Piedmont Lithium Inc (PLL) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is Kayla, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the Q3 2024 Piedmont Lithium Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝你的支持。我叫凱拉，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。現在，我歡迎大家參加 2024 年第三季皮埃蒙特鋰業財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

I will now turn the call over to Erin Sanders, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations.

我現在將把電話轉給企業傳播和投資者關係高級副總裁艾琳桑德斯 (Erin Sanders)。

Thank you, Operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Piedmont Lithium's Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. Joining us today from Piedmont Lithium are Keith Phillips, President and Chief Executive Officer, who will provide the introduction and corporate and operational updates. Michael White, Chief Financial Officer, will then review our financial results. Keith will provide closing commentary before we transition to a live Q&A session.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。歡迎參加 Piedmont Lithium 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。今天來自 Piedmont Lithium 的總裁兼執行長 Keith Phillips 加入我們，他將提供介紹以及公司和營運方面的最新資訊。財務長邁克爾懷特隨後將審查我們的財務業績。在我們進入現場問答環節之前，基斯將提供結束評論。

As a reminder, today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements relating to future events and expectations that are subject to various assumptions and caveats. Factors that may cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these statements are included in today's presentation, earnings release and in our SEC filings.

提醒一下，今天的討論將包含與未來事件和預期相關的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到各種假設和警告的影響。可能導致公司實際結果與這些聲明有重大差異的因素包含在今天的簡報、收益發布和我們向 SEC 提交的文件中。

In addition, we have included non-GAAP financial measures in this presentation. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in today's earnings release and the appendix to today's slide presentation. Any reference in our discussion today to EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA.

此外，我們也在本簡報中納入了非公認會計準則財務指標。與最直接可比較的公認會計準則財務指標的調節可以在今天的收益發布和今天幻燈片演示的附錄中找到。我們今天討論中提及的 EBITDA 均指調整後的 EBITDA。

Further, references to shipments are shipments of spodumene concentrate and tons are dry metric tons. Please note that copies of our earnings release and presentation as well as a replay of this call will be available on our website, piedmontlithium.com. With that, I'll turn the call over to Keith Phillips. Keith?

此外，所提及的裝運量是鋰輝石精礦的裝運量，噸是乾公噸。請注意，我們的收益發布和簡報的副本以及本次電話會議的重播將在我們的網站 picedmontlithium.com 上提供。這樣，我會將電話轉給基斯·菲利普斯。基思？

Thanks, Erin, and thanks, everybody, for joining us today for Piedmont Lithium's Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. We're going to jump right in today to discuss what has been a successful quarter for us, challenging but successful. If you'd been on our first two calls this year, you heard our theme of a year of two halves describing the expected market difference between our first half and second half shipment volumes, capital and investment spending, and commercial strategies. And we're happy to report that we met or exceeded our goals in Q3.

謝謝艾琳，也謝謝大家今天加入我們參加 Piedmont Lithium 的 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。今天我們將立即討論我們的成功季度，充滿挑戰但成功。如果您參加過我們今年的前兩次電話會議，您會聽到我們的「一年兩半」的主題，描述了我們上半年和下半年出貨量、資本和投資支出以及商業策略之間的預期市場差異。我們很高興地報告，我們在第三季達到或超過了目標。

The key points we'll discuss on this call are number one, our refined commercial strategy. We were able to execute a record quarter of customer deliveries while also improving profitability per ton during the quarter. Our ability to hedge against the futures market resulted in a realized price that was comparatively one of the best in the industry. Part of the strategy we executed was the important move to consolidate and commingle shipments to reduce transportation costs.

我們在這次電話會議上討論的要點是第一，我們完善的商業策略。我們能夠實現創紀錄的季度客戶交付量，同時也提高了本季的每噸獲利能力。我們對沖期貨市場的能力導致實現的價格相對而言是業內最好的價格之一。我們執行的策略的一部分是整合和混合貨運以降低運輸成本的重要措施。

Number two, North American Lithium once again achieved quarterly production records as well as reduced unit operating costs, supporting our successful quarter of deliveries to customers. Lastly, we improved our cash position with a heavy focus on disciplined spending across OpEx, CapEx and investments in affiliates.

第二，北美鋰業再次創下季度生產記錄並降低單位營運成本，支持我們成功向客戶交付季度產品。最後，我們改善了現金狀況，重點是營運支出、資本支出和附屬公司投資的嚴格支出。

Now let's move to slide 4 for a quick project update. North American Lithium is already the largest lithium operation in North America. Again this quarter, we set new production records and reduced operating costs during the third quarter. I'll talk more about NAL production on the next slide.

現在讓我們轉到投影片 4 來快速更新項目。北美鋰業已經是北美最大的鋰業務。本季度，我們再次創造了新的生產記錄，並在第三季度降低了營運成本。我將在下一張投影片上詳細討論 NAL 製作。

Sayona also increased the mineral resource estimate, including a significant increase in the mineral resources in the measured and indicated categories, in accordance with JORC Dode requirements. With the updated MRE completion of major capital projects and operations at steady state, the joint venture is well positioned to consider potential brownfield expansions to this asset.

Sayona 還增加了礦產資源估算，包括根據 JORC Dode 的要求大幅增加了測量和指示類別的礦產資源。隨著重大資本項目更新後的 MRE 完成和營運處於穩定狀態，該合資企業已準備好考慮對該資產進行潛在的棕地擴張。

Turning to our joint venture project in Ghana, Ewoyaa. Ewoyaa received its EPA permit during quarter 3 and the mine operating permit in October. These were major regulatory milestones. Meanwhile, the next major requirement in the development timeline is parliamentary ratification of the mining lease. We expect this ratification will occur in the first half of 2025, but the project timeline is also subject to prevailing market conditions.

談談我們在加納的合資計畫 Ewoyaa。Ewoyaa 在第三季獲得了 EPA 許可證，並於 10 月獲得了礦場營運許可證。這些都是重要的監管里程碑。同時，開發時間表中的下一個主要要求是議會批准採礦租約。我們預計該批准將在 2025 年上半年進行，但專案時間表也取決於當前的市場條件。

As we noted in our last call, we have engaged a financial adviser to secure funding for our share of Ewoyaa CapEx. There is broad interest from potential parties. However, we are taking our time with this process given current market conditions.

正如我們在上次電話會議中指出的那樣，我們聘請了一位財務顧問來確保我們所佔 Ewoyaa 資本支出份額的資金。潛在各方表現出廣泛的興趣。然而，考慮到當前的市場狀況，我們正在慢慢進行這個過程。

At Carolina Lithium, we recently received some very positive news in the form of the final guidance provided by the US Treasury Department regarding the Inflation Reduction Act 45X tax credit. The new guidance supports the application of the 10% manufacturing credit to direct and indirect material costs. We're very pleased with this decision, which should materially improve the after-tax economics of US projects like Carolina Lithium.

在 Carolina Lithium，我們最近收到了一些非常積極的消息，即美國財政部就《通貨膨脹削減法案》45X 稅收抵免提供的最終指引。新指南支持將 10% 的製造信貸應用於直接和間接材料成本。我們對這項決定感到非常滿意，這將大大改善卡羅萊納鋰業等美國計畫的稅後經濟效益。

With regard to funding, we continue to engage in discussions with potential strategic partners and to evaluate broader funding strategies. To that point, I'd like to take a moment to clarify the status of our ATVM loan applications where there seems to be some confusion in the market. The Department of Energy's ATVM loan program offers the potential for long-term low-cost financing for projects like Carolina Lithium. Certain of our peers have received sizable ATVM commitments, and we think Carolina Lithium is ideally suited to capitalize on the program.

在融資方面，我們繼續與潛在的策略夥伴進行討論，並評估更廣泛的融資策略。就這一點而言，我想花點時間澄清一下我們的 ATVM 貸款申請的狀況，因為市場上似乎存在一些混亂。能源部的 ATVM 貸款計劃為 Carolina Lithium 等項目提供了長期低成本融資的潛力。我們的某些同行已獲得大量 ATVM 承諾，我們認為 Carolina Lithium 非常適合利用該計劃。

We have been in discussions with the DOE for several years and had previously submitted ATVM loan applications for both Carolina Lithium and Tennessee Lithium. As we disclosed in our 10-K in February, those applications were both withdrawn in 2023 as we began to reevaluate development priorities and schedules. We are once again in the pre-application process in consultation with the DOE Loan Programs Office and we will submit a fresh ATVM application at a future date.

我們多年來一直與美國能源部進行討論，之前曾為 Carolina Lithium 和 Tennessee Lithium 提交過 ATVM 貸款申請。正如我們在 2 月的 10-K 中所揭露的那樣，隨著我們開始重新評估開發優先事項和時間表，這些申請均於 2023 年被撤回。我們再次與能源部貸款計畫辦公室協商進入預申請流程，並將在未來提交新的 ATVM 申請。

Our current focus, however, is ongoing work related to advancing permitting, specifically the air and water permits as we take a measured approach to further approvals and a phased development during the current market downturn. Carolina Lithium is a highly strategic project and important to America's energy national security, but a project of this scale will require stronger lithium markets to underpin the best funding profile.

然而，我們目前的重點是與推進許可有關的持續工作，特別是空氣和水許可，因為我們在當前市場低迷期間採取了謹慎的方法來進一步批准和分階段開發。卡羅萊納鋰業是一個高度策略性的項目，對美國能源國家安全非常重要，但這種規模的項目將需要更強大的鋰市場來支撐最佳的融資狀況。

On slide 5, we dive a little more deeply into NAL's operating progress this past quarter. We're very pleased that the project has continued to improve quarterly production volume with more than 52,000 dry metric tons of spodumene concentrate produced in Q3, a 5% increase quarter-over-quarter. Mill utilization also increased to a record 91%, a nice gain from the previous quarter, driven largely by the availability of the crushed ore dome which was commissioned in Q2. Recoveries held steady at 67%.

在幻燈片 5 中，我們更深入地了解了 NAL 上個季度的營運進度。我們非常高興該專案的季度產量持續提高，第三季鋰輝石精礦產量超過 52,000 幹噸，季增 5%。磨機利用率也增加至創紀錄的 91%，較上一季有了不錯的增長，這主要是由於第二季度投入使用的破碎礦石圓頂的可用性所致。回收率穩定在 67%。

In parallel, cost per ton decreased 11% quarter-over-quarter or 15% if you exclude the impact of inventory adjustments. We're excited to see that trend. Last but certainly not least, NAL achieved an incident-free safety record in September with no lost time injuries, no modified duty injuries, and no medical aid injuries. You can also see on this slide Sayona's fiscal year 2025 guidance regarding production sales and operations, all of which look excellent. Now I'll turn it over to Michael, who will provide a detailed discussion on our Q3 financial performance. Michael?

同時，每噸成本季減 11%，如果排除庫存調整的影響則下降 15%。我們很高興看到這種趨勢。最後但並非最不重要的一點是，NAL 在 9 月實現了無事故安全記錄，沒有誤工工傷、改良工傷和醫療救助工傷。您還可以在此投影片上看到 Sayona 2025 財年有關生產銷售和營運的指導，所有這些看起來都非常出色。現在我將把它交給邁克爾，他將詳細討論我們第三季的財務表現。麥可？

Thanks, Keith. Good morning, everyone. Turning to slide 7, I will outline our third quarter results. We shipped approximately 31,500 dry metric tons for the quarter, which is more than twice our volume shipped in the previous quarter and recognized $27.7 million in revenue compared to $13.2 million in the previous quarter and $47.1 million in the prior year quarter. Revenue doubled from the previous quarter due to increased volume and declined from the prior year quarter due to lower lithium pricing.

謝謝，基斯。大家早安。轉向幻燈片 7，我將概述我們第三季的業績。我們本季的出貨量約為 31,500 幹噸，是上一季出貨量的兩倍多，並確認了 2,770 萬美元的收入，而上一季為 1,320 萬美元，去年同期為 4,710 萬美元。由於銷量增加，收入比上一季翻了一番，但由於鋰價格下降，收入比去年同期有所下降。

Our realized price per metric ton was $878 for the quarter. On an SC6 equivalent basis, our realized price per metric ton equated to $976. We are pleased to achieve these price realizations, especially given market conditions. Keith will talk about our successful commercial strategy in more detail in a few moments.

本季我們每噸的實際價格為 878 美元。在 SC6 等價基礎上，我們每噸的實際價格相當於 976 美元。我們很高興能夠實現這些價格，特別是考慮到市場條件。基斯稍後將更詳細地討論我們成功的商業策略。

Third quarter GAAP net loss was $16.7 million or $0.86 per share and adjusted net loss was $8.1 million or $0.42 on an adjusted per share basis. Included in our GAAP results were $4.6 million in restructuring and impairment charges associated with our 2024 cost savings plan, of which $4.1 million related to impairment for Tennessee Lithium as we shifted our planned lithium hydroxide capacity to Carolina Lithium and $500,000 related mainly to employee severance and benefit costs.

第三季 GAAP 淨虧損為 1,670 萬美元，即每股 0.86 美元，調整後淨虧損為 810 萬美元，即調整後每股 0.42 美元。我們的GAAP 業績包括與2024 年成本節約計畫相關的460 萬美元重組和減損費用，其中410 萬美元與田納西鋰業的減值有關，因為我們將計畫的氫氧化鋰產能轉移到卡羅來納鋰業，50 萬美元主要與員工遣散費和效益成本。

Also included in our GAAP results were realized and unrealized gains on equity security holdings and other transaction costs. We ended the quarter with $64.4 million in cash compared to $59 million in cash at the end of the second quarter.

我們公認的會計準則績效還包括股權證券持有的已實現和未實現收益以及其他交易成本。本季末我們的現金為 6,440 萬美元，而第二季末的現金為 5,900 萬美元。

Let's move to slide 8 for sources and uses of cash. In September 2024, we entered into a working capital credit facility with a partner, which allows us to borrow up to $25 million based on the value of committed volumes of spodumene concentrate that are expected to ship within 12 months from the date of borrowing. Borrowings are credit against the outstanding balance at the time vessels complete loading, which provides additional borrowing availability. Interest is payable quarterly at the rate of SOFR plus 2.4%. This multi-year credit facility resulted in improved liquidity as net proceeds from the credit facility were $18 million during the quarter, which supported our increased cash position compared to the end of the previous quarter.

讓我們轉到幻燈片 8 來了解現金的來源和用途。2024 年 9 月，我們與合作夥伴簽訂了營運資金信貸安排，這使我們能夠根據承諾的鋰輝石精礦量的價值借款最多 2500 萬美元，預計在藉款之日起 12 個月內發貨。借款在船舶完成裝載時記入未清餘額，這提供了額外的借款可用性。利息按季度支付 SOFR 加 2.4%。這項多年期信貸安排改善了流動性，本季度信貸安排的淨收益為 1800 萬美元，與上一季末相比，這支持了我們現金頭寸的增加。

We're pleased to report that cash outflows for investments in and advances to affiliates were only $2 million this quarter as we succeeded in outperforming our previous guidance of $5 million to $7 million. Investments in Sayona-Quebec have significantly reduced since completion of the crushed ore dome in mid-2024, and we have benefited from improved efficiencies at NAL, which have lowered NAL's operating cost structure. Further, we expect minimal spending at Ewoyaa as the focus remains on permitting and finalizing feed. Our capital expenditures of $2 million in the quarter were right on target.

我們很高興地報告，本季對附屬公司的投資和預付款的現金流出僅為 200 萬美元，因為我們成功地超出了先前 500 萬至 700 萬美元的指導。自 2024 年中期破碎礦石圓頂竣工以來，薩耶納-魁北克省的投資已大幅減少，我們受益於 NAL 效率的提高，這降低了 NAL 的營運成本結構。此外，我們預計 Ewoyaa 的支出很少，因為重點仍然是許可和最終確定飼料。本季我們 200 萬美元的資本支出完全達到了目標。

Let's move to slide 9 to review our 2024 cost savings plan. It continues to be critical that we appropriately manage our costs during the down cycle. And while we do not know how long the down cycle will last, we are committed to taking action to rightsizing our cost structure in a thoughtful yet agile manner. We achieved $14 million in annual cash cost savings as part of our 2024 cost savings plan. This is above our $10 million target set at the beginning of the year. We expect to recognize the majority of the savings in 2024 within operating expenses and capital expenditures. This includes actions taken during the fourth quarter to further reduce our workforce by 32%, bringing our total workforce reduction in 2024 to 48%.

讓我們轉到投影片 9 來回顧我們的 2024 年成本節約計畫。在下行週期中適當管理成本仍然至關重要。雖然我們不知道下行週期會持續多久，但我們致力於採取行動，以深思熟慮且靈活的方式調整我們的成本結構。作為 2024 年成本節約計畫的一部分，我們每年節省了 1,400 萬美元的現金成本。這高於我們年初設定的 1000 萬美元目標。我們預計到 2024 年，大部分節省的資金將用於營運支出和資本支出。這包括第四季採取的進一步裁員 32% 的行動，使 2024 年員工總數減少至 48%。

We recorded $6.7 million in restructuring and impairment charges through September 2024. This includes $2.1 million in cash charges mainly related to employee severance and benefit costs and exit costs and $4.6 million in noncash charges primarily related to impairment at Tennessee Lithium. We expect to incur approximately $1 million in employee severance and benefits costs in the fourth quarter as a result of our most recent workforce reduction.

截至 2024 年 9 月，我們記錄了 670 萬美元的重組和減損費用。其中包括主要與員工遣散費、福利成本和退出成本相關的 210 萬美元現金費用，以及主要與田納西鋰業減損相關的 460 萬美元非現金費用。由於最近的裁員，我們預計第四季將產生約 100 萬美元的員工遣散費和福利費用。

As part of our 2024 cost savings plan, we are continuing to take a measured approach to joint venture spending and capital expenditures during the down cycle. We've made significant progress in these areas, which we will review as part of our outlook.

作為我們 2024 年成本節約計畫的一部分，我們將繼續在經濟下行週期對合資企業支出和資本支出採取審慎的方法。我們在這些領域取得了重大進展，我們將在展望中對其進行審查。

Let's move forward to slide 10 to review our fourth quarter and full year expectations. We have adjusted our full year outlook for shipments in 2024 from approximately 126,000 dry metric tons to a range of 102,000 to 116,000 dry metric tons due to a customer request which shifts one planned Q4 shipment into the first quarter of 2025 and potentially a second shipment from December to January 2025 to allow for our shipment to be combined with a Sayona-Quebec shipment, therefore, reducing transportation costs.

讓我們繼續看投影片 10，回顧我們第四季和全年的預期。由於客戶要求將計劃的第四季度發貨移至2025 年第一季度，並可能將第二批發貨移至2025 年第一季度，我們已將2024 年全年發貨量預期從約126,000 幹噸調整為102,000 至116,000 幹噸。

Our adjusted fourth quarter outlook for shipments is 41,000 to 55,000 dry metric tons. It's important to note any tons not shipped in the fourth quarter will be accretive to our 2025 offtake, which is the higher of 113,000 tons or 50% of production at NAL. This guidance aligns with the production outlook and customer allocations of tons from our joint venture at North American Lithium. Of course, certain factors, including shipping constraints and customer requirements may impact the timing of future shipments.

我們調整後的第四季出貨量預期為 41,000 至 55,000 幹噸。值得注意的是，第四季度未發貨的任何噸數都將增加我們 2025 年的承購量，即 113,000 噸或 NAL 產量的 50% 中的較高者。此指導意見與我們北美鋰業合資企業的生產前景和客戶分配量一致。當然，包括運輸限制和客戶要求在內的某些因素可能會影響未來的出貨時間。

The key takeaway in our CapEx and investments outlook is that project-related expenditures are greatly reduced compared to both the first half of 2024 as well as full year 2023. We expect less than $1 million in capital expenditures in the fourth quarter. On a full year basis, CapEx is expected to be $11 million to $12 million. This is heavily reduced compared to CapEx of $57 million in 2023. We expect joint venture investments and advances to be approximately $2 million to $4 million in the fourth quarter and $27 million to $29 million for full year 2024. This compares to $43 million in 2023. As always, our outlook is subject to changes in market conditions. And with that, I'll turn the presentation back over to Keith.

我們的資本支出和投資前景的關鍵要點是，與 2024 年上半年和 2023 年全年相比，專案相關支出大幅減少。我們預計第四季的資本支出將少於 100 萬美元。全年資本支出預計為 1,100 萬至 1,200 萬美元。與 2023 年 5,700 萬美元的資本支出相比，這一數字大幅減少。我們預計第四季的合資投資和預付款約為 200 萬至 400 萬美元，2024 年全年為 2,700 萬至 2,900 萬美元。相較之下，2023 年這一數字為 4,300 萬美元。一如既往，我們的前景會受到市場狀況變化的影響。接下來，我會將演示轉回給基斯。

Thank you, Michael. I'd like to share some thoughts about pricing in the market, starting with a look at realized prices. Since our call today is at the tail end of this earnings cycle, we have the benefit of being able to compare this quarter's reported realized pricing across the industry on an SC6 equivalent basis. Our second half commercial strategy took advantage of lithium futures markets being in contango to improve our price realizations to an average of $976 a ton, again, on an SC6 equivalent basis. Which, as you can see from this slide, was an industry-leading price for the quarter.

謝謝你，麥可。我想分享一些關於市場定價的想法，先看看實際價格。由於我們今天的電話會議是在本財報週期的尾聲進行的，因此我們的好處是能夠在 SC6 等效基礎上比較本季度報告的整個行業的已實現定價。我們下半年的商業策略利用了鋰期貨市場的期貨溢價，將我們的價格實現提高到平均每噸 976 美元，同樣以 SC6 等價為基礎。正如您從這張幻燈片中看到的，這是本季業界領先的價格。

Improved profitability was also the result of our consolidation of shipments with the JV, Sayona-Quebec, which reduced transportation costs significantly. As Michael noted, we continue to leverage opportunities to streamline the shipping schedule to generate further cost savings. The futures market remains in contango, and we will continue to evaluate opportunities to work with our trading company partners to lock in higher prices on specific future shipments, all while working to minimize freight costs by commingling shipments where possible.

獲利能力的提高也是我們與合資企業 Sayona-Quebec 合併發貨的結果，這大大降低了運輸成本。正如邁克爾指出的那樣，我們繼續利用機會簡化運輸時間表，以進一步節省成本。期貨市場仍處於期貨溢價狀態，我們將繼續評估與我們的貿易公司合作夥伴合作的機會，以鎖定特定未來發貨的更高價格，同時努力透過盡可能混合發貨來最大限度地降低運費。

As for the lithium market, we're focused on three key trends. First, supply cuts and project delays across the market. As you can see on slide 13, curtailments and delays are coming from major producers and next-gen producers. Lithium prices just aren't at a level to support much greenfield development, and I expect that will ultimately lead to lithium shortages in the medium term.

至於鋰市場，我們關註三個主要趨勢。首先，整個市場的供應減少和專案延遲。正如您在投影片 13 中看到的那樣，削減和延遲來自主要生產商和下一代生產商。鋰價格還沒有達到支援大量綠地開發的水平，我預計這最終將導致中期鋰短缺。

Second, demand growth. The EV market continues to experience record sales, full stop. There have been seven consecutive months through September 2024 with more than 1 million EVs sold. Sales were up over 23% year-over-year through September. And for two consecutive months, August and September, China alone has sold more than 1 million EVs. Beyond EVs, ESS battery production is also a growing market with production up 46% year-over-year and strengthening. Lithium demand is growing, and we see evidence of the growth in recent pricing reported by fast markets with spodumene concentrate prices up $100 from the trough in September, September 10, to be exact, up $70 in just the past 11 days.

二是需求成長。電動車市場繼續創下銷售紀錄，句點。截至 2024 年 9 月，電動車銷量已連續 7 個月超過 100 萬輛。截至 9 月份，銷售額年增超過 23%。光是中國就連續兩個月（8月和9月）銷售了超過100萬輛電動車。除了電動車之外，ESS 電池生產也是一個不斷成長的市場，產量年增 46%，並且還在加強。鋰需求正在成長，我們看到快速市場報告的近期定價成長的證據，鋰輝石精礦價格較9 月（9 月10 日）的低點上漲了100 美元，準確地說，在過去11 天內上漲了70 美元。

The third trend we see is consolidation, M&A, countercyclical investments and the importance of diversification into lithium geographically and accessing end markets. That's a very good thing for shareholders in the lithium business. We believe these market trends, cuts in supply, demand growth and consolidation, all point in the right direction. We are looking forward to the coming year. With that, I'll turn the call back over to the operator so we can open up for Q&A.

我們看到的第三個趨勢是整合、併購、反週期投資以及鋰地域多元化和進入終端市場的重要性。這對於鋰業務的股東來說是一件非常好的事情。我們相信這些市場趨勢、供應減少、需求成長和整合都指向正確的方向。我們期待著來年。這樣，我會將電話轉回給接線員，以便我們可以進行問答。

(Operator Instructions) Joseph Reagor, ROTH Capital Partners.

（操作員指示）Joseph Reago，ROTH Capital Partners。

I guess first thing, on this potential shipment that could be shifted, the second one, to Q1, do you guys have insight on which way that's leaning right now? Or is it kind of on the fence?

我想第一件事，關於這個可能轉移的潛在出貨量，第二件事，到第一季度，你們是否了解現在的傾向？或者它是一種圍欄？

Thanks, Joe. I'd say it's on the fence but leaning toward deferral to January. The transport cost savings are pretty significant. We would -- we currently have a shipment scheduled in December. The joint venture has one scheduled in January. By co-mingling the shipments, we would save probably $1.3 million or $1.4 million USD in transport costs. It's very significant. Jointly, we would save that. From our perspective, it almost certainly makes sense to save that cash. That's something that will be resolved over the coming days.

謝謝，喬。我想說的是，目前還處於觀望狀態，但傾向於推遲到一月。運輸成本的節省相當可觀。我們目前計劃在 12 月出貨。該合資企業計劃於一月份進行。透過混合運輸，我們大約可以節省 130 萬美元或 140 萬美元的運輸成本。這是非常有意義的。我們將共同拯救它。從我們的角度來看，節省這筆現金幾乎肯定是有意義的。這將在未來幾天得到解決。

Okay. Second thing, you mentioned M&A. Given the current market and some of the let's call them pre-revenue companies struggling, are there opportunities that you guys are seeing out there for you guys to do M&A? Or is that just something you wanted to highlight as industry related?

好的。第二件事，你提到了併購。考慮到當前的市場以及一些我們稱之為收入前公司的困境，你們是否看到了進行併購的機會？或者這只是您想強調的與行業相關的事情？

No, I just wanted to highlight it as an industry theme. I think it's a trend. We've seen this in other commodities over time. This is a -- it's a really fast-growing business. We're probably in the second or third inning of the lithium boom over the next few decades, I think. And as you've got just a large number of companies, at the end of the day, I think there will be consolidation as a general matter. I think that consolidation will be good for the industry and good for investors. And just something I think is a theme people should be aware of and thinking about.

不，我只是想強調它作為一個行業主題。我認為這是一種趨勢。隨著時間的推移，我們在其他商品中也看到了這一點。這是一個真正快速成長的業務。我認為，未來幾十年我們可能正處於鋰熱潮的第二或第三局。由於公司數量很多，我認為最終將會出現整合。我認為整合對產業和投資者都有好處。我認為這是人們應該意識到和思考的主題。

David Deckelbaum, TD Cowen.

大衛·德克爾鮑姆，TD·考恩。

I was hoping that you could dig in a little bit just on the outlook over the next few years. I think you clarified the ATVM loan process and highlighted the benefits of 45x at Carolina that improves the economics there. Could you just sort of set like a view or a target or goal for how you'd like to progress with that project over the next year or 2? It would seem that perhaps you would be looking for offtake partners first or some sort of strategic partner there and then going through a loan process for perhaps an FID at the end of the decade?

我希望你能深入探討未來幾年的前景。我認為您闡明了 ATVM 貸款流程，並強調了卡羅萊納州 45x 的好處，可以改善那裡的經濟狀況。您能否設定一個觀點或目標，以了解您希望在未來一兩年內如何推進該專案？看來您可能會先尋找承購夥伴或某種策略夥伴，然後在本世紀末完成最終投資決定的貸款流程？

Yes, David, that's a great question. Ultimately, a lot of it is based on the market and when the recovery happens. We're highly confident the recovery is coming. We don't have great confidence in the timing of it. But I think fundamentally, with so many projects being deferred, and many probably deferred permanently, projects that I would characterize as marginal, not our projects, but some other projects.

是的，大衛，這是一個很好的問題。最終，很大程度上取決於市場以及復甦何時發生。我們對復甦即將到來充滿信心。我們對它的時機沒有很大信心。但我認為從根本上來說，由於有如此多的項目被推遲，而且許多項目可能被永久推遲，我將其定性為邊緣項目，不是我們的項目，而是其他一些項目。

I think at some point, there's just going to be not enough lithium to meet the demand that continues to grow. Projects like Carolina are going to be needed. I think you're right, our number 1 priority at Carolina right now, we've done an immense amount of work on engineering, the project is very advanced. DFS obviously was completed a long time ago, but we've invested a lot of money since then in more detailed engineering. And we've given a lot of thought to different financial structures.

我認為在某個時候，鋰將不足以滿足持續成長的需求。像卡羅萊納這樣的項目是需要的。我認為你是對的，我們現在在卡羅萊納州的第一要務，我們在工程方面做了大量的工作，該項目非常先進。DFS 顯然很久以前就完成了，但從那時起我們在更詳細的工程上投入了大量資金。我們對不同的金融結構進行了許多思考。

At the end of the day, the best way to advance the project, we think, is with a partner. And not just an offtake partner, but really a partner who could bring -- there's really three things a partner could bring. They could be an off taker, which is really sort of the easy part. Everybody wants US lithium, so finding customers isn't that challenging. They can bring capital, which limits the group a little bit. And ideally, they could bring operating capability.

歸根結底，我們認為推進專案的最佳方式是與合作夥伴合作。不僅僅是一個承購合作夥伴，而且是一個真正可以帶來的合作夥伴——合作夥伴實際上可以帶來三樣東西。他們可能會成為承購商，這確實是比較容易的部分。每個人都想要美國鋰，因此尋找客戶並不是那麼具有挑戰性。他們可以帶來資本，這對團體有一點限制。理想情況下，他們可以帶來營運能力。

We think of Carolina as an integrated project. The spodumene mining and concentrate operation is relatively straightforward to execute. We've seen with other larger companies' struggles to execute on the downstream hydroxide front. Whether or not we think we can build the team to do that on our own, that's a less credible strategy today in the market than it was a few years ago, just given the struggles of Albemarle in Western Australia, Tianqi in Western Australia, and others. We're in conversations with people, and these conversations have been going on for some time.

我們將卡羅萊納州視為一個綜合項目。鋰輝石開採和精礦作業執行起來相對簡單。我們已經看到其他較大的公司在下游氫氧化物方面的執行困難。無論我們是否認為我們可以自己組建團隊來做到這一點，考慮到西澳大利亞的雅保 (Albemarle)、西澳大利亞的天齊 (Tianqi) 以及其他的。我們正在與人們進行對話，而這些對話已經持續了一段時間。

But the ideal partner in my mind is somebody who brings capital, who brings expertise that limits the group further. And of course, that's a party that would probably want their share of the offtake. That's priority one. That sort of party can bring capital in early to help do more work on the rezoning front and on the detailed engineering front and really help execute this project and bring it forth through the ATVM loan process and everything else. We're here toward the tail end of 2024. I would certainly hope we could get to FID well before the end of the decade, but it's hard to put a detailed timeline on it.

但在我看來，理想的合作夥伴是能帶來資本、能帶來進一步限制團隊的專業知識的人。當然，這一方可能希望獲得自己的份額。這是第一要務。此類團體可以儘早引入資金，幫助在重新分區方面和詳細工程方面做更多工作，並真正幫助執行該項目，並透過 ATVM 貸款流程和其他一切來實現該項目。2024 年即將結束。我當然希望我們能夠在本世紀末之前完成最終投資決定，但很難給出詳細的時間表。

I appreciate that, Keith. And perhaps just as we go into next year, and you guys have rationalized the budget for '24 considerably it seems like, there are some catalysts ahead in the first half of '25 as it relates to Ewoyaa. You guys are looking at some financing strategies there as well. But it would seem holistically that the capital requirements for Piedmont at the corporate level are quite minimal in '25. Is that a fair assessment?

我很感激，基斯。也許就在我們進入明年的時候，你們似乎已經大大合理化了 24 年的預算，25 年上半年將會出現一些與 Ewoyaa 相關的催化劑。你們也在研究一些融資策略。但從整體來看，皮埃蒙特在企業層面的資本需求在 25 世紀是相當低的。這是一個公平的評價嗎？

Yes. I mean you used the word capital. But I think from a burn rate perspective, our burn rate, given the significant overhead and staffing reductions and other cost reductions Michael has indicated, our burn rate has declined significantly. Capital is all about when you deploy it. And if the market remains muted like this, and I think Ewoyaa, unfortunately, will be -- we'll kind of wait for a better market as well. I think that's a view of Atlantic shares quite clearly at this stage as well. In that case, capital requirements would be quite modest.

是的。我的意思是你用了資本這個字。但我認為，從燒錢率的角度來看，鑑於邁克爾表示的管理費用和人員配置的大幅削減以及其他成本的削減，我們的燒錢率已大幅下降。資本的關鍵在於你何時部署它。如果市場仍然像這樣平靜，不幸的是，我認為 Ewoyaa 將會如此——我們也會等待更好的市場。我認為這也是現階段大西洋股的明確觀點。在這種情況下，資本要求將相當溫和。

One thing I'd mention at Ewoyaa, we've independently been looking at our financing options for our share of capital. Atlantic has been doing the same. I think there's been some good conversation between the two parties that really the best way to fund that project is probably to work on the funding together and to bring a debt package together at the kind of the operating company level. It could be underwritten by someone like the DFC in Washington or someone else. Those discussions are kind of advancing internally, and I think in an ideal world, it'll bring a really strong financing package into the project so that the capital and equity requirements of each of the partners are minimized significantly. That's something we'll be working on over the course of 2025.

我在 Ewoyaa 提到的一件事是，我們一直在獨立研究我們的資本份額的融資方案。大西洋月刊也一直在做同樣的事情。我認為雙方之間進行了一些良好的對話，為該專案提供資金的最佳方式可能是共同籌集資金，並在營運公司層面上整合債務方案。它可以由華盛頓的 DFC 等機構或其他機構承保。這些討論在內部取得進展，我認為在理想的情況下，它將為該專案帶來真正強大的融資方案，從而使每個合作夥伴的資本和股權要求顯著最小化。這是我們將在 2025 年進行的工作。

Tyler DiMatteo, BTIG.

泰勒·迪馬特奧，BTIG。

Keith, I wanted to follow up on the ideal partner comments there. You kind of laid out the three things that you could be looking for. I'm curious though, in terms of the in-house versus external for the conversion aspect of things, I guess how quickly does a decision like that need to be made? And then what does the integration look like if you're going to work with a partner, in particular to your comments surrounding some of the challenges related to conversion in particular?

基思，我想跟進那裡理想合作夥伴的評論。您列出了您可能正在尋找的三件事。不過我很好奇，就內部與外部的轉換方面而言，我想需要多快才能做出這樣的決定？那麼，如果您要與合作夥伴合作，那麼整合會是什麼樣子，特別是您對與轉換相關的一些挑戰的評論？

Yes. Listen, there are -- there's a group of companies who have demonstrated expertise in lithium chemical production. A number of those are Chinese, for a variety of reasons not viable partners obviously. But there are a number that are not Chinese, and we know them all, and we've had discussions ongoing with each of them.

是的。聽著，有一群公司在鋰化學品生產方面展現了專業知識。其中許多是中國人，但出於各種原因顯然不是可行的合作夥伴。但有一些人不是中國人，我們都認識他們，我們已經與他們每個人進行了討論。

Everybody, as you might imagine, I mean, Carolina Lithium is a bit of a unicorn. It's one of two significant spodumene ore bodies in the US, Kings Mountain, Albemarle's project being the other. If you're a major player in the business in the battery supply chain somewhere and you want -- and you're interested in spodumene as a feedstock given its kind of low-risk characteristics, and you think being in the US is a good idea, which just about everybody does, Carolina is sort of pretty high on the list.

每個人，正如你可能想像的那樣，我的意思是，卡羅萊納鋰業有點像獨角獸。它是美國兩個重要的鋰輝石礦體之一，另一個是 Kings Mountain，Albemarle 的計畫。如果您是某處電池供應鏈業務的主要參與者，並且您對鋰輝石作為原料感興趣，因為其具有低風險特性，並且您認為在美國是一個不錯的選擇幾乎每個人都這樣做，卡羅萊納州在名單上名列前茅。

We've had good conversations with a lot of people. I think it'd be pretty easy to bring a partner in and there's interest. It's -- you're juggling a lot of things in terms of are you bringing in a 50-50 joint venture partner, who's going to be the operator? That's one extreme. Are you bringing in somebody who is more of a 20% partner really bringing more capital? How do they think about value at the trough versus how might they have thought about value two years ago or a year from now. These are things you have to balance.

我們與許多人進行了良好的交談。我認為引入合作夥伴並且有興趣是很容易的。這是——你要處理很多事情，例如你是否引入一個 50-50 的合資夥伴，誰將成為運營商？這是一種極端。你引進的合夥人比例超過 20% 真的會帶來更多資本嗎？他們如何看待谷底時的價值，以及兩年前或一年後他們如何看待價值。這些都是你必須平衡的事情。

And from our perspective, Carolina Lithium, that spodumene isn't going anywhere. It's a massively valuable project from an intrinsic value perspective. It's really important for us to protect shareholder value on that project and not do a bad partnering deal. Interest is strong. We'll continue the conversations. I think integrating a partner into the project will be pretty straightforward.

從我們卡羅萊納鋰業公司的角度來看，鋰輝石不會消失。從內在價值的角度來看，這是一個非常有價值的項目。對我們來說，保護該專案的股東價值而不是做出糟糕的合作交易非常重要。興趣濃厚。我們將繼續對話。我認為將合作夥伴整合到專案中將非常簡單。

And of course, when you bring in a partner who has capability and capital, they're going to have a point of view on certain things, and they're going to want to take a fresh look at a variety of things in our engineering plants, and that's healthy. And that's something that, to some extent, has been going on already, so that's good.

當然，當你引入有能力和資本的合作夥伴時，他們會對某些事情有自己的觀點，並且他們會想要重新審視我們工程中的各種事情植物，這是健康的。從某種程度上來說，這已經在發生了，所以這很好。

We do, I think as we've messaged before, we do continue to tweak things like is the right size of a chemical plant 30,000 tons or 25,000 tons? With the Metso Outotec process, the original 30,000-ton plan contemplated two 15,000-ton autoclaves. Our team has, after doing a lot of work subsequent to the DFS, decided it's probably a lot more capital efficient to have one 25,000-ton autoclave and have a 25,000-ton plant. You can't build -- there aren't 30,000-ton autoclaves available. Details like that are important, should have positive impact on economics, but those things will all be worked out in due course.

我想，正如我們之前所傳達的訊息，我們確實會繼續調整一些事情，例如化工廠的合適規模是 30,000 噸還是 25,000 噸？對於美卓奧圖泰工藝，最初的 30,000 噸計劃考慮了兩個 15,000 噸高壓釜。在 DFS 之後做了大量工作後，我們的團隊認為擁有一台 25,000 噸高壓釜和一座 25,000 噸工廠可能會更具資本效率。你無法建造——沒有 30,000 噸的高壓釜可用。像這樣的細節很重要，應該對經濟產生正面影響，但這些事情都會在適當的時候解決。

Right. Okay. Great. And then just in terms of the utilization and recovery rates, you've seen a nice ramp at NAL. I'm curious where you see opportunity today to maybe even improve that further? Or are we kind of at the peak here? Maybe just how do you kind of think about balancing that versus some of your comments around customer requirements and maybe some of that can be a little bit lumpy. Just curious how you kind of see that opportunity set for just maintaining the asset there.

正確的。好的。偉大的。然後就利用率和回收率而言，您已經看到 NAL 取得了不錯的成長。我很好奇您今天在哪裡看到了進一步改進的機會？或者說我們現在正處於巔峰狀態嗎？也許您如何考慮平衡這一點與您圍繞客戶需求的一些評論，也許其中一些可能有點不穩定。只是好奇您如何看待僅維持那裡資產的機會。

Yes. No, good question. Listen, the team on the ground at NAL is outstanding. They're just doing a fantastic job. I think the mill plant, the crush -- the mill in particular is working kind of at a run rate level. We're still working through some of the challenges in the pit where we're mining on top of old underground workings from 60, 70 years ago. Mining costs are elevated still. They will be for another year or so probably. There's an opportunity to bring the mining component of the cost down probably 15% or 20% once we're through that in 2026. So that's out there in the future a little bit.

是的。不，好問題。聽著，NAL 的團隊非常出色。他們做得非常出色。我認為工廠、破碎機——尤其是工廠正在以一定的運作率水準運作。我們仍在解決礦坑中的一些挑戰，我們在 60、70 年前的舊地下巷道頂部進行採礦。採礦成本仍在上升。他們可能還會再待一年左右。一旦我們在 2026 年完成這個任務，就有機會將採礦部分的成本降低約 15% 或 20%。所以這在未來會有一點。

And then the real opportunity at NAL, and this is important, and we haven't talked about it a lot, but the mineral resource estimate increased significantly this quarter. Drilling is still ongoing at NAL. This is money that flowed through funding, drilling funding that Sayona had raised, so they're funding that work. It will be done by the end of the year.

然後是 NAL 的真正機會，這很重要，我們沒有太多談論它，但本季礦產資源估算顯著增加。NAL 的鑽探仍在進行中。這些錢是透過 Sayona 籌集的資金、鑽探資金流轉的，所以他們正在為這項工作提供資金。將於今年底完成。

I think you'll probably see another resource and reserve update in 2025. And then you're going to be looking at a project with decades of mine life. And the obvious question is, is the right thing to have a 40- or 50-year mine life? Or is the right thing to double production and maximize cash flow that way? Early days kicking that around, but I think the brownfield expansion opportunity there is really exciting.

我認為您可能會在 2025 年看到另一個資源和儲備更新。然後你將看到一個具有數十年開採壽命的項目。顯而易見的問題是，40 年或 50 年的礦場壽命是正確的嗎？或者說，以這種方式使產量翻倍並最大化現金流是正確的做法嗎？早期的情況還不錯，但我認為那裡的棕地擴張機會確實令人興奮。

And it should be -- a brownfield expansion of say doubling production would be probably the lowest CapEx per ton project in Quebec. It's in by far the best location in Quebec. You'd see real benefits from kind of shared infrastructure on site relative to kind of a separate standalone greenfield project.

它應該是 - 棕地擴張（例如產量翻倍）可能是魁北克每噸資本支出最低的項目。它位于魁北克省迄今為止最好的位置。相對於單獨的新建項目，您會看到現場共享基礎設施的真正好處。

So that gets to be very exciting. That's next-generation stuff, but it certainly -- as you think about our timeline for development with Ewoyaa in the relatively near term, Carolina in the medium term, brownfield expansion at NAL could kind of fit in there very nicely. That's something we are beginning to talk to Sayona about.

所以這會非常令人興奮。這是下一代的東西，但它確實是——當你考慮到我們與 Ewoyaa 的近期開發時間表、中期的 Carolina 開發時間表時，NAL 的棕地擴張可能非常適合那裡。這就是我們開始與 Sayona 談論的事情。

Greg Jones, BMO Capital Markets.

格雷格瓊斯，BMO 資本市場。

First question I had was related to shipment timing. I understand the commentary around what might transpire into Q1 next year. But how should we think about timing of remaining shipments in 2025? You've got obviously the baseline of 113,000 tons or 50%, maybe 20,000 tons rolling into Q1. Do you expect the subsequent quarters to be relatively consistent or more aligned with how shipments transpired this year?

我的第一個問題與出貨時間有關。我理解有關明年第一季可能發生的情況的評論。但我們該如何考慮 2025 年剩餘出貨量的時間安排呢？顯然，第一季的產量為 113,000 噸或 50%，可能是 20,000 噸。您預計接下來的幾季的出貨量是否會與今年的出貨量相對一致或更一致？

Yes, Greg, it's a great question. And we have some information on that. We haven't shared kind of guidance. I think when we share guidance on 2025 kind of at the end of Q1 or February, March, whenever we do that, I think we'll do the best we can to provide some quarterly sequencing. But it's just lumpy for a variety of reasons.

是的，格雷格，這是一個很好的問題。我們有一些相關資訊。我們還沒有分享某種指導。我認為，當我們在第一季末或 2 月、3 月分享 2025 年的指導時，每當我們這樣做時，我認為我們都會盡力提供一些季度排序。但由於各種原因，它只是凹凸不平。

I mean every now and then, we have a customer, a contract customer who says, really, I don't really need the material this month, can I get it in June or whatever? And we have those conversations, and they generally protect us on price so we're not disadvantaged and that ends up becoming a spot shipment. There's things like that that happen.

我的意思是，時不時地，我們有一位客戶，一位合約客戶說，真的，我這個月真的不需要這些材料，我可以在六月或其他時間拿到嗎？我們進行了這些對話，他們通常會在價格上保護我們，這樣我們就不會處於不利地位，最終會變成現貨發貨。類似的事情時有發生。

And then increasingly, just in this low price environment, working with our friends at Sayona to really minimize transport costs, I mean transport costs are an item that when we started producing 18 months ago, people didn't focus on much. When the spodumene price is $3,000 or $4,000 or $5,000, $50 or $100 here or there on transport costs is kind of a rounding error.

然後，在這種低價環境下，與我們在 Sayona 的朋友合作，真正最大限度地降低運輸成本，我的意思是，當我們 18 個月前開始生產時，人們並沒有過多關注運輸成本。當鋰輝石價格為 3,000 美元、4,000 美元或 5,000 美元時，運輸成本中的 50 美元或 100 美元屬於四捨五入誤差。

In today's market, it's the difference between a positive margin and a negative margin. Every dollar counts. And if you can ship a 25,000 or 30,000 ton shipment versus a 12,000 or 14,000 ton shipment, it's $50 or $60 a ton less to do that. It's something we're focused on, and that's why this other December shipment might push. I'd like it to push. It's hard to -- unfortunately, revenue I think will be lumpy.

在當今的市場上，這就是正保證金和負保證金之間的區別。每一塊錢都很重要。如果您可以運輸 25,000 或 30,000 噸的貨物，而不是 12,000 或 14,000 噸的貨物，則每噸可少 50 或 60 美元。這是我們關注的重點，這就是為什麼 12 月的另一次發貨可能會推遲。我想推一下不幸的是，這很難，我認為收入會不穩定。

I think we do expect, as Michael indicated, I mean, we have -- to the extent we have 113,000 tons sort of due in 2025, and we defer a couple of 2024 shipments, then we should have higher shipments in 2025 than the 113,000 tons. I think that's understood and it's fair to model. I think Q1 will be pretty heavy based on what we've discussed. But Q4 this year, the next quarter, it will be a record quarter for us. It will be the biggest quarter, it should be the biggest quarter for shipments even with these delays.

我認為我們確實預計，正如邁克爾所指出的，我的意思是，我們有——就我們在2025 年到期的113,000 噸而言，我們推遲了2024 年的幾批發貨，那麼我們2025 年的發貨量應該高於113,000 噸噸。我認為這是可以理解的，並且建模是公平的。根據我們的討論，我認為第一季將會相當沉重。但今年第四季度，下一個季度，對我們來說將是創紀錄的季度。這將是最大的季度，即使有這些延遲，這也應該是出貨量最大的季度。

And then in terms of the balance of 2025, it's just always a little bit of a balancing act between our desires and need requirements and the joint venture's, and being fair to each group in terms of the timeliness and everything else. We'll see how that works out.

然後就 2025 年的平衡而言，總是需要在我們與合資企業的願望和需求之間進行一點平衡，並在及時性和其他方面對每個群體都公平。我們將看看效果如何。

This is Michael. As a follow-up to Keith's comments, one of the things that we experienced in 2024 was the hockey stick view of shipments, and that was due to the ramp-up at NAL. Now that we are moving out of that ramp-up, and we're going to have a full year of production as well as the tons that are going to be accretive from Q4 into Q1 of next year, even though as Keith mentioned it's going to be lumpy, we're not looking at quite that hockey stick that we had forecasted and experienced in 2024. While lumpy, it will still be a little bit more balanced than what you saw this year.

這是邁克爾。作為 Keith 評論的後續，我們在 2024 年經歷的事情之一是出貨量的曲棍球棒視圖，這是由於 NAL 的增長所致。現在我們正在擺脫這種增長，我們將有一整年的生產以及從第四季度到明年第一季的產量增加，儘管正如基思提到的那樣說實話，我們並沒有看到我們在2024 年預測和經歷的曲棍球棒。雖然起伏不定，但它仍然會比你今年看到的更加平衡。

Just a question on the cost side. In the release this morning, it mentioned that operating costs at NAL were about $729 a ton ex inventory movements. And Sayona had disclosed costs around $894 in its release a few weeks ago. How should we think about the true cash costs at the operations and how the inventory adjustments are blended into those two numbers?

只是成本方面的問題。在今天早上的新聞稿中，它提到 NAL 的營運成本約為每噸 729 美元（不含庫存變動）。Sayona 在幾週前發佈時披露了其成本約為 894 美元。我們應該如何考慮營運中的真實現金成本以及庫存調整如何融入這兩個數字？

Yes, Greg, I'll take a first crack at it. Listen, I think Sayona had a couple of disclosures. They do disclose the kind of GAAP number or IFRS number, which includes inventory adjustments.

是的，格雷格，我會先試試看。聽著，我認為 Sayona 有一些披露。他們確實披露了 GAAP 數據或 IFRS 數據的類型，其中包括庫存調整。

And with any ramp-up, you have a lot of high-cost material kind of working its way through the process until you kind of get to a run rate. And we're sort of at run rate in the mill, but that material will continue to run through for a little while. They did volunteer that AUD 10.89 or whatever the number was, cash cost ex inventory. That's been -- they've quoted that. It's been quoted in some research reports over in Australia. That's the real, we think, true operating cash cost number now, which is -- we hope to do better, but it's significantly lower than prior quarters.

在任何加速過程中，都會有大量高成本材料在整個過程中運作，直到達到運行速度。我們在工廠中處於正常運作狀態，但該材料將繼續運行一段時間。他們確實自願支付 10.89 澳元或無論多少，現金成本不含庫存。那是——他們引用了那句話。澳洲的一些研究報告中引用了這一點。我們認為，這是現在真正的營運現金成本數字，我們希望做得更好，但它明顯低於前幾季。

And I think -- and that still embeds relatively high mining costs. We should see some improvement there. We're feeling good about it. I mean it's approaching kind of the DFS levels. And I think you should sort of -- from a cash cost perspective, if you're just modeling cash, I think it's as good a starting point as any going forward.

我認為——這仍然包含相對較高的採礦成本。我們應該看到那裡有一些改進。我們對此感覺良好。我的意思是它已經接近 DFS 的水平了。我認為你應該——從現金成本的角度來看，如果你只是對現金進行建模，我認為這與任何未來的發展一樣都是一個很好的起點。

Bill Peterson, J.P. Morgan.

比爾彼得森，摩根大通。

This is Bennett on for Bill. Looking beyond Q4, could you remind us your expectations in regards to kind of the share of spot versus long-term contract shipments? And in 3Q, how much did this contribute to relative pricing strength relative to the comment on hedging?

這是貝內特為比爾代言的。展望第四季之後，您能否提醒我們您對現貨與長期合約出貨量份額的預期？在第三季度，相對於對沖評論，這對相對定價強度的貢獻有多大？

Keith, do you want me to take that?

基思，你想讓我接這個嗎？

Yes, sure.

是的，當然。

Thanks for the question. From a spot versus long-term customer contract perspective, we normally do not break out the shipments between each. But in Q3, we did have spot shipments. And on those shipments, we're able to take positions with our trading partner as well as on other future shipments and take the benefit of hedging, which our partner takes. We do not enter into contracts for hedging, but we're able to take advantage of the contango through a fixed price arrangement, and so we've been seeing the benefit of that.

謝謝你的提問。從現貨與長期客戶合約的角度來看，我們通常不會細分兩者之間的出貨量。但在第三季度，我們確實有現貨出貨。對於這些貨物，我們能夠與我們的貿易夥伴以及其他未來的貨物建立頭寸，並利用我們合作夥伴的對沖優勢。我們不簽訂對沖合同，但我們能夠透過固定價格安排利用期貨溢價，因此我們已經看到了這樣做的好處。

As we go into 2025, we are going to see primarily shipments to our long-term customer contracts. But having that strong trading partner gives us the flexibility that if we do need to pivot because potentially a customer may need to shift a delivery into a future quarter, but yet we are ready to take that offtake and make a sale that we can shift to a spot if we need to. But as we look into 2025, we're looking primarily at long-term customer contract sales.

進入 2025 年，我們將主要看到向長期客戶合約發貨。但是，擁有這個強大的貿易夥伴為我們提供了靈活性，如果我們確實需要調整，因為客戶可能需要將交貨轉移到未來的季度，但我們已經準備好接受該承購併進行銷售，我們可以轉移到如果我們需要的話。但展望 2025 年，我們主要專注於長期客戶合約銷售。

And then if I could, on Carolina, do you see any barriers to gaining the necessary air and water permits? What has the feedback been with agencies so far? And I guess what are your rough expectations around timing for these?

那麼，如果可以的話，在卡羅來納州，您認為獲得必要的空氣和水許可證有任何障礙嗎？到目前為止，各機構的回饋如何？我猜你對這些時間安排的粗略期望是什麼？

No. I think those are in progress. It's been -- it's taken longer on the air and water side than we expected, but I think it's going well. I think our expectation is first half 2025. We obviously still need to go through the rezoning process, the local rezoning process which is critical.

不。我認為這些正在進行中。空氣和水方面的時間比我們預期的要長，但我認為進展順利。我認為我們的預期是 2025 年上半年。顯然，我們仍然需要經歷重新分區過程，而本地重新分區過程至關重要。

We are currently thinking we're going to begin that once we have -- once we have the other permits behind us, and ideally, once we have a partner in place. Which I think would be additive to that whole process as well as the ATVM loan process. 2025 I think will be a year where we really try to bring all that together and to move forward from there.

我們目前認為，一旦我們獲得了其他許可，並且理想情況下，一旦我們有了合適的合作夥伴，我們就會開始這樣做。我認為這將成為整個流程以及 ATVM 貸款流程的補充。我認為 2025 年我們將真正努力將所有這些整合在一起並以此為基礎繼續前進。

(Operator Instructions) Matthew Key, B. Riley Securities.

（操作員指令）Matthew Key，B. Riley Securities。

You mentioned that you engaged with some financial advisers to fund the Ghana CapEx. Just at a high level, what financing package do you think makes the most sense in the current market? And also, what do you expect the timing of that to be given that we're in a depressed price environment for spodumene? I imagine you guys aren't in a huge rush to develop that asset kind of in the current market.

您提到您與一些財務顧問合作為加納資本支出提供資金。從較高的層面來看，您認為哪種融資方案在目前市場上最有意義？另外，考慮到我們正處於鋰輝石價格低迷的環境中，您預計什麼時間會發生這種情況？我想你們並不急於在當前市場上開發這種資產。

Yes. No, good question, Matt. Yes, we do have the adviser retained. They're doing a great job. We've had broad outreach. The focus has been on offtake financing. That's a project that will produce 180,000 tons a year for our account, 360,000 tons a year of spodumene concentrate. It's a big project. We get half the material. That material has great value to a lot of customers, car companies, battery companies, users, conversion plants, etc. And many of those customers are happy to provide project funding essentially in order to secure that offtake. That's the real conversation we've been having, and it's been going well.

是的。不，問得好，馬特。是的，我們確實保留了顧問。他們做得很好。我們進行了廣泛的外展活動。重點是承購融資。這個計畫將為我們每年生產 18 萬噸，即每年 36 萬噸鋰輝石精礦。這是一個大工程。我們得到了一半的材料。這種材料對許多客戶、汽車公司、電池公司、用戶、改裝廠等具有巨大價值。這就是我們一直在進行的真正的對話，而且進展順利。

At the same time, given markets, the project is just going to move more slowly, so there's less urgency to put that in place. As people, as offtake partners think about offtake funding, they're really trying to lock in specific deliveries. When we started these discussions several months ago, the idea of production in 2026 or '27 was something they could line up. We're now probably later than that,, so that complicates the process a little bit, which is fine.

同時，考慮到市場，該專案的進展將會更加緩慢，因​​此實施該專案的緊迫性也較低。當人們、承購合作夥伴考慮承購資金時，他們實際上是在努力鎖定特定的交付量。當我們幾個月前開始這些討論時，他們可以考慮在 2026 年或 27 年生產的想法。我們現在可能比這個晚了，所以這讓過程變得有點複雜，但這很好。

Atlantic, as you may know, has announced they have their own very similar process going on. They've been talking to similar people. And there's a lot of interest. I think what we've both decided jointly is really if we're going to take more time to develop the project anyway as we wait for the market to recover, the best thing to do, because these offtake financing, it's effectively debt. People are loaning us money to build something, and we pay it back through shipping the material over time. The best form of debt, the lowest cost form of debt would be something at the project level where someone could secure the asset.

您可能知道，大西洋月刊已經宣布他們正在進行自己的非常類似的流程。他們一直在和類似的人交談。而且有很多興趣。我認為我們雙方共同決定的實際上是，在等待市場復甦時，我們是否要花更多時間來開發該項目，這是最好的事情，因為這些承購融資實際上是債務。人們借錢給我們建造一些東西，我們透過隨著時間的推移運送材料來償還。最好的債務形式、成本最低的債務形式是在專案層面上，有人可以確保資產的安全。

Ideal form of debt might be something with the US government flag over it like Development Finance Corp. financing, which others have used in Africa. We have had conversations with that group. They're very -- the project is sort of a poster child. It's a clean energy project in a friendly developing country like Ghana, it's sort of perfect. And you could see the project funded 65% plus or minus through a loan like that, which could be really accretive to both of us. We could still then raise some -- do some offtake funding on our own balance sheet and really minimize our equity spend on that project quite dramatically.

理想的債務形式可能是帶有美國政府旗幟的債務，例如發展金融公司的融資，其他人已在非洲使用過這種融資形式。我們已經與該組織進行了對話。他們非常——這個項目是一個典型的例子。這是加納這樣一個友好的發展中國家的清潔能源項目，它有點完美。你可以看到該項目透過這樣的貸款獲得了 65% 左右的資金，這對我們雙方來說都是真正的增值。然後我們仍然可以籌集一些資金——在我們自己的資產負債表上進行一些承購資金，並真正大幅減少我們在該項目上的股權支出。

The other thing I'd say is we're waiting on parliamentary ratification of our mining lease in Ghana. There's an election there this year as well. It's in December. That's delayed that process, but we expect to get the ratification in the first half. And that ratification is the trigger for a $28 million investment by the sovereign wealth fund in Ghana, which would be welcome money that would come into the project by -- they'd be buying a 6% stake, and that will be money available to fund capital on an interim basis and part of the capital beyond that. That's something to look forward to as well.

我要說的另一件事是，我們正在等待議會批准我們在加納的採礦租約。今年那裡也有選舉。現在是十二月。這推遲了這一進程，但我們預計將在上半年獲得批准。該批准觸發了加納主權財富基金 2800 萬美元的投資，這將是該項目受歡迎的資金——他們將購買 6% 的股份，這將是可用的資金臨時資本和超出該資本的部分資本。這也是值得期待的事。

Got it. That's super helpful. And just kind of on the final investment decision for Ghana when that occurs, is there a specific spodumene price or certain market conditions that you'd want to see kind of prior to developing that project? Or is it mostly just kind of like a lot of considerations there? But is there a specific price that you think you'd want to have confidence in long term that you'd be comfortable going forward with?

知道了。這非常有幫助。關於加納的最終投資決定，在開發該項目之前，您是否希望看到具體的鋰輝石價格或某些市場條件？或者主要是有很多考慮因素？但是，是否有一個具體的價格是您認為您希望長期有信心並願意繼續下去的具體價格？

Yes. It's a good question, Matt. We kicked around some numbers. It's not -- bottom line is, you want to be able to generate a positive return on investment. And it's hard to find a spodumene project anywhere in the world where you can generate a positive return on investment at $700 or $800 greenfield project, $700 or $800 spodumene price.

是的。這是個好問題，馬特。我們討論了一些數字。事實並非如此——底線是，您希望能夠產生正的投資回報。在世界上任何地方都很難找到能夠以 700 或 800 美元的綠地項目、700 或 800 美元的鋰輝石價格產生正投資回報的鋰輝石項目。

The price, I think, needs to be meaningfully higher. I think that -- I personally think that inevitably will happen just given continued demand growth and kind of increasing pressure on supply. The time will come, and I don't think it's necessarily that far away, but there's no bright line test at this stage.

我認為，價格需要大幅提高。我個人認為，鑑於需求持續成長和供應壓力不斷加大，這種情況不可避免地會發生。這個時刻會到來，我認為不一定那麼遙遠，但現階段還沒有明確的測試。

Great job with the quarter --

本季工作做得很好--

What's good about the Ewoyaa project, just as a highlight is, it's a project -- the CapEx per ton is relatively low because of its dense medium separation. The construction timeline, the ramp-up could be pretty fast. As you think about the projects that are sort of being deferred, this is one where the execution timeline could be pretty quick.

Ewoyaa 項目的優點在於，它是一個項目，由於其重介質分離，每噸的資本支出相對較低。施工時程、啟動速度可能會相當快。當你想到那些被延後的專案時，你會發現這是一個執行時間可能相當快的專案。

The best analogy might be the development of Sigma early on, which was similar ore body, similar processing, relatively low CapEx per ton, relatively fast ramp. They've done a great job down there so far from what I've seen. And that's a good indication for how this project could advance. We're pretty excited about it.

最好的類比可能是Sigma早期的發展，相似的礦體，相似的加工，每噸資本支出相對較低，爬坡相對較快。到目前為止，從我所看到的來看，他們做得非常出色。這很好地表明了該項目將如何推進。我們對此感到非常興奮。

And there are no further questions at this time. I will turn the call back over to Erin Sanders.

目前沒有其他問題。我會將電話轉回艾琳桑德斯。

Thank you, Operator. That concludes our call today. We thank you for your time and interest in Piedmont Lithium. As a reminder, you can find our earnings release, presentation, and a replay of this call on our website, piedmontlithium.com. Thank you.

謝謝你，接線生。我們今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您花時間關注 Piedmont Lithium。謹此提醒，您可以在我們的網站 picedmontlithium.com 上找到我們的收益發布、演示以及本次電話會議的重播。謝謝。

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

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。