Metals Exploration (LSE:MTL) — Final Results

0:01 Good morning, and welcome to the METALS EXPLORATION PLC investor presentation. Throughout today's recorded presentation, attendees will be in listen only mode. Questions are encouraged and can be submitted via the Q and A tab situated on the right hand side of your screen. Before we begin, I'd just like to submit the following poll, which I kindly ask you submit your responses to. I'd now like to hand over to CEO, Darren Bowden. Darren, good afternoon. Good morning.

0:23 Good morning, Matt. Afternoon my time, but, yeah, good morning to everybody. And online with me is Max Denning, our VP investor relations and business development. He'll be helping me out through the presentation. The presentation is online, but and we're gonna cover certain portions of it today, not all of it. We'll focus on some of the areas, that, we think you'll be more interested in. But, again, any questions, anything you wanna cover, or anything that you wanna do, please submit the questions so we can talk about it afterwards. We think the presentation will take about thirty minutes. And on the back of that, hopefully, we've got a lively q and a session for us to go through. So without further ado, I'm actually moved to slide three, please. Yeah.

1:09 So just looking at the highlights for the the last twelve months, we had a pretty good year. The as run Reno is running down, our gold gold grade grades are dropping off. So our total production's dropping off, but thank you thanks to the incremental gold price and the fact that our hedging finished in 2024. We had a record free cash year and record revenue on the back of about 65,000 ounces production or just over. So a 115,000,000 in free cash and, on a 208,000,000 revenue. The guidance for 2026, again, as we're ramping down, we're ramping down to the end of this year. December this year is the last production month in Ranuno.

1:54 So 40 to 48,000 ounces for the year of 2026. Next slide. Thanks. Yeah. So just looking at those metrics, as I said, just, you know, over twenty sixty five thousand ounces for 2025 on the back of, a record production in 2024 of nearly 84,000 ounces. The, the price, plus our management of costs have been able to keep our free cash moving in the right direction, which is, as you all know, funding our Nicaraguan operations. So things are moving forward very well across the board for us, and we'll get into that. Generally, we did they've purchased the Nicaraguan operations were finalized through the purchase of Condor Gold.

2:39 March, we purchased a secondhand plant, which has provided a lot of the base equipment for the plant in Nicaragua. May, we broke ground, and by December, we had spent just under, what, $76,000,000 on the construction of the Landau project. And we had about just over 40,000,000 in the bank at the end of December as well, which is assisting in the funding through this year of that of that project. You know, we did talk about the construction. Lane near project is a 45 where we rent from about a 100,000 ounces 2027 through to 145, one fifty by 2029. We work from starting with an open cut moving to open cut underground operations. So it'll be a dual operating business in Laney Open cut, Laney South underground with a numb number of other subsidiary satellite deposits, which will come into that.

3:37 The run run operations, as I mentioned, run down by the end of this year. However, our exciting exploration projects, Abra in The Philippines, which we've talked about in a number of different presentations. So we won't go into too much detail, is shown here as well. But La Grecia, a new tenement area we've picked up, which is an old mine. Actually, one of the one of the original Nicaraguan gold mines, has now come on to our portfolio as well. It's actually an extension to our existing tenements in Nicaragua, and it used to have, used to be owned by both Newcrest and Newmont. And all of the sampling that was done previously, the average grades, of the rock chip samples are around 19 grams.

4:24 The silver grade is what's interesting here. It's probably 50 times silver. So the silver grades we're seeing, you know, 600 to a thousand grams silver in that in those veins coming out of that deposit. We're gonna start drilling in La Grecia sometime in June. The drill's already moving in that direction as we speak. So, yeah, very exciting project. There's four to five veins there and serious high grade. So it's a a very nice little project to pick up to add to our portfolio in Nicaragua. I won't go into the management team or the board, but you can go through the slides at your leisure to see that. You know, the we're currently tracking around about, you know, between 13 and 15 p share price. However, the consensus of that share price is 33 p. Two analysts have come up with a consensus based on our production and the, the current metrics coming out of Nicaragua.

5:24 So everybody's sitting, waiting for us to deliver on Nicaragua, and then we should see that uplift in our share price moving to, you know, beyond 30 p, hopefully next year, if not the year after. So moving on an upward trajectory. As you can see, we've been for the last six years, it's been a great six years. Anyone who started with this in 2019 has done very well for themselves. So, you know, we had some rocky patches, but generally been a very upward trajectory with all positive, you know, growth strategies. And we still got some, you know, some growth strategies. We will talk about, at the back end of this presentation, beyond LaGresia, beyond, Abra. Of course, there's always a focus for us to keep growing the business, and we'll talk about that a little later.

6:14 So if we go into the Lindia project, 2,300,000 ounces, very nice grades on surface. The open cuts are two and a half grams. The underground's four, to five grams. Looking at an average grade once we're in full production of about three and a half grams, producing, as we said, fluctuating depending on whether it's a a high production underground year or high production, open cut year, which is more consistent. Targeting about a 1,400,000 ton a year project, producing around about a 140 to a 150,000 ounces. And as I said, 2027, a 100,000 ounces will move. The business moves from 48,000 ounces to a 100 and, a 100,000 ounces all the way through to a 150,000 ounces, 2028, '29.

7:05 If we have a quick look at the the epithermal vein system that we are looking at in La India, it is extensive. It's large on any scale, and, we are we have basically control of the district. So there's a lot more exploration and a lot more upside, which, you know, over the last twelve, fourteen years, funding limited exploration has gone on. We won't be fund limited. We're doing a lot of drilling as we speak, and we have been adding to those those resource ounces as we've been going. Really, right now, Landia, Americas, and METALS are probably the only ones which could be put into a jolt category. We've brought cacao now up to a jolt standard in the in a small area.

7:51 So the 100,000 ounces plus is going to be on our books sometime at a better standard very soon because that's where we've had focused some of our drilling. Other drilling has been in Lindia North extending the open cut. And right now, the rigs have moved to Lindia South doing extension drilling in Lindia South, and that looks very promising as well. So overall, you know, 2.3, we are targeting this as a five five plus million house district. And as you can see from the small area that we currently got in our mine plan to the largest scope of what actually exists in terms of the veins that have been already mapped on surface, This is a very nice district, and the epithermal vein system here epithermal gold system here is is extensive. So if we look at the the economic studies, not just done by us, but done by others, the construction of this plant is one of the lowest capital intensity plants, due to the purchase of the second hand plant.

8:50 The way the scope, the the quality of the team we've got in country building this plant, they've done an amazing job organizing this. The BFS targeting 70,000 ounces a year. We're targeting one forty five, and, you know, it is a a very nice project. The one thing I want you to note here, which is interesting, is the two analysts that have done the work. The all in sustaining cost they've come up with is significantly higher than our own internal studies. I like the conservatism because the the share price you're seeing that they're predicting at 33 p is at a higher all in sustaining cost than we have got in our models. So if you you wanna take a conservative approach, their all in sustaining cost at the higher rate is still generating a 33 p share price.

9:43 If you look at our studies and the work we've done, we're coming up with a lower all in sustaining so you can see that that, if we deliver on where we wanna be or even, you know, lower their cost by 10 to 15%, then we're going to be significantly better off in terms of delivery of that share price. And we can see that here. This is our all in sustaining, just under 1,200. The capital intensity, as I talked about, is one of the lowest in the industry. And, the grade for the, the combined underground open cut is one of the best in the industry. It's a very nice project with, you know, you know, high quality q one cost metrics that will deliver sustainable cash flow into the future for metals exploration.

10:34 Don't need to go into this too much. We've talked about this a number of times, but we're very much on track with the delivery. The q one this year, the laboratory is basically in place. We will start the contract has gone to Innatec, which is an international certified laboratory company. They'll be doing all our analytics on-site. Therefore, we can produce international standards and, basically, all the analytics will be done on-site rather than having to go to Canada. That'll improve our turnaround time frames and increase our response time to understand how the resource develops. The main substation's been purchased. Everything's moving forward.

11:20 Most of the foundations have done. The tanks for the CIL circuit are actually on-site and started construction. The conveyor systems have been installed, and the main crusher is in place at this stage, the crusher wall is finished. We are still targeting to have this project up and running by December this year. The two risks that we are seeing right now, the I've I've mentioned a number of discussions previously that the, electrical, which is being provided by third party, which is the government, is one of the risks, but the government is moving forward. And, so that's start that's, you know, looking in a pretty good position right now in terms of the design for that substation even though the the main components have been purchased and will be delivered. That looks like it's coming forward well. And the other thing that has caused is starting to look that may or may not impact, but it's something we are very aware of, is the the current on water logistics with the geopolitical situation in the world right now. The Panama Canal is starting to get very choked up.

12:24 So there's a a lot of ships waiting to travel through the Penama Canal given that the other options have become limited, for the transport logistics, on water ocean going freight, which is slowing and, slowing down some of our deliveries. So at this stage, we're still on track, but we're watching that space very carefully. Next slide, Max. This is just the slides of the mine and the tailings facility. Everything here is developing very well. We've currently got a 150,000 tons of ore on stockpile. About half of that is, low grade for commissioning, and the rest is at mine grade. So, we're ready to start commissioning, and we're we will be ready for first three months of production. We'll be on stockpile by the time we start up this plan.

13:13 Don't need to go into the flow sheet. Very simple. SAG ball mill combination, CL leach tanks to a a gold room. So very, simple. I did did mention that we've done a a fair bit of drilling at Cacao, and what we're finding is that it's, and there's a number of deposits like this in the world where it's shoots of, epithermal. So the epithermal is coming up in high grade shoots, and we found at least three of those shoots which we we're developing further as we go. Most of those holes you can see on this plan have been drilled. We just don't have results to see the extension of those holes. So, we have extended this ore body down dip, and, we are following those shoots, and that that's coming the geometry of that is starting to make some sort of sense. When we first started, we were, you know, a little bit in the dark. But with the extra drilling that's now being done, we're starting to see how Cacao will develop into a nice little underground. The benefit is while it's not super high grade, it is very nice width. So, you know, 15 to 20 meter widths, very efficient underground mining with for, for Kekau. So that will develop very well as an underground with some very high grade, core in in the, in the drilling results we've got today.

14:28 So I don't wanna go into, but I'll do a little bit of work around Abra. I think everybody who's following our shares and has been on presentations and seen some of our slides before, I very much am a big fan of the ABRA project. We are still working with governments and communities to start the drilling there. The one thing about The Philippines, that part of the business is not easy. The bureaucracy is slow moving, but we're working very closely with communities and the different levels of government to to get going with the the drilling in Abra. I I've always said the target's to be there, drilling in q two h two. I'm I'm still focused on having that that up and running by that stage.

15:18 So let's talk about the investment case. It is an interesting thing. We're a cash generating business. We're gonna maintain cash generation. Our cash generation's only increasing through 2027, 2028. And ABRA is not a proposition that is in the next five years. It's five to ten years. Again, we've always we've mentioned that previously in previous presentations. So there is a question that has come up in some of the pre submitted questions, which is a good one. Where do we go? Well, one of the things that I've always talked to the market about, and I I'll I'll keep saying because business is extremely focused on it, I myself travel a lot trying to make this, put this into place, is having a second operation by 2028.

16:07 That is still our one of our core values, our core ideals, and our core focuses. And we while we have not solidified that second operation at this stage, we're very close. We're working for us, rather than m and a, we we very much like working with governments. We like finding governments that are looking for partners who are good at in country relationships, community building, and we and companies that are able to make decisions quickly and move fast, and we are that company. So we're working with a number of different entities across multiple jurisdictions. We've always said we'll stick to our lane. So we're working in Asia and Central America.

16:53 And, hopefully, in the next three to six months, we will be able to announce something that gives us that second operation in the pipeline. And that's what our focus is. So to the question, are we focusing on growing our business? Yes. We absolutely are. And we are looking to use our cash flow to do so. Yes. We absolutely are. So this business will is and will always focus on having a second operation by 2028, which is, again, I've said in previous presentations that by 2028, we would like to move to the main board. And at that stage, we will hopefully be looking to start a a dividend payment into the business as well. So we wanna be dividend paying and on the main board into 2028, early twenty twenty nine. So that is still our focus. We will have the cash flow to to fund that.

17:48 So we're very much, looking forward to being able to make that announcement within the next three to six months at the latest. I'm hoping in the next three months, but I'm not gonna hold, hold myself to it because when you're dealing with the different governments and different entities across different jurisdictions, things are always slower than you would like. I would love to say yesterday that I had it, but, or had something in the bag, but, we we are working on it, and we're working very hard to achieve that. So, watch this space, guys. It's a very valid question, and it's something that, this business and this the the board of directors and myself are very focused on achieving. With Max's help, who's now coming as, business development, he's also one of his parts of his portfolio is to focus on generating that that next business for us beyond what we already have in our portfolio.

18:37 So that's our investment case. The expiration, as I said, Nicaragua's moving forward, and, hopefully, Abra in the next six months. Sorry. There was Great. Thanks, Darren. Yeah. Should we should we now move to the to the q and a? We're also getting a bunch of questions through as we're live. One of the first questions, I think, you know, kind of just being asked and and and really just been answered around an update with regards to an additional acquisition, which which clearly you've just covered in your closing comments. The next question we've just received is regards to whether METALS EXPLORATION would build a a second processing plant, ATLAS India specifically. If you wouldn't mind touching on that. So for me, Lindia, no. I think the resource in Lindia, as it grows, I think the plant itself is big enough to cater for that resource.

19:31 But with that said, La Grecia is it's a different beast. It is, high gold, very high silver, so the existing plant in La India wouldn't cater for it specifically. So does La India, have the opportunity to have a second plant? Maybe not. Does Nicaragua have the opportunity to grow into a second operation? Absolutely, it does. We hold enough tenement area. We now have a specific target that's drill ready, which we're going to start drilling. It has an old underground, which we're actually rehabilitating as we speak. And the only reason the underground closed down, by the way, is because there was too much silver. So it couldn't produce a gold dore because of the silver levels. So it actually stands it stands in good stead that there's something there. We've currently done some underground sampling along the veins that we've been able to to get to. As I said, there's four to five veins there that we can actually see in the underground, and we should have those samples. Once those samples are out, again, they're going offshore, so it takes, you know, quite a way, you know, three to four weeks to turn those around. But once we've turned those around, we'll be able to start having a good look at what's there.

20:43 The drill will be up there within four weeks, and we're going to start drilling on the back of that. Yeah. Next question on the list is if profits are large enough in 2027, would the company issue a maiden dividend or a share buyback to attract, obviously, increased share price and and more buyers in the stock? Yep. Look. That'll be up to the board. For mine, if you want my opinion on that, I don't see us issuing dividends until 2028. I there is an absolute focus from my point of view and recommendation. I will be there to push for dividend by 2028. By 2028, linear is producing, you know, one thirty, moving moving to that one forty five, one fifty thousand ounces. And by that stage, if we aren't fully investing in a second operation, there should be sufficient cash flow to look at a dividend pre moving to the main board. But I don't believe, unless the board sees otherwise, once we get there, that 2027 will be a dividend year.

21:45 Indeed. Next question is regards to La India drought resource statements and when we expect to give the market an update with regards to, yeah, updating our drought resource estimates. Yeah. I think we're closer to the end of the year than now. The drilling in Lindia South will be looking at extensions and definition. Right now, Lindia South is mainly inferred, so we're drilling to bring that up into measured and indicated so it can be better planned as an underground mine. Cacao right now has enough definition drilling to bring it into a job compliant resource. So I'm not sure what categories it'll all fall into, but we'll we'll have to wait and see. However, with the turnaround of the assays and with the work that needs to be done, I'm thinking probably q four at best q one next year is more likely for the delivery of that. Once we have the on-site lab laboratory, those turnarounds of those samples is gonna be significantly quicker and will help us. And it helps more in the fact that you don't waste drill holes. If you're waiting four weeks for a laboratory result to come back, you might be drilling in the long wrong location. If you're waiting a week for the laboratory results to come back, then you know that your next drill hole is going to be a good one, or you're looking to pivot somewhere else.

23:02 Indeed. Next question is with regards to a critical path item being, obviously, power infrastructure being supplied at site. And as a plan b, has the company considered utilizing diesel Chensets? Yeah. Look. The the size and scope of what we need, diesel may or may not be a relevant option because the mobilization of, you know, 30 megawatts of diesel power in a short time frame is probably not going to be something, especially when you're only looking to run it for a couple of weeks if you are delayed, probably doesn't make sense to a vendor or to us. So what we would probably look at doing, and we've got enough power on-site right now to do the commissioning, but we wouldn't have enough power to run operations.

23:53 So we can actually start all the commissioning even if power's delayed. By the time we get to first gold. Now power's currently looking we're look we're targeting, in September, mid mid October. We're looking at first gold mid to late December. We've got a full week float there. If that full week gets eaten up and we lose a little bit time on the back end, we will have done all commissioning. The plant will be ready to operate. I don't think power is going to be our biggest issue. I actually think the current geopolitical issues we see across the world, especially in Iran right now, is what's causing or will cause the major delay if there is any delay to the plant. Delivery of the outstanding items that we're still waiting on is the Aleutian Circuit is the main one. That now has to while it should get on the boat at the right time, that may be delayed in terms of its delivery time frame. So they're the issues we're dealing with on a day to day basis. We have looked at options around power, but for the for what you're looking at for the type of diesel generation you would need that you'd have to import to do that for three to four weeks just makes no sense.

25:03 So you'd have to be signing a contract for three to four years, and, again, for us, that makes no sense either. So you're you are caught between a rock and a hard place, and delays like that at that type of scale, you're better off taking the delay than trying to look at contracts which don't make sense. Yeah. Exactly. And this is sort of another question with regards to, you know, more, I think, philosophically around projects and and how how one measures the progress of a project. When we state the fact that we are 50% complete with regards to to project construction, What is that metric? What is the metric behind that that 50% completion? Is it man hours? Is it budget? Is it combination? Is it work work breakdown schedule? What is it exactly? Yeah. It's a work back breakdown schedule to the the greater extent. So every part of the work is broken down from man hours to delivery, whether it's structural steel delivered to site or started direction, whether it's concrete delivered site or poured, whether it's civil works, you know, constructed or not constructed. And each part of those metrics is actually measured and can be measured objectively, not subjectively.

26:13 So we can determine from a survey or a install point of view at what stage each of those are at. And once you put all that together, you can come up with an s curve, which you come up with from a delivery and a cost point of view, and you can match that against what you're you're seeing in the field. And right now, we're right on track. We were when I say right on track, we might be a couple of points in front, but we're definitely not behind. So really right now, from a construction point of view, things look good. It's really the only thing that I see is the the the delivery of some of those procurement items, which might slow us down. But, yeah, it's yeah. There's a it's not an easy question, but it is around the metrics as built into the schedule, and they can be delivered against objectively, and you put all that together to match that against your original delivery schedule to confirm whether you're on or not on schedule.

27:06 Exactly. So now we're gonna just move across The Philippines. A few questions here. I mean, one of the first ones is with regards to when Run Reno will actually come to the end of his life of mine. Clearly, processing will end in December. So that's the end of its life, so to speak. And now we've got a bunch of kind of combined questions with regards to, I guess, what's the cost of restoration of of Run Reno, which, you know, we've stated in the annual report is about $8,250,000 to restore, and what's included within that restoration cost. And and and some of these questions coming through with regards to, clearly, you know, our ambition by 2028 is to have an additional mine in operations. And, therefore, one of our key assets in our portfolio is actually that, you know, 2,000,000 ish ton per annum processing plant at Runruno.

27:59 And what is the cost of dismantling the plant and transporting it to the next asset that we are eyeing up? Yep. Good questions. Runrunner itself, you know, we won awards in country every year for environment, safety community. We've won the President's Award, which is the top award in the country four years in a row. We've won that because we are 95% complete right now with our rehabilitation of the project. Every waste dump, the the rehabilitation of the dump itself is at the advancing phase. Again, there's not much waste left and and most of the dumps are finished. The tailings dam will be in final form by August this year. So we're, again, about 80% complete on building the final spillway into that tailings dam, which is actually a water dam.

28:53 Once it's finally fully constructed, it will be finished as well. That's already built into this year's budget, not the rehabilitation or closure plan because we're already spending the money now. So we are looking, as Max mentioned, there's a there's only a small ticket on the back end of this just to finalize those final, final items that are outstanding. There is a ten year, evaluation or of emissions coming the water quality, and such coming off the mine. We're actually looking at a community group that's going to take over some of the remaining assets, and we'll be paying them a retainer to take those samples, which will get tested as we go. So all of that's built into the money, that's being allowed. It is very cheap closure. It's probably the you know, one of the most advanced I've ever I've ever seen in terms of we're already there, and we're most of the way done.

29:46 With regards to the run Reno plant, the second part of the question, not just the plant, but most of the major facilities. We're currently finalizing a plant for the breakdown for transport and delivery of those to a next site. The breakdown of the plant, including some of the mobile equipment that's not a that's newer rather than older, the mobile maintenance workshops, the warehousing, all the critical spares, we've got a cost for that right now of about 5,000,000 to break that down to port. We're looking at a you know, while we can't book shipping at the moment because we don't know final destination, the storage and delivery of that to port is already in the plan. The leftover infrastructure, which is the camp facilities, the office buildings down in down in the camp location, we're working very closely with the community as a handover for them to set up training facilities.

30:45 They're looking they wanna do some eco tourism. There's a whole range of opportunities that they're looking to take with that existing infrastructure. And we're working closely with them as a handover plan on how that's gonna be handed over for them to generate some economic value into the future with that infrastructure. So the all the plans for not just the closure, but the ongoing sustainability of the the remaining infrastructure and the reuse of the pertinent operating infrastructure are being completed as we speak, and the design, the quotes, and the pricing for that is in place. We're looking at about a a five month breakdown and delivery to port for that that process plant, and we're gonna take every scrap of steel.

31:31 So we're even looking at NDT testing. If the steel doesn't make it to spec, then we'll be buying new steel to fit that those those members. The good thing is the box is the tanks are are huge. They fit into most scenarios, and they're stainless steel, so they're in great condition. So, you know, the the mill itself is not old for a mill. Most of the plants are actually in pretty good nick because it only ran for the twelve years. So, you know, very much looking forward to where it goes, and hopefully, we can announce that sometime soon. But, yes, it's in the plan. We're already doing the design work. We're already doing the plans, we're engaging quotes at the moment for contractors to do that breakdown. Great. So this is the last question on The Philippines, and I think we'll then move back to Nicaragua as the as the questions come through.

32:17 Last question on Philippines is is with regards to supply of diesel, you know, given the fact that that, obviously, the Filipino government when when the Iranian crisis broke out, said that there was, you know, state of emergency on on diesel supply and and whether the company has has suffered from from diesel supply in country. Yeah. No. Not not not whatsoever. We're all suffering from increased costs. Yeah. And, you know, we're looking at ourselves alone, we're looking at 250,000 US increased costs a month just for diesel. However, we've never suffered suffered a supply issue, and most of Philippines hasn't. You know, Australian government also come out with the the same type of statements. And again, Australia hasn't suffered, but we're all suffering on price.

33:03 So at this stage, we haven't seen any ill effects. Supply in the the region has been has been okay, and we're not seeing any, you know, lag or delays in our our shipments. Yep. Okay. So now we're gonna move it to sort of exploration drilling, I guess. Few questions coming in with regards to how many rigs have we got in Nicaragua and and what are they up to. So so rigs on doing infill drilling for for resource definition as well as an, obviously, exploration drilling. Yep. And then, obviously, moving on to, you know, when can we expect to see drilling take place in in at La Gracia and when we can can when can we expect those results? I think we already mentioned that La Gracia drilling will start, you know, essentially within the next month or two. But but I guess with regards to how many rigs in total we've got in country and how those are progressing and and where their focus is.

33:53 Yep. No no issues. So currently, we've got two rigs in country, and we're currently sourcing two more. So we're looking at four rigs that we're out looking right now to get two more rigs to come in. The one of the rigs is a typical standard diamond rig. It does around, you know, if you're lucky, 30 meters a day, which is what is normally output by diamond. The other rig is a combination rig. So it does RC, which is reverse cycle, and diamond. So with regards to RC drilling, you can do a 150 meters a day with that rig, and then you can move to diamond on the back end of it. So for example, we know where the veins are, but we know we've gotta drill, you know, 200 meters of, you know, barren dirt before we get to the first vein set or the first area where we think there's a vein set. So we can drill that in a day or a day and a bit, then change over to diamond and drill at thirty to forty minutes with this rig because it's a bigger rig, a day through the, taking core through the, through the veins themselves. So when you look at a rig and you say, okay. Well, normal diamond rig would have taken a week to drill what we drill in a day.

35:07 That is the difference. When we say we've only got one rig, it's actually performing like two, at least like two rigs, if not more. And that's a big benefit for us. So we've drilled in terms of meters drilled in the last six months compared to what most people would have achieved. They would have had that three to four rigs on-site to do the same type of work. You know, these rigs do exist around the world. Not a lot of people utilize the the benefits of them, but some deposits don't lend themselves to them as well. These deposits we're looking at very much do because they're defined veins in defined areas which are with a lot of waste in between, and that's that's why the the combined rig made a lot of sense to bring in country and start with that. So we are looking for more combined rigs because they make more sense for us in the the type of terrain we are drilling. So the the two extra rigs we're looking at to bring in will be of the same ilk as the the big one we've got at the moment.

36:02 Very good. And now a question, I guess, on on finance. We obviously announced in in one of our last updates that that we have secured, have not drawn down as of yet, a a $30,000,000 prepayment gold facility. Yep. And and and the question really is is is what are the terms of that prepayment facility? Look, I'm I'm not as over that as the CFO, and he's not on the call. But basic terms are we've got this year to pay it out. So it's based on the the run rate of deposit. So if we draw down now, it's paid back within the next six to eight months. The terms the the ticket on it's 4 and a half percent or something close to that. And we are looking just to test the water because we wanna look at this facility longer term as a larger facility once we get Nicaragua up and running, you know, extended over three years at the same type of terms because it's actually very well financed.

37:02 We're looking to start drawing just a small amount against that that prepay in the next month or so. So that's basically what it is. You know, it's a facility that runs to the end of the year. It's a drawdown now, pay later, and the ticket price is about four and a half percent. Very good. Question now about commissioning of of La India. How long will it take from first gold pour to steady state production? So so how long does it take to commission the plant and bring it up to the command? Yeah. It's a it's a good question, and the the answer is how long is a piece of string. But, look, I it's it's a very simple plant, the biggest issue is going to be the the milling circuit. That's really the only thing that's going to take a lot to commission. The rest is just tanks and leaching.

37:51 So the rest is very simple. And, you know, pumps and pump replacements, all those pumps can be tested, individually or in circuit very quickly in the first couple of months before we get there. But it's the milling circuit that I can I you know, I hand on my heart, I can't say exactly how long it will take to get that up and running? Is it a difficult circuit? No. It's a straight through sag to a ball with cyclone. It's not a difficult circuit. We bought brand new motors, gearboxes, and everything for the ball mill. The sag mill's brand new. So as long as we commission them correctly, I think we'll be able to get that up and running in the four weeks that we're currently planning on the back of the first gold pool. So I don't see a long ramp up. It is part of the reason why, though, we've targeted to have only a 100,000 ounces in 2027.

38:38 The plant has capacity to run at 1,800,000 tons a year. So even if we start slow, hitting our yearly target should not be an issue. Excellent. So we got a couple of questions now on how's the company fared with interfacing with the Nicaraguan government, especially with regards to what we see in other countries in South And Central America with with the current US government in place. And then additional question on, you know, have we received final mine permits, which I think essentially talks back to that first question. Yeah. So the answer is the Nicaraguan government are actually being, very easy to work with. How do I why do I say that?

39:24 Because there's no layered bureaucracy. When you're working in Nicaragua, if you need something, you can call the president. When I say the president, I'm talking about people who interface directly with the president, who speak for the president. Right now, the the co presidents, the, they don't do public appearances, and they have people who interface directly and you know, so your decision making is the fastest I've ever seen in any country. So from that point of view, it's an absolute breath of fresh air. What does that mean? It means if they remain stable as a government as it exists right now, then we remain stable as a business running in Nicaragua. In all of these countries, if you do get a change in a change in government, then you do see sometimes power vacuum. You just see a complete shift in ideology. There's a but for me, I see at least the next five to ten years that this government or this this peep the people running this government will be in power. And so therefore, the stay stability we see right now and the stability, that we're achieving and the decision making we're getting out of the government, I see five to ten years of, you know, smooth, stable operations. That's what I see in Nicaragua.

40:41 On the flip side, The Philippines has layer upon layer upon layer of bureaucracy. If you do get a contract, they perform against it. So there's more stability longer term in The Philippines in terms of contracts that are issued. To get the contract takes a lot lot longer. So, you know, you you've got balance up. If you're a quick moving company that looks to move businesses forward rapidly, you want a government that can make decisions quickly whether it's yes or no. You know, fail fast. It doesn't matter. As long as you know where you're going and what's happening, that's what you're looking for. So I actually enjoy working in Nicaragua from that point of view because that you know, the the way it operates gives us access to people who make decisions, and that makes a big difference for a company of our size and a company that wants to move quickly like us.

41:32 Very good. We've just had a couple more questions on Nicaragua come through. Again, this is with regards to to when we made the announcement on obtaining the La Gracia exploration or mining permits. And within those permits, we've we had a couple of additional targets, one of them called Tapasio. Yep. Is there any additional views that you've personally got on Topasio versus the the wider portfolio at Landia? Okay. There's one benefit to Topasio. It's been drilled before. So there is a resource there. Has it come into our portfolio? No. Will it in the future? Maybe. I do think it would be a nice addition to our portfolio. Do I think it's the you know, has the potential of La Gracia?

42:18 No. I think La Gracia has more potential, and I think the wider area around La Grecia has more potential. La Grecia sits on the combination of at least two subduction zones. So where they meet that La Grecia mine is right on top of it. So I do think it has the the large potential, and I'm I'm glad it was the one that, you know, the government has moved over into our portfolio. The issue we've got, in Nicaragua is history. We have a history of holding a lot of tenements and not doing a lot of work and not committing to what we said. We're changing that history. We're proving commitments. We're moving the company forward, but we've still gotta get over that hurdle completely before we'll get full trust on both sides of that fence from the government.

43:08 We are moving that way, and the government is seeing more and more, and the government is coming you know, six, eight months ago, we may not have even got LaGresia. But now they've seen the plants getting built. They're saying we're committing the funds we said, you know, with first company to commit this type of foreign direct investment into the country for a long time. We're getting some airtime, which we may not have got previously. So I look. I'm I'm comfortable with what's happening in Nicaragua, and I do think building that trust and that relationship with the government will lead to long term results beyond what we've already got. However, we've got enough in our portfolio to grow our business there without a doubt. Excellent. Yes. We've we've had some questions come through about how important the project is within the context of the whole necrotic economy, which I believe you've just touched on. Yep. So let's just quickly now move on to a few corporate questions coming through.

44:02 And one of the first ones of those is is why did Kandi reduce their holdings so significantly? And I guess that's in response to the fact that we paid Condor Gold in in shares of of METALS EXPLORATION. So he naturally reduced his his holding by virtue of us issuing shares to Condor Gold, but he's actually bought some additional shares since then. Yep. There is also there was a discussion with Nick and his representative, Steven, on the board when we were looking to you know, on the buyback of, Graham Edwards, we're looking to, m and a and business, looking how we can get more retail and more share growth. There was a a key discussion around Nick getting his portfolio below 29.9% because that then it looked like and and it gave us the position of a company that had more retail, was more, you know, open to to call institutional investors at, you know, at the holding that Nick held prior to that, people wouldn't look at us. Now they are.

45:09 And then on the back of getting to him down under 29%, the Condor purchase pushed his shares down to 22. Nick's a buyer. The Drax Group who bought his shares originally, they're buyers. There's you know, I don't think there's anyone in this business who doesn't see the potential that it's it's generating, and we're all very interested in buying more shares. I've been in closed period for what I feel like three years. However, I'm I'm happy with my holding as well. Very good. And and I guess also just following on on questions with regards to the Condor Gold acquisition. A few questions coming in with regards to the the CVRs, the contingent value rights, and and when those when those might be paid up. So, obviously, there there was two two stages to it.

45:54 The first one being commissioning of of India and and the initial payout being nine months thereafter. And then the second payment being on additional resources being discovered as part of our drilling program. So if you wouldn't mind touching that, that'd be excellent. Yeah. Look. On the two payments, the first one's guaranteed. And as you say, so if you look at nine months, I look at commissioning. If we achieve what we believe, then that payout will be third quarter twenty twenty seven. The second one's very contingent on a growth profile within the, within the basin, and, there's still a long way to go five years before we'll know whether we're going to achieve the answers additional to the resource, or not to ensure that payment gets made.

46:41 So, first payment, I I don't see any issues that will be q three twenty twenty three at sorry, 2027, the second payment. Again, you've got five years, and we'll just have to wait and see how that growth profile comes comes together as we as we grow the resource. So resource will be in two stages just to give people an idea how that works. You know, we started with a certain number. We're drilling, extending that, but we will be mining. So the depletion will also go will remain as part of that that resource up until those five years. Even though we're depleting it, that depletion stays within that resource number as we grow beyond that. So it's the total resource including depletion plus what we add, and, we get to the the prerequisite so that the second CVR is going to be paid.

47:34 Excellent. So then we got some questions on indication of dividend payouts in 2028, which we can't really touch on at this moment in time. It's a bit No. Funny here. Yeah. Look, Helen's piece of string. Let's let's just wait and see, and it's a board decision when we get there. It's it's my that's my plan, and but I still need board recommendation. I still need board approval, and we still need to see where the business is at. You know, everything that we wanna achieve, we've got in our hands to do so, and we're very close to finalizing some other, additions to make that work. But, again, until all of that comes into, fruition, it's very hard to say. Excellent. And I think I think from our side, there's no other material questions that we haven't answered at this point. So I think we've kept it within an hour, which is good effort, Darren.

48:31 Brilliant. Thank you very much for answering all those questions. Before we do ask investors to share their feedback, which I know is important to you, Darren, if I could just ask you for a few closing comments to wrap up with, that'd be great. Yep. Look. I I just wanna say to all those shareholders who have been with us for a long time, thank you. Thank you for following us. I think the results and the the management and the board, we appreciate it. But I think we've also shown that we can deliver for you. For those people who are looking to come in new to the business, the, the analysts are calling it a 33 share price without the next operation, which we wanna put in our books. So, watch your space, guys. We're only gonna grow. We've got the team to do it. We're located in two jurisdictions, which we're very comfortable in, and, we're gonna stick to our land and make sure we can deliver. So we look forward to, the future over the next three years. We look forward to you being part of that journey with us. Thank you.

49:31 Perfect. Thank you, Darren, once again. Ladies and gentlemen, cast that you don't close the session just yet as you'll now be automatically redirected to a page to give your feedback, which helps the company better understand your views and expectations. On behalf of the management team, we'd like to thank you for attending today's presentation. I wish you all a good morning.