This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.
spk01: Greetings and welcome to the Q4 and full year 2022 results conference call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards, we'll conduct a question and answer session. At that time, if you have a question, please press the one followed by the four on your telephone. If at any time during the conference you need to reach an operator, please press star zero. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded Friday, February 24th, 2023. I would now like to turn the conference over to Toby Caron. Treasurer and Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
spk04: Thank you, operator. Welcome to Sinterra Gold's fourth quarter and full year 2022 results conference call. Please note that presentation slides are available on Sinterra Gold's website to accompany each speaker's remarks. Today's call is open to all members of the investment community and media in listen-only mode. Following the formal remarks, the operator will give the instructions for asking a question, and then we will open the line to questions. Please note that all figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Joining me on the call today are Paul Wright, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Paul Chowron, Chief Operating Officer, and Darren Millman, Chief Financial Officer. I would like to caution everyone that certain statements made today may be forward-looking and as such are subject to known and unknown risks, which may cause our actual results to differ from those expressed or implied. Also, certain of the measures we will discuss today are non-GAAP measures. Please refer to the description of non-GAAP measures in our news release in MD&A issued yesterday evening. For a more detailed discussion of material assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, please refer to our news release in MD&A, along with the audited financial statements and notes, and all of our other filings, which can be found on CDAR, EDGAR, and on the company's website at sedterragold.com. And now I'll turn the call over to Paul.
spk05: Thanks, Toby. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our fourth quarter and full year 2022 conference call. I'd like to start the presentation by speaking to Sentara's short-term strategy as we continue to maintain our goal of establishing a stable and strong platform for future growth. This entails, firstly, obtaining all the regulatory approvals to restart operations at our Oxford mine, continuing to optimize operations and exploration at the Mount Milligan mine, Advancing the Goldfield project with initial resource estimate mid-year 2023, followed by a feasibility study. Updating our view on the Molybdenum Business Unit, which in the future will be described as MBU, including the issuance of a pre-feasibility study detailing a potential restart of the Thompson Creek mine, and this is to be delivered in Q3 of 2023. Moving on to slide five, firstly, an update on the Oxford mine. In January 2023, we received notices of approval for the operating license extension for a period of 10 years, as well as an enlarged grazing land permit allowing for the expansion of the mine areas. These two important approvals demonstrate the continued support for both the company and the Oxford mine. Also in January 2023, the amended EIA was submitted for regulatory review. This remains in process with government authorities now reviewing our technical studies to support our EIA amendment. The mercury abatement retrofit to the ADR plant is now complete, and following regulatory approvals which are underway, we will be positioned to process gold at the rate of 35,000 ounces per month. As of December 31st, 2022, There were 100,000 ounces of gold stored in carbon and 200,000 ounces recoverable in the inventory on the heat bleach pads and in stockpiles. Concerning the recent tragic earthquakes in Turkey, there were no injuries to our employees or contractors, unfortunately no damage to the infrastructure at the mine. I will speak more to this on the next slide. Moving on from Oxit, the company reported Q4 2022 in full year 2022 gold production of 53,000 ounces and 244,000 ounces respectively. There were 189,000 ounces of payable gold and 74 million pounds of copper produced by Mount Milligan in 2022 and 55,000 ounces of gold produced and sold by the Oxford Mine in Q1 2022 prior to the shutdown of operations on March 18, 2022. In January, We announced Mount Milligan's guidance for the year, which includes gold production of 160,000 to 170,000 ounces, copper production of 60 to 70 million pounds, gold production costs of $900 to $950 an ounce, and all in sustaining costs on a byproduct basis of $1,075 to $1,125 an ounce. As mentioned earlier, the company continues to evaluate strategic options for the MBU, including a potential restart of the Thompson Creek mine based on the continued strengthening of molybdenum prices and positive medium-term outlook. A pre-feasibility detailing this restart of Thompson Creek is planned for Q3 2023. At Goldfield, we continue our advancement of the project and completed approximately 50,000 meters of drilling in 2022, which will be incorporated in our planned initial resource estimate mid-year. Moving on to slide six. In 2022, we had a number of ESG highlights, and I won't touch on all of these, but first would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the people of Turkey, and particularly those who lost loved ones due to the natural disaster. In support of the Turkish government's efforts, Santera has mobilized emergency response teams from the Oxford mine to assist Turkish state emergency preparedness authorities and regional disaster response organizations. The company continues to provide equipment and material support to the ongoing recovery activities where possible. We have coordinated with one of our mining contractors to support the recovery effort with equipment and supplies as well as trucks and crews, and continue to assist the local authorities in providing temporary housing. Moving forward in Q4 2022, Sunterra successfully completed the full rollout of the responsible gold mining principles. This has been a consistent and committed effort for many Sunterra employees, especially at our Mount Milligan and Oxford operations. We recognize and appreciate all this hard work. Additionally, the company continues to demonstrate that safety remains Sentera's top priority, having achieved one million-hour milestone without a lost-time injury at the Mount Milligan mine. I'll now pass the baton over to Paul Showrun, who will walk through Sentera's operational highlights for the third quarter.
spk07: Thank you, Paul. On slide 8, we have the operating highlights at Mount Milligan for both the quarter and the year. 2022 was a good year for Mount Milligan. Firstly, we achieved a record annual throughput for the plant at 21.3 million tonnes. Additionally, the mine operated well with the total material mined at 44.3 million tonnes and ore mined at approximately 19.4 million tonnes. Cash provided and free cash flow for mine operations for 2022 were $162 million and $100 million respectively. Gold production costs remained low at $790 per ounce in Q4. and $767 per ounce for the year. All in sustaining costs on a byproduct basis was $629 per ounce in Q4 and $630 per ounce for the financial year of 2022. We continue to remain committed to the optimization of our life of mine plan and as mentioned in our January 2023 release, we anticipate higher gold and copper production in 2024 and 2025 than is shown in the most recent 43-101 technical report published last October. On the exploration front, we have completed approximately 55,000 meters of drilling since the most recent resource update. The copper head grade for the year was 0.2% with a metal recovery at 81.9%. The gold head grade was 0.42 grams per ton with a metal recovery at 66.9%. The copper grades were lower than in previous years, primarily because we are starting to feed a higher proportion of the high-grade gold, low-grade copper ore, which is planned to continue in 2023. The stage flotation reactors have been operating since the beginning of May, with circuit optimization and full commissioning completed in the fourth quarter. The initial results have indicated elevator recoveries as planned. So moving to slide nine. So here we provide the operating results for OXU. As Paul previously mentioned, we received notices of approval of our operating license extension in January 2023, which is valid for 10 years, as well as the enlarged grazing land permit allowing for the expansion of the mining areas. The amended EIA was submitted for this January for regulatory review and remains in progress. Construction of the mercury abatement retrofit to the ADR plant is now complete and ended up being completed below the original budget of $5 million. Following regulatory approvals and restart of the ADR plant, after operations ramp up, we will be in a position to process gold at a rate of up to 35,000 ounces per month. 2023 mining activities at Oxsut will be focused on the Phase 5 wall pushback to expand the Caltepe pit. As of December 31, 2022, ore processed into stored gold and carbon inventory is approximately 100,000 recoverable ounces, with an additional approximately 200,000 recoverable ounces on the heap leach pad and in stock files. Moving on to slide 10. We announced our 2023 operating guidance for Mt. Milligan in January. Paul already provided the production highlights, but I'd like to add some additional color. Mt. Milligan's gold production for 2023 of 160,000 to 170,000 ounces and copper production of 60 to 70 million pounds is expected to be weighted higher in the second half of the year, with approximately 30 to 35% of the concentrate sales expected to occur in the fourth quarter. The lower overall production in 2023 compared to 2022 is driven by mine sequencing, with the grade profile of both gold and copper slightly lower than in 2022. Mount Milligan gold production costs for the year are expected to be in the range of $900 to $950 per ounce sold. The all-in sustaining costs on a byproduct basis in 2023 are expected to be in the range of $1,075 to $1,125 per ounce due to the higher production costs, higher capital expenditures, and lower copper byproduct credits due to the lower copper sales estimated for 2023 when compared to 2022. Moving to slide 11. Touching briefly on the reserves and resource update first with Mount Milligan. In October 2022, we released a new reserves estimate and life of mine plan showing an increase of 1.1 million contained ounces of gold and 260 million pounds of contained copper, which extended the mine life by four years to 2033. This update was effective December 31st, 2021. So just highlighting that the 2022 year-end reserves and resource statement applies to the depletion that occurred in the past year. Approximately 55,000 meters of drilling that was completed in 2022 will be used to update the current resource model, which will be incorporated into the 2023 Mineral Reserves and Resources Update next year. As of year-end 2022, the estimated proven and probable gold mineral reserves at Mt. Milligan total 2.6 million ounces of contained For copper, the estimated proven and probable reserves total 902 million pounds of contained copper. On slide 12, at the Oxhude mine, proven and probable reserves total an estimated 0.9 million ounces of contained gold as of December 31st, 2022, compared to the estimated 1.1 million ounces of contained gold as of year end 2021. A portion of the decrease of 0.2 million ounces in proven and probable gold reserves can be attributed to the processing of ore this past year into an existing inventory of gold and carbon, which, as we said previously, is estimated to be 100,000 ounces. And in addition, there are over 200,000 ounces of recoverable gold contained on the heap leach pad and stockpiles. A resource update to include exploration drilling completed in 2022 is ongoing. and will be included in the 2023 Mineral Reserves Update. As you would expect, our focus in 2022 for OTSU was to prepare and submit underlying technical studies to support the amended EIA, deliver the mercury abatement retrofit to the ADR plant on time and under budget, and prepare for the operational restart. On slide 13, we outlined the reserves and resources for the MBU. So as of December 31, 2022, the total measured and indicated resources at the TCM total an estimated 177 million pounds of contained molybdenum and an estimated 166 million pounds of contained molybdenum at the Indaco mine. These have not changed since Sentera's acquisition of the Thompson Creek Meadows in 2016. As previously mentioned by Paul, Our current focus is on issuing a pre-feasibility on a potential restart of the Thompson Creek Mine in Q3 2023. As you will note, the Thompson Creek Mine has a higher overall average grade compared to NDACO, and historically the Thompson Creek Mine operated at a lower unit cost per pound of molly. When we issue the Thompson Creek Mine pre-feasibility, we plan to provide an update on the reserves and resources. Moving on to slide 14, a brief overview of our MOLLE business unit, and there are three components. The Thompson Creek Mine, currently under care and maintenance with a restart under evaluation and a pre-feasibility currently under preparation. The Ndakwa Mine, currently on care and maintenance with no median term plans for a restart, given our focus on Thompson Creek. And the Langloth Metallurgical Facility, based in Pittsburgh, currently in operation. This facility purchases and processes third-party molybdenum concentrate from mines and upgrades this into molybdenum products to be sold predominantly to the U.S. steel and chemical markets. Under Thompson Creek Metals, Langloff was fed by the Thompson Creek and Undaco mines. This facility is also a part of our focus for the pre-feasibility assessment of a potential restart of the Thompson Creek mines. And now we'll pass on to Darren, our Chief Financial Officer, to discuss the financial highlights.
spk03: Thanks, Paul, and good morning all. For those following on the slide deck, I'll initially be speaking to slide 16. Centera recorded $208 million in net revenue during the quarter, consisting of the Mount Milligan mine and the Midland Business Unit. No revenue was recorded at the Oxford mine. At the Mount Milligan mine, gross sales and copper sales were $67 million and $53 million, respectively. In the quarter, Mount Milligan sold 49,444 ounces of gold and 15.4 million pounds of copper. The Oxford mine has no recorded sales or production in the quarter. We continue to hold the stored gold and carbon inventory of 100,000 recoverable ounces. The cost associated with the Oxford stored and carbon inventory is approximately $450, almost the standing cost per ounce, which has been capitalized as a current asset within the inventory. Importantly, this quarter we are highlighting our additional 200,000 ounces in heaped leaf pad and stockpiles that will be subsequently processed once we return to operational status at the Oxid Mine. At the Molybdenum Business Unit, approximately 4 million pounds of Molybdenum was sold, generating 87 million with an average market price in the quarter of $21.49 per pound of Molybdenum. During the quarter, the Molybdenum Business Unit During the quarter the Mermilligan mine operations average gold price realised was $1,352 per ounce and $3.43 per pound of copper. This incorporates the existing stream arrangements over the mine. Cash used in operating activities by operations was approximately 10 million for the quarter and generated 25 million free cash flow, sorry, 25 million free cash flow deficit in the quarter. As noted in the MD&A, the Mount Milligan mine generated $26 million in positive free cash flow and $16 million in free cash flow for the quarter. For the year, the Mount Milligan mine generated over $100 million in free cash flow. As noted by Paul, another strong operational performance at Mount Milligan mine with record annual throughput at the mill. Given no sales occurred at the Oxford mine in the quarter with operations continuing, we had $16 million used from Treasury, This is a reduction from the previous quarter at $23 million as a result of reduction in activities at the site. The net loss from continued operation was $130.1 million in the quarter, with $13.7 million in adjusted net loss per quarter. The earnings in the quarter attributable to operations were $30 million contributed from the Mount Milligan mine, $3.4 million lost from the Oxid mine, and a $5 million loss from the Blizzard business unit. For the quarter, there were three adjusting items. The commanding payment loss of $138 million net of tax, deferred income tax recovery of $14 million resulting from the underlying tax-based adjustment of the Oxford mine, and $4.4 million non-cash gain under derecognition of past employee health plan at the Langlois facility. This was a connection with the expanding of the union workforce with no future commitments on the plan. On the CEMES impairment loss, as the company and its technical team have focused on the delivery of the pre-feasibility and the potential restart of the Thompson Creek miter in Q3 2023, together with the delivery of the initial resource of the goldfields by mid-year, there has been no resources, financial or otherwise, committed to the CEMES project. Given this was a similar status at the end of 2021, this has resulted in an impairment indicator under IFRS 16, The impairment consisted of two components, a value per institute gold equivalent ounces and a valuation of capital equipment at site. If you refer to note 7 of the financial statements for further detail. The oil and sustaining cost reported for the quarter was relatively high compared to the previous quarter. This was primarily driven by lower copper production in Q4 and thus resulting in lower copper credits. Paul has explained this earlier. all presented to the mill in Q4 being high gold grade with low copper grade. I would highlight also in 2022 all our operating cost metrics were either within guidance or performed better than the 2022 guidance range previously provided. I'm now speaking to slide 17. For the full year, Sentera produced 244,000 ounces of gold and 74 million pounds of copper. Given the inventory levels at Oxford at time of restart and regional operational performance, we are well placed as we move into 2023. In Q4, we returned $23 million to shareholders in dividends and shared buybacks, with a total of $60 million in returns to shareholders in 2022. In early February, we initiated changes to streamline the corporate structure at these locations. The company has exited 2022 with a cash balance of $532 million and over $900 million in liquidity. Given our strong financial position, the board has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share. Those are my closing comments. With that, I'll pass it to Paul to finish up.
spk05: Okay, Noel, thank you very much, Darren and Paul. At this stage, operator, I think we'll open up for questions, please.
spk01: Thank you. Certainly. Ladies and gentlemen, on the phone lines, if you wish to register for a question, please press the one followed by the four on your telephone. You will hear a three-tone prompt to acknowledge your request. If your question has been answered and you would like to withdraw your registration, you can press 13. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, that is 14 to ask a question on the phone line. One moment, please. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, on the phone lines, you can press 1-4 on your telephone if you have a question. All right. At this moment, I'm showing no questions on the phone lines.
spk05: All right. Well, thank you very much all for attending, and we look forward to speaking at our next quarterly call. Enjoy your weekend. Thank you, operator.
spk01: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today's call. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a good day. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Greetings and welcome to the Q4 and full year 2022 results conference call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards, we'll conduct a question and answer session. At that time, if you have a question, please press the one followed by the four on your telephone. If at any time during the conference you need to reach an operator, please press star zero. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded Friday, February 24th, 2023. I would now like to turn the conference over to Toby Caron. Treasurer and Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
spk04: Thank you, operator. Welcome to Sinterra Gold's fourth quarter and full year 2022 results conference call. Please note that presentation slides are available on Sinterra Gold's website to accompany each speaker's remarks. Today's call is open to all members of the investment community and media in listen-only mode. Following the formal remarks, the operator will give the instructions for asking a question, and then we will open the line to questions. Please note that all figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Joining me on the call today are Paul Wright, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Paul Chowrun, Chief Operating Officer, and Darren Millman, Chief Financial Officer. I would like to caution everyone that certain statements made today may be forward-looking and as such are subject to known and unknown risks, which may cause our actual results to differ from those expressed or implied. Also, certain of the measures we will discuss today are non-GAAP measures. Please refer to the description of non-GAAP measures in our news release in MD&A issued yesterday evening. For a more detailed discussion of material assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, please refer to our news release in MD&A, along with the audited financial statements and notes, and all of our other filings, which can be found on CDAR, EDGAR, and on the company's website at sedterragold.com. And now I'll turn the call over to Paul.
spk05: Thanks, Toby. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our fourth quarter and full year 2022 conference call. I'd like to start the presentation by speaking to Sentara's short-term strategy as we continue to maintain our goal of establishing a stable and strong platform for future growth. This entails, firstly, obtaining all the regulatory approvals to restart operations at our Oxford mine, continuing to optimize operations and exploration at the Mount Milligan mine, Advancing the Goldfield project with initial resource estimate mid-year 2023, followed by a feasibility study. Updating our view on the Molybdenum Business Unit, which in the future will be described as MBU, including the issuance of a pre-feasibility study detailing a potential restart of the Thompson Creek mine, and this is to be delivered in Q3 of 2023. Moving on to slide five, firstly an update on the Oxford Mine. In January 2023, we received notices of approval for the operating license extension for a period of 10 years, as well as an enlarged grazing land permit allowing for the expansion of the mine areas. These two important approvals demonstrate the continued support for both the company and the Oxford Mine. Also in January 2023, the amended EIA was submitted for regulatory review. This remains in process with government authorities now reviewing our technical studies to support our EIA amendment. The mercury abatement retrofit to the ADR plant is now complete, and following regulatory approvals which are underway, we will be positioned to process gold at the rate of 35,000 ounces per month. As of December 31st, 2022, There were 100,000 ounces of gold stored in carbon and 200,000 ounces recoverable in the inventory on the heat bleach pads and install piles. Concerning the recent tragic earthquakes in Turkey, there were no injuries to our employees or contractors and fortunately no damage to the infrastructure at the mine. I will speak more to this on the next slide. Moving on from Oxit, the company reported Q4 2022 and full year 2022 gold production of 53,000 ounces and 244,000 ounces respectively. There were 189,000 ounces of payable gold and 74 million pounds of copper produced by Mount Milligan in 2022, and 55,000 ounces of gold produced and sold by the Oxford Mine in Q1 2022, prior to the shutdown of operations on March 18th, 2022. In January, We announced Mount Milligan's guidance for the year, which includes gold production of 160,000 to 170,000 ounces, copper production of 60 to 70 million pounds, gold production costs of $900 to $950 an ounce, and all-in sustaining costs on a byproduct basis of $1,075 to $1,125 an ounce. As mentioned earlier, The company continues to evaluate strategic options for the MBU, including a potential restart of the Thompson Creek mine based on the continued strengthening of molybdenum prices and positive medium-term outlook. A pre-feasibility detailing this restart of Thompson Creek is planned for Q3 2023. At Goldfield, we continue our advancement of the project. and completed approximately 50,000 meters of drilling in 2022, which will be incorporated in our planned initial resource estimate mid-year. Moving on to slide six. In 2022, we had a number of ESG highlights, and I won't touch on all of these, but first would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the people of Turkey, and particularly those who lost loved ones due to the natural disaster. In support of the Turkish government's efforts, Santera has mobilized emergency response teams from the Oxford mine to assist Turkish state emergency preparedness authorities and regional disaster response organizations. The company continues to provide equipment and material support to the ongoing recovery activities where possible. We have coordinated with one of our mining contractors to support the recovery effort with equipment and supplies, as well as trucks and crews, and continue to assist the local authorities in providing temporary housing. Moving forward in Q4 2022, Sunterra successfully completed the full rollout of the responsible gold mining principles. This has been a consistent and committed effort for many Sunterra employees, especially at our Mount Milligan and Oxford operations. We recognize and appreciate all this hard work Additionally, the company continues to demonstrate that safety remains Sentera's top priority, having achieved 1 million-hour milestone without a lost-time injury at the Mount Milligan mine. I'll now pass the baton over to Paul Showrun, who will walk through Sentera's operational highlights for the third quarter.
spk07: Thank you, Paul. On slide 8, we have the operating highlights at Mount Milligan for both the quarter and the year. 2022 was a good year for Mount Milligan. Firstly, we achieved a record annual throughput for the plant at 21.3 million tonnes. Additionally, the mine operated well with the total material mined at 44.3 million tonnes and ore mined at approximately 19.4 million tonnes. Cash provided and free cash flow for mine operations for 2022 were $162 million and $100 million respectively. Gold production costs remained low at $790 per ounce in Q4. and $767 per ounce for the year. All in sustaining costs on a byproduct basis was $629 per ounce in Q4 and $630 per ounce for the financial year of 2022. We continue to remain committed to the optimization of our life of mine plan and as mentioned in our January 2023 release, we anticipate higher gold and copper production in 2024 and 2025 than is shown in the most recent 43-101 technical report published last October. On the exploration front, we have completed approximately 55,000 meters of drilling since the most recent resource update. The copper head grade for the year was 0.2% with a metal recovery at 81.9%. The gold head grade was 0.42 grams per ton with a metal recovery at 66.9%. The copper grades were lower than in previous years, primarily because we are starting to feed a higher proportion of the high-grade gold, low-grade copper ore, which is planned to continue in 2023. The stage flotation reactors have been operating since the beginning of May, with circuit optimization and full commissioning completed in the fourth quarter. The initial results have indicated elevator recoveries as planned. So moving to slide nine. So here we provide the operating results for OXU. As Paul previously mentioned, we received notices of approval of our operating license extension in January 2023, which is valid for 10 years, as well as the enlarged grazing land permit allowing for the expansion of the mining areas. The amended EIA was submitted for this January for regulatory review and remains in progress. Construction of the mercury abatement retrofit to the ADR plant is now complete and ended up being completed below the original budget of $5 million. Following regulatory approvals and restart of the ADR plant, after operations ramp up, we will be in a position to process gold at a rate of up to 35,000 ounces per month. 2023 mining activities at Oxsut will be focused on the Phase 5 wall pushback to expand the Caltepe pit. As of December 31st, 2022, all processed into stored gold and carbon inventory is approximately 100,000 recoverable ounces with an additional approximately 200,000 recoverable ounces on the HEAP leach pad and in stock files. Moving on to slide 10. We announced our 2023 operating guidance for Mount Milligan in January. Paul already provided the production highlights, but I'd like to add some additional color. Mt. Milligan's gold production for 2023 of 160,000 to 170,000 ounces and copper production of 60 to 70 million pounds is expected to be weighted higher in the second half of the year, with approximately 30 to 35% of the concentrate sales expected to occur in the fourth quarter. The lower overall production in 2023 compared to 2022 is driven by mine sequencing, with the grade profile of both gold and copper slightly lower than in 2022. Mount Milligan gold production costs for the year are expected to be in the range of $900 to $950 per ounce sold. The all-in sustaining costs on a byproduct basis in 2023 are expected to be in the range of $1,075 to $1,125 per ounce due to the higher production costs, higher capital expenditures, and lower copper byproduct credits due to the lower copper sales estimated for 2023 when compared to 2022. Moving to slide 11. Touching briefly on the reserves and resource update, first with Mount Milligan. In October 2022, we released a new reserves estimate and life of mine plan showing an increase of 1.1 million contained ounces of gold and 260 million pounds of contained copper, which extended the mine life by four years to 2033. This update was effective December 31st, 2021. So just highlighting that the 2022 year-end reserves and resource statement applies to the depletion that occurred in the past year. Approximately 55,000 meters of drilling that was completed in 2022 will be used to update the current resource model, which will be incorporated into the 2023 Mineral Reserves and Resources Update next year. As of year-end 2022, the estimated proven and probable gold mineral reserves at Mt. Milligan total 2.6 million ounces of contained For copper, the estimated proven and probable reserves total 902 million pounds of contained copper. On slide 12, at the Oxhude mine, proven and probable reserves total an estimated 0.9 million ounces of contained gold as of December 31st, 2022, compared to the estimated 1.1 million ounces of contained gold as of year end 2021. A portion of the decrease of 0.2 million ounces in proven and probable gold reserves can be attributed to the processing of ore this past year into an existing inventory of gold and carbon, which, as we said previously, is estimated to be 100,000 ounces. And in addition, there are over 200,000 ounces of recoverable gold contained on the heap leach pad and stockpiles. A resource update to include exploration drilling completed in 2022 is ongoing. and will be included in the 2023 Mineral Reserves Update. As you would expect, our focus in 2022 for OTSU was to prepare and submit underlying technical studies to support the amended EIA, deliver the mercury abatement retrofit to the ADR plant on time and under budget, and prepare for the operational restart. On slide 13, we outlined the reserves and resources for the MBU. So as of December 31, 2022, the total measured and indicated resources at the TCM total an estimated 177 million pounds of contained molybdenum and an estimated 166 million pounds of contained molybdenum at the Indaco mine. These have not changed since Sentera's acquisition of the Thompson Creek Meadows in 2016. As previously mentioned by Paul, Our current focus is on issuing a pre-feasibility on a potential restart of the Thompson Creek Mine in Q3 2023. As you will note, the Thompson Creek Mine has a higher overall average grade compared to NDACO, and historically the Thompson Creek Mine operated at a lower unit cost per pound of molly. When we issue the Thompson Creek Mine pre-feasibility, we plan to provide an update on the reserves and resources. Moving on to slide 14, a brief overview of our MOLLE business unit, and there are three components. The Thompson Creek Mine, currently under care and maintenance with a restart under evaluation and a pre-feasibility currently under preparation. The Ndakwa Mine, currently on care and maintenance with no median term plans for a restart, given our focus on Thompson Creek. And the Langloth Metallurgical Facility, based in Pittsburgh, currently in operation. This facility purchases and processes third-party molybdenum concentrate from mines and upgrades this into molybdenum products to be sold predominantly to the U.S. steel and chemical markets. Under Thompson Creek Metals, Langloff was fed by the Thompson Creek and Undaco mines. This facility is also a part of our focus for the pre-feasibility assessment of a potential restart of the Thompson Creek mines. And now we'll pass on to Darren, our Chief Financial Officer, to discuss the financial highlights.
spk03: Thanks, Paul, and good morning all. For those following on the slide deck, I'll initially be speaking to slide 16. Sentara recorded $208 million in net revenue during the quarter, consisting of the Mount Milligan mine and the Midland Business Unit. No revenue was recorded at the Oxford mine. At the Mount Milligan mine, gross sales and copper sales were $67 million and $53 million, respectively. In the quarter, Mount Milligan sold 49,444 ounces of gold and 15.4 million pounds of copper. The Oxford mine has no recorded sales or production in the quarter. We continue to hold the stored gold and carbon inventory of 100,000 recoverable ounces. The cost associated with the Oxford stored and carbon inventory is approximately $450, almost the standing cost per ounce, which has been capitalized as a current asset within the inventory. Importantly, this quarter we are highlighting our additional 200,000 ounces in heaped leaf pad and stockpiles that will be subsequently processed once we return to operational status at the Oxid Mine. At the Molybdenum Business Unit, approximately 4 million pounds of Molybdenum was sold, generated 87 million with an average market price in the quarter of $21.49 per pound of Molybdenum. During the quarter, the Molybdenum Business Unit generated During the quarter, the Mermilligan mine operations average gold price realized was $1,352 per ounce and $3.43 per pound of copper. This incorporates the existing stream arrangements over the mine. Cash used in operating activities by operations was approximately 10 million for the quarter and generated 25 million in free cash flow, sorry, 25 million in free cash flow deficit in the quarter. As noted in the MD&A, the Mount Milligan mine generated $26 million in positive free cash flow and $16 million in free cash flow for the quarter. For the year, the Mount Milligan mine generated over $100 million in free cash flow. As noted by Paul, another strong operational performance at Mount Milligan mine with record annual throughput at the mill. Given no sales occurred at the Oxford mine in the quarter with operations continuing, we had $16 million used from Treasury, This is a reduction from the previous quarter of $23 million as a result of reduction in activities at the site. The net loss from continued operation was $130.1 million in the quarter, with $13.7 million in adjusted net loss per quarter. The earnings in the quarter attributable to operations were $30 million contributed from the Mount Milligan mine, $3.4 million lost from the Oxford mine, and $5 million lost from the Blizzard business unit. For the quarter, there were three adjusting items, the commanding payment loss of 138 million net of tax, deferred income tax recovery of 14 million resulting from the underlying tax-based adjustment of the Oxford mine, and 4.4 million non-cash gain under derecognition of past employee health plan at the Langloch facility. This was a connection with the expanding of the union workforce with no future commitments on the plan. On the CEMES impairment loss, as the company and its technical team have focused on the delivery of the pre-feasibility and the potential restart of the Thompson Creek mine in Q3 2023, together with the delivery of the initial resource of the goldfields by mid-year, there has been no resources, financial or otherwise, committed to the CEMES project. Given this was a similar status at the end of 2021, this has resulted in an impairment indicator under IFRS 16. The payment consisted of two components, a value per Institute Gold equivalent ounces and a valuation of capital equipment at site. If you refer to Note 7 of the Financial Settings for further detail. The oil and sustaining costs reported for the quarter was relatively high compared to the previous quarter. This was primarily driven by lower copper production in Q4 and thus resulting in lower copper credits. all presented to the mill in Q4 being high gold grade with low copper grade. I would highlight also in 2022, all our operating cost metrics were either within guidance or performed better than the 2022 guidance range previously provided. I'm now speaking to slide 17. For the full year, Sentera produced 244,000 ounces of gold and 74 million pounds of copper. Given the inventory levels at offsuit that Toma in 2022. In early February, we initiated changes to streamline the corporate structure and reduce workforce levels at regional and corporate office with an overall 20% reduction in headcount at these locations. The company has exited 2022 with a cash balance of $532 million and over $900 million in liquidity. Given our strong financial position, my closing comments with that I'll pass it to Paul to finish up.
spk05: Okay, Noah, thank you very much, Darren and Paul. At this stage, operator, I think we'll open up for questions, please.
spk01: Thank you, certainly. Ladies and gentlemen, on the phone lines, if you wish to register for a question, please press the one followed by the four on your telephone. You will hear a three-tone prompt to acknowledge your request. If your question has been answered and you would like to withdraw your registration, you can press 13. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, that is 1-4 to ask a question on the phone line. One moment, please. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, on the phone lines, you can press 1-4 on your telephone if you have a question. All right, at this moment, I'm showing no questions on the phone lines.
spk05: All right, well, thank you very much all for attending and we look forward to speaking at our next quarterly call enjoy your weekend thank you operator thank you ladies and gentlemen that does conclude today's call we thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines have a good day
Disclaimer