Standard Lithium Ltd (SLI) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to Standard Lithium second-quarter 2025 conference call. (Operator Instructions) It is now my pleasure to turn today's call over to Daniel Rosen, Vice President of Investor Relation and Strategy for a Standard Lithium. Please go ahead.

女士們、先生們，感謝你們的支持。歡迎參加標準鋰業 2025 年第二季電話會議。（操作員指示）現在我很高興將今天的電話轉給標準鋰業公司投資者關係和策略副總裁丹尼爾·羅森 (Daniel Rosen)。請繼續。

Thank you, and welcome, everyone. I'm excited to be joining my first earnings call as part of Standard Lithium, and look forward to getting to know many of you better in the coming months. I'm joined today by David Park, our CEO and Director; Andy Robinson, President, COO and Director; Salah Gamoudi, Chief Financial Officer; and Mike Barman, Chief Development Officer.

謝謝大家，歡迎大家。我很高興能夠作為 Standard Lithium 的一員參加我的第一次財報電話會議，並期待在接下來的幾個月裡更好地了解你們。今天與我一起出席的還有我們的執行長兼董事 David Park、總裁、營運長兼董事 Andy Robinson、財務長 Salah Gamoudi 和首席開發長 Mike Barman。

Before we begin, I would like to start with a reminder that some of the statements made during our call today, including any related to company performance, expectations and timing of projects may constitute forward-looking statements. Please note the cautionary language about forward-looking statements contained in our press release, which also applies to this call. Now, I will turn the call over to David.

在我們開始之前，我想先提醒一下，今天電話會議中所做的一些陳述，包括與公司業績、預期和專案時間表相關的陳述，可能構成前瞻性陳述。請注意我們新聞稿中關於前瞻性陳述的警告性語言，這也適用於本次電話會議。現在，我將把電話轉給大衛。

Thanks, Dan. I appreciate everyone for joining today. We've been working diligently alongside our joint venture partner, Equinor, to progress our lithium development projects, and we achieved multiple key milestones in the second quarter as we advance those efforts.

謝謝，丹。我感謝大家今天的參加。我們一直與合資夥伴 Equinor 一起努力推進我們的鋰開發項目，並且隨著這些努力的推進，我們在第二季度實現了多個關鍵里程碑。

We completed all our fieldwork required for the first phase of our Southwest Arkansas project and are steadily advancing offtake and project financing discussions ahead of a final investment decision targeted by the end of this year, as Andy will go into further shortly.

我們完成了西南阿肯色州專案第一階段所需的所有實地工作，並正在穩步推進承購和專案融資討論，計劃在今年年底前做出最終投資決定，安迪將很快進一步闡述。

In the second quarter, we had our brine production unit for Phase 1 of Southwest Arkansas, now formerly named the Reynolds unit, unanimously approved by the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission. We also had a 2.5% royalty rate approved by the AOGC for Phase 1, establishing an important precedent for lithium development companies operating in Arkansas and encouraging economic development of the state's significant lithium resource.

第二季度，我們西南阿肯色州第一階段的鹽水生產裝置（現稱為雷諾茲裝置）獲得了阿肯色州石油和天然氣委員會的一致批准。我們還獲得了 AOGC 批准的第一階段 2.5% 的使用費率，這為在阿肯色州運營的鋰開發公司樹立了重要先例，並鼓勵了該州重要鋰資源的經濟發展。

Additionally, our Southwest Arkansas project was selected as one of the first critical mineral production projects and the only direct lithium extraction project to be advanced under executive Order 14241 Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production.

此外，我們的西南阿肯色州計畫被選為首批關鍵礦產生產項目之一，也是唯一根據第 14241 號行政命令《立即採取措施提高美國礦產產量》推進的直接鋰提取項目。

This was announced by the US Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council at the recommendation of the National Energy Dominance Council. This designation ensures increased transparency, accountability and predictability in the permitting process. This prestigious distinction underscores the project's strategic importance to national security, economic prosperity and domestic energy independence.

這是美國聯邦許可改進指導委員會根據國家能源主導委員會的建議宣布的。這項指定確保了許可流程的透明度、責任感和可預測性得到提高。這項殊榮凸顯了該項目對國家安全、經濟繁榮和國內能源獨立的戰略重要性。

The streamlined permitting process, combined with the federal support we're receiving in the form of a $225 million grant from the DOE's Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains reinforces our project development time line and positions us well to deliver a low-cost, sustainable and domestic source of lithium critical to advance electrification and new energy technologies. We continue to focus on innovation as we seek to progress next-generation battery materials.

簡化的授權流程，加上我們從美國能源部製造和能源供應鏈辦公室獲得的 2.25 億美元聯邦撥款，加強了我們的專案開發時間表，使我們能夠提供低成本、可持續和國內鋰資源，這對於推進電氣化和新能源技術至關重要。我們將繼續專注於創新，尋求下一代電池材料的進步。

In partnership with Telescope Innovations, we developed a new process to produce battery-quality lithium sulfide, a key raw material required for many solid-state battery chemistries. This novel low-temperature patented process provides numerous potential advantages with respect to flexibility, quality, cost and safety.

我們與 Telescope Innovations 合作開發了一種生產電池級硫化鋰的新工藝，硫化鋰是許多固態電池化學所需的關鍵原料。這種新穎的低溫專利製程在靈活性、品質、成本和安全性方面提供了許多潛在優勢。

Finally, we strengthened our senior management team with two new VP hires. We brought in Daniel Rosen as Vice President of Strategy and Investor Relations; and Tim Sobel as Vice President of Health, Safety, Social and Environment.

最後，我們新聘用了兩位副總裁，以加強我們的高階管理團隊。我們聘請 Daniel Rosen 擔任策略和投資者關係副總裁；聘請 Tim Sobel 擔任健康、安全、社會和環境副總裁。

The additions to the leadership team will strengthen our capabilities and the execution of our growth strategy as we progress towards first commercial production. To provide more detail about key project developments and deliverables ahead, I'll pass it over to Andy.

隨著我們朝著首次商業化生產邁進，領導團隊的新增成員將增強我們的能力和成長策略的執行力。為了提供有關未來關鍵項目發展和可交付成果的更多詳細信息，我將把它交給安迪。

Thanks, David. As mentioned, we recently concluded all the planned fieldwork for the first phase of our SWA project, and we did so on a very high note. As we completed sampling from our newest exploration well, the Lester well, where we recorded the highest lithium concentration to date from the SWA project, 616 milligrams per liter lithium in brine.

謝謝，大衛。如上所述，我們最近完成了 SWA 專案第一階段的所有計畫實地工作，並且取得了非常高的成績。當我們完成最新勘探井萊斯特井的取樣時，我們記錄了 SWA 專案迄今為止最高的鋰濃度，即鹽水中每公升含 616 毫克鋰。

This fieldwork is critical to the development of our front-end engineering design as well as our definitive feasibility study, for which we're in the final review process and expect to release results in the coming weeks.

這項實地考察對於我們前端工程設計的開發以及最終可行性研究至關重要，我們目前正處於最後的審查過程中，預計將在未來幾週內公佈結果。

In addition to providing support for what we believe to be a highly attractive project, it will be critical for us as we look to finalize our ongoing dual track customer offtake and project financing processes. We've made significant progress in advancing these negotiations alongside an experienced financial adviser, and we expect to have more to share on both fronts ahead of our FID decision targeted by the year-end 2025.

除了為我們認為極具吸引力的專案提供支援之外，這對於我們最終確定正在進行的雙軌客戶承購和專案融資流程也至關重要。我們在與經驗豐富的財務顧問的合作下推進這些談判取得了重大進展，我們希望在 2025 年底做出 FID 決定之前，在這兩個方面有更多可以分享的資訊。

As a reminder, Phase 1 of SWA plans for 22,500 tonnes per year of battery quality lithium carbonate with the first production expected in 2028 under this FID time line. Separately, later in the third quarter, we plan to release a maiden inferred resource report on some of our East Texas properties. We believe this to be a meaningfully underappreciated part of our asset portfolio today, and expect this to be the first step towards achieving more appropriate recognition of these assets.

提醒一下，SWA 第一階段計劃每年生產 22,500 噸電池級碳酸鋰，預計根據此 FID 時間表，第一批產品將於 2028 年投產。另外，在第三季晚些時候，我們計劃發布有關我們位於東德州的部分資產的首份推斷資源報告。我們認為這是我們目前資產組合中被嚴重低估的一部分，並期望這是實現對這些資產更適當認可的第一步。

Now I'll turn it over to Salah to discuss our financial results.

現在我將讓薩拉赫來討論我們的財務結果。

Thank you, Andy. To begin, I want to clarify that all numerical financial references that I will be making are in US dollars. For the second quarter ended June 30, 2025, we reported a net loss of approximately $4 million as compared to a net gain of $128.3 million during the quarter ended June 30, 2024.

謝謝你，安迪。首先，我想澄清一下，我引用的所有財務數字都是以美元為單位的。截至 2025 年 6 月 30 日的第二季度，我們報告淨虧損約為 400 萬美元，而截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的季度淨收益為 1.283 億美元。

Net income in the quarter ended June 30, 2024, was due primarily to a $164 million gain related to the sale of a 45% interest in two of our project areas in Southwest Arkansas and East Texas, and the resultant deconsolidation of our subsidiaries, which held those projects as part of the closing of our JV agreement with Equinor in May of 2024.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的季度淨收入主要歸因於出售我們在阿肯色州西南部和德克薩斯州東部兩個項目區域的 45% 權益而獲得的 1.64 億美元收益，以及由此導致的子公司的拆分，這些子公司持有這些項目，這是我們與 Equinor 於 2024 年 5 月達成協議的一部分。

Normalizing for this onetime gain, there are a few underlying period-over-period changes, which we want to highlight as we have maintained a strong focus on cost discipline, while continuing to allocate capital to our most value-accretive projects.

對於這項一次性收益進行正常化，存在一些潛在的周期性變化，我們想要強調的是，我們一直高度重視成本控制，同時繼續將資本分配給我們最具增值潛力的項目。

For the quarter, G&A declined by $4.5 million, which reflects the impact of back-office cost sharing with our joint ventures, a reduction in onetime advisory and legal-related engagements as well as strong attention to overall corporate cost management.

本季度，一般及行政費用下降了 450 萬美元，這反映了與合資企業分攤後台成本的影響、一次性諮詢和法律相關業務的減少以及對整體企業成本管理的高度關注。

Demo plant operations expense decreased $0.9 million period-over-period due to a reduction in test work and related activities as we have focused more attention on finalizing FEED work to support SWA in addition to cost sharing with our joint venture. Management and director fees were reduced by $0.5 million, primarily driven by cost sharing with our joint venture.

由於我們將更多注意力集中在完成 FEED 工作以支援 SWA 以及與合資企業分攤成本上，因此演示工廠運營費用較上一期間減少了 90 萬美元。管理和董事費用減少了 50 萬美元，主要原因是與我們的合資企業分攤了成本。

Share-based compensation expense increased by $1.3 million, a reflection of our increased focus on structuring incentive plans to more closely align employee compensation with share performance and value creation.

股權激勵費用增加了 130 萬美元，這反映出我們更加重視建構激勵計劃，以使員工薪酬與股票表現和價值創造更加緊密地結合。

Below operating expenses on the income statement, for the quarter, we recorded a higher investment loss from joint ventures of $1.3 million versus $0.2 million in the prior period. This was a result of ongoing activities related to our Smackover Lithium JVs in addition to the joint venture only being formed for a portion of the quarter during the prior period.

在損益表的營業費用下，本季我們記錄的合資企業投資損失為 130 萬美元，高於上一季的 20 萬美元。這是由於我們的 Smackover Lithium JVs 相關活動仍在持續進行，而且合資企業僅在上一季的一部分時間內成立。

We also recorded a $2.5 million gain on the fair value of our contingent FID payments to be received by Standard Lithium from our joint venture partner, Equinor, should we reach a positive FID at our SWA or East Texas projects. As we continue to accomplish milestones at the projects and approach targeted FID decision dates, the value of our contingent FID payment assets have increased as reflected by the $2.5 million gain.

如果我們在 SWA 或東德州專案上達成積極的 FID，我們也記錄了 Standard Lithium 從我們的合資夥伴 Equinor 收到的或有 FID 付款的公允價值收益 250 萬美元。隨著我們繼續完成專案的里程碑並接近目標 FID 決策日期，我們的或有 FID 支付資產的價值已經增加，這反映在 250 萬美元的收益中。

Moving on to our balance sheet. We ended the quarter with strong cash and working capital positions of $33.8 million and $30.6 million, respectively. As referenced last quarter, the sole funding requirements by Equinor into the JVs as part of the agreement were exhausted during the second quarter.

繼續我們的資產負債表。本季結束時，我們的現金和營運資本狀況強勁，分別為 3,380 萬美元和 3,060 萬美元。正如上個季度所提到的，作為協議的一部分，Equinor 對合資企業的唯一融資要求已於第二季用盡。

As a result, we each began making our portion of capital contributions during the quarter. Therefore, Standard Lithium made JV capital contributions of $8.3 million during the second quarter as reflected on our cash flow statement.

因此，我們各自在本季開始做出自己的資本貢獻。因此，如我們的現金流量表所示，標準鋰業在第二季向合資企業注入了 830 萬美元的資本。

Despite this contribution, through active cost management and disciplined cost sharing, cost recoveries through our DOE grant receipts and liquidity provided through prudent use of our ATM program, we were able to increase our cash position and improve our liquidity profile during the quarter. We believe the company has adequate access to capital to move forward its value-accretive projects and activities, while maximizing shareholder value.

儘管存在這種貢獻，但透過積極的成本管理和嚴格的成本分攤、透過我們的 DOE 撥款收據收回成本以及透過謹慎使用我們的 ATM 計劃提供的流動性，我們能夠在本季度增加現金狀況並改善流動性狀況。我們相信，該公司擁有足夠的資本來推進其增值項目和活動，同時實現股東價值最大化。

Now I will turn it back over to David for closing remarks.

現在我將把發言權交還給戴維，請他作最後發言。

Thanks, Salah. Our team is both excited and encouraged by the critical milestones we delivered in the second quarter, and we'll be working diligently in the second half of this year as we progress towards a final investment decision at Southwest Arkansas targeted by year-end. We look forward to keeping you updated in the coming months as we advance these efforts.

謝謝，薩拉赫。我們的團隊對我們在第二季度實現的關鍵里程碑感到興奮和鼓舞，我們將在今年下半年努力工作，爭取在年底前對西南阿肯色州做出最終投資決定。我們期待在未來幾個月推進這些努力的過程中向您通報最新進展。

We feel we have the right committed partners, strong support at both the local and federal government levels and growing momentum as we continue to push forward as a domestic champion for securing critical minerals production in the United States. There's plenty to be done, but we believe Standard Lithium is well positioned to deliver significant value to our shareholders and the communities in which we operate along the way.

我們認為，我們擁有合適的忠誠合作夥伴、地方和聯邦政府層面的強大支持以及不斷增長的勢頭，我們將繼續作為確保美國關鍵礦產生產的國內領軍企業向前邁進。雖然還有很多工作要做，但我們相信，標準鋰業已做好準備，為我們的股東和我們營運所在的社區創造巨大的價值。

Thanks again for joining us today. Operator, back to you for questions.

再次感謝您今天加入我們。接線員，請回答您的問題。

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。我們現在開始問答環節。（操作員指示）

Joseph Reagor, Roth Capital Partners.

羅斯資本合夥公司的約瑟夫·里格。

Hey guys, thanks for taking the questions. Couple of items. I guess, first one was with the DOE announcement today about different avenues for people to apply for funding. Were there any of those baskets you guys feel you would be able to apply for and would apply for?

嘿夥計們，感謝你們回答問題。幾件物品。我想，首先是能源部今天宣布的關於人們申請資金的不同途徑。你們覺得有哪些籃子是可以申請並且願意申請的嗎？

Thanks, Joe. Yeah. So first, I'd say I was in D.C. last week, meeting at both DOE and the White House. We continue to have a lot of support for the DOE and what we're doing as well as from the White House.

謝謝，喬。是的。首先，我想說我上週在華盛頓，在能源部和白宮開會。我們繼續得到美國能源部和白宮的大力支持。

There's a lot of positive sentiment towards direct lithium extraction from Arkansas and from Texas, and they're looking to help us in multiple different ways. That said, with respect to the specific question on those projects or programs announced today, it's a little premature to comment on whether any of those are avenues for us or not. But just overall, I think we have an administration right now that is looking to find multiple paths of advancing projects like ours.

人們對從阿肯色州和德克薩斯州直接提取鋰有著許多積極的看法，他們正在尋求以多種不同的方式幫助我們。話雖如此，關於今天宣布的那些項目或計劃的具體問題，現在評論其中是否有適合我們的途徑還為時過早。但總的來說，我認為我們現在的政府正在尋找多種途徑來推動像我們這樣的計畫。

Okay. Fair. And then on the remaining milestone payments, can you remind us what the payout structures of those are? And would those be funds that would go into the JV or directly to you?

好的。公平的。然後關於剩餘的里程碑付款，您能否提醒我們這些付款的支付結構是什麼？這些資金會投入合資企業還是直接分配給你們？

(multiple speakers) Sure. So the funds flow from Equinor to us is the way that works. So when we hit positive FID for Southwest Arkansas, we get a milestone payment, which we will then use to fund our portion of the share of that project. The same mechanic works for East Texas.

（多位發言者）當然。因此，資金從 Equinor 流向我們就是有效的方法。因此，當我們在西南阿肯色州實現最終投資決定 (FID) 時，我們會獲得一筆里程碑付款，我們將使用這筆款項來資助我們在該專案中的份額。同一位機械師在東德州工作。

And what were the dollar numbers on each of those?

每個數字對應的美元是多少？

Salah, can I turn that to you?

薩拉赫，我可以把這個交給你嗎？

Sure. It's $40 million for Southwest Arkansas and it's $30 million for East Texas.

當然。西南阿肯色州的撥款為 4000 萬美元，東德克薩斯州的撥款為 3000 萬美元。

Okay. That's helpful. And then one final thing. Going forward, what do you guys expect in the coming quarters for expenditures related to Southwest Arkansas now that you're no longer carried?

好的。這很有幫助。最後還有一件事。展望未來，既然你們不再擔任董事，你們對未來幾季與西南阿肯色州相關的支出有何預期？

Salah?

薩拉赫？

Sure. So we haven't put out specific guidance, Joe, on this topic. But what I can tell you is that we expect that with the cash that we have on balance sheet, in addition to Equinor funding 45% of the capital expenditures at the projects, in addition to reasonable and prudent use of our ATM that we should be fully funded to meet our commitments prior to FID at Southwest Arkansas through those avenues.

當然。因此，喬，我們還沒有就此主題提出具體的指導。但我可以告訴你的是，我們預計，憑藉資產負債表上的現金，加上 Equinor 為項目 45% 的資本支出提供資金，再加上合理、審慎地使用我們的 ATM，我們應該能夠通過這些渠道獲得充足的資金，以履行我們在西南阿肯色州 FID 之前的承諾。

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

好的，我把它翻過來。謝謝你的顏色。

Jeff Robertson, Water Tower Research.

傑夫·羅伯遜，水塔研究公司。

Thank you. Good afternoon. David, does the work you're doing with Telescope on the lithium sulfide samples, does that fit into your discussions on offtake agreements?

謝謝。午安.大衛，您與 Telescope 合作對硫化鋰樣品進行的研究是否符合您關於承購協議的討論？

It doesn't fit into our current discussions with respect to Southwest Arkansas offtake agreements. It is something which presents an opportunity as we grow as a company and pursue different opportunities. Andy, I don't know if you want to highlight anything there?

它不符合我們目前關於西南阿肯色州承購協議的討論。隨著我們公司不斷成長並追求不同的機遇，這為我們帶來了機會。安迪，我不知道你是否想強調什麼？

No. I mean, I think all I'd say really, Jeff, is that we've always tried to kind of be close to the cutting edge on technology and understand where the industry is going. We've all seen the lithium industry evolve over the last several years, and we continue to see evolvement in the types of materials that battery cell electrolyte manufacturers require.

不。我的意思是，傑夫，我認為我真正想說的是，我們一直試圖接近技術前沿並了解行業的發展方向。我們都見證了鋰行業在過去幾年的發展，並且我們繼續看到電池電解質製造商所需的材料類型的發展。

We see lithium sulfide as a potential gap. And so that's why we continue to look at some of those more forward-looking options that we have technical partners who can help us get there potentially. So it's an option for us to think about.

我們認為硫化鋰有潛在缺口。這就是為什麼我們繼續研究一些更具前瞻性的選擇，我們擁有可以幫助我們實現目標的技術合作夥伴。所以這是我們可以考慮的選擇。

I think I read recently that Toyota hopes to be in mass production of a solid-state battery sometime later this decade. Andy, on the well results you reported from the Lester well back in July, do those change your interpretation at all of the subsurface and how you map lithium concentration since I think that well was drilled pretty near the center of the Reynolds unit?

我想我最近讀到豐田希望在本十年後期大規模生產固態電池。安迪，關於您 7 月報告的萊斯特井的鑽井結果，這些結果是否會改變您對地下所有情況的解釋以及您繪製鋰濃度圖的方式，因為我認為那口井是在雷諾茲單元中心附近鑽探的？

Yeah. I think really, Jeff, it showed that our previous assumptions were broadly conservative, which I think is a good place to be. It's allowed us to have additional confidence in the resource and the reserve. And the details of that are going to be coming out in the DFS later this quarter. I think we've been very -- I think, always very positively surprised by when we get into the subsurface in SWA area, particularly in the Reynolds unit.

是的。傑夫，我認為這確實表明我們之前的假設大體上是保守的，我認為這是一個很好的假設。這讓我們對資源和儲備更有信心。相關細節將於本季稍後在 DFS 中公佈。我認為，當我們進入西南地區地下，特別是雷諾茲單元時，我們總是感到非常驚訝。

We've just seen great-looking rock with good-looking lithium brine concentrations, which support a very robust project. I think we feel fortunate that we're in a region where we get great results back when we get into the subsurface and look harder at what we have. So I think it just continues to support our central thesis that we have a very good, robust Tier 1 asset to work from in this SWA project area.

我們剛剛看到了外觀漂亮的岩石，其中鋰鹵水濃度也很好，這為一個非常穩健的項目提供了支持。我認為我們很幸運，因為我們處於一個地區，當我們深入地下並更仔細地研究我們所擁有的東西時，我們獲得了很好的結果。因此，我認為這只是繼續支持我們的核心論點，即我們在這個 SWA 專案領域擁有非常好、強大的一級資產可供利用。

I know the DFS, you said will be published soon, but can you share any color on how cost estimates with the way you envision Phase 1 today compared to some of the numbers that were in the prior PFS a couple of years back?

我知道您說的 DFS 很快就會發布，但是您能否分享一下，與幾年前的 PFS 中的一些數字相比，您對第一階段的成本估算與今天的設想有何不同？

I think I can't provide detailed color right now, Jeff. We are -- at the moment, we are undergoing -- so all the FEED work, the design work is complete. We are undergoing a third-party review of all of the CapEx and OpEx numbers to make sure that they are robust, well worked through and fully QA/QC-ed prior to releasing them.

傑夫，我想我現在無法提供詳細的顏色。目前我們正在進行所有 FEED 工作和設計工作，目前所有工作都已完成。我們正在對所有資本支出和營運支出數字進行第三方審查，以確保它們在發布之前是穩健的、經過充分的設計和全面的品質保證/品質控制。

Obviously, the project looks different than we have previously released in the PFS. In the PFS, we were looking at a single phase of development. Since we published that PFS, we've looked at the resource. We found the resource to be better than we had previously assumed.

顯然，該項目與我們之前在 PFS 中發布的項目不同。在 PFS 中，我們關注的是單一開發階段。自從我們發布了 PFS 以來，我們一直在研究該資源。我們發現資源比我們之前預想的還要好。

And at the same time, we're looking to make a carbonate final product as opposed to hydroxide that we were looking at in the PFS. And then obviously, we're looking at it in two Phases as well. So some differences in how some of the estimates, et cetera, are built up. I think we've been -- in general, the CapEx and OpEx is aligning with our expectations given feelers that we put out in the market over the last year or so. So I think we're going to end up with last number the legacy.

同時，我們正在尋求製造碳酸鹽最終產品，而不是我們在 PFS 中研究的氫氧化物。顯然，我們也將其分為兩個階段來看待。因此，一些估計值的建立方式等存在一些差異。我認為，總體而言，根據我們在過去一年左右向市場推出的試探，資本支出和營運支出與我們的預期相符。所以我認為我們最終會以最後一個數字作為遺產。

Currently undergoing QA/QC by an external third party right now. We'll be able to get those numbers out in the public in the near term before the end of this quarter. I think we expect them to be competitive. We think this is going to be an attractive and competitive project.

目前正在接受外部第三方的 QA/QC。我們將能夠在本季結束前向公眾公佈這些數據。我認為我們期望他們具有競爭力。我們認為這將是一個有吸引力且有競爭力的項目。

Thanks. And lastly, Andy, with respect to East Texas, will you have any updates on sampling results? I think you all were working on in the second or third quarter before you put the maiden report out, or will all that information be contained in that report when you're ready to disclose it?

謝謝。最後，安迪，關於東德克薩斯州，您能提供一些關於採樣結果的最新消息嗎？我認為在發布首份報告之前，你們都在第二季或第三季開展工作，或者當你們準備揭露報告時，所有這些資訊都會包含在報告中嗎？

It's likely to be sequential, Jeff. So actually, we have sufficient (technical difficulty) to put the resource out. So that work is being wrapped up at the moment. And kind of as I mentioned earlier on, we expect that maiden resource statement to be out before the end of this quarter as well. So lots of important news coming for us.

這可能是連續的，傑夫。因此實際上，我們有足夠的（技術難度）來提供資源。目前這項工作已經接近尾聲。正如我之前提到的，我們預計首份資源聲明也將在本季末之前發布。我們將會收到很多重要的消息。

At the same time, we are going back in. We are going to be completing some additional re-entry, some resampling work on the wells that we previously drilled. And then we'll be able to kind of get some of those additional news out into the market, probably later on in this year in the fourth quarter, perhaps into the first quarter of '26.

與此同時，我們正在返回。我們將完成一些額外的重返大氣層工作，以及對我們之前鑽探的井進行一些重新採樣的工作。然後，我們就能將一些額外的消息發佈到市場上，可能是在今年第四季晚些時候，也許是在 2026 年第一季。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Nobel Parks, Tuohy Brothers.

諾貝爾·帕克斯、圖伊兄弟。

Hi, good afternoon, just had a couple. And I was wondering, as far as your discussions on offtake agreements, at this point, are they focusing more on structure of what an agreement would be? And -- or is pricing on the table also at this stage, just given so many dislocations we've had of pricing in the market in the last couple of years?

嗨，下午好，剛剛吃了幾頓。我想知道，就你們關於承購協議的討論而言，目前他們是否更關注協議的結構？或者說，鑑於過去幾年市場定價出現如此多的混亂，定價問題也在這個階段被討論了嗎？

Sure. Let me take that. We, from day one, have had a strategy to have a diverse portfolio made up of multiple offtakers. We are in discussions with multiple parties at this point in time. Some of those discussions more advanced than others.

當然。讓我來接手。從第一天起，我們就制定了由多個承購商組成的多元化投資組合的策略。目前我們正在與多方進行討論。其中一些討論比其他討論更為先進。

We are seeing that there remains plenty of demand for lithium and specifically lithium carbonate in the 2028, and beyond time frame. And I'd say that with certain parties, the focus of discussion is on structure. With other parties, the focus is on -- it is a back and forth with respect to price or pricing mechanisms. But we remain confident that we should be in a position to conclude our offtake discussions by the -- well, in the fourth quarter.

我們看到，2028 年及以後對鋰，特別是碳酸鋰的需求仍然很大。我想說，對於某些政黨來說，討論的重點是結構。與其他方相比，重點在於價格或定價機制方面的反覆。但我們仍然有信心，我們應該能夠在第四季完成我們的承購談判。

Great. And to sort of continue on the topic of the success you've found with your geologic modeling, both in Southwest Arkansas and East Texas. In -- over the months, you've had a series of announcements where you found record concentrations in both regions.

偉大的。繼續討論您在阿肯色州西南部和德克薩斯州東部透過地質建模所取得的成功。在過去的幾個月裡，你們已經發布了一系列公告，發現這兩個地區的濃度都達到了創紀錄的水平。

So just thinking about that, could you sort of characterize maybe what inning you're in, in your ability to sort of map out and pin down how to find the higher-grade brines? Is this -- are you just scratching the surface on that modeling? Or do you feel like you're pretty much there and you've got the core of what you're going to need in order to be able to identify locations out of what are some very large acreage positions you have?

所以想想看，您能否描述一下您所處的階段，以及您規劃和確定如何找到更高品味鹽水的能力？這是——你只是觸及了該建模的表面嗎？或者您覺得自己已經基本掌握了所需的核心知識，以便能夠從您擁有的一些非常大的面積位置中確定位置？

Andy, why don't you take that?

安迪，你為什麼不接受這個？

Yeah, sure. Yes. Thanks, Noel. I mean, when it comes to Southwest Arkansas, Noel really, the drilling work and the resource work has been about filling in our understanding within the project area. Obviously, we're looking to, frankly, fully exploit the resource position that we have.

是的，當然。是的。謝謝，諾埃爾。我的意思是，當談到西南阿肯色州時，諾埃爾實際上，鑽探工作和資源工作一直是為了填補我們對專案區域的理解。顯然，坦白說，我們希望充分利用我們擁有的資源地位。

Totally, we have approximately a little over 30,000 acres in our total project area. The first project area, the Reynolds unit, that's around 20,000 acres broadly. We'll be looking to maximize the lithium production from that unit area.

總的來說，我們的項目總面積約為 30,000 多英畝。第一個專案區是雷諾茲單元，佔地約 20,000 英畝。我們將尋求最大限度地提高單位面積的鋰產量。

So the work that we've been doing there is really about just refining the production model, et cetera. And so we expect broadly future production is going to interpolate between the data points that we've got and we'll be presenting in the DFS.

所以我們在那裡所做的工作實際上只是為了改進生產模式等等。因此，我們預計未來的生產將在我們獲得的數據點之間進行插值，並將在 DFS 中呈現。

When we think about sort of exploration and other areas in the Smackover Formation, we started working in East Texas over four years ago now, Noel, and really, we've got the areas that we know we like. It's a very large area, and there's plenty of room for ourselves and our competitors to play in that. We have our criteria for what we're looking for, what we think makes a lithium brine project work from the Smackover based on our experience.

當我們考慮在 Smackover 地層進行勘探和其他區域時，諾埃爾，我們四年前就開始在德克薩斯州東部開展工作，實際上，我們已經找到了我們喜歡的區域。這是一個非常大的領域，我們自己和我們的競爭對手都有足夠的空間來發揮。根據我們的經驗，我們有自己的標準來尋找鋰鹵水項目，我們認為什麼可以使鋰鹵水項目從 Smackover 開始發揮作用。

And so yeah, we've been focused leasing, working, drilling in the areas that we particularly like, and we're confident that we have good lithium grades in those areas. There are going to be other areas, Noel, where I'm sure some competitors will find some good-looking areas as well. But we've been focused on over the last several years, the good-looking areas for us, and that's really where our projects are focused on right now and we're looking to move those forward as quickly as we can.

是的，我們一直專注於我們特別喜歡的地區的租賃、工作和鑽探，我們相信這些地區的鋰品位很好。諾埃爾，還會有其他區域，我相信一些競爭對手也會發現一些好看的區域。但在過去幾年裡，我們一直專注於對我們來說好看的領域，這也是我們目前專案真正關注的重點，我們希望盡快推進這些專案。

And I think the maiden resource report coming out at the end of this quarter is going to be a useful positioning statement for us to show us just a small part of what we have. I think it should kind of reiterate that really it's just about one of the project areas that we have in East Texas. It's certainly not our entire position by any means.

我認為本季末發布的首份資源報告將為我們提供一個有用的定位聲明，向我們展示我們所擁有的一小部分資源。我認為應該重申，這實際上只是我們在東德克薩斯州的一個專案區域。無論如何，這肯定不是我們的全部立場。

So it's the first one of several in East Texas that we're working on. But we think it's going to be useful to have that out there in the public domain for people to understand kind of the scale of what we're looking at and also the very high quality of what we've secured in the region as well.

這是我們正在東德克薩斯州開展的幾個項目中的第一個。但我們認為，將其公開是有益的，這樣人們就能了解我們所關注的事物的規模，以及我們在該地區所獲得的高品質保障。

Great, thanks a lot.

太好了，非常感謝。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Katie Lachapelle, Canaccord Genuity.

謝謝。（操作員說明）Katie Lachapelle，Canaccord Genuity。

Hi guys, thanks for taking my question. In the past, you previously indicated that you were targeting debt financing in the range of somewhere between 60% and 80% of the total capital cost for SWA. Can you provide us with any update on how your latest discussions are tracking with potential debt providers and whether you're feeling more confident around being at the lower end or the upper end of that range?

大家好，感謝你們回答我的問題。您之前曾表示，您的債務融資目標將達到 SWA 總資本成本的 60% 至 80% 之間。您能否向我們提供有關您與潛在債務提供者的最新討論進展情況的任何最新消息，以及您是否對處於該範圍的下限或上限更有信心？

Thanks, Katie. Yeah, I'd say our discussions are well underway with export credit agencies. We have support from a few, and we're in further discussions with more. We believe the guidance we provided previously is still valid. We're also in the process of sounding the commercial banks that will fill out that structure. So we feel like the project finance initiative is well underway and advancing along the time line and the plan that we laid out previously.

謝謝，凱蒂。是的，我想說我們與出口信貸機構的討論正在順利進行中。我們得到了一些人的支持，並且正在與更多人進行進一步的討論。我們相信我們之前提供的指導仍然有效。我們也正在考察將填補該結構的商業銀行。因此，我們感覺到專案融資計劃進展順利，並按照我們之前製定的時間表和計劃推進。

Great. And then maybe just one follow-up. Are you expecting sort of the debt financing to come alongside the offtake? Or are you expecting some offtake announcements in advance of the debt financing or being a real trigger to unlocking that?

偉大的。然後也許只需要一個後續行動。您是否預期債務融資會與承購同時進行？或者您期待在債務融資之前發布一些承購公告，或者成為解鎖債務融資的真正觸發因素？

They will come on very tight -- we're working on both in parallel. The project financing will come in place on the back of the project financing, but we're advancing both in parallel and the project finance community is up to date on our discussions with the offtake community as well. So we're working multiple streams in parallel is the best way I can answer that.

它們會非常緊密地結合在一起——我們正在同時進行這兩項工作。專案融資將在專案融資的基礎上到位，但我們正在同時推進這兩項工作，專案融資界也會及時了解我們與承購界的討論情況。因此，我們可以並行處理多個流，這是我能回答這個問題的最佳方式。

Got it. Thanks guys.

知道了。謝謝大家。

Thank you. Daniel Magder, Raymond James.

謝謝。丹尼爾馬格德、雷蒙詹姆斯。

Hi afternoon, everyone, and thanks for taking my question. Just going back to the offtake and debt discussions and understanding you're comfortable with the Q4 time frame. Can you discuss how the recent -- or the recent market dynamics have affected those discussions? Obviously, the CATL announcement this week, a lot of positives. Just want to understand whether these are having an effect on the discussions you're having?

大家下午好，感謝您回答我的問題。回到承購和債務討論，並了解您對第四季度的時間框架感到滿意。您能否討論一下最近的市場動態對這些討論有何影響？顯然，CATL本週的公告有很多積極的消息。只是想了解這些是否會對您正在進行的討論產生影響？

Yeah. I'd say that's very recent news. These discussions have been going on for a long time. I think both our offtake counterparties and ourselves are very focused on where we think pricing will be in the long term. So trying not to overreact to short-term market dynamics. But obviously, having some positive news in the markets at this point in time is somewhat constructive from our perspective.

是的。我想說這是最新消息。這些討論已經持續很久了。我認為我們的承購對手方和我們自己都非常關注我們認為的長期定價。因此，盡量不要對短期市場動態反應過度。但顯然，從我們的角度來看，此時市場上出現一些正面的消息是具有一定建設性的。

Got it. Thanks for that.

知道了。謝謝。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Max Yerrill, BMO Capital Markets.

謝謝。（操作員指示）Max Yerrill，BMO 資本市場。

Hey guys, thanks for taking my question. Understanding that the fieldwork for Phase 1 is now complete. What incremental work will be required for the second phase? And how should we think about the timing of Phase 2 relative to Phase 1?

嘿夥計們，謝謝你們回答我的問題。了解到第一階段的實地工作現已完成。第二階段需要進行哪些增量工作？我們該如何看待第二階段相對於第一階段的時間安排？

Andy, why don't you take that?

安迪，你為什麼不接受這個？

Yeah, sure. Yeah, I mean, I think there will likely be some recommendations in the DFS, Max, to do a very small amount of additional resource definition in the northern half of the total resource area that we have to play with. So I suspect there will be some additional fieldwork. It's relatively minimal.

是的，當然。是的，我的意思是，我認為 DFS、Max 中可能會有一些建議，在我們必須使用的總資源區域的北半部進行少量額外的資源定義。所以我懷疑還會有一些額外的實地考察。它相對來說比較小。

That will happen, I would imagine, relatively soon in 2026, most likely, small kind of nonmaterial amounts of additional delineation needed outside of the Reynolds unit. Timing of Phase 2 of the SWA project, I think that's very much we're going to take a short sort of reassessment after we have finish the contracting work that's required to pick the various contractors to construct the plant after we've taken FID and then an evaluation.

我想，這將在 2026 年相對較早的時候發生，最有可能的是，雷諾茲單位之外需要少量非物質的額外描繪。關於 SWA 專案第二階段的時間安排，我認為我們將在完成必要的承包工作後進行一次簡短的重新評估，在進行 FID 和評估後，選擇建造工廠的各個承包商。

I think we're conceptually guiding, it's about a two-year delay from Phase 1 to Phase 2. But there's a lot of new information, a lot of new learnings to be gathered over the next four to five months, Max. So we're going to incorporate those into that decision-making process as well.

我認為我們在概念上是指導性的，從第一階段到第二階段大約有兩年的延遲。但是在接下來的四到五個月裡，還有很多新的資訊和新的知識需要收集，馬克斯。所以我們也會將這些納入決策過程。

Great, thank you. That's all from me. I'll turn it back to the queue.

太好了，謝謝。我要說的就這些。我會將其放回佇列。

Thank you. And I'm showing no further questions at this time. Ladies and gentlemen, this now concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。我現在沒有其他問題了。女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入。您現在可以斷開連線。