Saint-Laurent Aug 5, 2015 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of Semafo Inc earnings conference call or presentation Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 2:00:00pm GMT TEXT version of Transcript ================================================================================ Corporate Participants ================================================================================ * Robert LaValliere SEMAFO, Inc. - VP of Corporate Affairs & IR * Benoit Desormeaux SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO ================================================================================ Conference Call Participants ================================================================================ * Nana Sangmuah Clarus Securities - Analyst * Kerry Smith Haywood Securities Inc. - Analyst * Chris Thompson Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst * Don Blyth Paradigm Capital - Analyst ================================================================================ Presentation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operator [1] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the SEMAFO Inc. Q2 2015 results. (Operator Instructions). Please note that this call is being recorded today, Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 10.00 AM Eastern Time. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Mr. Robert LaValliere, Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Mr. LaValliere. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert LaValliere, SEMAFO, Inc. - VP of Corporate Affairs & IR [2] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you, Silvie. Good morning, everyone. Members of SEMAFO's senior management team joining me for the call today are Benoit Desormeaux, President and Chief Executive Officer; Martin Milette, CFO; Michel Crevier, Vice President, Exploration and Mine Geology; and Patrick Moryoussef, Vice President, Mining Operations. I would like to remind listeners that some of the matters to be discussed during today's call may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include but are not limited to items such our expectation regarding the market price of gold, time tables, mining operation expenses, capital expenditures, guidance and resources and reserves estimates. Such statements are given as of the date of this conference call, and involve risks and uncertainties. A number of the factors and assumptions were made in preparing such statements, and actual results could differ materially. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For additional information with respect to forward-looking statements, risks and assumptions, please consult our 2014 annual MD&A as updated in the Q1 2015 and the Q2 2015, and other filings made with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available on SEMAFO website at www.semafo.com. SEMAFO disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement except as required by law. I make this cautionary statement on behalf of all SEMAFO spokesperson who may address you during this conference call today. All dollar amounts refer to US dollars unless otherwise stated. With that said, I would like to turn the call over to Benoit Desormeaux. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [3] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you, Robert. Good morning, everyone. This morning we announced another strong roster of financial and operational results. Ore processed at the Mana Mine for the second quarter totaled more than 600,000 tons at an average grade of 3.71 grams per ton, for production of 66,000 ounces of gold. This represents a 10% increase in at-grade compared to Q2 of 2014, and that is due to a greater percentage of higher-grade ore processed from the Siou and Fofina pits. Gold sales amounted to $81.1 million compared to $87.8 million in Q2 of 2014. The average realized gold price declined by 7% or about $90 an ounce year over year to just under $1,200 in the Q2 of 2015. Despite this, cash flow from operations reached $40.7 million, or $0.14 per share in Q2. Our adjusted net income from continuing operations increased by 17% year over year to come in at $15.6 million, or $0.05 per share, in the quarter. We closed the quarter with more than $131 million in cash and cash equivalents on our balance sheet, after generating $16 million in free cash flow. Our total cash costs for Q2 of 2015 declined by 22% to $471 per ounce as compared to the Q2 of 2014. Our all-in sustaining costs continued to trend downward to $604 an ounce, a 16% decrease compared to the same period last year. The decrease is -- in costs, mainly reflects lower fuel price and the strength of the US relative to the euro. At the end of June 2015, we were tracking well below the lower range of our 2015 guidance for both total cash costs and all-in sustaining costs. We have therefore lowered our total cash costs guidance for the year to between $515 and $540 per ounce, and reduced our all-in sustaining costs guidance to between $655 and $685 per ounce. Most of the reduction in the revised cost guidance relate to lower oil price and favorable exchange rate. Driven by the strength of the US dollar against the Canadian dollar, we also reduced our corporate G&A guidance for the year from $15 million to $14 million. We have an excellent track record of consistently meeting or exceeding our guidance, as evidenced by achievement of our production guidance for the past 7 consecutive years. At the end of June 2015 we were hitting the midpoint of our production guidance and are strongly positioned to achieve our full-year guidance of between 245,000 and 275,000 ounces. Beyond the costs, the quarter was also notable for the headway our dedicated team made in advancing the Natougou deposit ore feasibility study. At the end of June, we had already completed more than 40% of the feasibility study for Natougou. All of the process trade-off studies and the design criteria have been conducted. In addition to the 6,000 meters of condemnation drilling, a 22,000 meters delineation drill program was carried out in the quarter, designed to upgrade the previous in-pit -- estimated in-fill resources into the indicated category ahead of the feasibility study. Results were in line with our expectations. In late July, results from Phase I of the 10,000-meter proximal drill program to explore the lateral extensions on the Boungou Shear Zone returned promising values of up to 10 grams per ton over 10 meters. The target area measured 200 meters wide and is open towards the west and northwest. In the third quarter we will carry out the remaining -- remainder of the 10,000-meter proximal drilling program in addition to a 17,000-meter in-fill drilling program, which aims to convert a portion of the indicated resources to the measured category. At the end of the quarter, a total of $5.7 million of the $12.5 million budget had been disbursed for the feasibility study, which remains on course for completion in early Q2 of 2016. In this quarter, in view of the gold price decline, we reassessed our exploration approach to ensure we remain focused on best value creation opportunities. To this end, we have decided to concentrate exploration within trucking distance of our core assets, Mana and Natougou; to discontinue exploration for the year at Banfora, while initiating exploration in Cote d'Ivoire. Accordingly, we are maintaining our 2015 exploration budget of $18 million, split $11 million for the Mana project, $1.3 million for the Natougou deposit, $5.4 million to Banfora, and $300,000 for the Korhogo permit in Cote d'Ivoire. Year-to-date exploration on the Mana and Banfora project have produced mixed results. Despite some good intersection results and the Bombouela permit on the Mana project, no continuity was encountered between holes. We continue to carry out RC drilling on Bombouela and other permits within trucking distance of the Mana Mine in order to deepen our understanding of the geology. On the Banfora permits, the 2015 auger drill campaign discovered a 30-kilometer Mouro trend and returned some good drilling intersection, but without finding continuity between RC holes. Exploration has now been put on hold on Banfora pending a reassessment of our strategy for next year. In June we filed the 43-101 Technical Report for the Nabanga gold deposit. Nabanga contains inferred resources of 1.84 million tons at 10 grams per ton for 590,000 ounces of gold, largely the same numbers as in the JORC historical resource report completed by Orbis in 2012. In Q2, SEMAFO Foundation's activities primarily involved community support and sanitation measures such as the construction of multifunctional platforms and the renovation of a health and maternity clinic, in addition to supporting income-generating activities and local schools. Management continued to engage in open dialog with local communities at both Mana and Natougou. In June 2015, we made a second visit to the communities surrounding Natougou in order to present the Natougou project and to continue assessment of its social impact and community needs. In early July we had positive feedback from a group of village elders following their visit to the Natougou deposit. In the third quarter, a group of villagers from the communities surrounding Natougou will visit the Mana Mine and the CSR activities in operation in the vicinity of Mana. During the second quarter of 2015, the Corporation had the honor of being awarded two CSR prizes. The first was the Grand Prize for Corporate Social Responsibility of Mining Companies in Burkina Faso, and the second a Special Award for Communities and Local Development. We are in line to achieve our gold production guidance of between 245,000 and 275,000 ounces for the year, our revised total cash cost guidance of between $515 and $540 per ounce, and revised all-in sustaining costs of between $650 and $685 per ounce. We have refined our exploration strategy and made slight budget reallocations in order to focus on the vicinity of the Mana Mine and Natougou deposit. The feasibility study at Natougou is progressing well, and associated in-fill drilling results are in line with expectations. Our balance sheet is in good shape, providing us with good liquidity and financial flexibility, and we are generating free cash flow. We are currently benefiting from favorable exchange rates and lower fuel price. Coupled with our high-grade satellite deposit, we believe we are well-positioned to weather a low gold price environment. Operator, this concludes the presentation portion of this call. I would now like to open up the lines for answer -- question and answer session. ================================================================================ Questions and Answers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operator [1] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Operator Instructions). Nana Sangmuah, Clarus Securities. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nana Sangmuah, Clarus Securities - Analyst [2] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Congratulations, gentlemen, for a great quarter. A couple of questions here. Could you give us some guidance on the grade going forward -- what to expect in Q3, Q4, and as well as into 2016 and 2017? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [3] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, Nana. For the [remainding] of the year, Q3 and Q4, you could expect something in the vicinity of 3.5, 3.6. That would place ourselves at a bit higher grade than the guidance we have announced at the beginning of the year, which was 3.6. That's what you should expect for the Q3 and Q4. As for 2016 and 2017, it's too early to say. We're not in the budget process yet. But if you just go to the reserve statement, you will see that we have good grade from Siou and good grade from Fofina for the next couple of years. So, it's difficult to say what will be the grade, but you can have an idea by looking at our reserves. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nana Sangmuah, Clarus Securities - Analyst [4] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great. And I also saw that you reduced the cost guidance for the year, and you also commented that -- I mean, you still not getting the power as you expected from Sonabel. Has that been factored into the guidance? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [5] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What we have accounted for in the guidance is that nothing would come from Sonabel for the remaining of the year. If it comes, that's fine; we'll have more savings. But, as we cannot expect exactly when it's going to come, and what is the quantity of power we can get from Sonabel, we forecasted nothing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nana Sangmuah, Clarus Securities - Analyst [6] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great. And on Natougou, you doing some more drilling. Should we be expecting an updated reserve resource profile in the year, ahead of the completion of the definitive feasibility study? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [7] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No, I don't think it will come before the feasibility study. Doing a resources update would mean nothing, really, unless you have the feasibility study to really demonstrate what will be processable at the plant. So, I think you will -- you should more expect to have a new technical report in the beginning of the year -- let's say, end of first quarter, or early Q2, when the feasibility would be out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nana Sangmuah, Clarus Securities - Analyst [8] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And the final question -- we saw the new mining code that was put out recently. Could you comment on the impact on your operations, and also the general political outlook in the country -- how stable you think it is? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [9] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay. So, on the mining code side, you know that at Mana we have a stability clause protecting Mana from any increase in tax custom. The only thing that were not protected are royalties and surface rights. So, the new code has no effect on Mana. Of course, if we were to start building Natougou tomorrow, we have to assume that the new code will be applied. So, we'll see what will be the effect, and we'll see what we can do when we will negotiate the mining convention. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nana Sangmuah, Clarus Securities - Analyst [10] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great. And generally, in terms of the transition process, like, have there been any changes to general course of business in-country, or are you pretty much comfortable with what it looks like? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [11] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No, we are comfortable. It's not affecting. It's -- for us, it's relatively smooth, and it's business as usual. We're expecting election at the beginning of October. There's -- sometimes you can hear some noise on the situation, but really it's pretty quiet, and I think we'll (inaudible) the election in -- next fall. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nana Sangmuah, Clarus Securities - Analyst [12] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you very much. Congratulations once again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operator [13] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities Inc. - Analyst [14] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit, on the G&A you reduced it $1 million for the guidance for the year. Is that all just related to the foreign exchange, I presume? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [15] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes. Exact. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities Inc. - Analyst [16] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay. And why can't Sonabel provide grid power? Like, what is the issue? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [17] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The issue is, we were, of course, in the dry season. But they have some project that will come in line, which were supposed to be producing, which are not yet producing. And they are getting most of, or big part of their power is coming from Ivory Coast. And Ivory Coast today is producing -- is providing Burkina on the lower range of what they're supposed to provide. And because of that, that's the reason why so far they haven't been able to provide any power. So, it's difficult to say when they will be in position. Sometimes they are saying it's going to be next month. But, just to be prudent, we said, okay, we will keep the guidance, assuming no Sonabel. And if something come, then we'll have more savings. But, for our first year, it's very difficult to predict. If we could have some power, we could have a bit more idea what they will be providing next year. But so far, it's difficult on our side to predict, as it is on their side too. But since we know that there's new operations that will come in operation, that's something we're expecting of Sonabel. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities Inc. - Analyst [18] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay. And at the current fuel price that you're paying, what is your cost per kilowatt hour today to generate diesel power at the site? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [19] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today, because the fuel price is $1.15 a liter, our cost is $0.30 per kilowatt hour. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities Inc. - Analyst [20] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, $0.30 per kilowatt hour. And just remind me, what was the cost roughly going to be from Sonabel? I'm just trying to think of, what's the incremental savings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [21] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We were saying $0.19. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities Inc. - Analyst [22] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay. And on your costs per ton, they came down fairly sharply from Q1 to Q2. I think it was $54 to $46 or something, [that's down]. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [23] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities Inc. - Analyst [24] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is that -- how much of that drop was related to the currencies, and how much of that was actual operating cost efficiency, let's say? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [25] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On a cost per ounce basis, I would say $60. 75% of our costs are in currencies other than US. So, big part of the cost per ton reduction came from the exchange rate and fuel price; but not only exchange rate and fuel. There is some savings. So, it's about $6 which come from exchange rate and fuel price. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities Inc. - Analyst [26] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, about $6 a ton of the $8 per ton was actually from fuel and FX. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [27] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exact. Yes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities Inc. - Analyst [28] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay. So, yes, that's helpful. So, you are getting some operating efficiencies as well. And of the -- you did mention that 75% in the MD&A. I saw it, for your costs other than US dollars. Of that 75%, I presume the bulk of that is sort of euro-based, or euro-ized in some way? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [29] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes. Big part is euro, because everything that we pay in local currency in Burkina is linked to euro. So, fuel price; employee salaries; and we're also adding some consumables that we pay in euro. Most of the Canadian is really for the G&A in Montreal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities Inc. - Analyst [30] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the G&A. I got you. Okay. Yes. So, the bulk of your costs in Africa are really euro-denominated, then. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [31] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes. Exact. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities Inc. - Analyst [32] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay. Awesome. Thanks very much, guys. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operator [33] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Thompson, Raymond James. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Thompson, Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst [34] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Congratulations on a good quarter. Just a quick question relating to the -- I guess, the mix of all feed from the different deposits that go into the mill. What's that mix at the moment, in a -- in percentage terms? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [35] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would say for the -- what we've processed in the second quarter, I would say 30% came from Wona, and maybe 35% came from Fofina, and the rest came from [Siou]. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Thompson, Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst [36] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay. And you expect that to continue in those sorts of ratios? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [37] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would say for the remaining of the year, we will probably see something like 50% of Fofina, and 25%/25% for Siou and Wona -- Wona-Kona. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Thompson, Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst [38] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All right. Okay. And then looking at the -- obviously, the mill throughput for the quarter, do you expect that to remain sort of steady state at that sort of run rate for the remainder of the year into next year? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [39] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We're expecting this to increase a bit in the next 2 quarters. And for next year it's -- really depends on what the mine plan and the mix will be. It's going to be in that vicinity. Is it going to be 2.3, 2.4 million tons a year? That's going to be in that vicinity. But an increase -- you could expect something like 640, 630 for the next 2 quarter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Thompson, Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst [40] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Perfect. Okay. Well, thank you. Thanks, guys. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operator [41] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Operator Instructions). Don Blyth, Paradigm Capital. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don Blyth, Paradigm Capital - Analyst [42] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Congratulations on a good quarter. I did miss some of your comments on exploration and exactly where you'd been focusing. Mana does get the bulk of the annual budget, yet we really haven't heard much from there yet. Certainly, the last time I was at site I remember Michel and the team seemed pretty excited about the Pompoi and Pompoi Nord permits. Can you give any sense of where the focus of exploration is centered, if anywhere in particular, on the Mana property? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [43] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi, Don. Yes. We're still working the Pompoi area, mostly on the north part -- what we call the north apex in -- on the structure a bit farther east. But, as well, on the Bombouela, there's some indication there that our kind of play on the [geophysic] from the Wona-Kona structure -- so, those are two big plays we work on, and some little chasing satellites from the Fofina area. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don Blyth, Paradigm Capital - Analyst [44] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay. Any sense of when you might be putting out more exploration results from the Mana? It would be towards the end of the year? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [45] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would say probably somewhere in the fourth quarter, yes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don Blyth, Paradigm Capital - Analyst [46] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay. Thanks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benoit Desormeaux, SEMAFO, Inc. - President and CEO [47] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keep in mind it's the rain season and the third quarter is not as efficient on the exploration side, but somewhere in the fourth quarter you should see some results. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don Blyth, Paradigm Capital - Analyst [48] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks a lot, guys. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operator [49] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. LaValliere, there are no further questions at this time. Please continue. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert LaValliere, SEMAFO, Inc. - VP of Corporate Affairs & IR [50] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes. Thank you, Silvie. I would like to take this opportunity to remind listeners that SEMAFO second quarter MD&A and financial statement are available on our website and on the SEDAR website. The audio webcast of this conference call will also be available for replay on our website for a period of 30 days. We would like also to mention to listeners that our third quarter financial and operating results are currently scheduled for publication on or around November 12. Thank you very much, and have a good day. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operator [51] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the conference call for today. Thank you for participating. Please disconnect your lines.
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