Centamin (CEY) — Q4 2022 - Investor Presentation

0:01 Good afternoon, and welcome to the CENTAMIN PLC Q4 twenty '22 Investor Presentation. Throughout this recorded presentation, investors will be in listen only mode. Questions are encouraged and can be submitted anytime by the Q and A tab situated in the right hand corner of your screen. Just simply type in your questions and press send. The company may not be in a position to answer every question received in the meeting itself. However, the company will review all questions submitted today and publish responses where it is appropriate to do so. Before we begin, I'd like take the following poll. I'd now like to hand you over to Martin Hawken, CEO. Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon, and and thank you, and good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for taking the time to dial into this afternoon's this retail present... Retail investor presentation. Thank you for submitting those questions. We've got a lot, which is great.

0:47 We had prepared some slides, which are on the screen as you can see now. But given the volume of questions that we have and given them the sort of time that we have, that I think rather than sort of do a a a slide deck page turn, which I'm sure everyone's pretty familiar with the story, haven't seen the various presentation given previously. What we thought we'd do as a slide change is that we would give a, I'll give a quick final overview of the... Of twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, and then get straight into questions. And I think that's probably a better use of time for everybody because I think there's lots of questions and and I think that would give us a chance to answer as many of those as fulsomely as we can. So really, we start then looking back to to 2022. Those of you that may have dialed into our webcast this morning, look, I think it was a great year. I think, you know, we had sort of two... Well, three strategic sort of goals in mind. Firstly and foremost, you know, delivering to guidance both in terms of ounce and costs.

1:45 And I'd like to say that, you know, first and foremost, we did that safely. You know, we managed to set a site record of eight million hours LTI free. And as I mentioned this morning, I also believe that a that a safe site is a proxy of being a good site, a well managed site. So delighted with that. And they've met the ounce guidance at four thirty to four sixty. We came in at $44.01 towards the middle of the range there. I'm delighted with that progress and especially in the context of the swap out of contractor in the underground mining to owner mining, the accelerated waste stripping program as well. So delighted that we're able to sort of meet that guidance range despite the sort of, you know, the the the challenges and the opportunities we faced in the year. I think from a cost perspective, I think Ross and the team did some very prudent budgeting for the year. I'm delighted to say that we're one of the few countries... Companies that didn't have to reguide during the year in terms of our cost forecast.

2:40 And despite those inflationary headwinds and global sort of pressures across the industry is that we're able to both bring in both cash cost and all in sustaining cost as well. So so delighted with the delivery both on ounces and costs. From a project basis, again, a really busy year. Lots of those key strategies and initiatives dropping during the year. I think, know, the fourth quarter as we talked to some real highlights coming through there. The commissioning of the solar plants, you know, big benefits both in terms of cost savings, but also carbon emissions. And I think that's been a huge success. Looking... Staying at Sukari, further resource reserve growth, you know, we we put a lot of focus on geology back in 2020 when I joined. I'm delighted to say a second year of reserve growth even including depletion. So net of depletion now, we've added nearly 2,000,000 ounces to the reserve base over two years. And I think that's fantastic to see. And of course, a large portion of that reserve we have created in the underground that allowed us to give us the confidence to step away from underground contract mining as we flagged earlier, but also underpins our belief in the ability to expand the underground.

3:48 And of course, in the fourth quarter last year, we demonstrated that work that shows a low capital, low technical risk implementation basis to expand the underground by up to 30% of volume moved. And those ounces will play a key part in returning Sukari back towards that 500,000 ounce target that we would like to see on sustainable long term basis of the balance of the mine life as well. In terms of other opportunities there, we're looking at for both costs and production. This year, we're looking at things like the gravity circuit, expansion of dump leach to improve ounce production and of course, looking to manage costs further by things such as the grid connection as well. So so I think 2022 was a great year, and there's some really good momentum into 2023.

4:35 I think the team's doing some excellent work. And as we look at that, that's given us the confidence to increase guidance again for this year, targeting two fifty sorry, 450,000 to 480,000 ounces with a conventional step up in production predicated on the underground sort of operation, hitting those productivity targets that we believe are achievable. We're actually achieving them now over December and January, and that allows to get that additional ounces out and bring us back towards that sort of four fifty to four eighty guidance range. I think then stepping away from Sukari, we look at the Eastern Desert exploration program. You know, we commenced that work during 2022. Delighted with the works that's gone there. We've done quite a bit of desktop work prior to to field work starting. Delighted with the early stage work that's going on there. The guys around the field are very busy, clearly focusing initially on the areas proximal to Sukari, trying to find drill targets that could become satellite feed. And also looking at the Unruhs block, which is slightly further north for some of opportunities. We'll move to the third block nudge this year with the cooler weather. But what we're really hoping to do, of course, is work up some drill targets and start looking at drill testing those this year and try to fast track that process as well. Pivoting to West Africa, Doropo, great progress.

5:52 Again, in q four announcing that resource update and upgrade to my opinion, you know, so the infill drilling was was hugely successful. Confirmed, you know, the ounce profile into the ounces in the resource base, but nicely with a nice sort of 20% uplifting grade as well and grade is key in all of these operations around sort of generating cash flows. Identify those opportunities to reduce both OpEx and CapEx through changing the process flow sheet. And then while that's caused a little bit of delay to the PFS delivery, we think the opportunities that that could derive are well worth a delay both in terms of CapEx, OpEx savings as I mentioned. So we remain on track to deliver that PFS first half of this year and then stepping into DFS with the delivery dates of first half of next year, which is inside the permitting timeline that we have in place at this stage as well.

6:41 Corporately, I did touch on the Eastern Desert exploration field work. In parallel, we've been busy in Cairo dealing with the ministry as part of an industry group looking to finalize terms in Egypt for the long term exploitation regulatory reg... Regime. Very close to finalizing that now. Those that may have picked up that the Ministry of Petroleum, his excellency, Talek Almollah, mentioned at the recent future minerals conference in Saudi Riyadh that he believed that we'd be in a position to announce terms by Indaba, which is in February of this year as well. So so getting ever closer and hopefully looking to close those out. And, of course, the final thing then was the signing of our inaugural $150,000,000 RCF debt facility. We inked just before Christmas, and that gives us a lot more financial flexibility and robustness as we look to deliver both growth while maintaining a dividend policy for the business as well. And I think that gives us a lot more sort of, you know, financial robustness and and flexibility as we step into 2023 and beyond. You know, slight subtext to that is as well as that the bank lenders are incredibly detailed in their diligence. And I think one of the things that, you know, with with four leading international banks that are very experienced in mind lending, that they were sufficiently, comfortable with our plans and due diligence that we're able to lend against our mine plans as well. So I think that's great to see that external validation of the work we've been doing over the last two to three years, and so much so that four banks are prepared to lend against those plans as well. So I think that's, that was a great piece of work for us as well. So look, delighted with with 2022.

8:11 I think the team in place that we've been sort of building up and refining over the last two to three years, I think we've got a great team right across our operations from Sukari to exploration to West Africa. I think the corporate team's in a great position right now, and I think we've built a fantastic foundation now with the the focus on delivery that now we can look to sort of, you know, develop the business from here. And I'm very much looking forward to 2023 with a sense of excitement and momentum as we build from there. So maybe as a... I'll I'll hold it there, Alex. I think that's, you know, reasonable overview of where we are. I think it'd be great to now try and maximize the time we have for the for the, you know, for for the retail investor questions to make sure that we cover as many of those as possible. So with that, Alex, I'll I'll hand back and myself and Ross are ready and available to to answer all any questions that that people have as best we can.

9:02 Great. Thank you for that for that overview. Actually, I'm going to start with one that just came through on the real time platform just because it's a good segue from what you were just talking about. So it's a little bit long, so bear with me. But you mentioned on this morning's call that the Sukari asset at the end of life transfers to the Egyptian state. Please, could you elaborate on how this works? And does this apply to the new concessions, or do the new laws change the way that that whole structure works? And then really, you know, their conclusion, if it's if it's what they think is should should that... Does that mean that CEKARE should be looked at completely separately from other CENTAMIN assets? Okay. So so the way the concession agreement works is that is that sort of, you know, SGM, the operated CEKARE gold mine, the operating entity in Egypt, that is the thing that we jointly own and operate with the government through EMRA.

9:57 In terms of the cash flow sharing mechanism, I think that's well understood. But in terms of capital projects, the deal has been and always has been this way, the concession agreement. The sentiment is responsible for for paying for those or funding those capital investment projects, but then importantly, fully cost recovering any expenditures. So so let's use a recent example, the the solar plant. So that was about a $36,000,000 investment for CENTAMIN, effectively, to do that. However, of that $36,000,000, we will recover $36,000,000 on a three year basis. So we get $12,000,000 a year back. So it's all that capital that we've got to put in, we get back fully over time on a three year repayment basis.

10:45 That asset then effectively belongs to SGM. We've cost recovered it. It belongs to SGM. SGM has the right to use those assets for as long as they are serviceable, as long as it desires to do so. And at the end of the of the asset life, so that could be during the operating phase that a a truck is just basically sort of, you know, used up and no longer... Is now scrapped, or at the end of the mine closure at that point is that all assets then effectively are transferred to the state. So, you know, one might look at, you know, like, some underground equipment more recently, you know, as it's reached the end of it or or a tow to Hilux. You know, we buy that. The mine uses it until it effectively sort of breaks and falls over and can no longer be repaired, and then that scrap value is handed over to to the to EMRA. So that's the way to to to think about that. Ross, I mean, pretty much in a nutshell without getting into the the sort of, you know, the minutiae, that is the deal that we have with EMRA. That has worked incredibly well over the last over the last sort of, you know, ten, twelve years of operations.

11:46 And that's how it works. So that's the current concession agreement, Ross, in terms of the construct between ourselves and Enbrel. Absolutely, Martin. And, yeah, it's it's a cost recovery profit share arrangement. And those amounts that are financed are cost recovered, some over the three year period, as you mentioned, in terms of capital. Other costs are recovered in the period that they incurred. But you're absolutely right. Cost recovery and then a profit share, and that profit share is split equal fifty fifty going forward. So so that's how it works in the concession agreement. And I would be fair to say that under the new regulatory regime as part of the new the new license blocks that have been awarded, that that that that concession agreement style doesn't apply. So so, you know, the the new blocks, you know, obviously, they're not in partnership with EMRA. It's not in partnership with the government.

12:38 The government has an economic interest through royalty and net profit interest and taxation, but that would... You know, that that is more aligned with other mining jurisdictions as well. So so I think that kind of asset acquisition, cost recovery, and and asset allocation after usual life back to government, That is a a peculiarity of the Sukari concession agreement. It's worked very well and continues to work well, but the new blocks there, that won't be applied to. Okay. Thank you very much. So a couple of questions that came in around the, the contract waste stripping... Sorry, the waste stripping contract with capital at Sukari. Starting with with the first one, how much has it cost to shareholders to date? How much does it cost to shareholders to date? So in in in... Well, cost or or how much have we spent on waste stripping with capital? Is that a is that a better way to to think about that in terms of the in in terms of the cost there? Well, look, I I think to date, if I... Ross, correct me if I'm wrong, that is about a $115,000,000 have been spent to December 22 in terms of the the capital waste mining contract. Is that right, isn't it, Ross? That's right. So the contract waste stripping that we've actually capitalized is that 100 and 115.

13:55 And today, we've got another 78 as you'll see in the RNS announcement that we plan to spend for '23. But to date, it's $1.15. That's capitalized. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. And, I mean, I don't know whether you want to take the opportunity to take take it further as to what that actually, you know, what's the objective of that for the company? The waste stripping? Yep. So so look, as we know, that that sort of, you know, the the waste stripping completed by the company over the period twenty seventeen to twenty nineteen was below the the life of mine strip ratio, which which was evidenced in the 2015 life of mine plan that was in a forty three one zero one. So so, you know, the the the company ran at about about sort of three to three and a half to one strip ratio when the life of mine plan called for a consistent strip ratio of about six and a half to one. So so clearly, you know, over that extended period that, you know, there was a deficit in waste moving, which, you know, in terms of compliance to a long term plan for a large open pit like Sukari that you've gotta do. So so really, you know, the the purpose of the capital contract is to effectively catch up that that deficit in in waste mining that took place over seventeen to nineteen and effectively return the open pit to be in compliance with its long run average life of mine strip ratio. So, you know, I've used this analogy before. It's a bit like a cricket one day match. If you need to score six runs and over to win the match and

15:25 you scored at three runs and over, you need a few overs at nine runs and over to basically get yourself back on the target run of six runs and over. So so it... It's broadly similar to that concept. So so really, you know, that that capital sort of contract, that waste stripping that we're doing, it's about catching up that deficit and returning the the life of mine plan to be in in in line with this on an ongoing basis with its average strip ratio as we balance over the next decade as we mine out the balance of the open pit as well. So it's a bit of catch up. We'll probably get a little bit past catch up and go slightly ahead as that gives us some operational flexibility down the line. But really, it's about sort of catching up that deficit for about a three, three and a half year window where the mine open pit was effectively ran, below what it should have done in terms of the average strip ratio. Great. And just for clarity, when do you expect that that contracted waste stripping program to be completed?

16:16 So at the moment, it's a fixed volume contract. So we gave when we tendered the contract, we developed a detailed sort of a a plan of waste movement that was required to be moved, including whole whole profiles and waste of profiles for that as well. So so it's a fixed volume. Part of the tender process was to demonstrate how they could do that and the time frame of which where they would do it and and the types of equipment that the various contractors would propose to use. So so we actually tended that on a fixed volume basis. All the contractors that put their bids forward were all within about three or four months of each other, you know, using standardized equipment, standardized digging rates with, you know, a defined whole routes and profiles is that, as you'd expect, competent contractors would all be about the same. So so we've got a fixed volume basis, and that was a balance just over a three three three and a half year, three to three and a half year program to get that volume moved effectively.

17:12 So as we sit here today, we're just over sort of two years into that overall profile, and we've got about sort of eighteen, you know, fifteen to eighteen months to go, and then the capital contract at current mining rates then will come to an end. You. As such... And next, I'm sorry to jump in and Martin, apologies. Those numbers in terms of capitalization of the 115, there was actually additional startup costs and things. So there's a higher number. It's closer to that 140 odd million in section to date. Thank you for clarifying that. Yeah. And then and then... Yeah. A question that has been raised a couple of times was, has Capital or Jamie Boynton ever paid CENTAMIN a finder's fee or equivalent payment in connection with this...

18:03 Oh, the the award of this contract? Contract? Oh god. No. Absolutely not. No. No. No. No. Look. In terms of the process, it's a process I've used previously at Toro, for example. So so, you know, whether it's the underground contract going the Oda mining, whether it's this waste contract now, whether it's the the the grid line that we're looking to do is that that, you know, under the terms of concession agreement, we are required, and it's the right... You know, from the concession agreement, but also it's good practice from an industry perspective to, you know, to go to tender. So to be very clear with this waste mining contract, and it was similar to the underground decision as well, is that, you know, we developed a very, very detailed RFP of volumes, you know, bench by bench volumes with associated whole profiles to waste dumps as well. So we've developed a very detailed physical schedule.

18:53 We then develop a a set of standard terms and conditions that we believe are appropriate for this style of contract. And then that document is sent to a a number of parties that have preregistered interest to get involved with the the waste mining contract and and the similar situation in the underground. That RFP, that request for proposal was developed in part by our... On on, you know, our in country or operational team with the use of a third party industry expert from Perth, Australia, a very well known and respected individual that's worked on a number of open pit contracts across Africa and Australia for twenty odd years plus. And we put together a a a fully detailed RFP, and I think we have five different international and one domestic group be interested in tendering.

19:39 So that process then was put forward. So effectively, you've got a bunch of of of prequalified groups that we believe have the the the capacity with which to to execute this style of a project. And then on top of that, they then submit commercial offers by a deadline date on a sealed bid basis on which our independent sort of, you know, consultant helps to then sort of independent review and make a recommendation not only to the the the CENTAMIN management team, but also the board of CENTAMIN, and ultimately importantly to EMRA. You know, we have to demonstrate a closed bid basis, the the the offers as well. And those offers are evaluated on on technical and financial capacity of the contractor, execution capacity, and of course, price. So so I would say that the the the process that we undertook at the at the waste mining contract, similar to the underground, similar to the power connection now, as we did on the solar, it's done to international best practice with detailed RFPs on a on a on a preselected bidder basis with technical and commercial capacity, and then he's done on a on a best efforts basis. So so look, that's the process we we undertook.

20:51 You know, within that, think capital will one of the winning bid. I can say hand on heart with all honesty that that absolutely nothing was done in terms of any inducements either way to get capital in there. I I think to be blunt, and I've said this before on previous calls, is that Capital are hungry to develop the mining side of their business. They've obviously been focused on drilling historically. They know the Sukari site. They know Egypt particularly well, and therefore, their sort of, you know, competitiveness of understanding how to operate in Egypt and what the genuine cost base are put them in a a very good position. And their ability to operate some minor contracts in West Africa evidenced a a reasonable sort of mining capacity. But I think then the commitment to sort of ramp up their team, they pulled in a number of of very experienced individuals to manage that business is that they actually beat two very qualified sort of more, shall we say, sort of recognized mining contractors, I think, based on their Egyptian experience as well. So look, I think very, very clearly, I am very, very sort relaxed and happy that we followed a very detailed and very sort of rigorous process around the tendering. Capital won it purely on merit.

22:05 You know, EMRA and our board of directors wouldn't have allowed anything else to happen that way. It was a... We shared all the information with EMRA with the various bids that we received. I'm absolutely not. And I and I find it slightly distasteful that there'd be some implication that that, you know, we'd take some sort of backhanded to give capital to work as well. So look, think that was, you know, that process was was fully auditable, fully transparent, shared with government, and I think Fair Place Capital, they won that on their merits. And and, you know, Fair Place of Capital since then, they've also stepped up and delivered against it. So I think it's actually been a good result for us for CENTAMIN. And I've obviously... It's been a very good result for for for for capital there as they're looking to expand their franchise into into mining away from purely drilling services as well. Head. Thank you. When will shareholders see the airborne survey, the three d seismic survey, and the step out drilling?

23:11 So airborne survey, that is currently undergoing processing by a third party specialist geophysical adviser. I'm not sure that we will actually share that information publicly. You know, we are... You know, we... One, we wanted to test the Sukari concession with this airborne survey to see if there was other potential targets within our concession. Clearly, know, a a a benefit of doing that work for us was that that we then also got a very, very good fingerprint on what the Sukari mineralization look like in these various airborne mag, radiometrics, and b 10. So So we we kind of got the the DNA sequence or the fingerprint of of what our deposits look like. And that information is hugely valuable to us when we think about exploring, you know, the areas outside of Sukari.

23:57 And that proprietary sort of information we have is very valuable, and we'd like to maximize our commercial use for that. So so if we publish that, we're kinda letting everybody else know, you know, what to look out for, what to do, and and and, you know, we... We're we're not overly keen on them on sort of, you know, giving our competitors, you know, commercially sensitive information. So we can, you know, we can and probably will in the future release, shall we say, some dumb dumb dumb down versions of that book. We certainly won't be making the full dataset available publicly because we believe that's a proprietary information that we have, that we paid for, and we'll use that to our competitive advantage when exploring Egypt as well. In terms of the three d seismic survey, that was never actually undertaken to the best of my knowledge. Certainly, since I've been on board since April 2020, There was some two d seismic work undertaken. There was some three d seismic work mooted.

24:45 Quite frankly, it was horrendously expensive, and we weren't sure it was gonna give us any benefit. So we dropped that. I think it was like a 10 to $12,000,000 program. And we moved back to what I consider to be sort of, you know, the the gold standard approach to geology. I touched on the fact we've added 2,000,000 ounces to reserves over the last two years. So so I think, you know, the... I I would say the proof of concept there is that we made the right decision to to pursue a a a a more rigorously sort of structured approach to how we do the the ore body geology, and that's more than paid results. So correct me if I'm wrong, Ross, but certainly not on my watch there. There's there's, you know, there was some seismic work done, but not the three day seismic. And I didn't see that as a particular, you know, good use of shareholders funds because, quite frankly, I I I don't believe it gives the results that we've been looking for, and we spend that money better to increase the reserves through normal sort of industry processes.

25:35 You're correct, Martin. There was two d, not three d, and the $12,000,000 was cut when you arrived. So it's absolutely correct. Yes. And in terms of the step out drilling, again, you know, sticking deep holes, slightly sort of Hail Mary type holes along the extension where they're $500,000 holes and you're you're drilling slightly blind. Again, in our opinion, not a good use of not a good use of shareholders funds. It's highly speculative. You can write off... You can waste a lot of money drilling a hole that's not not productive. And we believe in the approach that we've taken in starting from the known areas and working your way out from those known areas, having understood the geology is the better way to go. And, again, I refer back to the to the announced added reserves that that I think that's a better use of funds.

26:25 So, so airborne survey done, completed. It's proprietary. We're unlikely to share that dataset publicly because of the competitive advantage it give us. Seismic... Three d seismic survey never completed, was stopped because we just didn't see it as a good use of funds. And the deep step out drilling, again, one or two holes were done, but we stopped those. Again, we didn't see that as a good use of shareholder funds and reverted back to our more sort of industry standard approach, which I think has paid dividends for

26:55 expiration permits have expired? If so, when were the request made to renew them? Okay. So simply no. They haven't expired. We wouldn't be spending money and time and effort if we didn't have valid permits. You know, Cote D'Ivoire under the Francophone system has a has a similar

27:14 style of code to other West African jurisdictions. So in in the Ivorian sense, it's it's three lots of three years. And at the end of the of the year nine, if you're in the process of finalizing your study work, you can apply for under the code. So this is not a a ministerial request. This is this is within the code. You can apply for a two year extension to finalize technical studies on discoveries which you've made. So where we are right now is that we are... We have a permit valid until mid twenty twenty four, and the current PFS and DFS timelines are scheduled to enable us to provide both an ESIA sorry, an impact...

27:55 Environment social impact assessment and feasibility study to meet the permitting deadline, which is mid twenty twenty four as well. So so, no, we wouldn't be wasting cash if we didn't have live permits. We have a window with which to complete that, programs in line to complete that, and meet those timelines as well. So people are happy to to to have a look at that if they like and look at the, the relevant Ivorian code, but, no, we are we are valid, through to mid twenty four. Thank you. Have CENTAMIN had any discussions on partnerships with Barrick and b two with regards to the exploration licenses awarded in Egypt? I'm I'm assuming we're now pivoting back to to to to to Egypt, the EDX season desert exploration. No. It's the simple answer there. We we, obviously, as an industry group interested in Egypt, we have commonality of course and interest around finalizing the removal... Sorry, the the mining code terms.

28:48 So so certainly, we have common interest to present a unified industry front to engage with the minister and the ministry around making sure we have the correct terms. Quite frankly, we know Egypt, they don't. So they'd be looking to lean on us. We've got a very experienced exploration team, with multiple successes behind Howard, Howard Bills, and then obviously Craig Barth and the MRM. And we've obviously got financial capacity to do that. So, no, we don't need anybody's help in Egypt quite the opposite. I think they probably want more help from us. But, no, we we we are... We have coordinated and worked as an industry group around sort of the regulatory regime engagement. But from an operational technical perspective, no. I think they probably need us more than we need them, so we're happy to sell our own ship. Thank you. Has CENTAMIN's board reversed its policy on gold sales hedging forward contracts in order to secure the new new bank funding? I can say categorically no.

29:44 Myself and Ross, I think, lifting the veil very, very slightly. And, you know, during the board discussions that we have from time to time, you know, we discussed a number of options, and and and one of the options discussed previously was was around gold hedging. And fair to say that that conversation was, you know, was was not pursued at that board meeting. So, no, absolutely not at this stage. There has been no prior discussion or detail around that. Look, you know, that that... That's that's the board present. I would say personally that that I think that that, you know, hedging as a risk management tool has a place to play. You know, if I think about Doropo going forward, if we were to project finance Doroco around the development of that, you know, putting some hedging in place to derisk the gold price during the early years of project commissioning and start up, I I think, you know, that's appropriate. So on a on a personal basis, I think hedging can have a role to play in risk management for well run businesses if used appropriately and and matched to correct purposes as well.

30:46 So so I think at this stage as a policy, no change from sentiment down the track as we look to to to potentially invest in projects like DROCO, for example, then I think there there is an opportunity to have a a sensible and prudent discussion for that. But but to be clear, matching any hedging to a a, you know, a defined investment and then as a risk management tool as well. But we're not gonna find ourselves, I'll let Ashanti or Barrick running a corporate hedge book and putting speculated positions in place around the gold price. If we did do look at it would be around a specific investment criteria for defined projects. Thank you. When does the tax concession for CEKARE end, and is it to be extended? Ross, correct me if I'm wrong. 2024, I believe, '15 End of twenty four. Yep. End of twenty four.

31:36 So so that's when it's new. I I think it's important picture to understand that the the text... The tax concession, and, again, I'll I'll bend the knee to Ross here, is that the tax renewal will be given as a matter of course unless there are outstanding tax disputes or we haven't explored the concession. So it's a positive requirement for the government. They will renew it is is how the concessions are drafted unless there are outstanding disputes or we haven't explored the concession. Now at this stage, you know, all our tax compliance is a 100% signed off. We're under no sort of of litigation or engagement with the government around that. So that isn't on the table. And as we've evidenced, you know, with the airborne survey plus the work we're doing right now, you know, we...

32:21 We're fair to say we have fully explored the concession. So so at this stage, it is a process we have to execute. It... It's not a case that we have to apply for it. The concession says that the tax... The extension will be awarded unless there's a reason not to. And the two reasons that we... That that might hold it up at this stage, we're very comfortable that we are in compliance with those requirements. Is that a fair summary, Ross? That's correct, Martin. And it's ten year... A further ten years. So it's completed ten years and another ten year extension. Yeah. It's a big question. What are the company's thoughts on global inflation?

32:59 That is a big question. It's alright. I'm being I'm being slightly jovial. There there are there are two further bits to it. It's how are the company budgeting and trying to counter those inflationary pressures going into 2020? Okay. Well, I'll I'll I'll... Maybe I'll say a few words and pass to Ross. Look. You know, inflations are clearly very real, yeah, you know, globally, and specifically within Egypt as well. In in terms of of of, you know, what we've seen on the ground is that we saw the second half of twenty one has really started to come through. We saw some further sort of inflationary pressures coming through first half of twenty twenty two. And then actually, would say that from sort of mid-twenty two through to the end of the year, we've not seen the rate of change of inflation increasing. I don't think we've seen it come off, but we've not seen the sort of the rate of change of that increasing. So I think that where we are now is probably in a period of stability relative to to to the end of twenty one through to to early twenty two as well. I would say more broadly that that... I'll let Ross talk about information we use to then roll forward for planning purposes.

34:10 I would say that that, you know, as I joined in 2020, Ross was already championing a a cost savings program even before inflation raised its head. So I think at CENTAMIN, we were already starting to address, you know, cost saving measures as as a matter of good business, as a matter of of course, and we're we're looking to to deliver some of those cost savings and have started to do so. So it's not that we kind of, you know, inflation arrived and we reacted. We were already getting on the front foot around it. You know, the solar project project is a great example of something we committed to pre inflation becoming an issue, and clearly, it's had a really nice impact on our cost base as well. You know, swapping out the underground mining contract to owner mining, that... That's obviously a a big benefit. Things smaller initiatives like the Tyre Bay and so on as well, the high production... High capacity truck truck trays given us productivity gains. So I I I think we had a culture of continuous improvement and cost cost efficiency before inflation. And I think because we started that process maybe a year, eighteen months before inflation became an issue is that I think we were well placed to actually navigate and ameliorate a number of those impacts as well. So that's probably a bit of an overarching view. But, Ross, in terms of best information and rolling that forward.

35:22 Thanks, Martin. Yes. So in terms of the budget process, we've replicated what happened last year when we when we entered the... This global global environment, and we... Zero based budgeting, but we really took the exit prices that we've experienced last year and used those as a roll forward. And that's really a proxy in terms of building in a lot of the inflation pressures. Taking into account all the cost savings and the various productivity initiatives, we've then scaled it back. So a lot of the actual usage and units have gone down, but obviously the prices. So for instance, cyanide, caustic soda, grinding media and the like, we've used our current prices that we've built into that. I think some of those key inputs, and Martin has mentioned fuel, I think that we must remind everybody that we use an awful lot of fuel. We, you know, there's circa 200,000,000 liters of fuel that's used across the mine site last year. And the fuel increase, we saw an average price increase from $20.21 of $0.52 a liter up to $0.89 a liter average for the year. And that fuel price actually peaked at $1.20 So for the cost mitigations to come in and come in, it was a great credit to the team in terms of an additional circa $70,000,000 or $80,000,000 of fuel going across the business, being spent in the business and being able to offset that with some of these cost initiatives has been great.

36:45 But we've used the same strategy going into 2023. We've been prudent with it. We can only deal with the outlook as we see today. And we're cautiously optimistic that we're going to be able to mitigate a lot of these headwinds. And equally, the exchange rate variances, as many would have seen, the exchange rate, the EGP, is almost halved over the last year. It's moved from fifteen:one to just under thirty:one. We've got to ensure that whilst we budget all our cost metrics in U. S. Dollars, that local EGP component is very important in terms of how those metrics unfold. So we're confident in the numbers, cautiously confident, and I think we've been prudent in our approach, and it's certainly very balanced.

37:30 Thank you. And you just touched on that there, which actually segues nicely into another question is, how is the Egyptian economy affecting the business, citing that this individual had read an article on the devaluation of the Egyptian pound against against it or or lack of US dollars in in country? Well, look. I I think first and foremost, I think, you know, we've seen lots of chats around sort of, you know, restrictions on FX from Egypt, use of letters of credit, you know, boats being bunged up in terms of importation. So, look. I I think people need to... You know, the the group needs to understand this is that, you know, we are a US dollar denominated business. We we sell dore internationally and receive US dollars. Those US dollars come into our Egyptian bank accounts or into the Egyptian bank accounts. We then we then have USD onshore.

38:19 We're then able to use that to to pay international creditors. So we're buying cyanide internationally overseas contracts. We can use that. We buy EGP in the local market to pay locally EGP denominated costs on that basis. We pay our royalty on that basis. And then when it comes to profit shares, putting between ourselves and government, we do that on a on a US dollar basis as well. So so we hold dollars. So so we don't... You know, we have access to US dollars on onshore. That's enabled us to continue to pay all our bills internationally using dollars. We don't have... We're not being restricted. And because we have our own USD and because of the concession agreement, we've not had to have the the sort of the control using bank LCs to do that. You know, we've seen sort of, you know, lots of chatter around what does it mean.

39:05 You know, just to be very clear, we have operated uninterrupted, unchanged basis over this sort of, you know, liquidity crunch in Egypt without any impact. And and that's a function of us having US dollars and doing that as well. And the government's very happy, of course, because we're providing USD to the central bank through in terms of sharing royalty and profit share, sorry, and also those purchases as well. So so from that... From an operational perspective, you know, we've been unimpacted in terms of flows of funds and haven't seen ourselves restricted from making purchases or or operating the business as normal. I think that that's... I think that's really important that people need to understand is that we're we're in that position that we don't... For example, in West Africa, in certain jurisdictions, you sell your gold for for US dollars, you have to convert... Bring that US dollar

39:52 onshore, you have to convert it all to local currency, do all your cost in the Francophone CFA, and then reconvert back to dollars. We don't have to do that. We do everything functionally in dollars. We hold them onshore and then can distribute them back to corporate that way as well. So I think that that has been a really key point for us that we've not been impacted on that. Again, is that fair to say, Ross, in terms of the operations side of life from an Egyptian perspective? Yes, I think that's absolutely correct. Equally, credit to our partners, EMRA and government, in helping us navigate that. So it's not peculiar to us or Egypt. Know, the challenges that we've seen are the challenges that are seen broadly in terms of logistics and supply chain and the like. Thank you. And actually, just staying in Egypt, and again, thank you, Ross, you keep segueing wonderfully on. But are you experiencing any supply constraints

40:48 beyond those that are kind of documented? I know, Martin, you just you just touched on that. No. I think I think that's an easy answer. No. I think is the answer. You know, obviously, we're we're seeing international sort of, you know, freight's a little bit slower, freight's a bit more expensive. That's a global issue. That's not an Egypt or mining issue. So for example, the Paceville plant, that's up probably a month, six weeks tracking behind the original schedule due to sort of delivery. But that... That's not Egypt. That... That's kind of, you know, just global supply. So so outside of of of what would be, you know, global conditions, nothing specific to Egypt and and nothing that we can't navigate as well. You know, it's interesting, Alex. We chatted to some people the other week that that that rather perversely, so COVID almost got us match fit. So so, you know, when COVID bit, you know, we had to think about sort of diversification of supply chain. You know, we couldn't rely on a single supplier for cyanide or or whatever it might be. So we diversified the supply chain. We also looked at then securing some slightly longer contracts to make sure that we had a surety of supply. We looked at sort of stocking and working capital levels. You know, previously, if you're running in a world that's... That works on a just in time basis that you can have confidence that you need something to get there. But, you know, during COVID, we looked to increase sort of working capital levels around stocks. So so, you know, kind of perversely, you know, coming out of COVID as this sort of inflationary environment and sort of global sort of, you know, supply side sort of, you know, you know, interruptions or constraint. Actually, we probably found ourselves more

42:18 match fit and ready to deal with that because of COVID. I mean, I don't if you think, Ross, as a as a sort of, you know, almost a kind of slightly perverse benefit of COVID was that we were able to deal with these issues, I think, more more easily given the experience we had. That's right. And being forced to make a plan and look for alternative suppliers is put us in a good position on that. I think your point of working capital is very valid. One in terms of an increase in dollar value on it, but making sure that we've got a robust process that we can navigate some of these challenges.

42:49 Thank you. So we've probably got about 10 questions left. I'm conscious that we're running out of time, so I'm gonna try and get through so quickly. So Martin, you have answered this several times before on email. But what, if any, other potential impacts on CENTAMIN following curbs imposed on gold exporters by Egypt... By Egyptian central banks? Okay. I I I think there's a bit of a misconception here. We we understand that that's to do with the Egyptian jewelry retail sector. So that... That's not as... We, you know, we... We've got an offtake with with Asahi in Canada. They they export... We export our dore with them and repatriate those dollars. So so any curves that you see around gold and so on and so forth, that that applies to the jewelry sector and not to us as a dore producer and exporter.

43:36 Wonderful. And then, Russ, just stepping back to cost quickly, what are the main cost saving opportunities that you're going after this year and next? We've got a number of exciting initiatives, but I think the key one for us and, firstly, I'm very excited about the ability to tie into Grid. That's still got a little way to go this year in terms of tenders and tie ins and the like, but the ability to tie into the grid would make a huge impact on our cost. We talked about fuel, the fuel usage, the fuel costs and the like, but being able to take a serious dent and a further step forward, is one of the very, very exciting opportunities. And then we've got gravity circuits that are going forward. We've got continued optimization plans across the business.

44:27 So there's a number of smaller projects that could continue. But I think, for me, the power and the grid power would be the most important. Thank you. Slightly moving on to more strategic questions. Despite the 50% increase in the share price since October 2020, the sentiment feel vulnerable to a bit? Probably less vulnerable, actually, would say. That that that sort of, you know, when we're down at sort of ATP, you know, we could all see the inherent value in the business. We understood, you know, where it was going. We understood that market wanted some confidence in delivery as well. And so so, you know, if you'd ask me honestly, I was probably a little bit more nervous at at the 85 p level because because, you know, I think, you know, we could all understand what the value of of Sukara, EDX in West Africa is, and and that that was fairly reflected. With the appreciation we've had in the share price, I feel less vulnerable now. We look less cheap, quite frankly. I still think it's a hugely attractive asset, I still think there's lots more to come that we've evidenced as well. But but, no, I I think that share price appreciation probably makes me feel less less nervous that someone would opportunistically go, that looks a bit too cheap. Let's have a bit of that.

45:39 I think someone, you know, it's now we're getting towards fair value, you know, from where we are. And I think then if somebody is still interested, which I mean, you know, this is a tier one asset. Make no bones about that. It's a tier one asset with a long life ahead of it. It's strategically important in an emerging jurisdiction of the Arabian Nubian shield. I still think that, you know, we're we're we're... This is a a nice app. It's a great platform for us to build on going forward. But, yeah, I feel I feel slightly less vulnerable with a with a a a more reflective share price of where we are. Thank you. And what is CENTAMIN's m and a strategy to deliver on its ambition of being a multi asset, multi jurisdiction producer? Well, I I I think that that, you know, I mentioned before that the banks have done their due diligence to be able to to lend to us. So so I think that evidence that we're diligenceable. And I think if we're looking to go out and do deals to to try and build our portfolio, and assuming we're not just gonna pay cash for things, I think we can now go to bit of confidence that if we're talking to third parties that that, you know, we've got some confidence in our paper, and it's value in our ability to demonstrate that. So so I think I think, you know, I think that should just, you know, be boring mind. Having said that, you know, we're not about to run out and blow our brains out. We've got a lot of embedded growth optionality in the business, you know, at Sukari, EDX, across West Africa.

46:54 You know, we've got lots to deliver and value to create for our shareholders by delivering that potential. Having said that, you know, we'll all... We're we're always gonna remain opportunistically looking for for projects or or companies that would make sense to bolt onto onto us. So so I think, you know, we keep we keep an opportunistic watching brief to the market to see if we can do that. You know, where are we gonna go? Look to me, the kind of, you know, the North South from London, Jersey makes sense. You know, Africa, The Gulf, Europe, as far as Turkey, and up into Scandinavia, that feels like it's a natural sort of, you know, playground for us. Within that sort of area, there's certain places we're not gonna go. You know, Mali and Burkina two obvious places where I I think, you know, you've gotta be comfortable around security, a political risk, and and an investment tenure.

47:41 There's other places we'd be happy to go. So I think within that sort of large geographical area, you know, we'd look to look to target those jurisdictions where where we've got confidence in a medium to long term basis alongside good geological potential as well. So so no immediate plans to go out and blow our brains out doing a crazy m and a deal. We don't feel pressure to do that. We don't... You know, we've got enough to do and and and keep delivering, but but, obviously, watching for for for opportunities. If they come along, then I think we're now in a position where we could start to consider them if they made sense. Thank you. What are your thoughts on Martin's announcement that they will be entering Egypt's gold mining space with the backing of PIF, the sovereign wealth fund in Saudi? Look. I think we've been quite clear all along. You know, one of the questions we get asked a lot at investor meetings is, you know, we're the only company in Egypt.

48:28 What's Egypt like? Is it okay? People are naturally curious around understanding what's the Egyptian environment biking like, and we we have to be the flag bearer for that. So look, the the more the more invested and the more companies we have in there, we think that's good. It gives evidence and weight to the credibility of Egypt. You know, the more mining companies you have there, all of a sudden, there's four or five drilling companies. There's there's, you know, different dealerships for different services. There's a bigger pool of talent in there as well. So so I think I think that, you know, the more the sector gains critical mass, the easier it is for to... For us to operate in country. You know, when you're the when you're the only company in country doing this, you know, it's it's it's hard. So so look, I I think, you know, we've we've seen Barrick and b two pick up ground as part of the last bid round. I'm sure if we agreed terms with the government as I as as I believe we will do, I think other entrants will come. And if one of those entrants is modern, then fantastic. You know, the the the more the merrier for us from Egyptian perspective and and to really get this sector, you know, moving in country for it to get some critical mass and for us to have a seat at the table politically as an industry group, I think is great. You know? So so... Yeah.

49:30 Look. Absolutely. As long as they don't go and poach all our staff, then I'd be more than happy with that. You. Don't wave a red rag to a bull. For a highly progressive company like CENTAMIN, what are your future... What are our future ESG plans? Well, look, I I I think that's right. I think ESG is is is clearly front for, you know, quite rightly sort of front and center for for for, you know, pretty much the world right now. A lot of the major investors, whether it's BlackRock with their net zero commitments, whether it's BANEC with the responsible gold mining principles, you know, these these initiatives are are rightly, you know, very, very near the top of the of the screening for investment in companies as well. So so one, I think morally, you look at yourself in the mirror in the morning brushing your teeth, I think, you know, it's incumbent on us to to to, you know, to do the right thing to look after future generations to our investors are expecting to see it as well now. So the idea of, you know, ESG being a nice to have, that...

50:27 That's ship and sale. It's an essential part of your business. So I I I think, you know, first and foremost, it's it's core to our business case. It's core to how we operate and how we think about operating as well. So, you know, internalizing that approach is is is been key in the last two or three years. You know, we've retained an emerging and and growing ESG team. I mean, it sounds like there's three or four people corporately, but we've added some real horsepower in there

50:50 as well. And then it's about sort of, you know, from from where we are with our journey, it's about, at the moment, we are, you know, framing what is the baseline that we're at now. What what is our, for example, carbon intensity? Intensity? Where do we sit today? Water usage, power, all these types of opportunities. It's about setting the baseline, and then it's using science based targets to then reduce those or improve those baselines as well. So I think the baseline work is is done or thereabouts. The next iteration for us is then to demonstrate how we will then address and improve on those baseline conditions. So, you know, I mentioned solar before. That's a great example of of, you know, removing carbon emissions from our carbon intensity as well.

51:30 Obviously, it comes in a fantastic operating cost benefit, a real win win there for us. So we're at that stage now. So it's about developing a framework of deliverable science based targets to demonstrate our sort of improving commitment to ESG targets. I think it's also linked in this revolving credit facility that we've signed up to that has sustainability linked elements to it. So again, the lenders will assess our criteria against three agreed initiatives. And if we if we beat those initiatives and deliver into them, then the then the debt becomes cheaper. And if we if we don't meet them or don't quite meet them, then obviously, the debt becomes a little bit more expensive as well. So I think for us, it's about internalizing ESG metric or ESG considerations at the core of it. It's not an ad on the side. It... It's at the center of our business. I think philosophically, that's the first point. It's about resourcing that up with with with quality people to do that work. It's about establishing where we are today and then having a realistic sort of timeline and series of targets to to improve on that baseline. And I think we're in that phase right now of demonstrating where we want to be in the next two to three to five years as we go forward as well. So, so that... That's where we are, and that's how we think about it philosophically, and that's what we're doing about it boots on the ground.

52:45 Wonderful. And and actually, was a continuation which which, if you don't mind, I'll just quickly answer that. Very kindly said, congratulations on your recent ESG, achievements. If investors have suggestions for products and processes on ESG initiatives, who should they submit them to? Please feel free to send anything to investors@CENTAMINPLC.com, and you can also cc sustainability@CENTAMINPLC.com, and that that will reach the the right individuals or will be distributed internally. So welcome welcome any any suggestions there. Absolutely. Absolutely, Alex. Yeah. So one that's just come in. The Burkinaabe government made an announcement last week citing CENTTAMIN as the license holder at Conqueror Batty West. Do CENTTAMIN still hold these licenses? I know you addressed this in the announcement today. Yeah.

53:34 No. No. No. So so... Look. You know, when we got involved or when I got involved, you know, we did a full review of West Africa. I I think Bati West at that point, you know, it certainly screened below our our sort of metrics as a project that would make sense for CENTAMIN in terms of scale, cash flow, generation, and margin, and so on. So we felt that that, you know, it certainly wasn't a sentiment opportunity as we saw back to you at that point. Personal view was that a junior company with a single asset, they're looking for a second asset or or a junior company that wishing to become a a a producer, you know, maybe someone prepared to operate a 90 to a 100,000 ounce mine. You know, if they were to work really hard, maybe it could work. So we did go through a process of trying to find, you know, groups that might like to take on Batsy, realistically thinking about a seven to eight year mine life at a plus minus 100,000 ounces, you know, in Southern Burkina. So so so clearly that type of opportunity, it's not for

54:28 CENTAMIN. It's not for Barrick or or b two or or any of these sort of people. You know, we felt there was a... But we felt there might be an audience of of that at the junior end of the market that might like to try and take that on and work incredibly hard to try and get something into production. So we started that process, and we we had some

54:46 some traction with with some groups, and we're working through that. And then, of course, we we hit the coup and the political and security instability in Burkina. And unfortunately, that process, of course, is naturally ground to a halt. You know, coupled with that, then we kinda found ourselves in limbo, you know, with no government to engage with as well. We then came up against permitting timelines. And I think in the best interest of of all concerned is that we, you know, we were looking to take the decision to relinquish those license to step away from them. So so as we flagged, I think, in the q three last year, you know, that process of relinquishment back to government, you know, we've not given to anybody else, is, you know, is well underway. We've not had anybody at site since first half of last year, we have filed that relinquishing noticement to government.

55:32 So, yeah, they're they're not our licenses. We don't hold them. We we're not operating them. We haven't done for some time. You know, we tried our best to try and monetize some of the value in them, but given the circumstances in Makena, it just wasn't possible to do that as well. So... Yeah. Look. Yeah. I think that was obviously... I don't think it's a perfectly function administration down in Wagga right now, And so we were slightly surprised to see us being named in that despite the fact we'll increase those licenses. Thank you for for clearing that up. A slight process one here. Why is the gold price assumption for the open pit mineral resource estimate set at 2,000 while the assumption used for estimating reserves is set at $14.50? So without wishing to teach anyone to suck eggs,

56:19 so, you know, resources are are those things that have the potential to be extracted, whereas reserves are those those ounces that you can demonstrate can economically be extracted. And obviously... So that... That's just a different resource from reserve. You know, I I think, you know, you're not gonna plan an open pit operation based on the daily spot prices that moves all around. So so like all companies, on a reserve basis, you you pick a price that's... That that you believe on a through the cycle long term basis represents a... An appropriate assumption. Now, you know, Barrick used 1,300 for theirs. We use $14.50. You know, that's where the market is. So so, you know, you you assume on a through the cycle ten year.

57:06 Oh, I've lost sound. I lost you. Hi there, Alex. Yeah. I think we have momentarily lost Martin. Okay. I I have found him again. And why should I steal your computer? Yes. That's fine. Is it... Look. Just Okay. Fine. Hi, all. Sorry. My computer just crashed there. Sorry. So I've walked across to Alex's computer. So so, you know, we we use a through the cycle price for long term planning purposes. And in our case, we're using $14.50. In terms of resources, as I say, that is an assessment of, you know, an ounce that might have potential to be extracted in the future. And generally, companies set the resource estimation price, you know, a fair bit reasonably higher than the the the reserve assumption. So when we look at our resource potential, we say that we believe that that that ounce... You know, gold price might be at and and stay above $2,000 an ounce for a... Over the next ten years for a period. So those those those ounces have potential to be mined, and hence, we use $2,000.

58:13 But for our planning purposes, we think that $14.50 is an appropriate long term assumption to use for reserves in terms of that mine planning. So that's why we have two different prices. One is for resources that might be extracted, and one is for reserves that we we can demonstrate can probably be extracted as as well.

58:33 Are you able to hear us fine? Yes. We can hear you perfectly. Yes. No problem, Alex.

58:45 Hi, Alex. I confirm that we can hear you perfectly. Ross, can you hear us? Yes. We can hear you perfectly. We might have to do it this way. Being a pretend.

59:08 Hi, Ross. One moment. We will just try and reconnect Alex to the call.

59:16 Just request to control there, Alex. If we can just try and reconnect your microphone. Perfect. You hear me? Yes. We can hear you. Can you hear us again? Yes. Were you able to hear Martin's answer to that last question? Yes. We were. Ah, marvelous. Okay. Fine. We're gonna have to do something a little bit hybrid. So lost my share of thought here. So next question is, have there been any cultural challenges as a result of introducing women at Sukari? No. I I think the simple answer is that with the change in law that was evidenced in in 2021, we had a review of that. You know, barring the, the ability to allow women to work in an underground environment, women are pretty much free to work across the Sukari site as well. So so I think with that change in law, we were very keen to to to look at that.

1:00:10 And I think one of the things that we felt quite strongly about is that we didn't wanna just sort of see, you know, sort of, you know, house house cleaning staff and and, you know, kitchen assistants. And and, you know, when we think about gender diversity, it's gonna be a genuine commitment to that. And hence, we focused not only on sort of, you know, labor, but also on professional positions. So... No. So that's been, I think, a hugely successful initiative for us at SGM. I think we're up to 25 professional female positions in the country... In the company. EDX, similarly, we have a number, I think, four across... Combined across that, which is great to see. There's been a bit of physical change, so things like, you know, bathroom facilities, transportation, and so on that we've had to provide.

1:00:59 But aside from that, it's gone very well. You know, I was at site back end of last year and chatting to to the team down there, both male and female. And I think it's been really welcome we've received. I think it's been a real breath of fresh air. I think I think it's been sort of well received by the incumbent workforce. And I think the female employees that have joined us have welcomed the challenge and have been welcomed and feel very much part of the team as well. So now I think it's been a huge success.

1:01:30 Wonderful. Good to hear. So

1:01:34 one for you, Ross. How does again, quite a large question, but how does CENTAMIN calculate minority interest on the income statement? And why has this number been so small in recent periods? Thanks, Alex. Yes. So the minority number on the on the income statement basically represents the the EMRA share that basically we consolidate all all the accounts on on our basis and show the the the outflow for EMRA in that line item. The reason why it's dropped recently is because we've been in a cost recovery stage. So in previous years, we had basically fully cost recovered. Any outputs that were coming from the mine itself were shared in that fifty-fifty profit share arrangement that I mentioned earlier.

1:02:21 But when we've invested in the mine and we've gone through this reinvestment period, we recover our costs on a scheduled basis as it's contemplated in the concession agreement, and then any residual gets distributed as profit share. And that's where you see that minority distribution line going through. So it will ebb and flow depending on, I guess, where we are in that cost recovery cycle and how those distributions are made. Wonderful. Thank you. And a question here on the shares, so which Martin and Ross, if you don't mind, I'll take. But why is there such a huge disparity between CENTAMIN's share price in the Toronto Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange? And are all shareholders eligible to receive the dividend?

1:03:08 Answering the second one first, yes. All shareholders are eligible to receive the dividend. You do need to make currency elections as to what currency you do want to receive it in, and those details are always within our dividend declaration announcements. With regards to the disparity between TSX and LSE, the shares trade on both exchanges. The shares are fully fungible, but over 99% of the shares and therefore the liquidity is on the London Stock Exchange. So therefore, there is a much less volatility in in the share price than there is on the Toronto Stock Exchange where if one share, two shares, you know, trades, it can it can move the move the share price quite a bit. So the the volume and and the liquidity sits on on the London Stock Exchange, and therefore, why it is it is less less volatile. So, hopefully, that answers that question.

1:04:03 Martin, just to check, are you back on?

1:04:07 I can hear you, but I can't hear you through the the So, Martin, if I just request control just to bring you back through again. Apologies for this technology working against us. No problem at all. I will... While while you're helping Marta get back online, I'll I'll take one other one that has been answered. Says, ironically, it says, so when will you, the CEO, appear on Bloomberg?

1:04:32 We won't necessarily be appearing on on Bloomberg, but actually, ironically, later this afternoon, we have we have a meeting with the with the Bloomberg Intelligence team to to introduce them, sorry, and and bring them up to speed. So it's very much a a relationship that we're building. Am I back now, Alex? Yes. You are. Welcome back. Well, I I I think my wife would point out I have a face for radio. So so I think so I think I think, yeah, we'll we'll we'll get around to Bloomberg. But, yeah, see you in this afternoon and I think, yeah, yeah, Facebook radio. Great. So unless any come through the webcast, there are two other questions.

1:05:11 One, which is... It's a disclosure point, but I'm gonna read it verbatim. Are there any negative issues that shareholders should be made aware of but have not been disclosed to date? Okay. I I think that that's relatively easy to answer. Look. Clearly, we have our we have our sort of, you know, sort of internal policies around sort of regulatory disclosure. So that's the first thing. And then secondly, of course, being listed on the both LSE and the the TSX that we are required under the obligations of continuous disclosure as well. So so if if we were not disclosing anything that that needs to be disclosed, then I think we'd be in all sorts of legal trouble with investors and the exchanges as well. So, no, I think, you know, I feel very comfortable that as a properly run business with with appropriate controls and checks and balances internally and the requirements of a of a properly run exchange in London and Toronto that I think face is safe to say that we fully disclose all material information at all times to shareholders.

1:06:16 Ross, as my fellow executive director, do you feel comfortable with that as a statement? Absolutely. I think the the the answer is no. We Yeah. And then the last one. Our sentiment moving in the right direction in terms of growth. Yes. I I honestly think we are. I I I do. I I see that that, you know, the sort of phases that, you know, I think about sort of three years of of sort of I've been on board now is that first year was kind of the discovery phase. Where are we? What we up to? What are the challenges? What are the opportunities? And I think, you know, the second phase was then starting to either address the inadequacies or start to realize the opportunities. And I think this third phase of the time now, we start to see the delivery, one of where we've addressed issues, the consistency coming through those, and where we see opportunity to develop to the ability to deliver those opportunities, reserve growth from the ground expansion, solar plant as well. So I think that sort of when I think about Sukari that way, I think EDX is a great opportunity for us to leverage up our position as Egypt's only producer

1:07:24 with an established operation there. And I think we've got a large land package where we've got a real advantage there. And I think bringing the ROPO to account as well. So think we've got that internal growth pipeline, lots to do. And I think we've got both the technical and the financial capacity to deliver that growth. And as I mentioned before in the M and A question is that I think we're now also in a position that if we see an ability to accelerate that growth opportunistically, then I think we're in a position that we could act on that, which I think possibly might not have been over the last one or two years from there. Martin, Ross, Alexandra. I was just going to say thank you very much for being so generous for your time there. You got through a lot of questions and of course the company will review all questions submitted today and will publish those responses on the Investor Me company platform.

1:08:12 But just before redirecting investors to provide you with their feedback, which is particularly important to the company, Martin, could I just ask you for a few closing comments? Look, thank you to everybody for taking the time. We really do value sort of, one, the interest in the business and two, the feedback and comments and questions you have. And I think it's important that, yes, obviously, we we talk to the institutional investors that that own a significant part that register by by value. But I think, you know, also also recognize that, know, the the the retail investor, you know, is equally important to us. You know, everyone owns a share in the business, and and and I think it's important that we we we listen to comments, to questions, to concerns, to queries.

1:08:57 I think it's important that we answer those as quickly and as detailed and as thoroughly as we're able to, either through knowledge that we have or an ability to share what can sometimes become confidential information. We can't do that. But I I think it's important to hold these events, and I would encourage sort of, you know, the the audience today and and the broader audience to continue to engage by the channels that we have out there through Alex and the investor side. And, you know, as we said last year, I remain very, very happy to sort of, you know, maintain this regular forum whereby we can look to answer those questions that we have as well. So look, I I think your support is very much appreciated and continues to be so. I do believe that we're... You know, a good 22 has been delivered. I think there's a real sense of excitement and and togetherness and unity and direction at at the various operating sites that we have. I think that's been reflected in results. And I think that's been reflected in a broader sort of recognition now externally, I think, with the share price performing. Yes, that's in part gold price. But if people want to play in the gold price, they're going pick stocks that they believe and have confidence in. So we've put ourselves in that position now where we're able to sort of, you know, start to capitalize on that. So we...

1:10:07 I think we've built a great platform at this point over the last three years, you know, leveraging off the success of the past. Think we've we've reestablished that foundation. And I think now it's exciting to go on and really kick on the business from here as well. I think there's huge opportunity. I think it's in a supportive gold price environment. We've got the headwinds of inflation and sort of global uncertainty to push against, but I think we can navigate that. And, yeah, look, I'm I'm personally very much looking forward to to this year and and the medium to longer term as we continue to sort of, you know, deliver that growth and maintain that dividend as well. So so again, thank you to everybody for for listening in. Thank you for your continued support. Please do keep in touch. Please do keep engaged. We'll look to hold fairly regular meetings like this to make sure that everyone is... Feels that they've got a a voice and that they're being listened to and being addressed.

1:10:55 And, yeah, look look forward to to addressing you in the future as we go forward. So with that, I'd just like to say thanks everybody. Wish you the the very best for today. I look forward to engaging in the future. Martin, Ross, Alexander, thanks once again for updating investors today. Could I please ask investors not to close the session as you'll now be automatically redirected to provide your feedback in order that the management team can better understand your views and expectations. This will only take a few moments to complete, but I'm sure it'll be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of CENTAMIN PLC, we'd like to thank

1:11:25 you for attending today's presentation, and good afternoon to you all.