Endeavour Mining plc

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Endeavors Mining's second quarter 2025 results webcast. At this time, all participants are in the listen-only mode. After management's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. So for those who wish to ask a question, please dial in to the phone line. Please note that due to time constraints, we will be prioritizing questions from the covering analysts. Today's conference call is being recorded and a transcript of the call will be available on Endeavor's website tomorrow. I would now like to hand the call over to Endeavor's Vice President of Investor Relations, Jack Garman. Please go ahead, sir.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Endeavor's second quarter and half-year 2025 results webcast. Before we start, please note our usual disclaimer. On the call today, I'm delighted to be joined by Ian Cockrell, Chief Executive Officer, Guy Young, Chief Financial Officer, and Jaria Traore, Executive Vice President of Operations and ESG. Today's call will follow our usual format. Ian will first go through the highlights, Guy will present the financials, and Jaria will walk you through our operating results by mine, before handing back to Ian for his closing remarks. We'll then open the line up for questions. With that, I will now hand over to Ian.

Thank you, Jack, and hello to everyone who's on the call today. I'm very proud to say that as previously guided, we've delivered another good quarter to cap off the strong first half firmly underpinned by a sound safety performance. In H1 this year, we produced 647,000 ounces of gold at an average all-in sustaining cost of $1,281 per ounce, which firmly places us on track to achieve our full-year guidance. And I think to put that production in context, on a like-for-like basis year-on-year, so in other words, excluding the influence of Lafayette's production, this year's H1 production is a 16% improvement in throughput year-on-year. Our organic growth pipeline continues to advance and our tier one after food projects definitive feasibility study remains on track for completion by early 26. at the same time we're making good progress with the environmental and exploitation permits as well our exploration program is advancing several exciting greenfield and brownfields opportunities across the portfolio including at itty where the itty train continues to deliver new greenfields discovery, and, pleasingly, at Sabadal Masawa, where we are delineating a high-grade near-mine opportunity to support our mine plan. On the financial side, we have continued to increase free cash flow generation, delivering $514 million of free cash flow in H1, and that's equivalent to $794 for every ounce that we've produced. This improved free cash flow generation has allowed us to maintain a healthy balance sheet and as previously guided, despite paying approximately 70% of our 2025 tax bill in the first half of this year. Our leverage is also well below our 0.5 times target and positions us comfortably for future growth and enhanced shareholder returns. We've announced a record first half dividend of $150 million that we supplemented with $69 million of share buybacks. That's bringing total shareholder return for the first half of 2025 to $219 million. On an annualized basis, that's approximately 95% above our minimum commitment and the equivalent to a return of $338 per ounce of gold produced in H1. And I think this reiterates our commitment to delivering sector-leading returns to our shoulders. So as you can see, we've carried the strong momentum that we've been building since the completion of our growth phase through the second quarter and rounding off a strong first half of the year. On the next slide, you can see our performance so far this year. We've maintained a low lost time injury frequency rate significantly below the industry average and we continue to strive for zero harm. Operationally, we do it as 58% of the lower end of our production guidance range during the first half and that positions us well to achieve full year production guidance with slightly lower production expected in the second half due to rainy seasons in Q3 and planned mind lower grades at both ITTI as well as at Hyundai. Importantly, in the first half of the year, we maintained a low all-in sustaining cost of $1,281 per ounce, close to the midpoint of our full-year guidance range. And that's despite the impact of higher gold prices and their influence on royalty costs. In fact, the increased royalty costs was approximately $96 per ounce additional over our budgeted cost in the first half. On slide A, our higher first half production was coupled with a significant 31% increase in our all-in sustaining margin, which reflects our cost discipline in this higher gold price environment. The improvement in both our production and margins is a result of the successful completion of our growth phase in early H2 2024. And with our larger higher margin portfolio, we're well positioned to take advantage of the favorable gold price environment going forward. On slide nine, you can see our all-in sustaining costs compared to our sector peers, and we remain in the first cost quartile. Over the longer term, while we expect to see the industry all-in sustaining costs increase, we will continue to focus on productivity initiatives and the discovery and development of our low-cost pipeline projects to help offset any potential cost increases. On slide 10, a stronger first-half production and our cost discipline, coupled with a strong goal price, translated into a 35% increase in adjusted EBITDA to nearly $1.2 billion, compared to the second half of 2024. Our adjusted EBITDA margin also increased by five percentage points to a very healthy 57%. Importantly, our improved production and earnings is also translating into stronger free cash flow, as you can see on slide 11. For the first half of the year, we generated over half a billion dollars of free cash flow, a 41% increase on H2-24 and a significant improvement on H1-24 when we were still in that construction phase and generating negative free cash flow. On a per ounce basis, our H1-25 free cash flow is equivalent to $794 of free cash flow generated for every ounce of gold produced, highlighting the quality of the underlying portfolio and our ability to convert operational performance into free cash flow at a healthy margin. And that's particularly impressive because during the first half of the year, as previously guided, we've also paid approximately 70% of our expected 2025 cash taxes. With a robust second half operational performance, coupled with even higher gold prices at the start of the third quarter, we expect continued strong free cash flows going forward, This chart here really illustrates our transition from a growth phase in the third quarter of 24 to a period focus on cash flow harvesting. Over the last 12 months since completing that growth phase, we've now generated $879 million in free cash flow, equivalent to $687 of free cash flow for every ounce of gold that we've produced. That's a very attractive free cash flow yield of 17%. from the start of the period, and as we look forward, a robust operating outlook with cost discipline should underpin continued strong free cash flow generation. On slide 12, the strong free cash flow generation has allowed us to strengthen our balance sheet and reduce our leverage to 0.23 times net debt to adjusted EBITDA, significantly below our target of 0.5 times very quickly. Our net debt ended the period at $469 million, a significant improvement on our year-end debt at $732 million. That's despite our big shell return payments, coupled with seasonally high taxes that have also been paid. We were pleased to materially strengthen and extend the maturity profile of our capital structure during this period through the successful bond refinancing, which we completed in May. and a subsequent repayment of the majority of our higher-cost RCF, which Guy will speak to shortly. On slide 13, given our strong free cash flow, which is a way to deleverage our financial position, we have continued to prioritise shareholder returns. I'm delighted to announce... our record first half dividend of $150 million in cash, which we supplemented with a further $69 million of share buybacks, bringing total show returns for the first half of the year to $219 million. And just putting that in context, that's approximately 11% of our revenue, 29% of our operating cash flow, or 43% of our free cash flow. For the first half, we generated $794 per ounce of free cash flow and returned $338 per ounce to shareholders, reflecting our commitment again to delivering enhanced shareholder returns in these higher gold price environments. Our first half shareholder returns brings total returns over the last four and a half years to $1.4 billion. and that's 81% above our minimum commitment for that period. And that reflects our commitment to supplemental returns through phase of growth and cash flow harvesting, reiterating the high quality of our business and highlighting our ability to continue delivering sector-leading returns to shareholders, even through phases of growth. And on an annualized basis, our first half returns of $219 million is approximately 95% higher than our minimum shelter returns commitment for the year of $225 million. Again, highlighting our commitment to supplemental returns that continues to increase given our strong operational performance. Moving on to organic growth on slide 15, I think nothing better exemplifies Endeavor's ability to create value through the drill bit than the Asafoet Project in Cote d'Ivoire. which continues to advance on schedule towards its DFS completion by early 2026. In H125, we continued to advance the project. We completed over 20,000 meters of drilling, largely focused on infill, confirming and increasing our confidence in the reserve model for the early part of the mine plan. Now that we've completed this program, we can prioritize exploration principally at Asafo and Parlour Trend's two and three satellite targets within a kilometre of the Asafo main pit, where we expect to have a resource update later this year. The project is advancing to plan. We've appointed the engineering contractor, the same team who we've successfully worked with on our last five construction projects, who will be led by a best-in-class in-house construction supervisory team. The permitting process also continues to advance as anticipated, with the environmental permit approval expected in the second half of this year and the exploitation permits expected early next year at the latest. All in all, ASAPU remains on track to become a genuine Tier 1 asset in our portfolio and a key pillar of our next phase of growth, offering robust economics, strong exploration upside, and a straightforward proven CIL flow sheet design very similar to that which we already have in place at Lafayette. On slide 16, we've continued to advance our long-term organic growth pipeline through exploration, increasing our full-year guidance by $10 million to $85 million. driven by accelerated drilling programs at both Iti and Sabadala, and significant progress at Asafo as well as Hyundai. At Sabadala and Asawa, drilling is focused on high-grade, near-mine, non-refractory targets to support the ongoing technical review. Following the successes at Kiesta C and Sukutu, which are now in this year's mine plant, we've had success at the Makarna target, where results have outlined a potentially large-scale, high-grade deposit located within 22 kilometers of the CRL processing plant. Exploration in Iti is focused on the Iti trend, where drilling has identified several highly prospective, high-grade greenfield targets, and a follow-up program to test the scale of these targets is scheduled for later this year. Finally, at one day, the high-grade vindaloo deeps deposit is beginning to take shape. Drilling continues to highlight the potential for a large, high-grade underground deposit. Drilling is going to continue in the second half of the year to further delineate mineralization and with an updated resource expected in early 2026. Before I hand over to Guy, I'd just like to briefly touch on ESG. following the recent publication of our annual tax and economic contribution report. As the largest gold producer and a major employer in the region, we're a key contributor to the economic prosperity of our host countries. Last year, this amounted to a total economic contribution of $2.2 billion to our host countries through the transparent payment of taxes, royalties, salaries, and increasingly importantly, in-country procurement, Our economic contribution, although critically important, is just one aspect of the meaningful value that we deliver from the gold that we produce. Transparency and traceability of responsibly sourced gold is equally important to ensure everyone benefits from the metal we mine, from jewelers, downstream users, and investors, to ultimately our impacted communities. Single Mine Origin, or more commonly known as SMO, is just one such initiative, and they recently launched the SMO Foundation to fund a variety of projects in social equity, healthcare access, and environmental conservation. We're proud to be partnering with them on improving healthcare at Sabadala Masala and supporting the protection of the Thai National Park, the jewel of West Africa, in Cote d'Ivoire. We're also proud to partner with the World Gold Council on their Gold The Journey Continues series. The latest episode, which was launched a few weeks ago, actually features our most recent mine, Le Figuet. And this documentary series is storytelling at its best for the industry. Authentic, honest accounts of how mining can positively impact the lives of host communities, open up economic opportunities to transform lives for better. I believe a very, very necessary counterbalance to often the unduly negative press that we get in our industry. And with that, let me pass you over to Guy, who's going to take you through the financial results. Guy, over to you.

Thanks, Ian. I'll now walk through our financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2025. On slide 19 are our operational profitability and cash flow highlights for the quarter. Following the very strong production in Q1 and in line with our intended H1 weighting to de-risk production, our Q2 production was slightly lower due to lower grades being processed. Costs were slightly higher than Q1, mainly due to the lower volumes and grades mined and processed, as well as higher royalty costs and higher power costs, partially offset by a higher realized gold price, which drove improved EBITDA and a net earnings increase of 57%. Cash flows were robust, but impacted by the expected seasonal peak in cash tax payments. As we originally guided, the majority of tax payments are now behind us for the year. Turning to slide 20, our Q2 production declined by 35,000 ounces over Q1, in line with mine sequencing, driven by lower grades processed at Hyundai, Sabadoll and Asawa, and Manor. Despite this, production was 55,000 ounces higher than Q2 last year, as a result of the contributions from our new $7 Masala Biox plant and the Figue Mine, which both achieved commercial production in Q3 of last year. Our all-in sustaining margin also continued to improve in Q2, thanks to the strong gold price during the quarter, which was partially offset by an increase in ASIC quarter-on-quarter due to the impact of higher royalty costs and higher power costs. the latter being driven by lower grid power availability as hydroelectric dam capacity in Cote d'Ivoire was at its lowest point for the year ahead of the annual wet season. Moving on to slide 21, our EBITDA increased by 10% quarter over quarter, supported by our robust operational performance, higher gold prices, as well as a swing in unrealized FX gains as the U.S. dollar depreciated against the euro. Importantly, our EBITDA margin also improved by some 700 basis points, 59% in the quarter, highlighting our strong cost position and leverage to the gold price. Moving to slide 22, our operating cash flow for Q2 was $252 million and lower than Q1 due to the seasonal peak in cash tax payments across all three jurisdictions and slightly lower production in line with mine sequencing as previously discussed. As outlined in our tax guidance earlier in the year, we expected to incur around 55% of our full-year cash taxes in Q2, and we paid $233 million in the quarter. By quarter end, we had already paid approximately 70% of our full-year cash taxes, positioning us for a strong second half in terms of cash flow. We can see this in more detail on slide 23 and the Q2 operating cash flow bridge, As mentioned earlier, the quarter-on-quarter decline in operating cash flow was primarily driven by 49,000 ounces lower gold sold, as well as higher royalty costs and higher operating costs both Hyundai and ETI. In addition, income tax paid increased by $194 million, in line with the seasonality of our cash tax payments as previously spoken about. These impacts were partially offset by a $367 per ounce increase in the realized gold price, and a $54 million reduction in working capital outflows. The lower working capital outflow was largely driven by the unwinding of golden circuit inventory built up during the prior quarter at both Hyundai and IT. This was partially offset by an $18 million buildup in VAT receivables, primarily at Hyundai, MANA, and Lafayette. At Lafayette, the process was simply delayed following the mine's startup last year, While at Hyundai and MANA, we continue to look at options to offset or factor some of our VAT receivables going forward. The net result of which was a very incredible $232 million of operating cash flow in the quarter. Moving now to slide 24. Our operating cash flow of $252 million translated into a free cash flow generation in the quarter of $104 million after deducting $148 million of investing cash flow, which I will detail further in the next slide. In terms of cash flow seasonality, I reiterate that importantly, we've now paid approximately 70% of our full-year cash taxes, and as such, are in an excellent position to generate free cash flow in the second half of the year, supported by stronger gold prices. Our leveraged position, as outlined on slide 25, remains stable throughout the quarter, while our net debt increased by $91 million due to the significant cash tax and shareholder returns payments during the quarter. Operating cash flow at $252 million, as previously mentioned. Investing activities was an outflow of $148 million, an increase over the first quarter as our capital expenditure ramped up. The total is comprised of $59 million of sustaining CapEx, $65 million of non-sustaining CapEx, and $10 million of growth capital as we continue to advance the asset through definitive feasibility steps. Financing activities was an outflow of $256 million, primarily related to the $140 million H2 2024 shareholder dividend payment, which we paid in April, as well as $39 million in financing costs related to the bond refinancing and interest on other debt instruments. $29 million was in share buybacks and $28 million in net repayments of debt and $7 million in lease repayments. We also recognize a $49 million gain from the foreign exchange re-measurement of cash balances through the quarter. Our leverage remains stable despite the slight increase in net debt, as our last 12-month adjusted EBITDA continued to improve, reflecting both higher realized gold prices and the positive impact of commercial production at our growth projects from Q3 of last year. Turning to our capital structure on slide 26, We successfully refinanced our $500 million senior notes in May of this year, replacing our existing 5% senior notes that were maturing in 2026, new 7% senior notes maturing in 2030. The transaction, which was significantly oversubscribed, has extended our debt maturity profile and maintained our relatively low cost of capital. Importantly, the old notes that were issued at a spread to five-year treasuries of approximately 395 basis points, while the new notes were issued at a reduced spread of only 300 basis points, reflecting the improved geographic diversification and quality in our portfolio. I also thought it's worth highlighting that post the end of this quarter that we're reporting on now, we repaid approximately $426 million on our $700 million RCS, leaving a residual $46 million drawn, significantly reducing our gross debt from 1.1 billion to approximately 680 million as at the end of July. With our healthy leverage, our long-term and low-cost capital structure, Coupled with our strong free cash flow outlook, we are well positioned to deliver on our strategy to organically grow while delivering attractive returns to our shareholders. Moving lastly to slide 27 and our net earnings. Our adjusted net earnings per share decreased by 17 cents due to lower earnings from operations as a result of slightly lower production at higher costs. Net earnings improved significantly as we recorded an $18 million gain on financial instruments as a result of unrealized FX gains on net assets and unrealized gains on gold collars as the outstanding collars continue to wind down, partially offset by a realized loss on gold collars for the quarter of $46 million, reflecting the 50,000 ounces that were settled. While our 50,000 ounces of gold collars cost us $46 million this quarter, Pleasingly, there is only another two 50,000-ounce tranches to be settled in Q3 and Q4 before we are fully exposed to the gold price, giving us an immediate benefit from Q1 next year at current gold prices. Net tax expenses were also lower due to a significant deferred tax recovery, which was the result of an FX gain on deferred tax balances and payments of withholding taxes. As a result, total net earnings of $343 million were $121 million higher than the previous quarter. Finally, the adjustments, which include the unrealized gains on gold collars and FX on net assets, partially offset by other expenses, which resulted in a $100 million adjustment to adjusted earnings per share. I'll now hand it over to Jaria for the review of our operating performance.

Thank you, Guy. Our group lost time injury frequency rates remain low at 0.05 and our total recordable injury frequency rate remains stable at one for the quarter, similar to quarter one. This reflects our strong safety culture and benchmark against the recent ICMM safety performance report positions endeavor amongst the safest mining companies globally. However, Complacency is the enemy of safety, and we are currently undertaking a group-wide safety leadership training program for all our frontline supervisors to reenergize reporting of leading indicators. This initiative aims to improve safety performance by encouraging proactive reporting of potential hazards and near misses, rather than solely focusing on reactive measures after incidents. Moving to slide 30, we had a strong first half of the year. Production totaled 647,000 ounces for each one, which is approximately 58% of the low end of our guidance range and 55% of guidance midpoint. Groom production in 42 was 360,000 ounces, slightly lower than quarter one, but in line with mine plans. as grid were lower at Hyundai, MANA, and Lafayette. Looking to H2, we had sent production to be slightly lower than H1 due to anticipated lower grids at Hyundai and at ET. Our H1 in sustaining cost was $1,281 per ounce, well within our four-year guidance range, and only slightly above the midpoint. due to the impact of higher gold price on royalty cost, which added approximately $96 per ounce during the period. The quarter two all-in sustaining cost for the group was $1,458 per ounce, higher than quarter one all-in sustaining cost due to the higher gold price impacting royalty cost, lower gold sales, higher power cost due to the lower hydroelectric capacity towards the end of the dry season, but also increased sustaining capital costs at Hyundai, ET, and Lafayette. During H2, if the gold price is stable, we expect slightly higher oil sustaining costs due to slightly lower production due to the wet season and the impact of higher gold prices or royalties. Endeavor remains in the sector's lower cost quartile and is on track to meet four-year guidance. Now turning to mine-by-mine performance, starting with Sabadola-Masawa on slide 31. Production declined slightly from quarter one due to lower tons and great mills through the CIL plants are planned. while grades and recovery through the biop circuit improved as mining advanced through the Massawa Central Zone pit into higher grade and fresh ore. All sustaining costs increased due to slightly lower gold sales, higher processing costs due to maintenance and increased reagent consumption, and the impact of higher gold prices on royalty costs. In H2, We expect DIL production to be broadly consistent with H1 levels, while the BIOX input is set to increase as we begin processing more fresh oil from the Massawa Central Zone, supporting improved grades and recovery. Since we launched our technical review at Sabadola Massawa in quarter three of last year, performance has continued to improve. which is driven largely by improvement in the bio circuits. As part of this review, we've been looking at ways to increase bio throughput and recoveries, and opportunities as well to incorporate higher grid feed into the CIL plant, with the aim of increasing production at Sabadola-Masawa complex, towards a 350,000 ounces per annum run rate. Turning to slide 33, the first phase of the technical review was a comprehensive review of reserve and resources at Sabadola Masawa. This included over 300,000 meters of additional grid control drilling, which was incorporated into existing models and re-evaluated by both internal qualified persons and independent external consultants. We are pleased to confirm that our existing reserves and reserves assumptions with no major deviations to grade, tonnage, or contain ounces compared to our year-end 2025-2024 reserves and reserves. Moving to slide 34, we've been progressively optimizing the BIOS circuits, initially through the use of a pebble crusher and optimizations of the sag mill discharge, which have improved the stability of the mill feed into the flotation circuits, resulting in improved flotation performance. We've already seen improved peak throughput, which we are working on sustaining. We expect to start 2026 at a higher throughput rate than designed. with an ultimate goal to sustain 10% to 15% throughput through above design. BIOX recovery have also improved significantly since the first gold pour, and we are trending towards the mid-80% range, which is where we expect life of mine recoveries to stabilize. The improvement is the result of ore mining advancing deeper into the Masala Central Zone peak, through the transitional ore to now comprising about 80% fresh ore. We expect the fresh to transition ratio to continue increasing as mining advances. Through the second half of the year, we will also be increasing the capacity of the gravity circuits, leveraging spare components from the existing CIL plant to help recover a higher proportion of post-free gold in the biocircuits. Moving on to slide 35, and the CIL plant where grid is output. Underground reserves of the Guluma-Kerekunda deposit are currently being explored to test potential extension to existing reserves. At the same time, we've launched a scoping study for the underground expansion, which will provide us with better clarity on the cost as well as timeline required to accelerate this high-grade material into the mine plan. And we expect this to be completed in H1 next year. The last component of the technical review on slide 36 It's focused on identifying and delineating high-grade non-refractory resources to help offset the expected grade decline at the CIL plant. The exploration program is building on recent successes at the Kiesta Sea and Sukutu deposit, which are now in production, and is targeting the Makana deposit. located approximately 22 kilometers from the Sabudala process plant. Makana is shaping up to be a potentially feasible near-surface high-grade deposit that will provide a near-term multi-year sources of feed for the CIL plants once high potential resources are defined, which we expect by the end of the year. Let's now turn our attention to our Hundian mine on slide 37. Despite the very strong first half, we saw process rate decrease in quarter two, as expected, following the acceleration of high-grid ore from the carried pump deposit into the mill in first quarter. As a result, production was lower quarter on quarter, and oil and sustaining costs were higher due to the lower gold sales, unwinding on inventory, and higher gold prices and taxing royalties. Due to a lower proportion of high-grid oil from Caripo in the plant for the second half of the year, we expect lower grids and lower production. Hyundai remains on track to achieve its production guidance within our holding sustaining cost guidance range. Turning to ET on slide 38. Quarter two was another steady quarter operationally. The production was stable while holding sustaining costs were higher, which was driven by lower volumes of gold sold due to the timing of gold sales, but also increased foliage and drill and blast activity. and higher power costs associated with seasonally lower grid availability. Royalty costs also increased due to the higher realized gold price. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, the production is expected to decrease slightly due to a planned reduction in high-grid ore mined from the ET and the retracted. ETI continued to be a standard contributor to the portfolio and remains on track to achieve production guidance with only sustaining costs within the range. Moving to MANA, the production in quarter two declined due to lower average grade mine and processed from the steel deposit, which was in line with the mine plan. Oil and sustaining costs increased largely due to a lower grid availability, higher royalty costs, which related to the higher realized gold price and lower gold sales volume. But looking ahead at H2, production is expected to remain broadly in line with H1, while oil and sustaining costs are expected to improve, driven by the transition to a single underground mining contractor. which is expected to drive reliability and productivity improvement from the fourth quarter onward. Overall, MANA is on track to meet its four-year production guidance, with all its sustaining costs near the top end of the guidance range. Lastly, turning to our newest operation, Lafayette on Slack 40. Production was relatively stable in Quad 2, despite lower grade process due to continuing improvement in throughput levels. Throughput for Quad 2 was 16% above design plate, reflecting ongoing operation improvement on site. Looking forward, we are prepared to continue driving higher throughput using mobile crushing of software oxide or and intense predictive maintenance to improve plant availability and utilization. We have also mobilized an additional mining contractor to support these higher levels of throughput. Oil and sustaining costs rose during the quarter, primarily due to higher royalty payments related to higher realized gold price. For the second half of the year, Process grades are expected to be lower than in H1. However, this is anticipated to be largely offset by the continued improvement in throughput. Overall, Lafayette remains on track to meet its four-year guidance. I will now hand it back to Jan for his closing remarks.

Thank you, Geria. I think with our strong operating momentum, and the supported gold price environment, we're certainly well positioned to build on an enviable first half performance through the remainder of this year and beyond. As we look ahead, our near-term strategic priorities are focused on maximizing free cash flow generation and delivering enhanced shelf returns. And given our strong balance sheet position, we're certainly very well positioned to execute our organic growth strategy. And with that, I will hand over for Q&A.

Thank you. To ask a question, please press star 1-1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. The first question comes from Elan Gabrielle with Morgan Stanley. Your line is open.

Thank you for taking my question. I just have one question on Sabudala Masawa. You clearly seem to have done a lot of work along the technical report or the technical review of the mine. Putting all the learnings you've had or you've made so far, how do you see the production profile evolving into 26 and 27? Has anything changed in the last three months? I'm conscious that you're still a work in progress, but any color you can give us there would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you for the question. Obviously, if we compare where we were last year to this year, we've seen an improvement both in recovery. That talks about the significant improvement that we've seen because we've seen more fresh cotton from the Masala Central Peaks. We also seen an improvement on the recovery. We're now near the 80%, and that's what we wanted to be going forward. So, we are looking, expecting that the production this year will improve compared to next year. we expect some improvement as well compared to 2025. So progressively, that is to ensure that we are incrementally adding to it. As I mentioned earlier as well, we are looking at a run rate of 350 per annum, of course, depending on the underground that we expect to come to line around 2028.

Thank you. Just to clarify, the 350 that you expect is the average for 26, or is it more of a exit rate for 26?

No, no, no. It will not be the average for 2026. 2026 will definitely be improvement compared to 2025. The run rate of 350 was more than mid to long term.

Thank you. Very clear. And the next question comes from Evisa B. with Scotiabank. Your line is open.

Thanks, operator. Hi, Ian and the Endeavor team. Congrats on a good quarter. Ian, a couple of questions for me, and maybe this is a continuation from the previous question regarding Sabadala Masawa tech review. You know, I mean, is this going to be a new tech report, new mind plan, or is it just more of an internal review that you guys are doing now? And how is this going to be kind of, you know, disseminated to the public?

Sorry, we were having trouble getting the microphone on. No, it's not going to be a completely new report. It just basically is fine-tuning what we've already got, recognizing, you know, where there are shortcomings, where there's scope for improvement. I think as you've seen, In this year, exactly as Jaria said, we're seeing an appreciable improvement in performance this year, particularly coming out of the biox plant. The next area that we're looking at is trying to find more good quality, straightforward CIL plant feed so we don't have to just put through lower-grade stockpile. We'll have higher-grade current risings. And then the cherry on the cake, on top of any enhanced throughput that we can see, particularly through the BIOX plant, the cherry on the cake will be how quickly we can bring in high-grade underground material. And that's requiring a lot of careful engineering. I think the one thing that we've learned at Salvador is the last thing that we want to do, having disappointed the market once, we don't want to do it again. This time we want to make sure that we have perfectly on top of everything. And as soon as we've got something firmed up, we will give out a complete sort of update as to where we are. What we're trying to do is, on an as-you-go basis, give as much sort of update as to where we are in the technical review. But we're making good progress, and I still fundamentally believe in this particular mind as a high potential source. It's just, it is definitely underexplored. We just need to get it right. We need to understand the intricacies of both the fresh material and the complexities of the more refractory-like material.

Perfect. Thanks for that, Ian. And then just kind of moving on to exploration, you know, obviously Asafo has been a huge success for Endeavor. I mean, is the exploration team kind of focused in 2025 on near-mine exploration, or has the team started to look for the next assault?

Look, we're going to give a strategic update in the second half so we can give a little bit more color. But I think it is fair to say that in the short term, you know, we are doing – I think there's a better balance now between both the the green fields as well as the brown fields, a lot of effort going into resource to reserve conversion for obvious reasons. But, you know, we're extremely fortunate that wherever we are on all of our mining projects, we've got highly prospective ground. You know, really... increasing our efforts, increasing the amount of time and money we put into exploration. We're seeing the more we drill, the more we discover. So the challenge for Sonia in her new role is making sure that she gets that balance right between greenfields as well as brownfields. But we can give a little bit more sort of detail on that later on this year. Got it. Looking forward to that.

And then just a last question. In terms of capital allocation, you're looking to pay a $150 million dividend in October. Just on the share buyback, how aggressive should we expect you to be going into share buybacks into the second half of the year? Are you going to kind of remain as aggressive as you've been in the first half, or how should we see the second half?

We'll retain our views upon buying at the times that we feel that the prices are advantageous in terms of us doing buybacks. Again, as you quite rightly point out, this is just one component of our capital allocation program. And if there are competing uses for that money, we'll look at those. But I think you should genuinely see that there will be continued buybacks, the tenor of which You know, I don't really want to go into it, but we will continue.

Okay, thanks for that, Ian. And that's it for me, and again, congrats on a good quarter.

And the next question will come from Richard Hatch with Barenburg. Your line is open.

Thanks, Ian. Morning, Ian and team, and congrats on a nice quarter. Just a few questions from me. The first one is just on the second half dividend. I mean, you've been pretty good at setting the level, beating it, taking that to the next level, beating that. So should we expect that 150 to be the base level going forward? That's the first one.

Hey, Richard. I think what we're saying is we're sticking to what we've made a minimum commitment to do. However, we are also sticking to the supplemental returns policy. So assuming gold price remains strong, the balance sheet, which we believe to be extremely healthy, remains healthy, then we will look to supplement. But I think it's far more prudent just to go with the minimum commitment for now.

Okay. Thanks, Guy. Second one is just on the hedge. You make the point that it's been quite financially painful to you, although I understand the reasons why you put it in. Fair to assume that as we go into 26, your comment that you'll be unhedged means that we won't be expected to see any hedging go through the accounts into the next year?

Anybody who proposes a hedging program for 2026 will have to deliver the proposal along with their resignation slip. Excellent.

I can clarify further if that isn't clear enough.

No new CFO coming. I'm glad to hear that. We like the CFO. Third one is, again, for the CFO, just on the CFA strength. Yeah, it's been very strong, hasn't it, quarter to date? And that kind of gave you that $49 million tailwind on the cash flow statement. But it's come back a bit in July. Just wondering, are you seeing any pressure on your OPEX line just in terms of that strength and just the way that puts pressure on your mine operating cash costs? Thanks.

Thanks, Richard. Yeah, look, the short answer to the question is yes, there is pressure. But, I mean, FX, perhaps it's worthwhile just unpacking it a little. So a weakening U.S. dollar versus euro, or therefore a cross-reach to ZOF or CFA, is obviously the ratio that we're looking at and worried about. From an income statement perspective, a weaker dollar or a stronger euro or ZOF fundamentally means that in U.S. dollars, which are translated in average rates in the month, we will fundamentally see an increase in those dollar OPEX and CAPEX numbers. Absolutely right. um you will have seen through the year so the the you've made mention of the delta so we saw four percent in the first quarter and a further eight percent in the second quarter and those numbers are creeping into into our costs uh given that we've got roughly 70 percent of our total opex base in local currency the stuff that you see flowing through the income statement at the moment is predominantly um in and around balance sheet translation so On the balance sheet, we're in a net asset position, obviously. So if you take our cash, our VAT receivables, et cetera, those in local currency, when translated using a weaker dollar, fundamentally drive a gain. And then there is an offset, but you can't see it because we're net asset, on the liability side. So the Lafayette loan and our accounts payable, which, again, in dollars will go the other way. So that net 40% It's coming through in the gain and loss line, and it's effectively our balance sheet translation. And then the third and last element from an FX perspective is in and around deferred tax. So you will have seen some references to it, but essentially retranslation of the deferred tax balance is coming through as well, but that's going through the income tax line. All of those are unrealized FX gains, everything on the balance sheet, and as a result, we clearly remove those for adjusted earnings. Sorry, slightly longer answer to the question. Yes, on the cost line, and then on the balance sheet, unrealized, reversed out, and we'll have to see where we go from here.

That's very helpful. And so my last one is just on MANA. It seems like your costs have been a little bit up, quarter and quarter, but broadly flat. But I also note you've changed your contract route. So you kind of alluded to it, but should we, as we look into the second half, with a fair stretch to hit your cost guidance and I guess production as well, should we expect to see that mining costs dollar per tonne mine start to come down just as you switch out the contractor and then to your point, grades pick up and those two help you bring the all in sustaining costs back down into range?

Richard, if I may, I'll give a slightly broader cost response and then maybe Jari will want to add specifically on MANA. I think just from a cost perspective, Clearly, Q2 is higher than Q1, but I think it's really important for us to stress that the Q2 ASIC cost is not the trend for the remainder of the year. We are in line with guidance, so 1150 to 1350 still remains our range. MANA, as Jaria said earlier, at the upper end thereof. But Q2 in particular was impacted by a number of things that I think are important to note. First of all, obviously the slightly lower production because of the lower grades, as we've mentioned and as we've expected. We did see the inventory unwind, particularly at Hyundai. And those ounces that were in GIC at the end of first quarter were less carry pump and therefore slightly higher cost. All of that unwinds into second quarter, which Jaro mentioned earlier. There is the power and arguably as the wet season kicks in, The hydropower availability improves, grid availability improves, and therefore requirements to self-generate at high cost reduces. So arguably that shouldn't be there on a look-forward basis. And then the Q2 versus Q1 is also impacted by a catch-up in sustaining CapEx. And given that we're more than halfway through that CapEx program now, again, that shouldn't be something that is ballooning into the second half. So just want to reiterate, yes, Q2 was up. But if you look at H1, which is arguably more representative, and if you look at the underlying facts, I don't see that as a carry forward into the second half. Jorah, can I maybe answer you if you want to chat?

Sure. Yes. Hello, Richard. Just to pick up on what Gaia said, obviously quarter two is not what we should be expecting every quarter. And as he mentioned as well, if you look at the H1, the first six months of the year, you'll see some of the underlines. which should not be going into H2. But I think on top of all of that, we are looking at some initiatives of productivity as well. If I just take one, which is the year today, so all mine is about 13% ahead of compared to 2024. We're also looking at the way to optimize, especially our cost into power. As I mentioned earlier, Currently on MANA, the entire mining sector is self-generated power. Towards the quarter four, we are looking at changing, upgrading some of the infrastructure, adding a new transformer, which normally will put us fully onto the grid. So there are a few initiatives that we're looking at, and definitely having now one single contractor helps in identifying some initiatives as well in order to optimize the mining cost. So we're confident that we will be able to get back into the guidance range.

Okay. Very helpful. Thanks, team. Much appreciated.

And the next question comes from Anita Soni with CIBC. Your line's open.

Good morning, Ian, Guy, and team. So a few questions. Firstly, on the taxes, can you just give us an understanding of these tax payments? I think it was guys of 350 to 450 in IC. I thought there was going to be a bigger tax payment in Q2 as per some of your indications in the call, but how does the rest of the year play out in terms of the tax payments? Is it a big number in Q3 as well and then not much in Q4?

Hi, Anita. Sorry, your line isn't great, but I think if we're talking about tax payments, We had guided 350 to 450 with roughly 55% coming out in Q2, which rough numbers I think is about 220. And I think we disclosed the 233 in the quarter. So we're broadly on track with regards to that. If you look at our original guidance, we said that there'd be roughly 25% of that total coming through in Q3. which, again, we see no reason to change. So that should be, you know, less than half of what you saw in Q2 in terms of cash tax payments in Q3. Okay.

And then the next question is with regards to the capital spend. So there was a – I noticed there's pretty big stripping numbers at most of the assets. Is that, should we take that as a, you know, a run rate in terms of how much stripping that you'll be doing for the rest of the year? I think it was almost, you know, obviously not Nana, but the rest of the assets had some big stripping numbers. Are those, will it taper off in the back half of the year or is it print and raise stripping?

Thank you, Monica. We're not expecting anything substantially different. We will be doing stripping if and when required, but at this stage in H2, we're not expecting any increase into the stripping that we've seen in H1.

Okay, so similar. I was actually asking if it would decline, not increase, but so you're saying pretty flat. Okay, and then last question with regards to the oxide ore, sorry, the CIL ore. The tonnage started to decline in Q2 in the CIL. Is it going to continue to decline, or could you maintain levels? Would it bump up from there, or how should we think about the CIL ore? We know that, you know, Obviously, you're looking for alternative OAR sources, but I'm just trying to understand how the back half of the year looks at the CIL at Sabadolla.

Again, so thank you, Anita. Obviously, as we mentioned earlier, we are looking at a way to increase that access to non-refactoring OAR for the CIL plant. Again, this is planned. If we go back to some of the DFS, you will see that this was planned. The decline, again, is scheduled. That's how we plan it for the year. We don't think that has been a big issue. Again, what we need to really focus on is to accelerate those new mine access to new reserves, as well as the underground Kerekunda and Buluma that we are planning to start developing in 2027, 2028, to ensure that we stabilize and we increase the production going forward.

Okay, let me ask the question again in a different way. Should we be forecasting the level of CIL ore that you had in Q2, in Q3, and Q4, or should we have that declining?

Anita, we are going to quarter three, which is a raining season, so naturally it will decrease. Again, that will not be anything different than what we see every year across a lot of sites in general. So, to answer your question, quarter three wedding season, you should see a slight decrease into that oxide.

Okay. Thank you for that. And then, just one last question on the throughput levels. Can you talk about the things that you're doing at Sabadola Masala to get that 15% increase in throughput?

Thank you, Anita, again. Some of the initiatives that we're looking at to increase our throughput is, of course, the blend and feed of the stockpile. We're also accelerating the mining at the high grid of node zone. What we already are, we're already more or less at 10%, but it's not consistent. So the objective is to maintain that 10% increase above the design that we've already seen. maintain that throughput until the end of the year, and then next year, 2026, add an increment for maybe 5%. So those are the different things that we're looking at in order to maintain that 10% that we're already more or less achieving.

Okay, thanks. My apologies if you've already asked and answered these things. I've just been on dueling conference calls with Tameko and Kinross.

No, not at all.

Thank you.

And the next question will come from Daniel Major with UBS. Your line is open.

Hi. Yeah, thanks. Thanks so much for the questions. The first one, just on the tax question again, and thank you very much for improving the clarity of the guides through the year in terms of the cash tax outflow. I guess this year you got it to a fixed tax rate within the range of 350 to 400 in terms of cash tax. You're clearly going to see a lift in profitability this year and accrue more tax. Is there going to be some sort of catch-up payment? Can you just explain the mechanics of what we should be thinking about in terms of tax coming out into 2026?

Hey, Dan. Yeah, look, we'll do the same again next time around. So we'll give you full visibility and predictions in terms of cash flows as and when we get to the end of the year. But at the moment, the best way to indicatively see it is if you look at the income statement, what we're doing is a quarterly effective tax rate and accruing according to current profits. So the income statement is is indicatively what we're going to be looking to pay out next year. We are accruing CIT at the standard effective tax rates based on current year profits, and we are simultaneously putting into deferred tax a 60% charge of what we are anticipating in distributing next year for withholding tax purposes. So the income statement is the best one to follow, and we'll give full guidance similar to that which we did this year when we're in a position to do so at the beginning of next.

Okay, thanks. That's helpful. And then the second one, just again on the cash flow dynamics, I think you've got the biggest quarter in terms of minority dividend payments. You've not paid much here today, I think just $13.8 million in Q2. Can you just remind us on the guidance for the expectation around the full year and the distribution between Q3 and Q4?

Sure. So you're speaking specifically minority interest rather than any of the withholding tax piece? Yeah. Minority. Minority. The minority was between 100 and 120 for the year, and we would expect the vast majority of that to be paid in Q3.

Okay. That's useful. Thank you. Just next one, you mentioned about some Belgium VAT receivables. Can you just remind us where you're at for the full year – sorry, across the group in terms of VAT receivables and what the expectation is? And then I saw that you mentioned some factoring and some other initiatives.

Sure. So as a group, we're sitting at around $176 million on VAT receivables as of June. The split is broadly 120 in Burkina Faso, and the remainder is sitting in Lafayette and Sabadala and a little bit of group. Now, when we are talking about VAT receivables, the more problematic balances are the full Burkina Faso balance, and then, to a lesser degree, the FIGE. The FIGE, as I said in the slides, is more an issue of ramp-up. So having started out last year, we're having to put in place all of the processes to ensure that claims are going in, people understand our story, and ensure that the documentation that people we're dealing with know us and what it is that we're going to be claiming on a monthly basis. So I think that is more of a ramp-up issue than anything else, and that should be declining through the remainder of the year. Sabadola-Masawa is also one where we could see some incremental improvement because we've had some process improvements, and the total outstanding may well reign in from the current average four months to about three and a half or three months. So the real issue for us remains Burkina Faso, and that 120 balance, we're looking at a variety of different ways of trying to offset that, either with alternative amounts that we owe the state And then we continue also to look at alternative factoring options. At the moment, local banks, which is where we used to do our factoring, are not interested in the paper anymore. but we're looking at potential alternative options to try and do something quite similar. So, whether that comes off is difficult to say. I think it's a reasonably low probability, but we continue to look at whatever we can to reduce that 120, other than simply waiting for the state.

Okay. Thanks. And just one final question, if I may. You're rapidly bringing down net debt. If we look at your dividend run rate and similar buyback run rate, you should be moving somewhere towards zero or net cash in the end of the year, even paying north of 400 in cash returns. If we think about the quantum of cash return to 2026, can you give us a target of where you would kind of ideally get the balance sheet to in terms of net cash position, or above what level would you just distribute 100% of free cash?

Okay. Here's another unhelpful, rather broad answer, but so what I think we've been very clear on, we'd like to reiterate. Point five is our maximum that we would like to see through a cycle. On the other end of that spectrum, We have said that we have no intention of building a large cash balance. In between there, we remain open to maximizing supplemental returns within the confines of what we have in front of us. So you're absolutely right. In the short term, there are less calls on the cash. CapEx is reasonably well under control and forecastable. but we want to ensure that we've got a reasonable balance sheet in the build-up to the ASIFU CapEx. So I don't think you're ever going to see us move to a very formulaic position of paying out specific percentages of free cash. We would prefer to maintain flexibility in managing the balance sheet as best we can, given whatever the emerging cash requirements are, and subject to gold price. But we have no intention of building big cash balances, and therefore I think it's fair to assume that ongoing strong supplemental returns are very much top of our capital allocation menu.

Great. Thanks a lot.

The next question will come from Jason Fairclough with Bank of America. Your line is open.

Yep. Afternoon, guys. Thanks for the presentation. A couple of sort of, let's say, simple questions, I guess, for me. Thanks for the slide 48, which lays out the tax payments by the different assets in a corporate level. I was just wondering, and maybe it's for Guy, but can you just talk about the gold price that was the backdrop for generating those tax liabilities? Because I'm just trying to think about how those tax payments step up as we roll forward with these higher gold prices.

So the tax payments that you see going through, particularly at the site level, we should just bear in mind these are fundamentally payments for last year's tax.

So that's a 12-month lag to gold price that's driving those tax payments. Exactly. Go ahead. I was going to say, so if I were to sort of, if you like, mark to market or think about a spot tax payment, are we doubling the tax payments versus what we're seeing on that slide 48?

So I'm happy to come back to you on exactly what that number would look like. But, yes, if you're looking to try and get some sort of proxy, if you looked at our realized gold price per quarter through 2025 versus what we're running at now, it is a significant step up in corporate income tax. That's absolutely correct.

Okay. But I guess the point is as long as the gold price keeps going up, it's all fine. The year that it rolls over gets a bit ugly.

That would be a bad comment. You must be bugging out.

Okay. Look, the other question I had, and in a way it relates to some of the questions that have already been asked, which is I guess what stops you from being much more aggressive with the buybacks? And, again, it depends what gold price you're using, but it's not hard to get you guys trading on a 15% free cash flow yield or something like that. I mean, to me that's still screamingly cheap. So why wouldn't you still be much more aggressive with the share buyback from here?

So you're saying that we've not been aggressive enough so far, despite the fact that the numbers that we've given.

That is correct, yeah.

Yeah, clearly some people are never happy. Look, I hear what you say. I guess what it is, we're trying to strike the balance between giving a total return to our shareholders. And bear in mind that, you know, our shareholders are a very broad church. There are those who absolutely only want cash. There are others who absolutely only want buybacks. And our challenge is to try and strike the balance between the two in terms of what percentage of each do we give in terms of shareholder returns. And then in terms of the overall quantity, you know, That takes into account, you know, the demands on the business, you know, where we are. And, yeah, we are inherently conservative in our approach. And yet, and yet, we still have, you know, what we're doing, we still have, you know, sort of sector-leading returns. And, you know, I hear this story constantly, oh, we want more buybacks. Some of you say, well, I want more cash. You know, I have to try and satisfy everyone. In the process, if I'm satisfying nobody, I think that means we're getting the balance about right.

Okay. Fair point, Ian. Thanks a lot, guys. Congrats on the results. Good result. Thanks, Jason.

The next question comes from Amos Fletcher with Barclays. Your line is open.

Yeah, good afternoon, guys. A couple of questions. First one was on Lafigue. I just wanted to ask, where do you see the throughput rates growing to overcoming quarters, given the investments that you're making?

Hello, Eamon. Thank you. Obviously, even at Lafigue today, compared to a year ago when we started, We're already above the nameplate of about 10%. Going into next year, we will be increasing it more. And if you follow on our other site, you'll see that we are pretty good at usually increasing our throughput way above the design nameplate. So Lafayette will not be any different. So we expect the Lafayette throughput next year to be way above the 10% plus 15%.

Okay. And then a question on Asafo. I was just wondering whether it's realistic for you guys to – so the first question is how are you thinking about the capex and sort of scaling of the plant compared to what you put in the PFS? And then secondly, whether it's realistic to include any of the potential mineralization from Kulu, which is obviously incredibly early stage at this point, but it looks like it could be potentially quite exciting as well.

Let me answer the final question first. Kulu is an entirely separate business. We don't control it. It's 60 kilometers away from Sufu. In all realistic senses, that would be a stand-alone operation. As far as the planting is concerned. The PFS looked at 5 million ton throughput, and despite the additional ounces that we hope to include by the end of this year, particularly from parlor two and three, we see no reason to increase the size of the plant above 5 million. The danger you have is if you keep on moving the goalposts, You make one change and there's 15 other consequential knock-on changes that you have to bring in. And that's when you start getting real problems with your capital projects and cost overruns and everything. Oh, we hadn't thought about this. We hadn't thought about that. We feel that it's much better to fix a certain size. The simulations that we did in the initial pre-feasibility where we looked at everything from three to 8 million tons, shows that the 5 million ton production profile was likely to give us the most consistent production profile. Importantly, gave us the opportunity to get up to full capacity much more quickly. So I don't see any change in that. What will happen, Safu, as Jerry had just alluded to earlier, is as soon as we get up and running, we'll start de-bottlenecking the plant. All our other plants have been anywhere between 40% to 60% higher than nameplate, which would be a combination of just mild tweaks, de-bottlenecking, and in some instances maybe putting on an extra line of tanks or something like that. And that's the way that we'll do it. So it's, again, trying to make sure that we have the right size up front, but making sure that we design our plant, that there's sufficient flexibility and scope to increase it, that we don't make too tight a footprint. So, if we want to add anything extra, you know, there's space to do it. So, I don't think you're definitely not going to see any change, you know, from our current design, which is 5 million tons. That's what we'll stick to. But over the life of the mine, will it increase from 5 million tons? I would say almost with 95% certainty.

Okay, that's great. And then the last question I just wanted to ask, has there been any updates on Cote d'Ivoire royalty rates potentially being increased?

The states have come back, you know, They've insisted on increasing royalties by 2%. We said, look, you know, this is not part of our agreements. They said that we put it in the budget. So, you know, that's why they want to do it. It is now basically it's a bun fight between, thankfully, the Chamber rather than individual mining houses and states. I have to say the Minister of Mines is very supportive of our position. Obviously, you know, there are budget squeezes, and they want to extract every last dollar they can. But rest assured that we're not taking it lying down.

Okay. Got it. All right. Thanks very much, guys. Best of luck.

And the next question will come from Marina Calero with RBC Capital. Your line is open.

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for the call. Most of my questions have been answered, but perhaps a follow-up on the topic of distributions for shareholders. You mentioned you don't have, you don't intend to build a very large cash balance. Can you maybe tell us what sort of cash levels would you like to build towards the end of this year, considering the upcoming construction of Basafo?

Hi, Maria. Sure. Again, I'll give you an indicative answer. We don't actually have a specific target of cash in mind. What we would like to do, though, is just continuously consider the cause on our cash. And as and when we've earned it, we obviously review what that future cash requirement is going to be. take an assessment on that and the potential returns associated with it, and then effectively consider supplemental returns. So without a specific target in mind, the only hard number we had was the leverage ratio, which thankfully current circumstances mean that that's not that relevant. The ASAFU capital needs to be finalized. So we mentioned earlier on the call, the DFS will be completed by the beginning of 2026. When we have parity on that capital and another quarter or two behind us in terms of cash flow generation, we'd be in a better position to talk about incremental supplemental returns. And at a point later in the year, we would be coming up for a renewal of our overall shareholder returns policy, which we have only set out for a couple of years when we last did it. So parity will come. But until then, I think, again, please do bank on the fact that we are looking at supplemental returns. And given cash flow generation and current gold prices, those will continue into the second half. But we aren't going to be more specific than that at this point.

Okay. That's great to hear. Thank you.

And the next question will come from Mohammed. CD Bay with National Bank. Your line is open.

Thanks, operator. Good morning, Ian and team. I guess a lot of question on the capital return. So I'll go there and understanding that you have a balanced approach to it. But just as it relates to your capital allocation, so you have a lot of free cash flow that is expected to come, you know, in the second half of the year and call it into 2026 prior to us going online. You've increased your exploration spend as you're seeing positive results. But how do you think about, I guess, organic growth versus inorganic growth within your capital allocation priorities? Thank you.

Yeah, great question, Mahmoud. Look, I said before and I'll repeat again, I mean, we are in a very fortunate position that we have an excellent organic growth pipeline. We have lots of opportunities. And it's not just a soft food. You know, we're looking at, as you know, for instance, the IT donut, the ability to really sort of crank up the size of that operation and access more ore. So we're not short of opportunities internally. But running in parallel to that, and certainly in the 18 months that I've been in this role, we've never stopped looking at inorganic opportunities. But, you know, we've never seen anything that satisfies, you know, a very rigid return criteria. So we haven't done anything because we haven't seen anything that we think materially would make a difference to the group. But, you know, we will continue to look. We are certainly not averse to inorganic opportunities. But, you know, priority one is certainly show the returns, looking at our own opportunities, And then the, you know, inorganic opportunities comes along behind that as well.

Excellent idea. That was everything from me. Congrats on the good work.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's presentation and conference call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.