value is greater than our entire market capitalization today.

那是一個季度，麥克尤恩礦業公司和我都增加了對麥克尤恩銅業的投資。而根據麥克尤恩銅業的上一次融資，隱含價值已升至9.47億美元，使得麥克尤恩礦業48.3%的權益相當於4.57億美元。以每股計算，McEwen Mining 每股完全稀釋後的股票價值為 8.45 美元。值得注意的是，這個價值比我們今天的整個市值還要大。

Last night, our closing share price was $8 on the NYSE. And I want to remind you that McEwen Mining also owns a portfolio of six royalties, where the largest is a 1.25% NSR on Los Azules. And we also own three cash-flowing gold and silver mines. Management has done an internal calculation for the value of our assets and it ranges from a low of $20 a share to $50 a share.

昨晚，我們在紐約證券交易所的收盤價為 8 美元。我想提醒您的是，McEwen Mining 還擁有六項特許權使用費的投資組合，其中最大的是 Los Azules 的 1.25% NSR。我們還擁有三個現金流充足的金銀礦。管理層對我們的資產價值進行了內部計算，範圍從每股 20 美元到每股 50 美元不等。

Q2 was a quarter of when the investment outlook for Argentina improved dramatically. I'll call it Milei magic, after the President Milei. The Argentinean government approved the most important change for foreign direct investment in the country in the last 20 years. It involves lower taxes, removal of exchange controls, financial stability agreements, and more for major projects.

第二季是阿根廷投資前景大幅改善的四分之一。我將其稱為“米萊魔法”，以米萊總統的名字命名。阿根廷政府批准了過去20年來對該國外國直接投資最重要的變革。它涉及降低稅收、取消外匯管制、金融穩定協議等重大項目。

The impact will be significant on McEwen Copper's Los Azules NPV. And after the quarter and appearing to take advantage of Argentina's legislative changes, the world's largest mining company, DHP, jumped into Argentina's copper scene in a very big way, leading a $4.4 billion transaction with Lundin Mining to acquire Filo Mining and its Filo Del Sol deposit and the Jose Maria deposit. Not only has this transaction a tremendous expression of confidence in Argentina, but it also sets a new value for large copper deposits in the country.

這將對 McEwen Copper 的 Los Azules NPV 產生重大影響。本季結束後，全球最大的礦業公司 DHP 似乎利用了阿根廷的立法變化，大舉進軍阿根廷銅礦領域，主導了與 Lundin Mining 的 44 億美元交易，收購 Filo Mining 及其 Filo Del Sol存款和何塞瑪麗亞存款。這筆交易不僅表達了對阿根廷的巨大信心，而且還為該國大型銅礦床設定了新的價值。

Based on the current published resources have Fila Del Sol and Jose Marina, Los Azules has a deposit that is larger than the combined resources of both of those deposits and a higher copper grade. All three of these deposits are located in San Juan province, a jurisdiction that the Fraser Institute ranks as one of the best for mining in South America.

根據目前公佈的 Fila Del Sol 和 Jose Marina 資源量，Los Azules 的礦床規模大於這兩個礦床的總資源量，且銅品位更高。這三個礦床均位於聖胡安省，該省被弗雷澤研究所評為南美洲最適合採礦的司法管轄區之一。

At this point, I'd like to open the call for questions and answers.

此刻，我想發起問答徵集。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Jake Sekelsky, Alliance Global Partners.

Jake Sekelsky，聯盟全球合作夥伴。

Hey, Rob and team, thanks for taking my questions and congrats on the quarter.

嘿，羅布和團隊，感謝您回答我的問題，並祝賀本季。

Thanks, Jake.

謝謝，傑克。

So just starting with the ground conditions at Fox, I'm just curious is this a one-off at a specific store or are you seeing this in other areas underground as well?

因此，從福克斯的地面條件開始，我只是好奇這是在特定商店中一次性出現的，還是您在地下的其他區域也看到過這種情況？

No, that's -- thanks for the question, Jake. That's it's a single area of upper level of the mine. It's now -- it's along the contact between ore and waste. And on the waste side, there was some less confident rock, which basically failed. And once we realized exactly what was going on, we backfilled that area with the cemented fill. And so it's totally stabilized now. And so the path forward is to define exactly how we're going to recover the rest of that ore. And that will be by using significantly smaller bites or significantly smaller sizes of stopes that that will have absolute control of.

不，那是——謝謝你的提問，傑克。那是礦井上層的單一區域。現在是－沿著礦石和廢物之間的接觸處。而在廢棄物方面，有一些不太自信的岩石，基本上失敗了。一旦我們確切地意識到發生了什麼，我們就用水泥填充物回填該區域。所以現在已經完全穩定了。因此，前進的道路是準確地定義我們將如何回收其餘礦石。這將透過使用明顯較小的咬合或明顯較小尺寸的採場來實現絕對控制。

So I don't think we have a big concern about it in Ireland. And I guess the mistake we made was of that we didn't recognize that that rock adjacent to that particular stope being waste was in fact as incompetent as it turned out to be. So I think it's a one-off that's now under control. We've had our rock mechanics consultants advising us on how to put a more security around what we're doing there. And I guess I'm reasonably comfortable that we're not going to see that again.

所以我認為愛爾蘭對此沒有太大擔憂。我想我們犯的錯誤是我們沒有認識到與該特定採場相鄰的那塊岩石實際上是廢物，但事實證明它是無能的。所以我認為這是一次性的，現在已經得到控制。我們的岩石力學顧問為我們提供建議，告訴我們如何提高我們在那裡所做的事情的安全性。我想我對我們不會再看到這種情況感到相當放心。

Okay, that's helpful. Thanks for that color on. And then just switching over to Gold Bar, you had a strong quarter there. And it seems like turnaround efforts have really fully taken hold. We expect sub, call it $1,500 an ounce, going forward there? And are there anything specific to Q2 that that drove that major decrease in costs?

好的，這很有幫助。謝謝你用的那個顏色。然後轉向金條，你在那裡度過了一個強勁的季度。扭轉局面的努力似乎已經完全發揮作用。我們預計 1,500 美元/盎司的價格會繼續上漲嗎？第二季有什麼具體因素導致成本大幅下降嗎？

Yeah, I don't think that there's anything that drove that cost down. It's basically because the production is so far has been slightly above our target. And also that's helping that. In fact, at the present time or doing a significant amount of drilling, so far this year, we've done about $5 million of drilling. So that is also included in the cost there. So I think we'd anticipated that as long as we can move the right amount of material that the costs will stay in that same area or it might move up slightly, but it's seems to be predictable at this time based on the data we have.

是的，我認為沒有什麼可以降低成本。這主要是因為迄今為止的產量略高於我們的目標。這也有幫助。事實上，目前我們正在進行大量的鑽探工作，今年到目前為止，我們已經完成了約 500 萬美元的鑽探工作。所以這也包含在那裡的成本。因此，我認為我們預計，只要我們能夠移動適量的材料，成本就會保持在同一區域，或者可能會略有上升，但目前根據我們掌握的數據，這似乎是可以預測的。

That's great. Thanks again.

那太棒了。再次感謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Heiko Ihle, HC Wainright & Co.

Heiko Ihle，HC Wainright & Co.

Hey, Robert and team, thanks for taking my questions. I hope all is well.

嘿，羅伯特和團隊，感謝您回答我的問題。我希望一切都好。

Hey, Heiko.

嘿，海子。

You talked quite extensively about Argentina in your prepared remarks, which is obviously pretty pertinent. But maybe can you give a little bit of color on your longer-term internal tax outlook given the special incentives that you had discussed? I mean, I guess what I'm saying is internally what are you looking at receiving? And is there a way for us to maybe quantify that?

您在準備好的演講中廣泛談論了阿根廷，這顯然是非常中肯的。但考慮到您所討論的特殊激勵措施，您能否對您的長期內部稅收前景進行一些說明？我的意思是，我想我所說的話是在內部你希望收到什麼？我們有沒有辦法量化這一點？

Mike, do you want to address that question?

麥克，你想回答這個問題嗎？

Sure. So we have done some interim calculations what the RIGI application means for our loan. And by no means, we would like to invalidate our existing BA. But to give you an idea, the after-tax changes with the conservative application of the RIGI would be in the area of about more than 30%, $960 million.

當然。因此，我們做了一些臨時計算，RIGI 申請對我們的貸款意味著什麼。我們絕不想讓我們現有的 BA 失效。但給你一個想法，保守應用 RIGI 帶來的稅後變化將超過 30%，即 9.6 億美元。

So this makes projects, which is not our case, but which makes other projects that were not that attractive now attractive because what Argentina has done is -- and again based on companies and management's estimate it has brought Argentina once qualified for the RIGI which we believe for example we do on similar footing with overall tax burden such as Chile. It also includes a couple of benefits that help significantly during the construction phase, which is basically fast VAT recoveries. So those are the things that are very, very helpful for projects such as ours.

因此，這使得項目，這不是我們的情況，但使其他不那麼有吸引力的項目現在變得有吸引力，因為阿根廷所做的是——並且再次基於公司和管理層的估計，它使阿根廷曾經有資格獲得RIGI 的資格，我們例如，我們相信，我們在整體稅收負擔方面也有類似的基礎，例如智利。它還包括在施工階段提供顯著幫助的一些好處，基本上是快速增值稅回收。所以這些對於我們這樣的專案非常非常有幫助。

It's helpful.

這很有幫助。

Yeah, the tax rate is going from 35% to 25% and there are other benefits. As Mike mentioned, VAT refunds accelerated. So and customs importation has speeded up. It's a big push for us and others in the country.

是的，稅率從 35% 提高到 25%，還有其他好處。正如麥克所提到的，增值稅退稅加速。因此，海關進口速度加快了。這對我們和該國其他人來說是一個巨大的推動力。

Yeah. No, a 100%. And I mean things seem to be actually getting done there from everything you read in the press. Profitability in the quarter was obviously pretty good. What kind of cash flow should we expect additional investments into your asset base beyond what you're currently forecasting? Is there an internal gold price? Is there an internal cash flow metric that you have? Or is it sort of just learning by doing thing where if excess funds are there, we'll figure it out then?

是的。不，是100%。我的意思是，從你在媒體上讀到的所有內容來看，事情似乎正在實際完成。本季的獲利能力顯然相當不錯。除了您目前的預測之外，我們還應該對您的資產基礎進行什麼樣的額外投資？有內部黃金價格嗎？您有內部現金流量指標嗎？或者只是透過做一些事情來學習，如果有多餘的資金，我們就會解決這個問題？

Yeah, Heiko it's Perry. I mean, obviously, we're constrained in our current environment by permitting. I mean I think that's one of the things that drives our time line. We're only looking at projects that we think we have the balance sheet to execute on. So for us that is building the ramp back at the stock mine which is going well and we've raised the CDE for Mexico.

是的，海科，這是佩里。我的意思是，顯然，我們在當前環境中受到許可的限制。我的意思是，我認為這是推動我們時間線的因素之一。我們只關注我們認為有資產負債表可以執行的項目。因此，對我們來說，正在建造庫存礦井的坡道，進展順利，我們已經提高了墨西哥的 CDE。

We would like to put back into production, but that's obviously subject to permitting. And as Bill said at Gold Bar, we're spending money on exploration there. And we're having some tangible results which we hope we can share in the future. But all these things we hope will provide incremental production increases over the coming years.

我們希望重新投入生產，但這顯然需要獲得許可。正如比爾在金條上所說，我們正在花錢在那裡進行勘探。我們正在取得一些實質的成果，希望我們能在未來分享這些成果。但我們希望所有這些都將在未來幾年內實現產量的增量成長。

It’s a very fair answer. Thank you very much. I'll get back in queue.

這是一個非常公平的答案。非常感謝。我會回到隊列中。

Thanks, Heiko.

謝謝，海子。

Mike Kozak, Cantor Fitzgerald.

麥克·科扎克，坎托·菲茨杰拉德。

Yes, good morning, Rob. Just a couple of questions for me. First, have you guys set a budget yet for the 2024-2025 exploration season at Los Azules or is it going to depend on how much of the $70 million comes in between now and the end of the year?

是的，早安，羅布。只是問我幾個問題。首先，你們已經為 Los Azules 的 2024-2025 年勘探季節制定了預算嗎？

We've done most of the drilling before the feasibility study. So the big drilling campaign is finished. We will be drilling looking at that new deposit or new copper showing close to Los Azules, but it won't be anywhere near the type of expenditure we did this year.

在可行性研究之前我們已經完成了大部分的鑽探工作。至此，大鑽探活動結束。我們將進行鑽探，尋找靠近 Los Azules 的新礦床或新銅礦，但它不會與我們今年的支出類型相近。

Okay. That's helpful. And then the kind of a follow-up I had to that was how much do you have to spend on the technical work related to the feasibility study?

好的。這很有幫助。然後我必須跟進的是，您需要在與可行性研究相關的技術工作上花費多少錢？

We're looking at about $60 million.

我們正在考慮大約 6000 萬美元。

Six-zero, which has -- which you all have still in front of you or some has been spent already?

六零，你們面前還有哪些，或是有些已經花掉了？

That's in front of us.

那就在我們面前。

Okay. that was it. Thank you answering that. I'll turn it over.

好的。就是這樣。謝謝你的回答。我會把它翻過來。

You're welcome, Mike.

不客氣，麥克。

Allan Barry, Rocks and Stocks.

艾倫‧巴里，《岩石與股票》。

Hello, thanks for taking my call. Every major mining company seems to be interested in getting into copper. The coverage is fairly bare when it comes to copper development projects that rank in the size that a major would be interested in highly. With BHP and the Lundin taken a run at Filo, I think it gives us some real-world valuation metrics. And I was wondering if you could shine some light on how Los Azules compares to Filo del Sol and what's in the deal?

您好，感謝您接聽我的電話。每家主要礦業公司似乎都對進入銅礦感興趣。當涉及到大型企業高度感興趣的銅開發項目時，其覆蓋範圍相當有限。隨著必和必拓和倫丁在 Filo 的競爭，我認為它為我們提供了一些現實世界的估值指標。我想知道您能否透露一下 Los Azules 與 Filo del Sol 的比較情況以及交易內容？

It compares very favorably. First of all, Los Azules is in lower altitude than either of Filo del Sol or Josemaria. And Los Azules is closer to infrastructure major power lines and highways. We're -- at least according to a Goldman Sachs study of a PEA we were in the lowest cost quartile and Josemaria was in the highest. Of course, that might change now that they -- if they consolidate those two properties and develop them concurrently, you'll see some reduction in capital. Los Azules will probably be significantly less capital because we're going to be a heap leach operation as opposed to a conventional milling operation so much less capital.

對比起來非常有優勢。首先，Los Azules 的海拔低於 Filo del Sol 或 Josemaria。洛斯阿祖萊斯 (Los Azules) 更靠近基礎設施、主要電力線和高速公路。至少根據高盛對 PEA 的研究，我們處於成本最低的四分位，而施禮華則處於成本最高的四分位。當然，現在情況可能會改變——如果他們合併這兩個資產並同時開發它們，你會看到資本減少。Los Azules 的資本可能會大大減少，因為我們將採用堆浸作業，而不是傳統的銑削作業，資本要少得多。

And from a -- based on the published resources, Filo and Josemaria we have a larger resource than the combined resources of those two deposits and a higher copper grade. That might change with new work coming out of new resource studies out of those two. But at the moment based on the published resources we're larger and higher copper grade. So I think we compare very favorably.

根據已公佈的 Filo 和 Josemaria 資源量，我們擁有的資源量比這兩個礦床的總資源量還要大，而且銅品位也更高。隨著這兩項新資源研究的新工作的開展，這種情況可能會改變。但目前根據已公佈的資源，我們的銅品位更大、更高。所以我認為我們比較非常有利。

My second question was on the gold front. Gold has been a very powerful global market. And today I think that an argument can be made that really only the largest gold stocks have joined the party. And therefore it looks like there's some attractive opportunities down the gold stock food chain. Is there any comments you can make as far as possible strategic investments? Or your thoughts on that those kind of opportunities?

我的第二個問題是關於黃金方面的。黃金一直是一個非常強大的全球市場。今天，我認為可以說，實際上只有最大的黃金股才加入了這個行列。因此，黃金股票食物鏈中似乎存在一些有吸引力的機會。您對盡可能的策略性投資有何評論？或者您對此類機會有何看法？

Very clearly the majors have got the most benefit out of the increase in the gold price. You're seeing it in their improved cash flow. A lot of the junior producers and explorers there'll be a rotation out of the seniors into the intermediates and juniors as the price of gold stays where it is or goes higher.

很明顯，各大公司從金價上漲中獲得了最大的利益。你可以從他們改善的現金流中看到這一點。隨著金價保持不變或走高，許多初級生產商和勘探商將從高級生產商和勘探商轉向中間生產商和初級生產商。

And we're a case in point. We were a high-cost producer and with the higher gold price, our margins started moving up quite smartly. And that's going to happen across the sector. And then the juniors -- once the seniors get more flush with cash, they're going to be looking how do they grow their resources and production and they'll be looking down into the intermediate and junior market. So it's a good time for investors in my mind to be looking at the smaller companies right now.

我們就是一個很好的例子。我們是一家高成本生產商，隨著金價上漲，我們的利潤率開始大幅上升。這將在整個行業中發生。然後是初級市場——一旦高級市場的現金更加充裕，他們就會考慮如何增加資源和產量，並且向下進入中級和初級市場。因此，在我看來，現在是投資者關注小型公司的好時機。

Thank you very much for taking my call. Congratulations on the -- getting back in the right track since 2016. And I'll turn it back over.

非常感謝您接聽我的電話。恭喜您—自 2016 年以來重回正軌。我會把它翻過來。

Thanks, Alan.

謝謝，艾倫。

[Lini Koffee] Individual.

[Lini Koffee] 個人。

This is her husband, David. We'd like to enquire about the MQMNW, we're involved with that. And we understand that's a new project and I just wonder if there's going to be any new movement in that direction?

這是她的丈夫大衛。我們想詢問有關 MQMNW 的信息，我們正在參與其中。我們知道這是一個新項目，我只是想知道這個方向是否會有任何新的進展？

I'm not familiar with that name, MQMW, what's that?

我不熟悉這個名字，MQMW，那是什麼？

It's the warrants. MQMNW.

這是認股權證。MQMNW。

Yes so MQMNW is an OTC ticker for McEwen Mining Warrants which are out of the money and last traded for a very low price. So what is your question about those particular warrants?

是的，MQMNW 是 McEwen 礦業認股權證的場外交易代碼，這些認股權證處於價外狀態，最後以非常低的價格進行交易。那麼您對這些特定認股權證有何疑問？

I was just curious if there's any kind of an IPO coming in on a project that was supposedly that involved as a new project I would assume. And we've been kind of waiting for an IPO for a long time over a long time.

我只是好奇是否有任何形式的首次公開發行（IPO）出現在一個專案上，而我認為這個專案應該是一個新專案。我們已經等待 IPO 很久了。

No. So I think just to maybe clear up some confusion. The warrants were issued some time ago and don't aren't related to any particular project. Those -- and as I said those warrants are out of the money. They expire towards the end of this year in November of 2024.

不。所以我想也許只是為了消除一些混亂。這些認股權證是不久前發出的，與任何特定項目無關。正如我所說，這些認股權證已經不值錢了。它們將於今年年底（2024 年 11 月）到期。

So with regard to new projects though I mean I can address we are in the process of acquiring Timberline Resources. That company has assets in Nevada, which are good synergies with our existing mine there. That acquisition will hopefully close towards the end of this month in August. And we're looking forward to working on those projects. That's the only current acquisition that we have in the pipeline.

因此，關於新項目，我的意思是我可以說，我們正在收購 Timberline 資源。該公司在內華達州擁有資產，與我們現有的礦場具有良好的協同效應。此次收購預計將在八月底完成。我們期待著開展這些項目。這是我們目前正在進行的唯一收購。

So that wouldn't involve the warrant circumstance would it?

那麼這不會涉及搜索令的情況吧？

No, not at all.

不，一點也不。

Thank you.

謝謝。

John Moran, Individual.

約翰·莫蘭，個人。

Hi, thank you. My family and I have been shareholders for over 12 years. My question is why do you think that the McEwen Copper hasn't been reflected in the stock price? And what do you think it will take to change that?

你好，謝謝。我和我的家人擔任股東超過 12 年。我的問題是，為什麼您認為麥克尤恩銅業沒有反映在股價上？您認為如何改變現況？

It's a good question. We separated the Copper and financed it independently starting in -- I guess we closed the first deal in 2022 September. Since that time, our share price has outperformed the Dow, the NASDAQ, the price of gold, silver, copper, the GDX, and the GDXJ.

這是一個好問題。我們從 2022 年 9 月開始將銅分離出來並獨立為其提供融資——我想我們在 2022 年 9 月完成了第一筆交易。從那時起，我們的股價跑贏了道瓊斯指數、納斯達克指數、黃金、白銀、銅、GDX 和 GDXJ 的價格。

So when we separated the copper was to gain visibility for it. I do think that the recent transaction with BHP and Lundin Mining, on two large copper projects in the same province in Argentina as Los Azules, our Las Azules property will get people thinking about its value. I think we're still beginning. We've done a great deal of drilling and we'll have a feasibility study out, early next year. So I think all of that will be reflected in -- should be a higher price for the value of that project.

因此，當我們分離銅時，是為了獲得它的可見性。我確實認為，最近與必和必拓和倫丁礦業公司就位於阿根廷洛斯阿蘇萊斯省同一省份的兩個大型銅礦項目進行的交易，以及我們的拉斯阿蘇萊斯地產將讓人們思考它的價值。我想我們還剛開始。我們已經進行了大量的鑽探工作，明年初我們將進行可行性研究。所以我認為所有這些都將反映在——應該是該項目價值的更高價格。

Thank you.

謝謝。

You’re welcome -- The copper prices weakened in the last in the last three months relative to gold. So it's taken a bit of the value out of the market. I believe, we followed a lot of the copper stocks in terms of price direction.

不客氣 - 過去三個月銅價相對於黃金走弱。所以它從市場上奪走了一些價值。我相信，我們在價格方向上跟隨了許多銅股。

Right. Okay. Thank you very much.

正確的。好的。非常感謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Phil Power, McEwen Mining.

菲爾鮑爾，麥克尤恩礦業公司。

Hi, Phiil.

嗨，菲爾。

Hi, Bill and Stefan. Thanks for taking my call. A couple of quick questions. As far as looking at the financials, it appears that San Jose is generating quite a bit of revenue and a fair bit of cash these days. And I was wondering, if there's been any update you've gotten from Hot Shield regarding a dividend? And if so, is this going to be -- are there any plans for regular dividends?

嗨，比爾和斯特凡。感謝您接聽我的電話。幾個簡單的問題。就財務狀況而言，聖荷西最近似乎產生了相當多的收入和相當多的現金。我想知道，您是否從 Hot Shield 收到了有關股息的最新消息？如果是這樣，是否有定期股息的計劃？

Hi, Phil it's Perry. Thanks for the question. So we did receive a small dividend in the second quarter but obviously, given where gold and silver prices are, we would want to see a more robust dividend. I would say, we've had a very good dialogue with Hot Shield. We're spending some of the free cash flow generated this year on a mill expansion. So that will take throughput up to 2,000 tonnes per day. So that project is going well and we should see the benefits of that next year.

嗨，菲爾，我是佩里。謝謝你的提問。因此，我們確實在第二季度收到了小額股息，但顯然，考慮到黃金和白銀的價格，我們希望看到更強勁的股息。我想說，我們與 Hot Shield 進行了非常好的對話。我們將今年產生的部分自由現金流用於工廠擴建。因此，每天的吞吐量將達到 2,000 噸。所以這個專案進展順利，我們明年應該會看到它的好處。

And I guess, what we've committed to do with Hot Shield is look at the cash generation this quarter, and potentially expect to receive a more sizable dividend in the fourth quarter of this year. So obviously, silver has come off a little bit, but gold is still above $2,400 as of today. So as you said, still generating positive cash flow and the mine seems to be performing quite well.

我想，我們對 Hot Shield 的承諾是著眼於本季的現金生成，並可能期望在今年第四季獲得更大規模的股息。很明顯，白銀有所下跌，但截至今天金價仍高於 2,400 美元。正如您所說，仍然產生正現金流，而且礦山似乎表現相當不錯。

Yes. Thank you. And my second question is, I know you -- at least Bill and maybe a couple of other members of the team went down to Mexico recently, and it looks like you're making some adjustments to the permit. And I was just wondering, if you could give us a little more color on some details regarding some of the adjustments to the mine plan, as well as if this is going to raise the cost to getting towards a permit and a potentially production.

是的。謝謝。我的第二個問題是，我了解你 - 至少比爾和團隊的其他幾個成員最近去了墨西哥，看起來你正在對許可證進行一些調整。我只是想知道，您是否可以就有關礦山計劃的一些調整的一些細節向我們提供更多信息，以及這是否會增加獲得許可證和潛在生產的成本。

Yes. So thanks very much for the question. So yes, at this point, we're anticipating receiving the permit. And unfortunately, I guess as you probably know recently, there's been elections in Mexico. So the new team is now getting into place. On the government side, we have had some discussions with responsible agents in Mexico, about our permitting. And there's an anticipation I guess that's been created where we think, we might get the permit late in Q3 or early in Q4. But as in all permitting situations, there's not a lot of clarity around when permits are given.

是的。非常感謝您提出的問題。所以，是的，目前我們預計會收到許可證。不幸的是，我想你最近可能知道，墨西哥舉行了選舉。因此，新團隊現在正在就位。在政府方面，我們與墨西哥的負責機構就我們的許可進行了一些討論。我想我們有一種預期，我們可能會在第三季末或第四季初獲得許可。但與所有許可情況一樣，何時頒發許可並沒有太多明確性。

Meanwhile, we're also looking at other opportunities to reduce the capital cost and do some other arrangements in terms of the permitting to make that less onerous on the government. And so I would say, at this point, we're in a state of flux and hope to have some better news for ourselves and for our shareholders later in Q3 and early in Q4.

同時，我們也在尋找其他機會來降低資本成本，並在許可方面做一些其他安排，以減輕政府的負擔。所以我想說，目前我們正處於不斷變化的狀態，希望在第三季晚些時候和第四季初為我們自己和我們的股東帶來一些更好的消息。

Okay. Thank you very much.

好的。非常感謝。

You're welcome. Thanks, Phill.

不客氣。謝謝，菲爾。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Patrick Shin, (inaudible) Investor.

Patrick Shin，（聽不清楚）投資者。

Hello, Patrick.

你好，派崔克。

Good morning, Mr. McEwen and team. Just wanted to find out if there's any updates on the RIGI. From what I could gather through the message boards and some of the Internet research, it's been debated, but it seems very unclear what benefits there are.

早安，麥克尤恩先生和他的團隊。只是想知道 RIGI 是否有任何更新。從我透過留言板和一些網路研究收集到的資訊來看，它已經引起了爭論，但似乎還不清楚它有什麼好處。

There are many. Michael Meding, our VP and General Manager of McEwen Copper could give you a concise statement of that, and we'll be putting out a press release today. In the appendix of it, will be a discussion. It has many, many positive features.

有許多。我們的副總裁兼 McEwen Copper 總經理 Michael Meding 可以向您簡要說明這一點，我們今天將發布新聞稿。在它的附錄中，將進行討論。它有很多很多積極的特徵。

So if I may give you the current state of the RIGI. The RIGI is part of a law package that has been signed into law and it has been discussed in the Lower House, in the Senate and is now enacted. The provinces are in the course of adhering to the law. The law is active. What does it mean to be beneficiary of this law is that the main benefits include corporate income tax reduction from 35% to 25%, so 10 percentage points decrease in corporate tax rates.

我可以向您介紹一下 RIGI 的當前狀況嗎？RIGI 是已簽署成為法律的一攬子法律的一部分，並已在下議院和參議院進行討論，現已頒布。各省正在遵守該法律。法律是活躍的。成為該法的受益者意味著主要好處包括企業所得稅從35%降至25%，即企業稅率降低10個百分點。

Accelerated depreciation and unlimited carry forward of losses, no limitations of deduction of interest for five years, tax on dividend reduced from 7% to 3.5% and relief of withholding tax on some payments to foreign beneficiaries, which is really important for big infrastructure projects. Bank tax, transaction tax, which was before 1.2%, will be fully credible against income tax and the municipalities and the provinces adhering to the law will be banned from increasing taxes to the projects.

加速折舊和無限制結轉損失、五年內沒有扣除利息的限制、股息稅從7%降至3.5%以及免除向外國受益人支付的部分款項的預提稅，這對於大型基建項目確實非常重要。先前1.2%的銀行稅、交易稅將完全抵扣所得稅，嚴禁各省市對項目加稅。

For the construction, it means that the 20% VAT, that in Argentina takes some time to recover, has a new mechanism to be recovered very quickly. The state will issue certificates that can be directly used for tax payments. So if you are interested to learn more about that, please drop a note and we can send you documentation. But what is also important to note is specifically import and exports are free from licenses and duties.

對於建設而言，這意味著阿根廷需要一段時間才能收回的20%增值稅有了新的機制，可以很快收回。國家頒發可直接用於納稅的證明。因此，如果您有興趣了解更多信息，請留言，我們可以向您發送文件。但還要注意的是，進出口無需許可證和關稅。

Exports after a certain amount of time at the moment, copper projects have a 4.5% or a 0% to 8% sliding scale export duty and that will go away with the implementation of the RIGI after a certain amount of time. And it gives you 30 to 40 years of tax stability that you can litigate either in country or outside of the country. So it's very beneficial for mining projects.

目前，在一定時間後的出口，銅項目的出口關稅為 4.5% 或 0% 至 8% 的浮動出口關稅，並且隨著 RIGI 的實施，這一關稅將在一定時間後消失。它為您提供 30 至 40 年的稅收穩定性，您可以在國內或國外提起訴訟。所以這對於採礦計畫非常有利。

Okay. So it sounds like it's a done deal. There's no more debate that needs to be done by the Argentine government in order to have these benefits.

好的。所以聽起來這件事已經板上釘釘了。阿根廷政府無需再進行辯論即可獲得這些好處。

So what is going to happen now is that the law will be regulated. So the law has been signed into law and has been published in the official gazette. And the regulation should be coming out in the next couple of weeks. The provinces that are interested in adhering to that law, they are adhering via provincial laws.

所以現在要發生的事情就是法律將受到監管。因此，該法律已簽署成為法律，並已在官方公報上公佈。該法規應該會在未來幾週內推出。有興趣遵守該法律的省份，他們正在透過省級法律來遵守。

You know that Argentina is pretty much made after the US, so natural resources for example, belong to the provinces. So there is discussion going on in the different provinces. Some have already adhered. The province where we are, we expect this to be approved relatively soon as well, so that you have a full coverage both on a national as well as provincial and municipal level with the tax stability that, I mentioned was from 30 to 40 years with all the benefits mentioned.

你知道，阿根廷幾乎是繼美國之後製造的，因此自然資源等屬於各省。因此，不同省份都在進行討論。有些人已經堅持了。我們所在的省份，我們預計這個也會相對較快地獲得批准，這樣你就可以在國家以及省和市層面上實現全面覆蓋，稅收穩定性，我提到的是30到40年所有提到的好處。

Okay Thank you so much, gentlemen, and I appreciate all the hard work that you guys have done.

好的，非常感謝你們，先生們，我感謝你們所做的所有辛勤工作。

Thank you, Patrick.

謝謝你，派崔克。

As of right now, we don't have any pending questions. There are no further questions at the moment there. Mr. Rob McEwen, I would like to turn the call over to you.

截至目前，我們沒有任何懸而未決的問題。目前沒有其他問題。羅布·麥克尤恩先生，我想把電話轉給您。

Thank you, operator. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen for joining us today. As you can see, we're in a good financial position. We've got -- our drilling is delivering results and we've made a number of press releases on our exploration results. In the press release that's going out today on Los Azules, it will be providing additional drill data, infill drilling. And Argentina is open for business.

謝謝你，接線生。女士們、先生們，謝謝你們今天加入我們。正如您所看到的，我們的財務狀況良好。我們的鑽探正在取得成果，我們已經就我們的勘探結果發布了許多新聞稿。在今天在 Los Azules 發布的新聞稿中，它將提供額外的鑽探數據，加密鑽探。阿根廷對商業開放。

It's been a pariah for a long time. And I'll call it, Milei magic has changed that and been embraced by the government of Argentina. So that, plus our improving financial position, I think, puts us in a very good position going forward to finance our growth plan. Thank you for joining us.

很長一段時間以來，它一直是個賤民。我稱之為，Milei 魔法改變了這一點，並受到了阿根廷政府的歡迎。因此，我認為，加上我們不斷改善的財務狀況，使我們處於非常有利的位置，可以為我們的成長計劃提供資金。感謝您加入我們。