Q1 2023 NovaGold Resources Inc Earnings Call
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Speaker 2: Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the NOAA Gold 2023 First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation,
Speaker 2: There will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star, then 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star and 0.
Speaker 2: Webcast viewers may submit questions through the text box in the lower right corner of the webcast frame.
Speaker 2: Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star and zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Melanie Hennessey, Vice President, Corporate Communications. Please go ahead.
Speaker 3: Please, you're here today with everyone. We are pleased that you've joined us for the Overgold 2023 first quarter financial results and also for an update on the Overgold project. On today's call, we have Dr. Thomas Katherplan, Overgold's Chairman, Greg Lang, Overgold's President and CEO, and David Autatoall, Overgold's Vice President and CFO.
Speaker 3: At the end of the webcast, we will take questions by phone and by email. Additionally, we will respond to other questions received subsequent to the call by email.
Speaker 3: I would like to remind our webcast and call participants that as stated on slide 3, any statements made today may contain forward-looking information, such as projections and goals which are likely to involve risks detailed in our various EDGAR and CDER filings, and forward-looking disclaimers included in this presentation.
Speaker 3: I now have the pleasure of turning the presentation over to our President and CEO , Greg Lang.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Melanie.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Melanie. And good morning, everyone.
Speaker 4: All of us at No G take great pride in the fact.
Speaker 4: that we have been laser focused and very successful.
Speaker 4: on executing the strategy set forth by our chairman and myself over a decade ago.
Speaker 4: namely to unlock Nova Gold's high quality assets.
Speaker 4: for our shareholders and dedicate our energy to creating the maximum leverage from a pure gold play on the unique endowment that is the Stanley Gold Project.
Speaker 4: This has been a foundation for investment pieces.
Speaker 4: A show on Sliide
Speaker 4: We have been steadily advancing down the road, up the value chain, in various areas over the past decade.
Speaker 4: These areas include the completion of the 43-101 Technical Report.
Speaker 4: on the update to the second feasibility study.
Speaker 4: The receipt of a joint record of decision from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Management.
Speaker 4: as well as other major federal permits.
Speaker 4: as well as other major federal permits. And most recently...
Speaker 4: He completed the largest drill program at Donny.
Speaker 4: largest drill program I've done in over 15 years.
Speaker 4: We believe that the Don and Gold Project is truly best in class in its combination of attributes which are shown on slide 6.
Speaker 4: Possessing the unique combination of industry leading styles, Breathe
Speaker 4: Possessing the unique combination of industry-leading styles, grades, and excellent
Speaker 4: exploration potential which will move the needle in our gold industry.
Speaker 4: And all of this in a safe and time-tested jurisdiction.
Speaker 4: Alaska
Speaker 4: is a great location to develop, build, and operate a mine.
Speaker 4: for many generations to come.
Speaker 4: In my view, it really is the ultimate company maker.
Speaker 4: has currently envisioned
Speaker 4: Donnan will average over a million amps per year of production in 27 years.
Speaker 4: When looking at the other developer groups, as shown on slide 7.
Speaker 4: Diamond is by far and away the largest and gold production continues to decline for most of the top producers.
Speaker 4: It is clear the industry needs projects which scale, grade, and
Speaker 4: and longevity to sustain themselves.
Speaker 4: Show them on slide 8.
Speaker 4: The price.
Speaker 4: The industry average grade for an open kit, once in production, Donlin would be one of the lowest cost producers in the gold industry.
Speaker 4: Turn to slide five.
Speaker 4: The leverage to a higher voltage is exceptional at dawn.
Speaker 4: The after tax MPD at today's gold price is over $7 billion.
Speaker 4: at a 5% discount rate or $22 billion on discount rates.
Speaker 4: The great exploration potential is another remarkable attribute.
Speaker 4: Backman Lewis
Speaker 4: deposits as shown on slide 10 occupy less than half of an 8-kilometer mineralized gold belt.
Speaker 4: which itself is located at less than 5%.
Speaker 4: Ab prohibit
Speaker 4: A testament to the excellent exploration potential were the results from last year's program.
Speaker 4: As shown on slide 11.
Speaker 4: The top 20 intercepts return some of the best assay results seen to date at Donlin and among the best reporting in the entire industry last year.
Speaker 4: intersects with current some of the best assay results seen to date at Donlin and among the best reporting in the entire industry last year. For example, the number of cases of
Speaker 4: Pull 2068 in the divide groove. Return 42 meters.
Speaker 4: and over 30 grams, including a sub-dermal of 23 meters.
Speaker 4: 30 grams including a sub-dermal of 23 meters at 54 grams.
Speaker 4: It's highlighted on slide 11.
Speaker 4: credible upside exist to increase houses and expect your mind.
Speaker 4: Location is truly key.
Speaker 4: Having great leverage in a place where you can keep the fruits of your leverage is worth the investment in time and in resources.
Speaker 4: On the map, include it on slide 12.
Speaker 4: We feature some of the top three gold producing operations in the world and the five largest gold development frontiers.
Speaker 4: As private landowners, both Chulista and TKG are dedicated to developing diamond gold in a way that remains consistent.
Speaker 4: with the elders vision of responsible development.
Speaker 4: creating jobs and economic benefits for the surrounding communities as well as protecting the local culture.
Speaker 4: A few of the quotes are provided on slide 13 from the leaders of both Alaska Native corporations.
Speaker 4: Their knowledge, guidance, and engagement are extremely valuable in ensuring responsible and sustainable economic development.
Speaker 4: throughout all phases of the Diamond and Gold Project.
Speaker 4: I will now touch on some of the milestones that will achieve and the key activities of the Coastal Court.
Speaker 4: The Downwind Gold 2023 Field Program commenced early in the year to complete the necessary field work and geotechnical drilling required for the ElastiBand safety circuit.
Speaker 4: applications
Speaker 4: Additional work included onsite hydrological drilling to further define
Speaker 4: The flow, the groundwater and the areas for the plan got in control.
Speaker 4: and surrounding infrastructure to support mine finding and design.
Speaker 4: Common Goal prioritizes local hiring and invests in supporting the communities throughout the High Key Region.
Speaker 4: During the first quarter of our 2023 field program, we have a total workforce of 44 direct hire employees.
Speaker 4: During the first quarter of our 2023 field program, we have a total workforce of 44 direct hire employees, most of which are from the project region.
Speaker 4: This is a continuation of the success of Donman's local hiring program, which was initiated very early on during the exploration phase.
Speaker 4: Our focus outside is four key areas.
Speaker 4: Our focus outside is four key areas as shown on slide 16.
Speaker 4: First, line optimization.
Speaker 4: We are finalizing the updated geologic and resource models with the drill results from last two years.
Speaker 4: and we are incorporating those into the key project assumptions inputs and design components for optimization.
Speaker 4: Ultimately, this supports the decision to proceed with an updated piece of the early step.
Speaker 4: Community engagement is also a very active area of ours, working alongside with our Alaska Native Corporation partners.
Speaker 4: Permitting, we continue to advance our permits through the regulatory process and supporting the state in maintaining the existing permits.
Speaker 4: We're also very active with bipartisan outreach to the Biden administration.
Speaker 4: We're also very active with bipartisan outreach to the Biden administration, members of the U.S. Congress.
Speaker 4: and the state administration have been all asking. Assisting in partnering with local communities and regions has been a constant focus of Don Neeble.
Speaker 4: working in concert with Chulista and TKC to provide critical support.
Speaker 4: As shown on slide 17, Donnan was the premier sponsor of the Iron Dog Race.
Speaker 4: and is part of the Alaska Safe Riders program.
Speaker 4: Also, in collaboration with Covenant House and Bethel Community Services,
Speaker 4: Donnan is developing an action plan to help address the chronic.
Speaker 4: an action plan to help address the chronic and ongoing youth.
Speaker 4: insecurity of housing and other issues.
Speaker 4: housing and other issues, just to name a few.
Speaker 4: In partnership with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, DYLAN is advancing efforts to improve the overall health and safety standards in water and sewer services.
Speaker 4: in real Catholic religions.
Speaker 4: in collaboration with PKG and the Village of Crooked Creek.
Speaker 4: Donovan provided financial support for the construction and maintenance of ice roads.
Speaker 4: to draw winter travel between remote communities.
Speaker 4: On average, a total of 300 miles of ice road is constructed and maintained thanks to this program.
Speaker 4: Advancing educational opportunities in Alaska is another priority for the company.
Speaker 4: Advancing educational opportunities in Alaska is another priority for the company. We recently awarded...
Speaker 4: the first Nobel gold scholarship.
Speaker 4: at the University of Alaska to an undergraduate student studying geological engineering.
Speaker 4: We also support the Alaska Excel Program, a non-profit.
Speaker 4: providing educational support for rural youth across the region. In March of this year, we released our 2022 annual report.
Speaker 4: Let's teach you a special conversation between Dr. Chaplin and Daniela Canvon, Editor-in-Lars, and host us with the Daniela Canvon Show on Stanford Research.
Speaker 4: and shown on slide 18.
Speaker 4: Their discussion covers a broad range of topics, including geopolitics.
Speaker 4: history, markets.
Speaker 4: and opportunities in the world space and central banks of the largest islands of the world,const BDSM and historical
Speaker 4: and the corresponding upside to the premier development standards.
Speaker 4: The interview is recorded at the New York Stock Exchange and a full transcript is available in our annual report.
Speaker 4: So just watching the video can access the interview on our website.
Speaker 4: With that, I will now turn the call over to our CFO , David Arwell.
Speaker 4: With that, I will now turn the call over to our CFO , David Arwell. Nate?
Speaker 4: Thank you, Greg. FIB20 highlights our first quarter operating performance.
Speaker 5: We reported a net loss of $10.7 million in quarters.
Speaker 5: a $0.7 million increase due to increased interest expense on the promissory note, higher Donlan permitting costs.
Speaker 5: higher corporate legal expenses, partially offset by increased interest income, and income from the 2021 sale of our interest in the San Roque Mineral Property. Exported cash flows are highlighted on slide 21.
Speaker 5: Cash decreased by nine point seven mil, primarily to fund our share of the domain and for corporate administrative expenses.
Speaker 5: The decrease in cash used in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 2022 was due to the timing of corporate liability insurance payments in 2022.
Speaker 5: With taxes paid on share-based compensation in 2000 and forty-two, and proceeds received in 2000 and twenty-three from the sale of Dan, okay.
No shares were issued in the first quarter of 2023 for the PSUs granted in December 2019, as the company's share performance over the three-year period was below the minimum performance criteria relative to the Global Gold Index.
On slide 22, we note our strong treasures. Our financial position includes cash of $54 million, term deposits of $62 million, and $25 million due from Newmont in July 2023.
For the whole year, we continue to expect to spend 31 million, including 17 million a diamond, 13 million for corporate DNA and 1 million for working to have felt.
I'll now turn the presentation back over to Greg. Greg.
turn the presentation back over to Greg. Greg? Thank you, Dave.
Turning to slide 23.
The focus of our activities this year will be: 1- updating the geologic and resource models.
Continuing field work, collecting geotechnical and hydrological information to support advanced lifeben months, please be seated.
and field work, collecting geotechnical and hydrological information to support dam safety certain applications.
Reviewing key private assumptions and inputs, and designing tree comms.
for optimization in mine engineering, metallurgy, and infrastructure.
We will continue to advance current permits through regulatory process.
And support the sake in defending the interesting merits.
Lastly, we will continue to engage, maintain, and grow support for the project in the region.
No government has been grappled with long term and supporting shareholders.
comprising many of the most respected names in the investment world.
whose presence and counsel have been invaluable.
Some of these are listed on slide 24. We are grateful for their decision to invest with the company and for their continued interest in engagement.
We refer to all of them and we have stewards at the company. We continue to be focused on delivering on our strategy and enhancing value: the downmon goth project.
increasing both shareholder and stakeholder wealth.
in a safe and socially responsible manner.
And we position the company to enjoy the food to obtain wheat coverage.
What are you doing?
is one of the best positioned growth development stories in the marketplace.
I look forward to continuing to deliver on our promises and keeping the open line of communication regarding costs.
as we reach even more milestones in 2023.
I will now turn the call over to the operator to open it up for questions.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request.
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The first question comes from Mike Parin, from National Bank. Please go ahead.
Hi guys, thanks. We're taking any questions. It might be a bit early to speak on this, but I'm wondering what some of the FER level trade-off studies might be, considering that you're moving forward in 2023. Just looking for some sense of, you know, some of the bigger, kind of delta items.
that you're looking at for the project. Thank you. All right, Mike. I'll take that question. Thank you for your interest, Mike. So the trade-off studies have been primarily focused on infrastructure.
But we've also focused on the gas pipeline.
and just other of the big key cash components in the capital. But in addition to the infrastructure, we've done some fine-tuning work looking at options on quotation and a lot of validation work on the flow sheet, method parameters, and projects. We're also looking at optimizing the mining based on the...
The results we've had this year, specifically, what opportunities are out there to enhance the rate by the more selected smaller mining privilege? Clearly, we've demonstrated that the high grade really does exist at the value model.
And we look forward to your update beyond the second stick's second.
Great, thanks Greg for that. I have some questions that I've committed by email. The first one will be for you Greg. When would you expect the investment decision will be made on the Don Thorne project?
Well, let me give you the timeline on the study. Each and every number is wrapping up the various trade-off studies now, while it is comparing new geologic models.
Here are all of these studies, and Mo will be presented to the Don Berillboard, or the old said put in the next couple of months. The test up will be in a position that she has to go a bit more, as we have.
Great, thank. The other question was with the alman cost per around to the viable projects. That will is directly towards me break.
rightct further. The question was upon the roem costs and turn are the most recent refresh the 43 wild lifeide. I, like my good average about $630 - announce we would expect them to be a little bit.
more competitive and lower in the first few years in my mind and to higher grades it would be minor learning.
That J ized possibly on the world in industry.
Thank you. Before we proceed to the final question, we have Lucas Wright on the line wanting to ask a question. Hello?
The next question comes from Lucas Pipes from B Riley Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much, operator, and thank you, Melanie. Good morning everyone. I started to ask my question, and I appreciate you opening up the queue. I wanted to ask about reserves and resources in the context of the updated feasibility study. What do you expect the changes to be to those measures?
And then would you anticipate any changes in the cut-off grade? Thank you very much for your perspective, Greg. Alright, let me re-upbreak that into a couple of pieces with this. You know, the drilling has really delivered some very nice rates. I think if anything they will...
will slightly enhance the grade of the overall value in global deposits. Most of this drilling is really dealing with our partners' due diligence. You know, Darwin has been the company to know the goals for many years. We know the asset very intimately. And the drilling and trade-off studies that we've been conducting...
Can they really do other our partners being diligent and I think ra it, the turn outside, the drilling being sight build. That I would say it's validated and changed to our view the project you know, certainly from the M TI ult point of view.
We've been a supported partner, we've answered their geologic and new village in Stereoscopy and I think certainly from my perspective, the next logical step for the owners is to proceed with their feasibility study.
And that would hopefully be another way later this year. Thank you very much Greg and to you and the team, best of luck.
Thank you, Lucas. So we have two more questions from the line of the first hit for Greg. You mentioned from outreach to government and your opponents. Do you detect any changes to the attitude?
of Washington to the resource sector as the world has changed since Biden became president.
Well, you know, I think I'll speak, I'll answer that. We need to hear from a Donald perspective. Donald has always...
maintaining and nurturing bipartisan support both in the state of Alaska and in our nation's capital. Our competitors, Rokowski and Sullivan, the U.S. Center, are very staunch advocates for the project. And I think that's it for this presentation. Thank you.
Proudly with the administration by. That is just not there how we think. Supporter of Min Republic. They certainly have been supportive of a domin and I think to A. simply what a mass imitation is very supportive. And by administration recently, if would to make sure that.
natural resource development on the public side. So I think they're cautious, but I think they support responsible time development and responsible resource development. So the competition has really had no impact on our activities, the change of administration.
Thank you. The final question is for Dr. Tapplin. What is your view on the direction of the vote price over the next fall to 24 months?
Hello everyone, I hope that you can see me and hear me. Melanie, can I assume that everyone can? You can. Okay, great. Well, um, you know, I think it's fair to say,
that I have been a long-standing gold pole for over 20 years.
I've seen gold go from $250 an ounce.
to nineteen hundred dollars and else in what I hold Wave 1. We saw both ones of a better word.
Wave 2 as a correction that took gold from 1900 back to 1100.
And now we're seeing wave three, which I believe...
is going to be a long way. I'm not saying that we're not going to have knuckle whitening corrections along the way. That's the nature of the market. But I do believe that we're headed for a trajectory that will be marked by two aspects.
First, a multiplication of the gold price.
Second in a long, long duration, in other words.
We've won in gold for 12 years.
Wave one in gold for 12 years took gold to...
Higher closes every year, regardless of the circumstances that we normally think are so determinative of the goal.
There were times of interest rate fears.
There were times of interest rate fears dollar fears
Commodities fear geopolitical stories, regardless of which weight you were leaning in terms of the macros.
Gold was up every year, year-on-year, for 12 years. That's a bull market.
If you see a stock go from $2.50 to $19 and it corrects down to $11, you're not really shocked.
But both of those waves were characterized by more than a decade in the duration.
The next wave in gold may be what we're seeing now, or maybe we need one more head. I don't know, but the next wave in gold, I think, takes it to my long-term target of three to $5,000. Long-term, because I said that when gold was at $250. The truth is that if gold were to go much higher.
and the charts for a historian are like looking at human brain waves.
You don't have to be a technician. I'm a fundamentalist, obviously, by definition.
But being a historian, it's all about cycles, reversals, and the way that markets will carry on from the depths of despair to the heights of irrational equivocates. We could see gold.
With five digits easily, but in order to do that, we still have to get through three to five thousand. So, you know, I'll update my estimates when we get there.
But the point that I would want to mention to our shareholders is as follows. I came into this story at the beginning of the story.
The first week in January, actually December thirty-first, 2000 and eighth.
When Lectrum effectively took control as the dominant shareholder of.
NovaGold. NovaGold has been a company that had gone from 50 cents a share to $20 and we had not participated in it nor did we participate in shorting the stock. It's not something that we do when it went from $20 back to $1.
50 cents actually at one point.
The asset was that the company had multiple issues.
Class action lawsuits, environmental issues, on assets not related to Donlin. It had several different assets, so there was, as it were, a diversified aspect to the story.
environmental issues on assets not relating to Donlin. It had several different assets so there was a as it were diversified aspect to the story.
The management was discredited. There was no following; the balance sheet was terrible. Institutions couldn't. Pudcheleure was able to do that? Because where family business essence?
our family, plus several large Arab sovereign wealth funds, and employee capital. And so we could catch the falling night.
and we turned that story around. We dealt with the environmental issues with the EPA by selling off a project, we spun off the law to new month realizing break value for the shareholders making know the both a pure play on what we call the New Carlin with an Innova Bada.
We settled the class action lawsuits, we changed the entire management team.
culminating in being able to get the president of Barrick North America, who knew the asset better than anyone else, even on the other side of the table, when Barrick made a failed hostile takeover with him. We brought in Richard Williams, who had...
But the credo back my. The largest investment ever made by Bart, and something which Bart talks about, even expanded now, is visiting the republic.
The largest specialist ever made by Barrett and something that Barrett talks about is an expanded now in the Dominican Republic. And the stock went.
Back to $15 within the space of a couple of years.
Obviously, the last decade has been very, very tough.
for gold mining shares. We haven't been immune to that. We're not unusual in that respect. The ratio of gold to gold mining equities is pretty much as low as it's ever been.
gold mining of shares. We haven't been immune to that. We're not unusual in that respect. The ratio of gold to gold mining equities is pretty much as low as it's ever been. So what I would say is this.
Several things. Number one, we're in a bull market in Goa. Number two, it's going to last for a very long time, well over a decade. Number three, we will see a revaluation of gold assets. Number four, I've been in this story for 14 years.
We are in a very, very different world.
my friends, shareholders, my colleagues.
Those who follow Nova Gold, let me be very, very...
Nova Gold, let me be very, very blunt.
The era of the frontier mentality, the era where geology trumps geopolitics is over.
of the frontier mentality. The era where geology trumps geopolitics is over. H
The assets that will achieve premium valuations will be valued like they were before the frontier. Spirits took hold when the new month went on; Acocha and the goat were where the gold's essence in talent became prevalent again.
At that time, people forget US assets were valued using a 0% discount rate because they were the height of political safety.
They were arbitraged with the less politically safe jurisdictions, Canada, Australia, and South Africa.
They were arbitraged with the less politically safe jurisdictions, Canada, Australia and South Africa. The world is very, very different now.
I happen to believe that in almost everywhere, other than in North America, Australia, you know, in a few jurisdictions, the gold mines will be nationalized. Hold this money. You don't have to be a gold bug to believe that.
It's money because the central banks say it's money, and they are the ultimate insider traders. The fact that central banks no longer sell gold but are massive net buyers - and I'm talking smart money - the Chinese.
Singapore, not to mention, you know, other countries that fear being part of...
the US dollar system only, and they've seen that that has its own hazards. The era when people could go all over the world and think that they're going to mine gold, and not have it done to their head to change those agreements.
They're over. I made my bones in Bolivia. I made my bones in Zimbabwe, South Africa. I sold Kibale to Mark Brisco.
I know what it's like operating in these areas.
I know what it's like operating in these areas, and I admire those who still do it.
But there's no way that one can go to sleep at night feeling comfortable when you wake up in the morning if you're going to open the same thing that was closed the night before.
Hold this money, we'll be nationalized, and jurisdiction will be approved.
This brings us back to "dum." Let's understand what "donumly" is. Let's understand why it's the best, by most criteria. Let's understand why, when people really catch on to the fact that the cold has embarked on another long wave, they're going to be asking their brokers, "Hey, can you give me?
A company with an excellent management team and a fantastic asset is located in a part of the world where I would be willing to take a vacation. There aren't that many places left - there's Nevada, and there's Alaska.
There's Australia, there are a few other places, you might want to go to Finland. The reality is that...
There are a few other places, you might want to go to Finland. But the reality is that the rule of law...
is going to be sacrosanct. Institutional investors are going to gravitate towards those very few go-to stocks which are in places where the rule of law is not a novelty and where they don't eat you, literally or figuratively. By that standard, in addition to the fact that in terms of the size.
The grey, the mine life, the exploration potential, the low operating pulse which come from higher grey. The safety of Alaska is determinative.
If you believe and you're a bull in gold, you want to be in safe places. If you want octane in your portfolio, you want to have a development stage story. We believe we are the go-to stock in that space. We believe that we are on the cusp.
of being able to go to the next level. We've got a project which has got all the right attributes. We've positioned it as a pure play on a district that is a district that keeps on giving. Those exploration results were amongst the very best in the entire Gold Team District.
I don't believe that there's any nature-mining company in the world that wouldn't want to own the company. And in fact, I'm pretty sure that in the gold space everyone understands that it is the best-in-bree budget. We will be advancing this of the value chain.
but there's something that you also have to remember. The real money is made in this space and I've now been doing it for 30 years.
by the quality of the asset that you own.
We will one day be in production. There's no question about that. This is going to be built, but that doesn't mean that we can't also be the highest-rated stock in the space. Every month that goes by, more and more countries are asking the companies that have invested there to give more money.
to rework their sovereign agreements. The jurisdictional aspect combined with the bull market in gold
It means that for us as investors, Tomlin is truly the holy grail. I have no doubt that we can see a 10x on this stock as every day, every week, the story gets better and better and better. Partly because we're moving the project forward and partly because, as I started by saying,
We live in an entirely different world, and it's all about being able to have the greatest leverage goal in a jurisdiction that will allow you to keep the fruits of the leverage. If you can't combine those two attributes, you're a dead man walking.
If you can combine those attributes, you're going to make a killing in the market. And for me, if I didn't think that that was the case with Nova Golden, Donlin, I'd put it in play and we'd sell it to pivot to something better. But I genuinely don't believe that there is anything better out there in the space.
Thank you. Thank you, Tom. We have a few more questions that have come on via the webcast. The first one is directed to Greg.
What are the goals of the next usability study and will there be another future usability study before breaking ground?
I think the goals of the feasibility study are pretty intuitive for them to update our geologic understanding of the Earth body.
update the current trade-off studies we're doing and use that knowledge.
to find the most optimal project to take all of the two of these abilities. But yes, I think the question whether will there be any more needs for the pre-study? Absolutely. The existing study is staying in our thinking on the project, the primary building of the stages.
Great taking the final question and also becoming high masses. Within our current cash card range, we have sufficient time to last for the next 24 months. We pri point actually we.
The feasibility workth actually will be less dollars to the owners for the drillven drilling because of a costly activity in our budget last year. D was the highest in May years and that was six million in total, or 30 to each partner.
Going forward, our budget this year is less than that, but when we embark on a new feasibility study, we'll of course update the budget. But in total, the feasibility study in engineering would be less than the burden rate we had on our drilling program for the last two years. Yes, clearly we've got at those burn rates, we have sufficient cash.
To see us through to the completion of the move feasibility study and onto a construction scene. So I know we need to raise equity until.
session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Greg for any closing remarks.
Thank you everybody for taking the time to air call this morning. I'm just forward to updating you in the coming months because I work for dresses.
Thank you everybody for taking the time to try and call this time. I'm with forward to updating you in the coming months because our work progresses. Thank you.
Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.
Take care everyone