Phoenix Copper Ltd. (United Kingdom) (LSE:PXC) — Investor Update

0:01 Good afternoon, and welcome to the PHOENIX COPPER LIMITED Investor Update. Throughout this recorded presentation, investors will be in listen only mode. Questions are encouraged and they can be submitted at any time using the Q and A tab situated on the right hand corner of your screen. Simply type in your questions and press send. The company may not be in a position to answer every question received during the meeting itself. However, the company can review your questions submitted today and publish responses where it is appropriate to do so. Before we begin, I would like to submit the following poll. And I would now like to hand you

0:32 over to the management team from PHOENIX COPPER. Paul, good afternoon to you. Thank you very much, Alex, and hello, everyone. We've got, what looks like a very good turnout. There were at least, over 60 people queuing to come in, so that's much appreciated, and it's a good reflection of the retail following that, Phoenix COPPER has generated. The

0:55 purpose of today's meeting is to make good on a promise that I made to several investors for the AGM who said, we can't make the AGM. Will there be a presentation online? And primarily, the purpose of today's meeting is to share the presentation that Ryan, our CEO, gave at the AGM. This, presentation is largely, about operational matters, and I would really encourage anyone that's got any questions about operational matters to, take advantage of our presence here today and to ask questions during the presentation. Clearly, there is a focus investors have a real focus on the investment that we need in order to bring the mining to production, and I will say a few words about that after Ryan's presentation.

1:46 But, obviously, we are always constrained by the rules of the stock exchange about what we can and cannot say. And, you know, I'm not gonna say anything that is materially new on that on that topic. What I wanted to do in this in this webinar is to give an explanation of all the operational work that's gone on over the last twelve months and to give you a sense of the optimism that we feel in the company about the prospects for the Empire mine going forward. And so with that said, I will hand over in a moment to Ryan. First of all, I will just go through the disclaimer slide, which is the the standard disclaimer that you've probably seen if you've watched any of these presentations before, that we're here to inform. But do do read read the slide and the disclaimer. We're not saying anything materially new, and we're here just to give you information about the PHOENIX COPPER project.

2:43 And with that said, I will hand over to Ryan, our CEO in Idaho. Thanks, Paul. Welcome, everybody. So before I get started on the operational end of this presentation, I know the the what's on the forefront, I think, of everybody's mind, and that is the funding for the Empire project in Mackay. So couple of months ago, we issued a news release that we had signed an LOI with an accredited US investor for the full 75,000,000 that we need for capital for the Empire mine. Details on that as we issued in the news release $30,000,000 initial drawdown and then complete the investment with two additional drawdowns as we need them.

3:39 This particular, excuse me, this particular investor has been very consistent in their messaging with us. We we speak to them at least once a week, if not multiple times a week. They have asked for our patience. They are getting this done.

4:00 And I wanna let everybody know that there's there's nobody more anxious and excited than the PHOENIX team to get this over the line, me included. There might be a few of you on the line there that that are equally as excited, but I don't think anybody's more excited than we are. We believe this is a good sound investor. Again, they've been very consistent in all of their messaging to us, but this is a big deal. So we need to be patient and give it the appropriate time to close. So move on to operations. So in 2024, we issued for the the first time in the history of the Empire project, a qualified reserve statement.

4:48 That reserve includes copper, gold, and silver. That and for a total of of 66,000 metric tons of metal over an eight and a half year mine life. That that is in the open pit. And having a qualified reserve statement is a big deal. Essentially, what that means is that the metal in the ground, we have shown to be, economically viable to extract and sell. So that that was quite a quite a milestone for us in 2024.

5:26 We included an economic model in the PFS. Well, we so we after the reserve was completed, our consultants completed a a prefeasibility study and a very comprehensive study. It included everything from from reserves, metallurgy, environmental. That document is posted on our website as you all know. I encourage everybody to go through it. It really does. It's an all encompassing report. Included in that report, is the economic model, which basically takes the reserve metal, incorporates all of the operating and capital costs, and gives us an idea of what we can expect for cash flow at the end of the project.

6:14 And as you can see on the slide, pretax $152,000,000 over that eight and a half year mine life. That is that is a robust number, keeping in mind that the metal prices used, for this were significantly lower to well, today, obviously, gold and silver have have increased significantly since this was done. We have not recalculated reserves with new metal prices. We won't do that until we're we're in the final stages of final engineering, which we hope to be later do later this year. But with the with the metal prices that were used in 2024, this project cash flows very well as you can see on the screen.

7:09 So let's talk about how we're gonna get there with the mind and the process. And I'm gonna make this figure a little larger so I can see it. So the big change or modification for us with the with the mine and the process was in 2024 when we decided to move from a a copper heap leach operation to a milling operation. What that did for us, it makes it easier to recover gold and silver. We maintain copper recovery. At the same time. Most importantly, it reduces the footprint of the the overall operation.

7:58 In fact, it reduces it small enough that the the processing facility will reside on private property,

8:07 which is here. This is the private property boundary. And the open pit, in fact, will be on private property, which is which is here. Very significant in many ways. You can see the distance between the the open pit and the process, but not very far. That shorter haulage distance and before so that everybody knows the the the heap leach that we had planned was gonna be down in this area. So significant difference. That that drives, more economic costs. We have shorter haul distance, we can use smaller trucks, use less, less diesel fuel, and actually use fewer trucks because of that that turnaround time between the pit and the processing facility.

9:06 So that that that is quite significant. That change in process design, it has made a a quite a favorable difference in economics. And and I think it will also make a difference in in permitting. Agencies like the fact that we're gonna use the private property that we have and and have a much smaller much smaller footprint on public land.

9:38 Next slide. So to give you an okay. Kind of an idea if we zoom in, let me back up one. So the area in this next slide is this area here.

9:55 So what this shows, this shows the the pit. Actually, there's two pits. The milling operation, which again is very close to the pit. Excuse me. The the dry stack tailings area and the waste rock facility. This is a very nice tight compact operating group and, again, will benefit us from an operating cost standpoint. So let me zoom this up.

10:33 This is the this diagram is in the PFS, but it essentially goes through the new process, flow. Starts with simple crushing, goes to grinding. Here's a picture of a ball mill. We as everybody's aware, we we purchased the ball mills that we needed. They're currently residing in Mackie, but this gives you an idea of of kinda what they look like at least in a cartoon.

11:00 Or we'll come out of the out of the grinding circuit into three stage flotation. A copper, gold, silver concentrate will be generated and will be readily saleable downstream of that flotation circuit.

11:20 The the tails from the flotation will go into a copper cementation circuit, just here, and result in a second in a second saleable product, which is cement copper. This is very simple design, a very favorable footprint again. It it lands on private property, a 100% on private property.

11:47 And it really it really simplifies the process in terms of the haulage distance. So let's talk about the road map. How do we get from where we are today to where we wanna be with the mine in production?

12:12 So we have to, obviously, have to finish permitting. And the the permit that we submitted or the permit document that we submitted for the heap leach, about 90% of that document still applies to what we're doing with this new process. So once we finish the the last of the detailed engineering, which, again, as soon as we're funded, and we're assuming that'll be we're we're hoping that that'll be soon, We can get that exercise done at the end of this year. And the the permitting document itself will be as simple as updating the the process design and resubmitting to the agency. Once it's resubmitted to the agency, people ask how long is it gonna take.

13:00 It takes as long as it takes. We we have simplified this process. We're proposing to operate mostly on on private land So that that should significantly shorten the the the entire process.

13:16 I will talk about construction a little bit. As you're all aware, we purchased quite a bit of the equipment that we're gonna use on the hill, including a full laboratory, ball mills, tails filtration circuit. All of those things are in Mackie. So you can see from the picture on this slide, they're properly staged and properly stored. So they're just waiting for for us to really begin construction, and we'll transport those items up onto the hill. Once construction is complete and we're in production, we're looking at about 4,000 tons of ore per day, and that's oxide ore from the open pit

14:00 processed through through this mill. I'll repeat again, two payable streams, a concentrate stream that contains copper, gold, and silver, and then a final copper cementation stream that will contain a a fair fairly high quality copper product.

14:23 I'll point out, and we'll get into this a little bit further in the presentation. We also have, you know, good prospect of additional sulfide ore in the vein system that resides underneath the pit. The processing facility that we're building will be capable of processing that material as well so we can feed it feed it at the same time that we're processing oxide.

14:46 What that means is so it would if if we can develop a second ore body in the vein system, that would be developed and wouldn't require the CapEx required for its own for its own processing facility. It could use the one that's already built for the open pit.

15:11 So the the the vein system at Empire sits below the pit in a series of high angle faults. It's that vein system that was mined extensively between, the early nineteen hundreds and 1942. We have a number of US geological survey reports from that time. We also have smelter records and sale records, for metals pre 1942. So we have a pretty good idea of what the the grades in that vein system were, and they they reported as high as, 88% or higher with average grades being in the three and a half to 4% range.

16:01 Now this is important. We drilled that one portion of the vein system a couple years ago with with our own contractors' core core drilling equipment. We assayed, sampled, assayed that core ourselves in a third party lab. And what resulted were were copper grades exceeding 8%. That's very significant in that we were able to confirm the grades that were reported historically. And secondly, the location of of those intercepts with the drill rig were a bit deeper and well away laterally from any of the existing workings. And what that means is that that metal still exists in the ground.

16:51 They didn't exploit it or get to it prior to 1942, and it gives us a good a good target to to further underground exploration. It's a known location with copper grades higher than 8%. So pretty we're we're we're quite excited about it. We intend to perform that exploration from underground, drive our own tunnel, build our own drill stations.

17:19 It can be drilled from the surface, but it's not very effective to do so. There's approximately nine miles of underground workings, drive, stopes, crosscuts, and trying to drill from surface through all those underground workings to intercept the vein system below those workings is a bit like trying to push a chopstick through a bowl of spaghetti without the chopstick touching any of the spaghetti. It's a challenge.

17:49 So if we drive underground, we get a pretty clear view of the vein system, and we'll have unobstructed drilling once we get below those old workings. We'll talk for a minute about some of the other other prospects that we have. Red Star Red Star is located Northwest of Empire. We drilled that in 2019, and our consultant was confident enough in that drilling to build a a

18:28 inferred mineral resource, copper, gold, silver again with some lead, some zinc, 114,000 metric tons containing no. You can see all the metal values there. Significant amount of metal for a for a a small underground. This Red Star is probably an extension of the vein system, and it is fairly near surface. So it gives us another another good idea of the genetics of the of the vein system and and how it's distributed in three dimensions. Another project we have is Navarre Creek.

19:14 It's primarily a gold target. It sits about four miles northwest of of the Empire Open Pit. We drilled it a couple years ago. It's a very, very large area, 4,000 acres. So we tested a number of targets with twenty eight twenty eight drill holes. And this is what one of the targets look like. These are not extremely high grades, but they are very consistent, and they have defined defined clearly defined this zone here. And once we're funded, we we intend to to get back to Navarre Creek in time. Empire's first priority, but continue to follow-up on this. These are these are all of the targets at Navarre Creek are exciting and this one in particular.

20:15 Back to the beginning. So that that really completes my part of the the operational update. Paul, I'll turn it back to you. Perfect. Yes, Ryan. Paul, if I may just jump back in there. And thank you very much indeed for your presentation. Ladies and gentlemen, please do continue to submit your questions using the q and a tab situated on the top right corner of your screen. While the company take a few moments to review those questions submitted today, I would like to remind you that a recording of this presentation along with a copy of the slides and the published q and a can be accessed via your investor dashboard. Ryan, Paul, as you can see, we have received a number of questions from investors today. And, Paul, if I may, I'll hand back to you and kindly ask you to read out the questions where appropriate to do so, and I'll pick up from you at the end. Oh, sorry, Paul. You are muted there. Hold on. Let me just turn your microphone back on.

21:09 Perfect. Thank you. Alright, Paul? Thank you. I think a lot of people might prefer it when I'm muted, but we've had quite a lot of questions. And rather than go through them one at a time because that quite a lot of them are on matters that they repeat each other quite a lot. People obviously have common concerns, and some of them want things that we can't talk a huge amount about. But, let me try and take them in in groupings because there are quite a lot of questions about, about certain recurring topics. I think one thing is obviously we've had quite a lot of questions about NIU Invest who were the, investors that we signed an agreement with in May 2024, to fund this project.

22:01 And as people will be aware, we drew down an initial 5,000,000 from NIU Invest and subsequent requests for drawdowns were not met with payments from from NIU Invest. And so we have we took the view that we would look for alternative sources of funding, which is which is what we've done. And it would not really be appropriate to say anything more on that matter, that that that's really all all we can say in relation to in relation to that episode. There are a few other questions about the amount of cash in hand that we have at the moment, and they stem in part, and a couple of the questions make reference to this, from a, bit of wording in the annual report from our auditors, referring to the company's need for cash this month.

23:01 And the reason for that, that need in in accounting terms is because we have a facility with, Riverfort that is due to expire at the end of of this month. And it will come as no surprise to anyone that, we are in discussions with Riverfort and fully expect to, extend that facility. We've always had a good relationship with Riverfort and have used them several times before, and do not anticipate at present, any issues in that regard. In more general matters, we have really, reduced the expenditure of the company significantly so we can have as long of runway as possible.

23:48 Because as Ryan said earlier, we are very confident about the investor that we have that we've been in discussions with. We've he's proven to be someone who of his word. We've he comes with good recommendations. He's doing exactly what he said he would. And in response to one specific question we've been asked, we probably did make an error in suggesting that that the transaction would be tied up by July because that was simply something that was not in our in our control. We thought in good faith that it that it would be, but I think we've learned our lesson, and we're not going to place time scales on matters that we that we cannot control anymore.

24:35 So, you know, all we can say about the investor is is to reiterate what Ryan said earlier and what I've just repeated, that we're very happy. We're very confident. He's saying all the right things, but, you know, we're not gonna speculate on when the documentation may be signed. One other just general point, which I've been asked a question about the cost of the cop copper bonds. They are linked to the price of copper. And so from our perspective, the best thing that could happen to the price of copper is that it stays at a good level until we've got our investor fully signed up, then we're quite happy for it to drift until we're in production, and then we'd like for it to go through the roof once we're in production.

25:30 So, you know, I know a lot of our investors possibly, look at the price of copper, you know, every day. And, really, it's it's relevant to us, of course. We're gonna be a copper producing company, but it's not something that we want the price of copper to fly away at the moment because, you know, the interest payments that we make will be linked to the price of copper. There was one question about the exploration costs for the if we were to drill into the sulfides. And Ryan can probably answer that more more fully than I can, but my understanding, and and Ryan will correct me, I'm sure, is the most important thing when you're doing any sort of exploration like that is to allow, more money than you think it's going to cost so that you you budget an amount that you are sure that you are going to be able to complete the project, within. So I think as a general rule of thumb, if, we would be looking to allow something in the region of $5,000,000 for the cost of drilling in and out of the adit, hoping that it would actually cost a little bit less than that.

26:49 I don't know if you've got any words on that, Ryan, or any views on how long that drilling into the adit would take? Yeah. Well, firstly, the part of the $75,000,000 investment package with this US investor, $55,000,000 of that 75,000,000, it has been earmarked for for exploration of the vein system. Because we haven't driven a a tunnel on the property in the past, We don't know exactly what to expect as far as ground control goes. Although, because the the existing working seem to be standing up quite well over time, we wouldn't expect a lot of problems.

27:35 But $5,000,000 should easily allow us to advance a tunnel, build multiple drilling stations, and kinda initially drill between ten and fifteen thousand feet of core in multiple directions from from those drill stations. So it would be a it will be a significant exploration exercise. We have received another question relating to the processing facilities and how the the the sort of schedule expected for them. And it it touches on a couple of issues.

28:20 First of all, it refers to the expectation that we may be able to use used equipment for some of our processing items. And and then it asks about the difficulty of perhaps incorporating those within a full scope EPC and asking whether we have a preferred contractor and whether we could give a little idea of the the schedule for the whole process, really, of going from design to to commissioning. I suppose the the first part of that is in relation to used equipment and the degree to which the project as now designed largely uses standardized equipment is is is my understanding.

29:08 That's correct. So when you consider that this will be about 4,000 tons per day with processing facility being cited very near the pit, we'll talk about rolling stock first. Our engineers have told us that that we can we can use articulated 45 ton haul trucks, which happened to be the most commonly used, excuse me, haul trucks in the general construction industry in The US, so they are readily available. The again, our consultants provided us with a complete capital items list that was in 2024.

29:57 We we went through the exercise of locating all of the items on that list. The ones that we intend to purchase and used are all low are are all purchasable within about 500 mile radius of Mackie. Again, it's it's very common very common equipment. For those of you who are interested, we're not gonna we're not gonna spec used equipment for everything. We're gonna purchase new pumps, piping, things like that. There there are some pieces of equipment that it's very important arrive new and that we that we construct new. But, yeah, we we have determined that that procuring this equipment is not gonna be a problem because of its size, and it is all located very near Idaho.

30:51 And as far as piecing it together, you know, that's why we hired a good engineering firm to put that whole plan together. So they ensured for us that all of those parts and pieces, if if purchased the way that they designated, will essentially fit together and be functional. And and we wouldn't do it any other way. There there's no sense in building a a mine and a processing facility and, commissioning it and having it not not operate. No. And that and that goes in a sense to a question that we've had. Someone's asked what budget for '26 do we have for the non empire projects?

31:36 And and there's another one in relation to Navarre Creek and, you know, what the plans really are for there. And I think you've answered that in the sense that in in the 75,000,000, we've got an allowance for the exploration into the sulfides. But other than that, our focus at the moment is solely on the Empire pit that Navarre Creek is a project for the future. Red Star is a project also for the future, but not as far away as Navarre Creek, which is much earlier stage. But, assuming we get the funding away, which would as I said, we're very confident about, then, the focus is entirely on Empire. We're we're using that funding to get Empire into production, and we're gonna be laser focused on that.

32:29 That's right. So the one question which should be easy to answer, has anything changed in the price of equipment in general as a result of Donald Trump's commandment that that dig baby dig baby dig? Well, I I think as everyone's figured out the the current administration and all the things that they're doing, prices are up, down, and sideways. As far as used equipment goes, no. Prices over the past year have not changed significantly. I noticed one one question that was pre submitted talked about the the pre feasibility operating costs that we put together in the cash flow, how those have changed over the year. That's a very good question.

33:22 Really, the the the three most important operating costs to keep in mind are diesel fuel, labor, and sulfuric acid for the cementation circuit. Diesel fuel in the past year has actually gone down in price about 30¢. The price of acid has increased two tenths of a percent over the last year, and labor is largely unchanged. The fourth thing that I'll mention is electricity. We're fortunate that that in Idaho, majority of the electricity generated here is from hydroelectric. So we we never see very large bumps in in electricity costs. We will also be the the benefactor of of a commercial utility rates.

34:15 So electricity has not increased significantly in the past year. So to answer the question about impact to to the cash flow model. Yeah, sulfuric acid's gone up a little bit. But keep in mind, that cash flow model, as I mentioned before, was based on much lower gold and silver prices. And in the past years, everyone's aware that the price of gold and silver has skyrocketed. So we will easily make up for for the increase in any of those operating costs. Good. And and that's one question which I think is a variation of of a question a lot of people are asking, which is should all go well with funding, when do you anticipate being in production? And and I think that was covered in in one of the slides earlier, but I will I will say a a few words on that. The first the first thing is that we are, a bit sort of once bit and twice shy about giving time scales because often we're not in control of them, and people have criticized us previously for being overoptimistic.

35:24 But the question asked, you know, if the funding comes in in a reasonable case scenario, our our real target immediate target this year is to, get our permit application in before the end of the year that we need to, get a bit of funding to engage the various consultants that we have working for us, and they're they're excellent consultants, get them to work up the current model into a final plan of operations, fully fully written out engineering plan, which isn't a huge amount of work, but will take a little bit of time. We want to get that application in by the end of the year, give the authorities time to look at that next year, and we would be hopeful that we would get the permit back, be fully permitted next year, but there's no guarantees about that. That that that, again, that's a process that depends very much on, you know, what the response to the public consultation is.

36:27 One of the questions actually specifically asked about the views in Mackay towards the mine, and I think it's fair to say that they are very positive in the local community, that we have done a lot of work with the the KCAT initiative to support the local community and to explain what we're doing. And Mackay is very much a a mining town with a mining heritage that would welcome the economic opportunities and the jobs that Empire could bring to the community. It could be really transformative to the town, which, currently, the the restaurant there, the bars, they are on very reduced hours. It it needs a bit more economic activity, and I think all the locals would encourage it. So it it has a lot of local support, but that there's no guarantee that that translates into getting a quick permit. There's lots of reasons why this project should be permitted, but that's just something that's out of our control.

37:30 And among those reasons why it should be permitted are are the bits that Ryan was referring to earlier about the size of the footprint for the operation, for the processing, which is now very small and almost entirely on private land. So, really, from a permitting point of view, the focus is largely going to be on the tailings and and the access road. And there's no there's no reason why the permit shouldn't be obtained next year. But until it's there, we don't know who might object on on what terms. But assuming that happens, we're looking at coming into production in 2027. That's the that's the sort of the realistic target, but it comes with all those caveats. And those caveats aren't me looking for excuses. They're just being honest about the things that we cannot control.

38:21 What we need to control and what we need to make sure happens is that we get that permit application in as soon as possible. I don't know, Brian, whether you got anything to to add add to that. But No. I think you summarized it very well. The the the federal permitting process moves at the speed that the that the agencies move. Yes. We we our team will will ensure that any questions that are asked by the agencies are answered quickly and that we're always available, but certain portions of that process, we we cannot control. Yes. Exactly. Now, again, we've got a few questions, several questions about has the investor made a site visit yet or when that that might happen.

39:13 And the simple answer is that that we do not know if the site visit is necessary. As I say, he's been introduced to us by someone who knows the company well and who has carried out who has been on-site several times. It is something that we put in the AGM as one of the things that we expected to happen. But, actually, it it's something that I think investors and I I fully understand this. Why investors? Because we said it. Investors have attached a lot of importance to it, but it is not something that we think is material either way. That that he may say, I want to come and and visit the site before signing up. He he might not. He might be happy to rely on the fact that, you know, the the project clearly exists and that other people have seen it, and, you know, he's got all the video and photo evidence.

40:06 So I'll just say it's something that people really should not need to be hung up about one way or another. But we have had a lot of a lot of questions about it. And I think, you know, the company has to take a little bit of the blame for perhaps suggesting that the the site visit was one of the conditions precedent. It may be. It it may not be. As as Ryan said earlier on, the investor has always said to us he has another project which he has undertaken to his investors he will complete first before moving his attention fully onto PHOENIX. That project is now, we understand, close to completion. There was actually news in the public domain last week in relation to that project.

40:53 And he will, in due course, you know, move his attention fully to PHOENIX. But whether that's, you know, this week or next week, whether he needs one site visit, two or zero, it's just I don't think it's particularly helpful to speculate too much about that, I think. All we can say is that we are in frequent contact with him and feel very positive about the relationship. Again, we've been asked quite a few questions about, you know, what else can we tell you about the investor. The answer is not a great deal, but he does have a lot of experience in projects of this sort. Finally, we've had a few questions about various plan b's if if if the investor doesn't doesn't work out. We're always looking at plan b's.

41:47 You know, we are always looking at the options available to us. And in particular, you know, we are looking at options that do not involve equity issuance. The last thing we want to do, and again, I say this because people have raised the concerns, is to have issue shares at the current at the current level. That sort of ties in the sense of question the that we've had now. Why is the share price so low? It's chicken and egg. The share price is low because, obviously, I think there's an excess of speculation about whether we will or will not get funding. And this has obviously been going on for a couple of years, so I fully understand why people are nervous. But we just need now to let this play out. As I say, you know, we are we're confident.

42:41 Can't say that too many times, but that's the truth. I'm just looking through the questions seem to be coming as fast as I speak. So I'm just gonna take a moment just to make sure that we've said everything that we we can say. I think I think one important point is that, you know, we are keen to communicate to investors. And I think I accept that we've been a little bit lax over that in the last in the last couple of years. And it and it's a bit chicken and egg that at the same that time we're talking about funding all the time, those conversations, obviously, both market sensitive and confidential with potential investors. So, you know, it's just important to appreciate the fact we can't talk about these things doesn't mean that we're being secretive or that we have anything to hide. It's just the the rules of the market. And and, you know, it's much easier for us to talk about operational matters and then to we can talk about the funding when it's done.

43:56 Right. I think I think that's pretty much it. We've there there are 51 questions there. And I think I've answered we've answered pretty much all of the ones that we can can do. Oh, there is one actually that's just come in about the do we still own 80% of Empire? And if so, will the minority interest be able to raise their share of the required funding? So, Ryan, you're probably more up to date with with me on this, but, I mean, my yeah. What's what's the the position there with that that the 20% interest that XGen have in there? We we still we Phoenix still owns 80% of the project. That has not changed.

44:43 Yep. Yeah. So that said, and I and I think we're looking to raise we're looking to raise enough money to bring the project into into production. That's that's that's the key thing that we're not gonna find ourselves in in a position where we've got 80% and we haven't got the 20%. So we're we're looking to raise the full amount, and then we will sort it out the the corporate structure later on. I mean, our our aim, let's be clear, is to bring Empire into production using the bond financing that we think we are, you know, on the cusp of securing. That's great, Paul. Ryan, thank you for addressing those questions from investors today. And, of course, the company can review all questions submitted today, and we'll publish those responses in the investment company platform.

45:33 But, Paul, before I redirect investors to provide you with their feedback, which I know is particularly important to the company, could I please just ask you for a few closing comments? Yes. I mean, first of all, thank you very much to Investment Me company for giving us this platform, and and thank you all for attending. It's it's been a very good turnout, and I hope that you found it a useful, a a useful session. Two points that I want to make is that, first of all, the reason for this, as we said in advance, was to make good on the promise that we made before the AGM. And the second one is that I know it's in the nature of investors to worry, but I want you just to take away the fact that we've been in discussions with this investor for some time. As Ryan said, we talk to them all the time, and, you know, we are very positive about it.

46:22 We we think this is an exciting time for the company. We clearly need to finalize arrangements. No one's disputing that. But if we can do that and we feel positive about that, then really we are at the cusp of a new dawn for PHOENIX and potentially, you know, an exciting few years. So, hopefully, we've managed to convey some of that enthusiasm and excitement to you. Paul, Ryan, thank you once again for updating investors today. Could you please ask investors not to close this session as you will now be automatically redirected to provide your feedback in order that the board can better understand your views and expectations. This will only take a few moments to complete, and I'm sure will be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of PHOENIX COPPER LIMITED, we would like to thank you for attending today's presentation, and good afternoon to you all.