Automated transcript · Written by software from the replay's audio. It can mishear names and figures; the replay is the record.
7:20 in the mix with that announced joint venture on White Pine gives us a strong position to deliver on the short-term work at Copperwood, same at White Pine, and we'll cover some of the commitments to cover the 3 years of activities upcoming. And I'm going to walk you through some of the mechanics of the transaction that we recently announced that I think really helps unlock a lot of the value that Denny has walked you through on the 2 projects. And I think it's important to look at us pre-transaction, first of all, we had about $7M or $8M in the bank, obviously, these 2 assets and some pretty significant capital requirements. It's really what caused us to look at the 2 projects and say, naturally we're prioritising Copperwood and the fact that it has permits, but we need to think about a solution from a capital perspective for White Pine.
8:17 This transaction really has allowed us to put money, significant capital that was otherwise unavailable to both projects. So to give you a sense, a US 30 million for a 66% stake of White Pine North. And the good thing is that that cash is free to use as we see fit. So naturally we're going to put that directly to Copperwood. We have some early site works to complete, ensure that we continue to protect our permits and move forward towards a construction decision. There's an additional 30 million joint venture commitment or joint venture budget to separately fund White Pine and that's to advance through to permitting, infill drilling and feasibility study. Acknowledging that that is a JV budget, we are responsible for our 34% of that, so approximately 10 million. And what we looked to do as well was to secure that piece.
9:06 So Kinterra have provided us access to a 10 million unsecured loan to assist us with that 10 million funding components. So really from our perspective, we can elect to take part in the cash calls with respect to that budget or alternatively be funded through. Broadly speaking, what this has done overall is put $30 million directly into Copperwood and additional $30 million into White Pine. So creating $60 million of liquidity and obviously a transaction that we're quite happy with. Just to walk you through some of the rationale so you understand our thinking, you know, we in March, as Denny mentioned, had prioritised the Copperwood project. It's fully permitted. It's something that we can move into construction and production in the near term. And it truly is a goal of ours to be an intermediate producer from a base metal perspective.
9:58 Copperwood is the asset that we can do that with in the short term. So access to capital for Copperwood allowed us to continue moving that forward as we advance that goal. And I think I mentioned on White Pine, really the goal was to right size our capital requirements. It's a larger, longer dated asset. You know, it requires some pretty significant capital even before a construction decision. And certainly when you get to a construction decision, it's a $600M to $700M capital bill. Being second in our priority list as an asset, naturally we felt that a joint venture partner was going to be needed. So bringing Kintera in has allowed us to bring in both financial and technical strengths that we were looking for. And as I mentioned, an initial $30 million towards the project. From a corporate perspective, I think a key aspect was that we wanted to get an asset level premium on this transaction, which naturally avoided corporate level dilution.
10:54 You know, when you look at the valuation that we received for the 66 percent of White Pine, that value in and of itself was greater than the enterprise value of our company. So it tells you that we got a really nice premium on this sale and something that Kinterra coming in as a strong partner is acknowledging the value and I guess endorsing the value of White Pine. Alternatively, we could have looked at raising equity in a challenging market, arguably with a discount and warrant, which would have been considerably more dilutive. And maybe a last component from a rationale perspective is management focus. You'll probably understand that we're a relatively small team at Highland. We're now able to look at and focus considerably on Copperwood, whereas we'll use Kintera as the new owner-operator with their 66% stake and use their strengths from a technical perspective to move White Pine to the next levels.
11:52 Broadly, we're very happy with the deal and as you mentioned, we think it unlocks both projects by providing the capital that it needs.
23:47 also from a cash flow perspective as we step into production. So side by side, the 2 projects and our share in White Pine, what it represents. You see Copperwood capital investment of 400 million roughly for an after-tax NPV of 170,333 at 450 Copper. Mention M&I versus Inferred. It combines for 3.7 billion pounds of Copper, therefore a longer mine life than the 10.7 that we show there and a return close to 18%.
24:41 It's a project that we certainly can execute on. We will have the management team in place and looking at the funding in the short term, again with the focus of building N24-25 to be in production in N26. And White Pine, we've looked at the PEA numbers, but our share of it, 34%, still brings close to 280 million NPV8 value, 400 million at 450 copper. Million at 450 copper. Our focus in this transaction is really to switch on looking at what we keep and not necessarily looking at what we let go to have access to all the capital, the 60M, as highlighted by Barry.
25:40 But that 400M really made it a possibility to access that as we'll reach construction and combine with the Copperwood asset. Our share of the Copper in the ground is £2Bn and it's a 22-year project. It generates very interesting cashflow level. And even at $4, operating cashflow gets close to 200 million a year. So good cashflow generator, great exposure to increasing Copper prices. It's a pretty robust project at close to 21%.
26:27 Having Kintera in the mix there has given us much better access to cash to support the White Pine advancement. Cash, $36M that we have right now to support Copperwood. Support Copperwood. It made our vision and our capacity to deliver on it, over 5 years, a reality. We can build and take the Copperwood financing on ourselves. We would not have been able to do that for White Pine, but combined with the financial strength of Cantera, we certainly can do that and get into the next phase. So, that transaction is a game changer in a sense that it allows us to go through the various steps that we have on our long-term plan.
27:35 And just looking at it from a value perspective, we think there is considerable value to unlock here. Our market cap today is about 45 million and it's predominantly now cash, as we have 36 million in the bank. In the middle there, it's showing, you know, some of the asset value targets, certainly that we think we can accrete to. And looking back, pre-transaction, you know, arguably we were undervalued in part because there was concern around our capacity to fund both projects and meaningfully move them forward. We think these transactions have changed that. So when you look across any metric, be it price to net asset value, enterprise value to resource, you know, we're very reasonably valued. I think we could say at this point, And as we continue to tell this story that this transaction has changed the financial and management capacity of the company, we do believe that we will move towards those higher valuations and naturally also take the benefit of copper price movements as they go as well.
28:36 So moving forward, you may remember our interest in longer term opportunities. The 2 projects will certainly keep us busy for the next 5 years, but we've already started to look at potential opportunities after that. I mentioned the projects will produce a concentrate. It's a chalcocite type of deposit, sedimentary rock, so non-acid generating clean concentrate. But the cost of transportation and smelting and refining, it did increase a fair bit over the years. We decided to test on the opportunity to leach that concentrate.
29:28 We got results and recovery of 98% plus in doing that. So this is certainly an opportunity that we see down the road. We will continue to look at engineering around this leaching process to understand CAPEX and operating costs and see if it if it would be a great opportunity a viable option for the concentrate of the 2 projects remember the 2 projects or just 60 kilometers 1 from the other michigan is a great manufacturing state you have the auto industry but you also have other companies building motors and being buyers of copper. So we could likely sell within 500 miles all of the production if we can produce cathodes here in Michigan.
30:34 It would also keep all jobs and benefits in the state. So this is an opportunity, longer-term opportunity, that we'll continue to pursue. Michigan is certainly aligned with that. They've pushed hard on electrification and buying locally as much as possible. So this is one that will pursue past our five-year plan. So in a summary, if we looked at the initial slide highlighting our plan and deliverables, we've delivered on the PEA as contemplated. We've started the early site works at Copperwood to prep for construction.
31:25 We're getting into detail engineering and the processing side mining and tailings aspect to understand well what are the long lead items and be ready for the project financing process and construction decision. Remember our timeline, construction decision Remember our timeline, construction decision in 2024 for construction over 2 years to reach the stage of producer in 2026. While continuing to do White Pine, White Pine PEA completed, permitting process on the way. We can check that box. I'm bringing in a strong partner to go through the next step and reach construction decision point in 2026.
32:19 And at that point, the company would have changed substantially. Being a producer does change the realm of possibility for us. We'd be in a much stronger position to continue to participate and grow the asset and continue to create value for shareholders. So we're delivering on the vision. We're very optimistic about the future. We continue to believe in the copper price increase and want to be exposed to that increase and make our shareholder benefit from all that. So thank you very much. Thank you Danny and we can go into the Q&A so you can feel free to stop the share. Just as a reminder for everyone on the right-hand side, you can submit your questions in there. I do see we do have quite a few already submitted so that's excellent.
33:21 I'll start off with this large list here. Has a contractor been hired to do the site prep at Copperwood and what would the timing be on that? Yes, look, we have currently at site the logging crews. They've been prepping for the initial areas to be where we need to do as per the permit, wetland impacts and stream impacts and mitigation in preparation for construction. They've been at site for a couple of weeks already. And the larger contractor is doing all of the impacts, road improvement, they've been also active at site. So yes, it's an active site. It's fun to have reached that stage and we're looking forward to delivering in a timely manner to be fully ready for construction next year.
34:35 How much will it cost to get Copperwood built and begin mining ore? As per the feasibility, overall cost is 420 million. You have revenues through the commissioning period that would reduce the total capex to $3.90. It's 24-months before reaching production. So, 24 to early 26, or first half of 26 before reaching operation. To go to White Pine, Is the old White Pine mine legally part of White Pine North? Look, the White Pine North is the extension of the old White Pine deposit.
35:30 At this point, we are not going back into the old mine. It's underwater, moving out the rub pillars as much as possible. So it would be a safety issue to go to that, not to mention the size. It's 30 square kilometers underwater. So we're leaving a pillar and we're mining the extension just to provide an idea of size. The deposit is 12 kilometers wide, room and pillar type, So we're mining the extension of the old white pine mine. Okay, so that pretty much answers the deflood and the shafts question. Will shareholders' equity be further diluted when you're looking for financing for both mines build out?
36:23 I'll take that one, Denny, if you're okay. I mean, naturally, as we look to finance the project, it's $390M. I think a first step will be to get some debt financing in place. We think that we could certainly cover 50 to 60% of the overall capital with debt financing. As Denny mentioned, we're doing some site works already in the 10 to 15 million range. Fortunately they'll also offset the first component of the $390M. And then we'll look at a range of other areas, non-dilutive ways to bring financing in that can be through offtake. Obviously, if we're fortunate, we may receive some state funding, asset financing, amongst some other things. But naturally, there will be some form of equity plug to fill out the 390 million. It's something we'll try to manage as best as we can to protect from dilution.
37:12 But certainly there will be an element, certainly when we go to construction financing. Thank you. And excuse me, I'm pretty sure Denis mentioned this in the presentation, but if you want to elaborate further, any update on the state of the SOAR funding availability slash application status? Look, the availability is there. Michigan has shown their willingness to participate in electrification. They've made 2 big investments in battery plant with Ford and GM and invested in other companies. So look, we've shown our interest in participating in that process and we'll continue to advance that file. But that's all I can say on this at this point.
38:03 Thank you. And Paul has a couple of questions here with this money. Are you cashed up through to next year? I mean, I think it's fair to say that we are. Certainly the plans that we have at Copperwood and White Pine with having 30 million available for each project, takes us through our near-term initiatives. Naturally, as we move to a true construction decision and into detailed engineering at Copperwood, at that point, it would likely need more capital and would likely be raised in conjunction with a project financing. At White Pine, certainly we see that 30 million taking us through permitting and into feasibility study covering the next 2 plus years. So That's a good add-on to this question.
38:48 Who is doing the engineering? On the Feasibility Study, we haven't pulled the trigger on which firm yet will do the detail engineering for both projects. On the PEA, G-Mining just completed the PEA on White Pine and they did the Feasibility study. But at this point, there'll be different firms on detail engineering, like tailings specific, but we haven't decided yet on who will execute on this. Great. And Adrian, we'd just like you to comment on the shareholder structure, whether it be institution, corporate, high net worth, insider ownership. If you want to go over your shareholder structure.
39:46 Taking this one, Barry? Sure, I can. Yeah, so naturally, we have some pretty significant shareholders. Orion owned 28% of the company. Condier, a fund out of Texas, owns 16%. We also have Greenstone and Osisko on our shareholder register. So we've got some very strong mining names, some strong private equities that have shown capacity and support over the years. One area that we certainly need to make a little further progress is the more fundamental institutional shareholders to drive some volume. I think that will be very useful. Balance of our shareholder structure certainly is the likes of high net worth, individuals and from an inside ownership perspective, there's about a 1% holding across the company. So yeah, a pretty diverse set.
40:39 Certainly, we're looking to drive institutional volume and retail volume, acknowledging the float is lessened somewhat by the larger stakes that we have. Great, thank you. And Joe would like to know if you're gonna be utilizing the old rail between Copperwood and White Pine North. No, We've looked at the possibility of having 1 large processing facility, central facility for both projects, which would have at that point forced transportation of ore from Copperwood to the White Pine site, decided to not take that route for a number of reasons, but impacts was certainly 1.
41:29 The railroad going to some of the communities and the challenges that it brought was front and center. We elected to go, like I said in the presentation, for risk, for training purposes and capacity to hire and execute on capital, obviously being 1, go 1 project after the other on each their own site, and no railroad or transportation will be needed. Thank you. Is there a workforce program being developed? Yes, we are working on, with the state, with some of the colleges.
42:20 We also benefit from the university. There are 2 university within 2 hours that will provide strong skillsets for us. So yes, it's important to us. We made a commitment to maximize regional benefits. It's important to us to maximize local employment, same on the contractor side. So, We will put a strong emphasis on having training programs to support that. Maybe you could elaborate a little further. This ties into Derek's question nicely. Would you use a mining contractor to train a local workforce and over a period of time eventually fade away from the contractor and keep the locally employed projects or I assume people?
43:14 It's been the preferred scenario certainly for Copper Wood. We haven't reached that stage quite on White Pine yet, but on Copperwood, initial work just in light for the delivery of mining equipment nowadays, it takes a year or so. So, availability of contractors coming in with their equipment, their skill set, strong in-house training program already. We've discussed that approach upfront and having them support the training of future employees and switch over time to more of an owner-managed entirely or for a portion of it, the mining activities.
44:08 Maybe I'll direct this question to Barry, but you guys are cashed up now. Adrian wants to know if there's a strategy to maximize return on cash until it is spent? Yeah, I suppose one of the good things about being in a somewhat higher interest rate environment is that we can get strong returns on our cash deposits at the moment. So the cash is put safely away, obviously, but we're getting good money market returns. We'll hold it there through the period that we're utilizing it. And again, directed to you, Barry, Michael has this question. What is the plan to attract institutional investment over what period of time? Yeah, so I mean, it's really a plan that we're already working through. Obviously, we need to engage the brokerages, both Canadian and US, who in turn drive institutional buying.
44:57 Coremark, our brokerage, a well-known brokerage that do cover us, currently we're very pleased with that. But naturally, we want to drive other brokers to come into our story, to issue news, and really to drive sales, both from an institutional and retail perspective. And Certainly having sat down with some of the brokers this past week since the transaction was announced, we certainly received positive feedback that the company has a stronger and more viable plan to move the 2 assets forward with the quantum of liquidity that we've created in the transaction. So we think that's going to be a good step towards, not ideally bringing some additional research coverage on board, but also allowing them to promote the story across all investor channels, getting more eyes on it, and naturally driving share price.
45:51 Thank you. Eric has a question about the water for both projects. He's wondering where it's going to be sourced from, whether it be wells or from another source? I mentioned White Pine. Having been a producer for 50 years, they already have a pumping station and access to water. That's going to remain in place. It's a large volume, It's up to 30 million gallons a day as per the permit. There's no need on the White Pine site. On Copperwood, we've looked at different scenarios. Wells are a possibility, but we do build the tailings impoundment in 3 phases.
46:42 Phase 3 area of the tailings impoundment will use to accumulate the water up front for processing facilities start up. There's enough precipitation and rain or snow to accumulate that water through the construction period. And after 5 years, the region being water positive, we would not need that impoundment, just recirculating the water from the tailings. And we would be in a discharge scenario and water would be treated before discharge. So we'll accumulate the water in the tailings and pond up front for the processing facility. Perfect, appreciate all the questions being submitted everyone.
47:30 Unfortunately, we do have to cut it off here. If we didn't get to your questions, please send us a message. We'd be happy to make sure we pass along to Deni and Barry. But Deni, Barry, thank you for taking us through the presentation and the Q&A session. A lot of great questions. If you came in late, we will be posting this on Six.com in the following days, so please feel free to watch the recording later on. You can also find more information at their website at HighlandCopper.com. Denny, I'll hand it back to you for any final word though. Well, look, at this point, I'm glad to do the presentation, keep posted, follow us, we'll remain active in the coming weeks and months.
48:16 We're very happy and proud of the steps taken in the last few weeks to make sure that five-year vision is more and more a reality. And we really have no doubt and intend to deliver on this for all of our shareholders and surrounding stakeholders, in particular for the regional area, the communities around the projects. So thank you for your support and Kyle, thank you for the job well done with that presentation. Thank you, thank you Denny, thank you Barry and thank you