Sylvania Platinum (LSE:SLP) — Interim Results

0:02 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the SYLVANIA PLATINUM LIMITED Interim Results Investor Presentation. Situated on the right hand corner of your screen. Please just simply type in your questions and press send. The company may not be in a position to answer every question it receives during the meeting itself. However, the company can review all questions submitted today, and we'll publish those responses where it is appropriate to do so. Before we begin, as usual, we would just like

0:32 to submit the following poll. If you could give that your kind attention, I'm sure the company would be most grateful. And I would now like to hand you over to the executive management team from SYLVANIA PLATINUM LIMITED. Yako, good afternoon, Good afternoon, Jake, and thank you very much. And also welcome to everybody who's joining us for this interim results presentation. Myself and Luanne Carmanati, our CFO, will be taking you through our results for this past half year and, also, at the end, answer some some of the questions that you might have. If I just start and we carry on to the for those of you who might not be familiar with SYLVANIA PLATINUM, we are a cash generative dividend paying mid tier mining company that has been in operation for just about seventeen years now.

1:28 And over the years, we have attempted to ensure that we remain a low risk, low cost business. And through continuous focus on our on safe and profitable production, We made sure that we maintain both maintain and strengthen our operating license in order for us to create sustainable cash generative businesses and which is a key enabler for us to pursue further growth and also to return attractive value to shareholders, which I hope we will able to demonstrate for you during this presentation. In terms of what the business consists of, most of the results we will be discussing now and and all the revenue and profit generated is currently coming from the six dump operations that we have in our portfolio.

2:20 These are operations situated at host mines, treating a combination of chrome tailings, historic chrome tailings, well as fresh current rising or tailings from the current mine mining operations as well as run of mine material at our Lenox and Moinouye operations. At the current status of our our operations, we don't derive a a chrome revenue from these six operations, but that is changing with the addition of our attractive new Tava joint venture operation that we're adding, which is situated on the north of the West end of the Bushveld Complex. And through this operation, we are now introducing a very attractive diversified current revenue stream that we will discuss a bit more about as we go late in the presentation.

3:14 Besides our cash generating dump operations, we also have a number of lucrative exploration assets on the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex. And although these are in early stage exploration and which and and I'll touch on them a bit later, they do offer some attractive optionality in terms of future growth potential for the company. And full spread project to the South is our most advanced of these assets, and then we have Aurora and Accra to the North. If we look at just the overview of the results for this past half year, I'm very happy with the sustained performance in in a still very challenging market environment. That's not exclusive to SYLVANIA, but focusing on the factors under our control, we were able to post very attractive and and positive results for the period. I think first of all, from a production point of view, we I'm I'm very happy that the thirty nine thousand three hundred ninety eight forty ounces we've produced was a 3% improvement on the corresponding period in the previous financial year, but more importantly, was also ranking amongst the top three half year performances for the company to date.

4:34 And that, together with a slight improvement in the PGM basket price that improved about 6% on the corresponding period, we have managed to get positive financial results. Our net revenue of R47,600,000 was a 17% increase, and the group EBITDA of $99,000,000 was a 36% increase on the corresponding period in the previous financial year. And this enabled us to maintain a strong cash position of and still with no debt or any pipeline financing, which put us in an optimal position to weather a weak price environment and also to pursue all our operational optimizations and growth opportunities while continuing to return value to shareholders. And, you know, to while I'm talking about value to shareholders, I'm pleased to announce that despite the the challenging PGM price environment during the period, and significant capital, commitments for the year, particularly related to Tawba and the execution around our tailings dams, the board has approved a interim dividend for the half year of 0.75p for ordinary share.

5:46 So, overall, I think this the the declaration of the dividend in combination with the share buybacks we conducted in the period, I think, serves as a commitment of the company to our shareholders that we are committed to returning value wherever possible.

6:05 If we turn now, I just did operations in particular. I think I've already mentioned that it was one of our best half year performances, and the the primary enabler during this period was the 17% higher PGM feed grade we have had. And that was primarily because of improved feed quality of the material at our host mines at Quefontein and Moinwe. Also, the higher grade third party material that we are sourcing and treating at our eastern operations as well as the new higher grade current rising stream that we have been receiving at the SETI and that started to come in since October last year. The PGM feed tons was slightly down on the corresponding period, and the key contributors there is primarily related to Moinui who had slightly lower dump feed tons related to hydro mining challenges over the installation and also related to rain, which we since have addressed, and it's been resolved. And then also, we had quite a significant stop during August last year at Lesedi where we had a strategic twenty four day stoppage as part of our optimization strategy to reassess and reposition Lesedi for the treatment of alternative dump material and to ensure that the plant would be able to accommodate the new current surrounding feed source from the host mine.

7:36 And then finally, although recovery was slightly down from the previous corresponding period, it is still in line with our expectations and our business plan for the year and and and primarily related to a blend of feed material. I think finally, looking at the Tava JV progress, and we still expecting the Tava JV to commission and commence production from about April, May in in this year. And although there's not a significant contribution in 2025 already because of the ramp up, you can see the green bar at the top of the profiles in '26 and '27 when steady state production comes in. So on the back of the robust performance for the first half year and also the the other focus areas and trends we're seeing in in the operations, we have upped our guidance production guidance for the year in to 75,000 to 78,000 ounces from the year from the 73,000 to 76,000 ounces we had previously, and we're confident that that's both a realistic and achievable target.

8:45 Without going on or discussing too much detail on the specific focus areas, I think it's just important from an operational stability point of view that we have concluded the two year wage deal during December at both our eastern and western operations respectively. So which which is is very positive for us. And then also from power supply point of view, we have not had any SCOM related load curtailment or load shedding at any other operations since about March 24. And I think the operational focus area, most notably, there is just the the SED operation that is now receiving this additional feed source, the higher grade current risings from those mine after they recommissioned a run up mine plant at those mine. So we look forward into to the out to all the contribution of that during the year.

9:40 I'm gonna hand over to to Anne just now to take us through the financial results, and then I'll talk a bit more about the other projects. Thanks, Jakub. I'm just going to briefly go through the financial results for the half year ended 12/31/2024. We're pleased with the production performance resulting in the dumps generating $47,600,000 net revenue for the six months against 40,800,000 in the corresponding prior period. This is a 17% improvement and as a result of the increased production as well as the higher basket price. Our cost of sales increased 18%. This includes direct and indirect operating costs as well as corporate allocations and noncash expenses.

10:31 The direct costs are detailed in the next slide and account for the bulk of the increase. Indirect operating costs decreased period on period. However, depreciation increased as a result of increased plant infrastructure, namely the Lanex and Tufintaine m f two plants and the Lesedi Rum plant that came online during the reporting period. The company's royalty tax reduced due to increased CapEx resulting in a lower percentage payable. Other income includes scrap sales and other expenses is mainly the g and a expenses for the corporate SA office as well as the parent entity. Finance income includes interest received on funds invested as well as interest on loans receivable, and the corporate tax rate remained unchanged at 27% of taxable profits generated in South Africa.

11:33 As I mentioned on the previous slide, the increase in revenue was as a result of the increased production and higher metal prices compared to the first half of the financial year 2024, with prices contributing $5,700,000 and ounces an additional $1,000,000 revenue. If we look at the costs, table at the bottom right of the slide shows a breakdown of direct operating costs for the reporting period, both in rents and US dollars. The largest costs remain labor, power, and consumables, as well as the cost of acquiring third party material for our Eastern operations, and that commenced in the latter part of the prior year. The SDO cash cost per ounce is estimated at $810 per ounce for the full financial year, and that's translating the at an average exchange rate for the second half of the year of R18.30 to the dollar, and the first six months was an actual of R17.94.

12:36 As I mentioned, the acquisition of the third party material to extend the life of the operations does come at an increased cost, and this impacts the direct operating costs by about eight to 10%. The current contract for that third party material is until June 30, but we are in discussions to potentially extend this contract further extending the life of some of the operations in the East. So we've estimated our cost per ounce or cash cost per ounce for 2026 and 2027, and that does not include the third party material. So despite the increasing costs for the year, we are very pleased that SYLVANIA remains in the lower percentile of the industry cost curve, and this is inclusive of our increase in capital spend on both the Talbot JV and the Tailings dams.

13:33 If we take a look at the EBITDA, we reported an EBITDA of $9,900,000 for the six months to December 31, a 36% improvement on the corresponding prior year. The estimate for the full year is slightly above $20,000,000 and this is based on the company's internal consensus pricing for the second half of the year. We have run sensitivities on this consensus pricing and we've also reduced the chrome price forecast to $220 per tonne to which we also apply temp sensitivity as you can see in the graph. And as we've done in the past, we've included the Panorolivarium and Nedbank price forecasts. The details of these individual prices can be found at the end of the presentation on Slide 39.

14:22 The 2026 and 2027 EBITDA includes estimated attributable earnings from Taba for both PGMs and Crome as well as the increased current arisings at the Lesedi plant.

14:42 The group has continued to maintain a strong balance sheet for the period even though the cash balance has reduced due to capital projects. And one of the main reasons that the board retained surplus cash reserves was to be able to fund these larger scale growth projects. So the reduction in our cash is not unexpected. As in when we have further projects that materialize, we hope to be able to find any cash portions of of these projects with existing funds. During the period, the group generated $11,500,000 from operations and spent $17,700,000 on capital, and this includes $10,000,000 attributable to our capital. We also received a refund on provisional taxes paid and paid out $3,300,000 in dividends in December, which was the final one p dividend declared for the 2024 financial year.

15:41 The capital for the second half of the financial year is estimated at about $25,000,000 and together with the 17 already spent, the total for the year will be slightly lower than the $46,000,000 previously communicated. The largest spend remains our tailings dams, the central filtration plant, as well as the Ktava JV. For the 2027 financial year, the largest capital spend is currently forecast on the tailings dams. So in an environment where prudent cash use of cash is key, we are pleased that the board has declared an interim dividend of 0.75p per ordinary share.

16:28 This dividend coupled with the recent share buyback in which the company has acquired $1,700,000 million shares in the market to date is a return of $3,300,000 to shareholders for the financial year so far. The capital allocation split between dividends, share buybacks and growth into strategic projects is carefully considered on a regular basis to ensure that we are returning value to shareholders, but also building a sustainable business. We'll continue to prioritize these stakeholder needs and meet these as best we can.

17:09 And back to Yaku now to have a look at the growth opportunities and projects. Thank you, LIMITED. And now to discuss, you know, the performance over the past period, I think it's good as well to look forward to our growth projects, and I'll just take you through some of our most strategic projects. I think first up is and the most significant significant of our growth projects at the moment and the next to come into production is our TALV JV, which is in collaboration with our partners at the Limbo Pro Mine. And this project represent a significant and exciting diversification in terms of our commodity profile and in the sense that it now adds a significant Chromite revenue stream to the business as I've mentioned earlier.

17:56 And this JV also combined the proven expertise in PGM recovery of SYLVANIA with our JV partners' extensive experience in chrome operations, particularly in fine chrome beneficiation, which poised to deliver low cost chrome and PGM concentrates, leveraging the strength of both companies. So in terms of project execution and operational readiness on the Taba project, I'm pleased that everything is the project is currently on schedule with all phases progressing well, and we are still expecting first production from April to May 2025. If we just look at what the project means to the bottom line of SYLVANIA, so it's as I mentioned earlier, it's a 50% JV partnership.

18:48 So the Java JV project at steady state will contribute about 6,800 ounces of PGMs attributable to SYLVANIA as well as 210,000 tons per annum of chrome product. And if you look at the current prices at the states, you know, it will be a nine about a 9% increase on our PGM ounce profile. And at the total cash cost for the combined PGM and chrome production of about $25,000,000 per annum, you know, the project delivers growth margins gross margins of about 30 to 40%. So I think it's quite attractive in the sense that it adds between 8 and $10,000,000 of attributable EBITDA to the group from at steady state and, you know, depending on the price forecast. I think also just worth noting on the left bottom is showing how the chrome and PGM revenues are are contributing towards the project. And, you know, the chrome revenue at the current price forecast say between $202,120 dollars a ton CIF, it would contribute between 6572% of the total revenue.

20:05 But overall, I think a very exciting project that is gonna add significant value to the group. Then in terms so and I I I just included some photos of the the recent site visits we had to the analyst in in January, and I think to give you an idea of the size and complexity of the of the site. And as I said, we're very proud of the progress and the standard of work, and our project construction teams are really doing a great job out there. If we just turn our attention a little bit to the exploration projects, I'm not gonna discuss in detail. We have previously announced the results of the scoping study when it was released in August at our previous reporting period.

20:50 But what we have been trying to do and the work we've been busy with over the last period was just to see how do we optimize the value from the the scoping study. And in particular, to look at potential to upgrade the run of mine fee grades through through all sorting as well as PGM recovery and concentrate quality initiatives so that we can see if we can improve the project returns at at lower CapEx. And then we're also looking at or continuing for our regulatory authorization applications and both our environmental impact assessment as well as the water use license applications have been submitted, and we are awaiting awaiting feedback during this next six months.

21:36 In terms of our Aurora and the ACRA projects at Aurora, again, we have indicated before that we have released the mineral resource estimate that only about 12% of our resources strike length about two and a half to three kilometers, while we have a overall strike length on the project over which we hold the license of about 14 kilometers. So our study work during this past six months was focused on

22:06 proving up and understanding the continuity of the resource across the entire strike length. And to this end, we've conducted some geophysical surveys that we have just concluded towards the end of this period as well as with the logical test work that's being commissioned. And these the outcome from these studies will then guide us in terms of the strategy to unlock further value from the project, and there will be either further exploration requirement or or just optimization studies. We will evaluate then by the end of this financial year. In terms of ACRA, we are not doing any additional further studies or significant spend. We have identified before already that it is not a project that aligns with our growth and aspirations and risk profile, but we do believe it can offer significant value for a third party, so we are currently evaluating disposal options for the ACRA project.

23:02 When we look at the nature of the project, and then before I I go into some of the the other projects in our pipeline, I think I'm just, again, landing on this slide, and we see it in the TAVR revenues that I've just explained earlier and in our current operations that you have this the benefit of coke production because the PGMs and chrome occur naturally in the same reefs on the Bushveld Complex. In in our case, the middle group and LG lower group chrome seams that we are exploiting as well as the UG two reef that the primary producers are producing. And what this does, this coexistence often enables the exploitation of either the PGMs or chrome that otherwise would be uneconomical if only one of the metals would be targeted.

23:49 So in terms of our dump opportunities or lower grade ROM sources, This makes it an attractive approach. And I think you can also see on this graph, it's really, really

23:59 the case that both PGMs and CHROM are on a down cycle at the same time, and therefore, it offers you quite an attractive diversification revenue diversification. Just briefly, some of the growth projects, and I'm just gonna touch on the on the ones that we have not already talked about. I think on our existing STO operations, Lou Anne already mentioned that we would look at potentially extending the third party or purchase and treatment agreements on the Eastern operations. And that gives us both the opportunity to optimize profits as well as extend operational life because for every twelve or eighteen months that you treat, we we treat additional higher grade third party material. We also extend the life of those operations at the end of the cycle. And then in terms of the external chrome and tailings opportunity similar to the Java JV that we've execution.

24:53 We are busy currently with a feasibility study on on on a new treatment facility for our eastern operations, and we hope to conclude that by around June this year. And so to to see what the investment case would look like and if we could it's worth pursuing that. If we look at a dump only treatment option, we could potentially add another five to 6,000 ounces attributable to Zulbania per annum and and on on dump only probably between 15 or 20,000 tons of chrome. But what it does do is dump facility on the eastern limb would also give you the anchor to enable wrong treatment from some of the neighboring operations.

25:39 Finally, looking at external growth for diversification, and and that is diversification in terms of alternative metals or jurisdictions. We are also considering options continuously where we can leverage or replicate our proven

25:56 operating model and successful track record or technologies that we're currently employing. So from a flotation point of view, like our PGM flotation, you could replicate that in your base metals, copper, nickel, cobalt, or even lithium in in certain deposits. And from a gravity point of view, what we do for chrome can be replicated again in manganese, tungsten, tantalum, and your heavy metals. So so we're certainly looking at a number of opportunities where we can replicate and grow. And and we will we are doing some due diligences at the moment, and, hopefully, also in the next six months or so, can shed some further light in that regard. I think if you just considering the opportunities on the one side, I think it's also too important to just turn eye to the markets.

26:49 And we have mentioned earlier that we have seen a 6% increase on the average four e basket price over the period. So that is encouraging because if you can see on the top right hand graph of the four e basket prices that it had been low and and fairly flat for quite some time. So it's encouraging to to see that we are about 6% up period on period. It is also interesting when we look at the markets or important to to note and take note of our particular pro split for SYLVANIA. We have about 12% rhodium, now pro about 23% palladium, and those two together contribute to almost half of our revenue.

27:36 So, obviously, you know, how those prices react is gonna impact on on how we perform. And when we talk about how these prices and the four week prices impact on on on our business or the industry as a whole, I've just included a slide here on the latest PGM industry cost curve that we have sourced from Nedbank corporate investment banking, which indicate that, you know, on their price assumptions and latest data that about half the industry are loss making on a cash cost plus CapEx basis. And, that just indicate to us that it's not as sustainable, for the prices to stay this low, and and and we do expect that, supply might come under pressure, in in during this next year.

28:29 I think if we look at, you know, talking about the supply in particular and why I say I think it would come under pressure, Whilst we have not seen significant drop in guidance of from any of the major producers yet, we know that there's already been significant job cuts during the past year. And from the Minerals Council of South Africa data for q one quarter one to three of last year, there's already 14,000 over 14,200 jobs that have been lost in the PGM sector alone. And that combined with significant cutbacks in expansion projects growth project capital. And as illustrated in the graph at the bottom, the the solid blue line indicate a year ago what the expectation was for growth projects, know, what companies announced, and that's been updated this January with the lighter blue bars. And this, can see more than half the growth projects have been taking out into the market in an attempt to preserve cash under the current price environment.

29:30 So although we might not see an immediate reduction in the ounces, the combination of this certainly have to pose a risk in terms of supply for the near to medium term. On the demand side, fortunately, the narrative has changed in the last six to eight months and is a more positive outlook for us. I think everybody is realizing that and and seeing the the performance figures of pure battery electric vehicles not growing and forecasting to grow at the same rates as was previously forecasted, which would have taken quite a big market share of the, know, reduction in auto cats in the industry. But with the growing popularity and also growth in hybrid electric vehicles that still uses auto catalysts and still consume the PGMs, the outlook is now looking a lot better, and we believe that the demand for palladium and rhodium should be stronger for longer and and which is good for the overall industry.

30:40 I think, you know, taking both the supply and demand into account, it's not surprising that the most analysts are forecasting platinum, palladium, and rhodium to be in deficit for twenty twenty five and the near term. And and that's why we believe we have a very robust outlook on the PGM market and do believe that we should see an improvement in price in the coming year. Yeah. We've just included for you the is the the particular commodity price forecast for the individual elements that we have used in the sensitivities earlier in the presentation, and this is just for reference. It's also, as SYLVANIA PLATINUM the appendix at the back if you want to look at the specific assumptions.

31:27 Finally, just touching a bit on the Chrome market, especially with our interest and exposure to towards Chrome at Tava from later in this year. You know, unfortunately, this it's a bit more difficult to get Chrome Chrome data than PGMs, but I think here's just a few points to give you a a bit of a feel and understanding for the supply and demand of of Chrome. I think, firstly, from a demand perspective, the biggest consumer for chrome is stainless steel. It's a stainless steel industry, a consumer with more than 80% of global ferrochrome production. And I think what's positive is that stainless steel has been growing at between 56% per annum. The '24 figure has not been formally announced, but is estimated between five and a half and 6% growth for 2024.

32:18 From a supply point of view, South Africa is home to to the bulk of the global chrome resources and produce about 61% of the global chrome ore production, a significant producer. And the indications are that the production have been growing at about 6% year on year during 2024. Again, we only have a quarter one to three data at the moment, but that indicates that the growth of supplies in line with stainless steel, so it seems quite balanced. But then there's also worth noting that 19% of the chrome production is from u g two sources by PGM minus, which could come under pressure if the the low PGM prices persist, and that again support higher chrome prices. So I think overall, we, again, maintain a robust outlook on the chrome market as well. There was a

33:14 quite a drop off in the towards the end of last year in the chrome ore prices, but that was primarily driven by the Chinese new Chinese smelters that have been commissioned during the year and that have been producing higher volumes of ferrochrome than the demand at the time, which increased stocks and therefore driven down ferrochrome and chrome ore prices. So so we still maintain a positive view. Just to maybe take us through some of our ESG highlights, I'm gonna hand back to Lou Anne, and then I'll I'll wrap up with the presentation. Thanks, Sanku. As as we all know, sustainability is core to the success of SYLVANIA, and it underpins our company values.

34:07 We strive to operate responsibly by minimizing the impact that we have on the environment, encouraging a diverse and inclusive workforce, and driving positive change in the communities which we operate. Over the last six months, the operations have made significant progress in improving water consumption from the prior year, which has reduced by half. And enhanced data and monitoring has also assisted in optimizing water reuse. Our revegetation project is entering its third phase, and the results continue to exceed our expectations and is going to significantly reduce our rehabilitation costs. The group also remains fatality free since the first plant was commissioned first plant commenced operation in financial year 2007.

34:58 And with our numerous safety campaigns and hands on approach to our management, reinforce this reinforces our safety that safety is a top priority on a daily basis. Discrimination and violence also has no place at SYLVANIA. And in support of this, our annual anti gender based violence campaign was run over November and December. We've also continued our positive trend on increasing the female percentage of employees, which is currently at 28.19% against the Manor Council's last reported 20.3% for the industry. Good governance is also a nonnegotiable for the board and management, and we will continue to provide investors and the market with clear and transparent reporting, invest in the communities and the economies of the countries we operate, and comply with the relevant laws and regulations.

35:57 We do look forward to updating the market on the progress of our current and some new exciting projects in September when we release our annual results. Thanks. Thank you, Anne. I think maybe just in in closing for me, I think that, you know, as I said earlier, I'm I'm very happy with the results, and I think that our shareholders would agree that SYLVANIA remains an attractive low cost, low risk cash generative business. And I believe that we have developed as we have also demonstrated through this presentation that we have a strong track record of performance and that we deliver significant value to our shareholders through a combination of stable dividends as well as significant buybacks over the years. And I think while we have material expansion and CapEx projects planned for this year and the next as we have shared with you, we will continue to prioritize capital returns to our shareholders alongside our value creation and business sustaining requirements.

36:56 So thank you for your support, and we will look at some questions now if they are. Perfect. Jako and Liran, if I may just jump back in there. Thank you very much indeed for your presentation this afternoon. What I'll do is just bring back up your cameras there for the q and a. Ladies and gentlemen, please do continue to submit your questions just by using the q and a tab that's situated on the right hand corner of your screen. But just while the team take a few moments to review those questions that were submitted already, I'd just like to remind you that a recording of this presentation along with a copy of the slides and the published Q and A can all be accessed via your investor dashboard. Yako, Luan, as you can see there, we have received a number of questions, and thank you to all of those on the call for taking the time to submit their questions. But, guys, at this point, if I may just hand back to you just to read out those questions and give your responses where it's appropriate to do so. And if I pick up from you at the end, that'd be great. Thank you.

37:47 Jake, sorry. I'm just having trouble accessing the questions on my on my screen. I can't see them. So I am not So, Jacob, just on the right hand side, you might see a small blue button that says chat. Okay. Yeah. Now it's done. Okay. Thanks. I hope we get it. Okay. I think this question says, it looks like electric vehicles don't work. No real surprise, and there will be movement to hybrids. Do you see that there's a big driver to pick up PJMs again as the whole sector down for so long? I think that, you know, what I've discussed in the supply demand figure is that we do believe that, you know, EVs, I don't wanna say have been oversold, but certainly, the initial growth rate as as was expected was significantly higher than what we are now seeing. And I think with the introduction of hybrid vehicles, there certainly now is a a lot more support for for PGMs still, and and that's why we believe that will be a stronger demand.

38:58 And it should pick up the market based on the supply demand fundamentals we have discussed. I think then there's a question to say, can you give some color on the criteria you used to repurchase shares? And will that be affected by the completion of Tava JV project? Look, I think we we continuously evaluate, as Anna mentioned in in the presentation, the combination of how we turn value to shareholders both through repurchasing of shares or of a dividend, and then also, you know, looking at what attractive growth opportunities are on track.

39:44 I think we we have previously already said with the expansion of Tawba that we have on our from our cash balance allocated some and dedicated some capital in previous years specifically for that. So we on an ongoing basis, we obviously look at what the remaining available capital is, and and we would maintain a balance between dividends and share buybacks when you know, depending on where the the best returns would be. I'm trying to just look away at the some of the next questions. It says, what is your ability to increase radium production? And it seems seems a significant increase in demand coming from hydrogen fuel cells. Who are your main competitors? And where are these located?

40:33 So I think just we do have iridium and refidium in in our basket as well. And I think if we when I spoke about the four e production, while we have about 59,000 ounces four e in this period, we had what's this? About 50. I just wanna get the value here. We had about 50 almost 51,000 ounces 60. So the balance is that rhodium and rhodium in. And as you we also had it on that slide on the supply and demand. Under demand, under platinum, yes, rhodium and rhodium certainly is attractive in terms of the, green, energy transition as well as the hydrogen economy. And that would give us a corrective exposure, in our market. I think from a revenue point of view, we're already getting it it is already a significant contributor towards our sales. And I, again, just wanna see It's 15%.

41:33 Iridium, yeah, is between eleven and fifteen percent of our six e contribution is already from Iridium. And Rifinium a little bit lower, say, about 4%. So that do add to our basket, and it certainly would have future upside if those prices improve. Then there was another question that says, well, there's a rush on to secure critical elements worldwide. SYLVANIA should benefit. Forgive forgive byproduct ignorance. With the chromite production, do you produce any indium, molybdenum, tungsten? Either ever occurs or these. And so, unfortunately, those is not certainly not at significant quantities in in our in our ore. So it's so it's not part of that. As said, we we do have, as part of our basket, the six e is the platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium.

42:37 Then the base metals, primarily copper and nickel, a little bit of of gold, and then obviously chrome as the byproduct in the ore. And and those are areas where we believe we we can benefit from. Then there's another question that says, what is your view on the new low cost iVANO supply coming online in the near future? Is this going to impact PGM prices significantly in your view? Also, what do you think about the new expiration without compensation bill in South Africa, and is that material risk for your operations? So I think, you know, if we first talk about Ivano, you know, that that would bring a significant production into the future. I think it is still a couple of years out. I think the initial phase one have been postponed or delayed by about a year, and they're looking to bring phase two on. But you have to look at that in conjunction with the large amount of PGM ounces at the moment that are loss making at the current prices. So, you know, you have to take a view on how much of that supply would be around in, say, three to five years time when you have a Ivanhoe coming online.

43:53 As well as we I've illustrated on that supply demand outlook slide how there's a significant amount of other capital projects being taken out of the market. So I think the consensus is, and that's reflected in the the deficits that's forecasted by analysts in the graph I presented, that they believe overall, they they will be a the supply would be under pressure. In terms of the the exploration bills Africa, I think there's quite a bit certain that in the media that is currently still being contested by the some of the other political parties as part of the government of national unity.

44:40 But, you know, what we we believe on the current protection in in our laws and in our constitution that investments should still be safe and protected. And as I said, there is still a process to be followed, but we we we don't have a major concern about that in the immediate term. I think there's another question that says with the company, will the company keep the dividend foreseeable at the current levels? Now I think we we have mentioned that we certainly are committed to maintain a stable dividend. I think our commitment both towards the end of last year and also at this interim dividend where the dividends we have declared is in excess of the minimum requirement as stipulated by our dividend policy.

45:37 So I think that illustrates our commitment from the company to maintain a stable dividend going forward. We do have to obviously evaluate our capital allocation needs during each financial year and and obviously consider what the metal pricing does when we calculate our free cash flows. But but I think what is positive is that we have a dividend policy that gives investors a guideline of what the minimum is that we would pay out. And as I said, we have demonstrated in the past that we are even willing to pay out in excess of that minimum if we are in a position to do so and able to return value to shareholders. Then there's another presubmitted question that says, with the stock trading at such a heavy discount to intrinsic value, paying a dividend carries such a high opportunity cost relative to the accretive value of shareholders of using all surplus capital to reduce the share count.

46:35 If exiting shareholders wish to sell at a heavy discount, use that to the advantage of loyal shareholders who remain. Please comment. Look. I think it ties in with the previous responses we had where we say, you know, we have investors and institutions invested in us from a income perspective who are investing in the company because it's an attractive dividend yield and income. And then there are growth investors who ex you know, are more focused on and targeting a growth in the share price to which share buybacks might assist. So so we try to balance both the needs of the various type of investors we have. We try to also look at where the best value is for us at any point, and as I said, to balance that against our other capital allocation needs. So so we will continue to maintain that balance going forward. And I and I think we've as I said, we've demonstrated our commitment to to to return good value to shareholders. So it's just in which way it is best done.

47:44 Then I think there's one last question that I I will read, and that says, you say capital allocation options are carefully considered, but you pay dividends all the time even when the share price is trading at huge discounts to intrinsic value. On a opportunity cost basis, how can you justify the surely 100% of the capital should be channeled back to to it? Now, again, it sounds like I'm echoing the our the the same arguments all the time, but I think and and illustrated it in that share on the shareholder returns. I think it's probably not accurate to say we're paying dividends all the time and not buying buybacks. I think, you know, we have paid about $108,000,000 of dividends to shareholders since 2018.

48:34 We bought back 65,300,000 shares over that same period, of which we canceled 26,000,000 shares. So I think we do have a good balance of returning value to shareholders both through a buybacks and also dividends. I think what what people sometimes forget when we look at some of the low points in the share price is once we have a instruction issued an instruction for a share buyback and and we're in a close period and that price fall or or change, we are not in a position to then alter our instruction. We have to wait until we get out of a close period. And by that time, normally, the share price have moved again. So, again, as I said, we have a very care careful and diligent consideration when we decide on dividends versus share buybacks.

49:21 Thank you. I think that was the last of the the questions that we've had, Jake. Absolutely, Jako, Luan. That's great. Thank you very much indeed for being so generous of your time then addressing all of those questions that came in. But, Jakob, perhaps before really just looking to redirect those on the call to provide you with their feedback, which I know is particularly important to yourself and the company, if I could please just ask you for a few closing comments to wrap up with, that would be great. Thank you, Jake. And, yeah, in conclusion, you know, I've I've said a few times in the presentation, I'm very pleased with our performance during the current period. And and I'm also very excited about the future of our growth prospects, especially around the Taba JV that's bound to come online and also the developments around the current horizons that I've discussed earlier. I believe those would add significant value to us going forward.

50:11 And I also believe that as we have demonstrated through this half year's result that we have established ourselves over the years as a attractive, reputable, and stable company that is returning significant value to shareholders. And as I just said in my last comments that we would aim to continue to do that and, you know, both to establish ourselves as investment of choice for for shareholders, but also as a partner of choice in the industry to enable and, you know, to get access to other growth opportunities. So I just wanna also use the opportunity to thank all the shareholders for their trust and support in management and in the company, and we look forward to continuing this journey with you. Thank you very much. Perfect, Jakob. That's great. And thank you once again for updating investors this afternoon. Could I please ask investors not to close this session?

51:02 You'll now be automatically redirected for the opportunity to provide your feedback in order the management team can really better understand your views and expectations. This will only take a few moments to complete, but I'm sure it'll be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of SYLVANIA PLATINUM LIMITED, we would like to thank you for attending today's presentation. That now concludes today's session. So good afternoon to you all. Thank you.