SSR Mining Inc (SSRM) 2013 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day everyone and welcome to Silver Standard's second quarter financial results and projects update conference call. This call is being recorded. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to John Smith, President and CEO. Sir, you may begin.

Thank you, Matt. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Silver Standard Second Quarter 2013 conference call, during which we will provide a review of our financial performance and give an update on our business. Joining me on the call this morning is Greg Martin, our CFO; Alan Pangbourne, Senior Vice President, Projects; and Carl Edmunds, our Chief Geologist. We welcome Carl to his first call. Also present is John DeCooman, Vice President, Business Development and Strategy.

Our financial statements and management's discussion and analysis have been filed on SEDAR. They are also available on our website. To accompany our comments today there is also an online webcast and you'll find the information on this in our news release relating to this call.

Now we will be making forward-looking statements today and I'd refer you to our disclosure accompanying our slides, news release, and also in SEDAR.

Mining is a cyclical business and given the state of the market and the price of silver, here at Silver Standard, we have taken significant steps to protect the value of our business. At our corporate office in Vancouver, we focused on cutting costs. We have eliminated over 25% of positions, including two executive positions, and we know this is difficult for our colleagues involved, but managing our cost is paramount in this part of the cycle.

When we released our first quarter results, we announced and outlined our restructuring program at Pirquitas, aimed at repositioning the mine for the future. This means cost reduction and throughput optimization to derive full value from all parts of our business, from mining to concentrate production. To emphasize the importance of this program, Andrew Sharp, our Vice President of Technical Services is currently Acting General Manager of Pirquitas, leading the changes with the mine management team. With good progress so far, the program is scheduled to continue into early 2014.

Fighting the headwinds of inflation and bureaucracy in Argentina is a significant challenge in pursuit of this objective. However, it is being done in a systematic manner, managed as a discrete program with individual actions on the same timelines. And we can see the promising initial signs of the change in our cost per ounce results and revision to the full year cash cost guidance.

We have achieved headcount reductions to date of 7% and are implementing a plan for additional reductions in full time contractors and employees. Third-party contract services are being reviewed for value and operational excellence is being pursued at the plant and the mine to drive efficiency and positively repositioning the mine on the industry cost curve, an imperative for the business.

Pirquitas, this year, is also going through a major mining transition to widen and deepen the pit, and yet, even with the variability of ore this causes, we still produced 1.9 million ounces of silver this quarter, which I'll come back to shortly.

We have reduced our exploration spend by $2.5 million by focusing only on Mexico for the second half of the year. With respect to capital spending, we looked at what we could do and what could be canceled or deferred. The focus here was on Pirquitas and corporate activity. Though we reduced some capital activities at Pirquitas, we also approved the change from contracted to owner operated mining fleet, which will lower our operating costs into the future. We're able to do this because of our strong balance sheet. And in addition, the re-phasing of Pitarrilla spend was reviewed. However, we need to deliver for the long term and when the cycle changes. Therefore, we will keep driving forward at both Pitarrilla and San Luis, and Alan will cover progress on these projects specifically.

The management team, with support and guidance of the Board, I can assure you that we will not fall short in taking actions that are necessary to preserve value and provide the Company the springboard for when the cycle changes, as I surely believe it will. Most of us have lived through such times before and are equipped with experience and understanding to steer the business correctly. Hibernation is not an option. The decisions and steps that we take now set us up for when the market rebounds.

Now on to operating results. Our management team at Pirquitas continues to focus on operational excellence, a task made more challenging this year with the variability in material coming from the mining transition. In the plant, the ball mill was shut down to change out the liner on May 9, impacting production for 4.5 days. As part of restructuring Pirquitas for the future, management is systematically working through all processes, from mining to concentrate and streamlining the management operating systems.

Notwithstanding these activities, we delivered 1.9 million ounces of silver, in line with our plan for the quarter. Mine operations moved 4.5 million tonnes of material, 6% greater than the first quarter. This improvement was achieved through more active use of truck dispatch and improved maintenance, increasing truck and excavator up-times.

This year, at Pirquitas, we have a higher than usual stripping expenditures due to the pit-based transitioning. We looked at the opportunities to re-phase expenditure, but cost and value are best served by driving through the transition. We have the balance sheet capacity to do thus, as in future the ore-to-waste strip ratio considerably improves.

Milling rates were down in the second quarter by 7.8%, reflecting the reline shut down, but also deliberate changes to process. In that respect, the pressured rigs were also our focus for the quarter. Now we ran the jig plant consistently at the design rates and uptime, which helped lift the ore grade into the mill to 216 grams per tonne, as can be seen in the operational results.

Focus in the third quarter switches to the flotation circuits and concentrate production. Now speaking of flotation, as a function of mining domains and depth, the zinc levels within the ore mined are considerably higher, coming mostly from the Potosi area of the pit. This causes high throughput in the zinc circuit. And our budget includes the capital to deal with the surge, but through redesign and operating practices the team have been able to succeed without spending this capital.

Silver recovery is less in the second quarter at an average of 74.8%, down from the first quarter, due to managing the ore variability and the higher zinc head grade. The averaging of recovery percentages over the quarter mask the fact that in May and June we achieved improvements in this area. Also, as we push through into second half of the year, into the sulphides of the pits, the variability of feed to the plant will reduce, thereby improving silver recovery. The progress of the transition into the sulphides is in large part the reason why production is back-end loaded this year for Pirquitas.

So, all in all, a solid production quarter, positive operational performance, particularly considering the mine transition, the cost repositioning and the current challenges of operating in Argentina.

So, now I'll hand over to Alan who will provide insights on our projects.

Thank you, John. In the second quarter, we continued to advance the Pitarrilla project by focusing on the key elements that require more definition prior to a construction decision. We've continued working on acquiring the remaining parcels of surface land we require, either through negotiations or via the legal process available to us under Mexican law, and this is progressing to plan. The permitting process is underway and the last of the required documentation for the Environmental Impact Statement was submitted during the second quarter. The EIS is now under review by the Mexican authorities and we expect to obtain an approval by the end of the year.

During the quarter, whilst assembling the project team, we also commenced a formal bidding process for the EPCM services, with bids being received in July. These bids are now being evaluated and once awarded, we will start the value engineering and then the basic engineering phase.

At site, work continued on upgrading the access roads and defining the water and power supplies. We also held discussions with various equipment and service providers.

With respect to financing, we continue to define options and have now appointed financial advisors to assist us with the process. All of these activities aim to allow the Company to obtain a better project definition in order to take the appropriate decision regarding construction.

Moving to our San Luis project in Peru, during the second quarter, we continued to negotiate with the Ecash community and have presented our proposal at several community meetings with the assistance of the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines. The process continues to move forward with minor agreements reached with the Ecash community on access to the community land for study and baseline work.

I'll now hand over to Carl, who will take you through our exploration activities in the second quarter.

Thank you, Alan. Continuing with the update on our San Luis property, during the second quarter, we completed the drilling campaign at the BP Zone where previous exploration programs had defined a porphyry copper exploration target. On this well-defined target, we completed two 700 meter drillholes to their planned depths. While the nature of the hydrothermal alteration and mineralization that was encountered by these drillholes is fairly typical of porphyry copper deposits. The metal grades intersected are not sufficient to merit further exploration, given the current market environment.

A positive development at San Luis in the second quarter was the signing of our second land access agreement with the community of Cochabamba, which increases the area available for exploration by three-fold. This agreement comes into effect in December and represents a five-year extension to our current access agreement with the community. Importantly, the new agreement enables us to explore an epithermal gold target that we have identified about 7 kilometers southwest of the Ayelen high-grade gold and silver deposits. Known as the [Benita Zone], this target is expected to be drilled in 2014 once government permits have been obtained. The Benita Zone is a vein target, similar to the Ayelen Vein, where anomalous gold-silver analytical results have been returned from chip samples collected over a 600-meter strike length.

During the quarter, we also advanced our brownfields expiration at Pirquitas. We completed the 2013 drill program, which totaled 7,000 meters in 17 drillholes. This campaign, followed up on last year's definition of the Cortaderas silver-zinc deposit, testing geophysical and geological targets identified east and south of the open pit and a new target called [Banuni], northwest of the Cortaderas Resources. Partial results from our core sampling suggests that only the mineralization intersected at the [Banuni] target holds economic potential for us, if the results of the Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Cortaderas resources proves positive. This PEA is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of this year.

In Mexico, we completed geochemical and geophysical surveys on the San Luis del Cordero property in Central Durango state, where we have an option agreement to acquire a 51% interest in the property. The results of these surveys have enhanced the definition of the silver targets that we intend to diamond-drill with a minimum of 4,000 meters planned for this year. We have submitted our work permit application to the relevant government agency and anticipate receiving the permit by the end of the third quarter with drilling to commence soon thereafter.

In the silver mining district of Parral in Southern Chihuahua State, we are following a strategic plan to define economic silver resources on the extensive mineral properties we hold in the district. We are presently preparing a work permit application for a drilling campaign designed to define silver resources along the Veta Colorada Vein in Parral. Given current economic conditions, we recognize that exploration expenditures need to be reduced and we are seeing to this. In addition, we continue shifting funds to more advanced projects that possess the greatest likelihood of being turned into significant precious metal producers.

Now over to you, Greg.

Thanks, Carl. The second quarter brought an unprecedented period of volatility to the precious metal sector and that volatility came in a number of forms, but principally a significant fall in the price of silver, which further eroded valuations, reduced liquidity and impacted producing companies.

As John outlined, we started down a path of cost rationalization at Pirquitas and at corporate earlier this year before the price drop accelerated. And the results of these programs did not make a material impact in the second quarter, as the time to implement substantive change is longer than that which could realistically impact the quarter.

The progress in these programs, though, is clearly evident in our reduction to cash cost guidance and we continue to believe additional cost savings and performance improvement opportunities are available at the mine and the team is pursuing them aggressively.

Silver Standard's results were significantly impacted by the drop in metal prices, through both our operating results and the impairment charges recorded in the second quarter. I'll talk to the operating results first and then address the impairment charges.

Operationally, the quarter was on plan, with all, but our revenue consistent with expectations. Sales of 2.2 million ounces of silver exceeded production and resulted in revenues of $32.7 million, a 23% decrease from the comparative period of 2012, as the decline in silver prices more than offset an approximate 350,000 ounce, or 19% increase in sales.

We recognized an $8.9 million revaluation on our accounts receivable at quarter end, based off of a closing silver price of $18.86 per ounce, which reduced reported revenues. If silver price rebounds, we will regain some of that value in the third quarter.

Silver prices during the quarter averaged $23.11 per ounce, 23% lower than the $30.07 per ounce averaged in the first quarter and 21% lower than the $29.42 per ounce averaged in the comparative period. With sales marginally higher than production, finished concentrate inventory at the end of the quarter totaled 1.8 million ounces of silver with a book value of $30.1 million.

Loss from mine operations was $18.9 million in the second quarter, compared to income from mine operations of $8.2 million in the second quarter of 2012, reflecting both the decline in silver prices and the recognition of a $12.2 million write-down to ore stockpiles. Cost of sales, adjusted for this impairment, would total $39.4 million.

G&A and exploration and evaluation expenditures continued to trend lower than the comparative period. Net loss for the second quarter of 2013 included non-cash impairment charges and write-downs of $221.7 million pretax and $214.4 million after-tax, was $235.9 million compared to net income of $35 million in the second quarter of 2012.

During the quarter, we determined we no longer have significant influence over Pretium and have changed our accounting treatment accordingly. Our interest in Pretium will no longer be equity-accounted, but treated as a marketable security and recorded at fair value at each reporting date. As a result of this change, we recognized a gain on this investment of $22 million in the quarter, as the fair value on the derecognition date exceeded our carrying value.

In the second quarter results, we booked pretax non-cash impairment charges of $202.4 million, principally related to the Pirquitas Mine in Argentina. The impairment charges were largely driven by the reduction in consensus forecast silver prices impacting future modeled cash flows over the current life of mine plan.

While we believe the disconnect between inflation and exchange rates is not sustainable, our assumptions reflect the current state of operating conditions in Argentina, while we continue to focus on value enhancement at the mine. These items, to some extent, overshadowed the cost performance of the Pirquitas Mine. Silver cash costs were $13.03 per payable ounce in the second quarter, well below our guidance levels, 4% lower than the first quarter and 21% lower than the comparative period.

2013 is a year of important investment in Pirquitas, with a stage 4 tailings lift and stripping through the pit transition. So we recognize the operating cash flow is not where it needs to be, but driving down cash cost is an important step for the long term. The performance and trend in cash costs has given us confidence to improve our guidance for the year, which I'll talk to in a few moments.

Investments at Pirquitas totaled $18.6 million in the quarter for stripping and capital activities. Delays in VAT recovery impacted investing activities as well. So while we generated $2.3 million of cash from operating activities, the investments during the quarter resulted in a net decline in consolidated cash of $26 million.

An area we continue to highlight is our liquidity position, which remains very strong with an ending cash balance of $436 million. Our working capital position increased substantially to $630 million from $351 million at year end, an 80% increase due to the reclassification of our Pretium position and refinancing of our convertible notes. This working capital position gives us great capacity to remain strategically driven and opportunistic during this period of volatility.

Based on completion of our forecast for the second half of the year, combined with our year-to-date results, we announced positive changes to our annual guidance. We are now expecting silver production to range between 8.3 million and 8.5 million ounces, reflecting the expected stronger production levels in the second half of the year. Cash cost guidance has been reduced materially to between $14 and $15 per payable ounce of silver from our previous guidance of between $17 and $18.50 per payable ounce.

Capital investment and deferred stripping guidance to Pirquitas increased marginally, largely due to a high return investment to replace a portion of the mine fleet that had been contracted with owned equipment to lower operating costs. Projected 2013 development spending remains per our original guidance at $17 million, and we have planned a reduction in exploration expenditures to $12.5 million for the full year.

Subsequent to quarter end, we reduced head office staff by approximately 25% and certain regional office positions. We expect to record one-time restructuring charges totaling approximately $2.5 million in the third quarter due to these changes. So we're taking the steps necessary to preserve our strong capital position, reposition Pirquitas and drive forward on the strategy. The decline in silver prices has impacted the industry and we were not immune to those effects. But even in this lower silver price environment, the stronger expected second-half operating performance at Pirquitas positions us well for better financial results during the remainder of the year.

I'll now turn the call back to John for his concluding remarks.

Thanks, Greg. So ladies and gentlemen, at Silver Standard, we continue to manage and build our Company for the future. In the short term, we have cut costs whilst not impacting the real value and timelines of development.

We have specifically reduced staff by over 25% at our corporate head office. We have reduced the workforce at Pirquitas by 7% to date. And through our cost restructuring program, we'll reposition the mine and future reductions will be made. We have reduced our exploration spend by $2.5 million by focusing on Mexico and we have kept our growth plan by proceeding strongly at Pitarrilla.

Overall, our focus for 2013 remains on driving cost reductions, maintaining a strong balance sheet and delivering predictable performance at Pirquitas. We'll also make sure we move the Pitarrilla project forward to construction and continue to create value from an exploration and asset portfolio.

Now we are proactive in managing cost through planned programs, thus allowing us to lock in sustainable change. We recognize the need for prudency in these times and no area is spared from review and challenge. However, it is not doom and gloom. It's a time in the cycle to set us up to harvest value when prices improve and we'll do this right. Pitarrilla pushes ahead, and there's never a better time to build than when others are shelving projects. And build or buy with the cash and liquidity that we have, we are in a unique position in an industry, and we will exploit this for our shareholders.

So thank you for dialing in and we'll now take any questions that you may have.

(Operator Instructions) Jorge Beristain, Deutsche Bank.

Good morning, John and team. Jorge with Deutsche Bank. I guess my question, a few of them, just on Page 4 of your PowerPoint presentation for the quarter, as you're talking about the sort of projects that you have in your pipeline, what is the difference in size of Pitarrilla relative to Pirquitas supposed to represent? Is that the CapEx that you're trying to dimension?

Sorry, this is Slide 4 in the presentation?

Slide 4, yes.

I'm not sure what you're getting at there, Jorge.

Well I'm just asking if -- I would have assumed that you would be sizing the -- those circles relative to the production that that represents, trying to compare (multiple speakers) are you actually sizing it relative to CapEx?

Sorry, that's a corporate presentation you're talking about not today's presentation.

Yes, the PowerPoint that you have online.

We [set its size] based on resource just now. That's (multiple speakers).

Oh, resources.

Yes.

Got it. Just trying to get an idea what you're trying to communicate there. And in terms of the outlook for Pitarrilla, could you give us an idea of what you're thinking in terms of where you are along the path of how you're going to fund that project? We've talked a few times about potentially bringing in a partner. If you could just talk about where you are there?

And also, CapEx trends in the sector seem to be completely rolling over and do you think that there could be some downside to the latest CapEx number that you quoted at $741 million, based on latest trends in the market?

Jorge, it's Johnny. I'll speak first to the point around the financing in the joint venture partner. And then I'll turn it over to Alan to talk about some of the capital side, okay? We're still in the early days, but as we had indicated, we have identified and nominated a financial advisor. Market conditions are still such that the outlook for the underlying base metals and silver are positive. So it's still early days. But we're looking to try and fund from the existing balance sheet as much as possible to be conscientious of our -- of any equity issuance. I'd seen earlier that you had expressed some concern there. Alan?

Yeah. Good morning, Jorge. Regarding the capital cost, you're right, we are seeing the markets soften. We're certainly seeing delivery timelines come in. We expect that to slowly flow through to pricing on equipment. As far as downside on the capital cost, we really need to do the value engineering exercise and go back out to the market when we get into basic engineering to get up-to-date pricing. But certainly deliveries are improving. And that will help costs. And I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing some softness in equipment pricing. And then there's also the potential with all the projects that are being delayed of slightly unused second-hand equipment that's sitting on wharves, and we're looking at those opportunities as well.

Okay. But right now, you don't have sort of a ballpark of maybe 5% or 10% kind of deflation we might see on that CapEx number? It's just too preliminary?

It's too soon at the moment, Jorge.

Okay. And so just to circle back on what Johnny had said, you are still proceeding under the assumption that you will bring in a partner potentially, correct?

Well, we're looking at that in parallel with other financing structures at this point in time. So what we want to do is make sure that we have, if you want to say, a competitive process for how we might find the full capital that would be required to develop the asset.

Okay, thanks very much.

Thanks, Jorge.

Brian Yu, Citi.

Great. Thanks, guys. My first one is actually a follow-up on Jorge's, just what's the CapEx at Pitarrilla. You said that you have received some bids in July. From there, is there any way to, in effect, glean if there is some potential savings versus what you guys thought going into it?

Sure. The bids we received were only for the EPCM services, which typically represents 10% to 15%. We've only recently started evaluating those. But they are probably slightly lower than we might have expected. There was certainly interest from parties that a year or two ago wouldn't have been interested in this work. So that reflects how the market is tightening. And we have still got to go through and negotiate final rates with the contractors. So there is potential for softening. But as I said to Jorge, it's too early at the moment to start re-basing the capital.

Okay, got it. It makes sense. And then my second question is, just with the cash costs that were reported in the quarter, it looks like you guys had gone and restated the way it was presented. So in the first quarter, under the new presentation, I think costs were down about $1 per ounce. And so, if we look at the revised cash cost guidance of $14 to $15 versus what you guys had guided last quarter, $17 to $18.50, is that a comparable number, like you're actually expecting $2.50 or $3 in savings, or is it actually a little bit less than that?

Greg?

Yeah. Thanks, Brian. No, that is a comparable. We did change the way we presented cash cost, but we did that prior to the end of 2012 and had integrated that into our original cash cost guidance of $17 to $18.50, so this is a very comparative approach. The principal areas that are driving down that guidance, the first one is obviously, quite positive performance through the first half of the year, as you've seen in quarter one and quarter or two, where we've outperformed that guidance level. Going forward, probably about 2/3 of that reduction is due to improved operating cost performance at Pirquitas relative to what our original expectations were. And about 1/3 of it is due to the lower silver price. Because of the lower silver price, it impacts on some of our TCRC cost through low-price participation and other elements.

So it's very much a comparative number and does represent a real decline in our expectations around our cash cost for the balance of the year.

Got it. Okay, thank you.

Thanks, Brian.

(Operator Instructions) Chris Lichtenheldt, DD Capital Markets.

Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. So first I just wanted to ask, you talked a little bit about what's driving your cash cost guidance down. Can you be a little more specific, at the site, what -- where you're seeing improvements? Is this lower mining cost or is this in the plant primarily you're able to squeeze out some savings there?

Good morning, Chris. As I said, no area is spared. There's a quite detailed program that Andrew and his team have put together in terms of working through the cost. And he's done it systematically by going through from the mining right the way through to the end concentrate. And they've been working through -- trying to basically work on all optimization and efficiency through that. They've also done a lot of work around the contracts that we have and looked at where we can get value from the existing contracts. So there's a lot of value coming from contract renegotiation, there's value coming from optimization of systems, and the third one is looking at right people in the right roles in the right place. And those three areas are really driving the bulk of the program that we're going to see through this part of the year and also ride the way through into the first quarter next making the change.

Okay. Secondly, just wanted to ask on Pitarrilla. Has there been any contemplation of revising the scope of the project given the price environment? I mean, I guess if we go back to some older studies, it was originally looking at just the Breccia Ridge Zone, and I believe that was higher-grade. Are there any considerations being made with respect to changes like that?

Well, where we are just now, Chris, is -- the issue today is the price of today of silver. And we know we're in a cyclical business. But really, where we're looking at is our production coming out three years from here. And really it's where is the price going to be there and our views on that. From a point of view of making sure that we optimize the right design and the right build for Pitarrilla, Alan's team are really looking at the value engineering, where can we take the design, where are the changes that we can make that drive value, either reducing costs on the CapEx or OpEx. So we are looking that. I think you're talking about -- before we were looking at sort of underground development and so forth. Just now, every time we look at that, it doesn't make sense for us to do that. So we really are concentrating at optimizing our open pit design for Pitarrilla.

Okay, that's great. That's it for me. Thanks.

Thanks, Chris.

Andrew Kaip, BMO.

Hi, John. Look, I just -- I've noticed that in the financials, the accrual of the royalty to the Argentinian government continues to grow. I think you added another $3.6 million, and the total that you're booking now is around $41 million. Can you provide us any update on progress on litigation in that regard?

Andrew, good morning. Greg will give you the best answer on that one.

Yeah. So Andrew, on that, as you know, we continue to accrue that in full, but we are not paying that to the government because of the injunction that's in place. We continue to, again, be effectively successful on all of the appeals that are being brought by the Argentine government. So there was a minor appeal on the $6 million that we had originally remitted a number of years ago. They had appealed that through this quarter. We are again successful on that appeal. I think that's the third appeal that we've been successful on through the last period that I've been with the Company. The key case around the general export tax, there has been no progress on that. It remains pending in front of the courts and we have received no notification that it's advanced in any way.

Okay. Thanks very much.

And at this time, I'm showing no further questions from the audience. I'd like to turn it back over to Mr. Smith.

Thank you, Matt. And thank you, everybody, for participating. And we look forward to keeping you updated. Have a good day.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This concludes the program. You may now disconnect. Good day.