Q4 2024 Piedmont Lithium Inc Earnings Call
Thank you for standing by. My name is Kathleen and I will be your conference operator today.
At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Q4 and full year, 2024 pedmont lithium earnings call.
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John Coslo: Thank you. And now I will turn the call back over to John coslo investor relations at pedmont lead here. Please go ahead.
Thank you and good morning. Welcome to pedmont lithium's, fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings call.
Speaker Change: Joining us today from pedmont lithium for Keith Phillips, president and chief executive officer and Michael White Chief Financial Officer.
Speaker Change: People provide an introduction and review key updates from the quarter and Michael will then review our financial results.
Speaker Change: Keith will provide closing commentary before we transition to a live Q&A session.
Speaker Change: As a reminder, today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements related to future events and expectations that are subject to various assumptions and caveats.
Speaker Change: Factors that may cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these statements are included in today's presentation, earnings release. And in our SEC filings,
Speaker Change: In addition, we have included non-GAAP Financial metrics in this presentation and Reconciliation to the most directly comparable. Gaap Financial measures can be found in today's earnings release and the appendix to today's slide presentation.
Speaker Change: Any references to IBA mean adjusted IBA?
Speaker Change: References to shipments or shipments of spa mean concentrate and tons or dry metric tons.
Speaker Change: Copies of our earnings release and presentation. In addition to a replay of this call will be available on our website at Piedmont lithium.com.
with that, I'll turn the call over to Keith Phillips, Keith
Keith Phillips: Thanks John and thank you all for joining us today in summary Q4 was a good quarter for Piedmont operations at North American lithium performed well with another quarter of strong production and impressive operating metrics repeat month. The strong operational, performance allowed us to make record deliveries in the fourth quarter. Our commercial strategy is delivering under our long-term, Optics selectively hedging against the contango in the lithium Futures market and making larger combined, shipments resulted in another quarter of strong, price, realizations, and improved profitability.
Keith Phillips: On the corporate side of the business, we successfully reduced our corporate expenses as part of our 2024 cost. Savings plan. And announced a merger with our joint venture partner at Nal, siona mining. We'll cover each of these topics in more detail later in the call. Now, let's move on to slide 4.
Keith Phillips: Nal achieved another strong quarter with nearly 51,000, tons, produced in Q4 24 and over 190,000 tons produced in the 4 year 2024.
Keith Phillips: Follow.
Keith Phillips: The restart of production in March of 2023 operations have shown continual improvement with strong, lithium, recoveries and increasing Mill utilization. You can see in the chart the uptick in million utilization beginning in q224 a a direct result of a capital invested in the crust or storage Dome earlier in the year.
Keith Phillips: Increased production has led to improved operating costs with unit costs per ton, declining sequentially and a total decline of nearly 20% from the start of the year.
Keith Phillips: The importantly when excluding the impact of inventory movements, cash operating costs at Nal were 709 ton in Q4 2424 and new low. Further Improvement is targeted through continued process improvements. And with the ultimate move through the old underground workings in the mine which has led to temporarily elevated mining costs
Keith Phillips: In January ciona announced some outstanding results from the large exploration program that was undertaken at Nal in 2024 and I will speak more about the implications of these results later in the presentation.
Keith Phillips: The performance validates the strategy we undertook when purchasing Nal in 2021 namely bringing a Brownfield asset in a premier location back into production in an expeditious manner at a significantly lower cost than developing Greenfield project.
Keith Phillips: Nal is North America's largest lithium operation and it offers direct leverage to an ultimate recovery in lithium prices.
Keith Phillips: Now, let's turn to the slide 5 for an update on our development projects.
Speaker Change: There has been much focus on the energy transition following November's election as investors grapple with possible changes to domestic policy. While many have assumed, the Trump Administration would be a negative for the industry. We have always had a different View.
Speaker Change: On January 20th, his first day in office president Trump signed an executive order declaring, a national Energy. Emergency Central to this EO is the reinforcement of the president's earlier, commentary on the importance of domestic, critical minerals production to avoid over, Reliance on China and indeed to quote, the president National energy dominance
Speaker Change: National energy dominance cannot be achieved without domestic sources of lithium like Carolina lithium
Speaker Change: Our focus in North Carolina remains on advancing through the permitting process. We received our state mining permit in 2024 in a petition to challenge that permit was voluntarily withdrawn by petitioners earlier this month.
Speaker Change: We are optimistic that air and water permits will be achieved during this calendar year and we continue to assess the timeline for rezoning of our land package, with the Gaston County Board of Commissioners. We will, of course, need their approval to proceed, and we look forward to entering that process in due course,
Speaker Change: For our joint venture aoya lithium project. We were pleased to receive a mine operating permit from the minerals Commission of Ghana in October.
Speaker Change: The war is mining lease remained subject to parliamentary ratification. This process was paused around Ghana's election in Q4 but we anticipate a positive outcome during 2025.
Speaker Change: Ratification is the final step in the approvals process but any final investment decision will be subject to market conditions and the completion of funding.
Speaker Change: At Ted we are obviously focused on developing our projects at a measured Pace given current market conditions.
Michael White: Now, I'll turn the call over to Michael to discuss our financial results.
Michael White: Thanks Keith and good morning. We shipped approximately 55,700 trimetric, tons. For the quarter, which was a quarterly record for Piedmont and approximately 117,000 dry metric. Tons in 2024. Also a record
Michael White: For the quarter, we recognized 45.6 million in Revenue, compared to 27.7 million in the previous quarter.
Michael White: The increase in Revenue was due to increase volume.
Michael White: our realized price per metric ton was 80018 for the quarter on an sc6 equivalent basis, our realized price per metric, ton equated to 9009
Michael White: We are pleased to achieve these price realizations. Given current market conditions and our commercial strategy led to a second consecutive quarter of industry-leading price realizations.
Our fourth quarter, gaap. Net loss was 11.1 million for a loss of 55 cents, per share and adjusted, net loss of 3.6 million or a loss of 17 cents on an adjusted per share basis.
Michael White: Included in our gaap results, were 5.5 million of transaction costs related to our proposed, merger with cyano mining, 3.2 million, and restructuring charges associated with our 2024 cost, savings plan, and other items including realized and unrealized gains on Equity security Holdings.
Michael White: We ended the year with 87.8 million in cash. Compared to 6 4. 4, 2 4.
Michael White: Now moving to slide 8 to discuss our sources and uses of cash.
Michael White: Operating cash flows for the fourth quarter and full year were negative -6 million and negative -43 million respectively, included in the full year amount where payments totaling 21 million, and the first half of 2024 to settle prior year spot sales where the final price settlement in 2024 was less than the provisional payments we received in 2023.
Michael White: Separately, we achieved a reduction in annual run rate cost savings, which I'll detail more shortly.
Michael White: We're pleased to report that cash outflows for our joint ventures as well as capital expenditures were less than $1 million in the fourth quarter and favorable, in terms of outperforming our guidance
Michael White: our stress that we are laser focused on Cost Containment and overall cash management especially during this lithium downside cycle
Michael White: For the full year, we contributed 26 million to advance our joint venture projects and 11 million in capital expenditures, as compared to 43 million in joint venture spending and 57 million in capital expenditures in 2023.
Michael White: Contributing to the year-over-year. Decline in joint, venture spending was the completion of restart capex at Nal in the first half of 2024.
Overall we planned and successfully executed, our cost reduction plan leading to the significant reductions in our investing cash, outflows on a year-over-year basis.
Michael White: As part of our proposed merger, we raise net proceeds of 25 million through the issuance of new ASX listed chest, depository, interests, and Drew an additional 7 million in borrowing from our working Capital Credit facility.
Michael White: Now, let's turn to slide 9.
Michael White: We introduced our 2024 cost savings plan, in February 2024, with an initial Target to reduce annual run rate spending by approximately 10 million dollars.
Michael White: We took immediate action to control our operating expenses and reduce capex and joint venture spending early in the year as the lithium Market retreated.
Michael White: these actions were difficult, but prudent as we positioned, the company for the long term,
Michael White: Based on prevailing market, conditions. We further expanded our cost savings plan in October 2024, and achieved 14 million in total, annual cost savings for the year.
Michael White: As a result of our cost savings plan, we recorded 10 million in restructuring and impairment charges in 2024 of which 3 million was recorded in the fourth quarter.
Michael White: Included in our full year, restructuring and impairment charges were cast charges of 4 million primarily related to Severance and employee benefits costs and non-cash charges of 6 million. Which includes 4 million of impairment charges related to the conversion capacity of Tennessee lithium to Carolina lithium and 2 million related to accelerated stock compensation as part of our reduction in Workforce,
Michael White: We continue to maintain our cost and investment discipline in 2025 through detailed expense management.
Michael White: Let's move to slide 10 where we provide our 2025 outlook for shipments.
Michael White: Capex and investments in in advances to affiliates.
Michael White: We expect to ship 25,000 to 30,000 dry metric, tons in the first quarter of 2025 this does not include tons which were sold as part of an exwork sale at the port in December, but shipped earlier this year.
Michael White: For the full year, we anticipate making shipments to customers totaling 113,000 to 130,000 dry metric tons.
Michael White: With full year, shipments, including tons, which were shifted to 2025 as a result of a customer request to move, a shipment from the fourth quarter into 2025.
Michael White: As always, certain factors, including shipping constraints and customer requirements may impact the timing of future shipments.
Michael White: For our capex and Investments Outlook, we continue to reduce our project related expenditures.
Michael White: We expect less than 2 million in capex in the first quarter and 6 to 9 million in capex for the full year.
Michael White: Joint venture investments in advances are also expected to be less than 2 million in the first quarter and approximately 7 to 13 million for the full year 2025.
Michael White: This compares to 26 million in 2024.
Michael White: Our Outlook is subject to changes in market conditions and may vary materially.
Keith Phillips: With that, I'll turn the presentation back over to Keith.
Speaker Change: Thank you, Michael. Turning the slide 12. I'd like to share some thoughts on the lithium Market. We are pleased to report another quarter of strong price realizations, against the backdrop of a soft lithium Market. I realized price at $99 on an se6 equivalent basis. Once again, led the industry.
Speaker Change: During the quarter, we saw a benefit from contractual lags indebted in their customer contracts and the contango in the lithium Futures Market.
Speaker Change: Well our commercial strategy has been highly successful the narrow and contango in the forward markets and the pricing lags in our longer term. Contracts means that our comparatively strong price. Realizations, may not always be achievable on a go forward basis.
Speaker Change: As for the lithium Market, slide 13, shows that n market demand for lithium continues to grow very strongly.
Speaker Change: 2024 was another record year for Ev sales with approximately 17 million EVS sold globally.
Speaker Change: While the man growth in the US and Europe was modest last year. The dominant Chinese market grew by 3.1 million units. In 2024, the largest year-over-year growth on record in roughly equivalent to the total number of East these sold globally in 2020.
Speaker Change: And there are new avenues of demand growth for lithium. Within the stationary storage market energy storage systems are growing rapidly, to help modernize power, grids manage intermittency, and power generation from renewable sources and evolve to meet Growing Power demand from sources, like data centers.
Speaker Change: As a matter of fact, catl the world's leading lithium ion battery producer is expecting ESS demand to represent, 34% of total, lithium Demand by 2030, the massively positive outlook for our markets.
Speaker Change: I'd like to conclude this morning's call with some brief comments on our planned merger with Sona mining.
Speaker Change: On November 18th, Last year Piedmont. And sauna announced the intention to merge in an all-stock transaction with an ownership, split of roughly 5050 on a fully diluted basis.
Speaker Change: The merger brings together 2 complimentary businesses to create a bigger stronger simpler company, which will be the largest current lithium producer in North America with an exciting development pipeline in the United States, Canada and Ghana.
Speaker Change: Under our current operational structure nal's production. Potential growth is limited by competing priorities between owners.
Speaker Change: Ped.
Speaker Change: Receives the benefit of its unique offtake agreement while sayana is the operator and majority partner.
Speaker Change: By joining forces, the combined company is positioned to evaluate expansion opportunities resulting from the impressive drill results earlier this year at North American lithium.
Speaker Change: We think Nal is the best location lithium project in canva and the opportunity for a Brownfield expansion with possible low cap expert, ton and Improvement operating cost per ton, is 1 of the key reasons, we are so excited about the merger.
Speaker Change: Merge code is also able to share Technical and operating experience across an large portfolio of growth projects in a Voya Caroline, lithium and mobile lands.
Speaker Change: For those less familiar with Mobile land. This is a high-grade project location in Quebec and both 1 of the largest sponsoring resource bases in North America. The project is in the James Bay Region and the 2024 definitive feasibility study demonstrated as a post tax, internal rate of return of 34% for 3,000 tons per year. As far to me, concentrate and a low strip ratio of 2.3 to 1
Speaker Change: On the corporate side, merge CEO expects to realize synergies of 15 to 20 million dollars. Annually, your combination of Consolidated, corporate functions, and approved Logistics.
Speaker Change: The merger secured the backing of resource Capital funds. The mining industry is leading private Equity source with RCF committed to funding. Approximately 45 million into the merged entity upon completion of the deal. This capital on top of the financing is completed. At the time of the merger announcement will provide important Capital to enable merge code to Advanced projects toward development during the current down Market.
Speaker Change: Slide. 16 shows the planned North American Spa, Main production of Piedmont and sa versus several pre-production peers.
Speaker Change: Nal is the largest current producer of spaghetti concentrate in North America and merge CEO has the potential to maintain its leadership position as other assets are developed. Importantly, this chart is purely focused on North American peers and ignores the significant potential for production at aoya
Speaker Change: scale is crucial in this business. Increasing scale can make a business more relevant to customers can reduce operating costs and improve Downstream optionality. All while appealing to a broader investor community.
Speaker Change: With that, we can turn the call over to Q&A.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and
Speaker Change: answer session.
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Speaker Change: You.
Speaker Change: Your first question comes from the line of a bill Peterson of JP Morgan. Your line is now open
Speaker Change: Yeah. Hi Keith uh in uh, Mike. Thanks for all the information. Actually my my 2 questions are actually more related to the industry environment. Um I was hoping you could touch on the potential impacts of of tariffs. If they do come to fruition towards Canada, how that may impact your plan shipment profile? Um, you know, I guess maybe that underline there is how much was assumed for us domestic refiners versus
Speaker Change: China and other other regions.
Speaker Change: Uh, hey Bill, thanks, good question. Uh yeah, the tariffs that were announced uh that were supposed to take effect, I think February 1st were deferred, 30 days. We'll see if they come into effect. Uh, the headline number for tariffs was 25% for critical minerals. Uh, the number would be 10%, and the Tariff would be paid by the
Speaker Change: Importer, which would be an American customer, so we obviously have 1 American customer. Uh, they would be liable for those tariffs, I think. I think, in the overall scheme of things and we've talked to them about that the overall scheme of things at these price levels at 10% tariff, may or may not impact their decision-making. If it were to come to pass, um, that's a customer with global operations who could take the material and diverted elsewhere if they want to do to avoid them um but and and we've shipped to that customer in other locations before. So that could happen if they chose to do that. Uh for a broader joint venture shipments and for shipments we make through trading companies or to our other International customer. Uh none of that goes to the us so that
Speaker Change: Wouldn't apply.
Speaker Change: Yeah, thanks for that that Keith. And you know you and I have discussed sort of Supply demand you know, over the past few years and it still appears fairly challenged based off of Market environment, you know, I guess based off your own experience of taking into account prior curtailment, maybe some project delays what is your expectations around Supply demand, you know, for this year and over the next few years? And I guess, underlying that too, especially from a US perspective as expectations around policy support, you know, maybe assuming 30, the tax credits, you know, may or may not still remain and and, you know, maybe the companies also working on that behind the scenes as well.
Speaker Change: Yeah, again, good question. I would say, um,
Speaker Change: You know, we don't we our crystal balls is is cloudy as other people's I think in the near term. Uh,
Speaker Change: I don't have any particularly, uh, aggressive expectations for 2025. I do think lithium remains, uh, a very young industry. I think we're probably in the second or third inning of the evolution of this business over the next 20 or 30 years, and I think it'll remain, um, volatile. Uh, I will say, I've now been in the industry 8 years and I joined in a bull market. We went through a difficult fair market that has a, you know, fantastic bull market. And uh, that we're in the middle here or hopefully, the tail end of a difficult bare Market. Nobody really projected any of these developments. Uh, I fully expect, there'll be another rip roaring bull market here at some point. Uh, and it would be, it will catch everybody by surprise. And I don't know exactly what will cause it, it might be energy storage.
Speaker Change: demand, like we talked about,
Speaker Change: In the call, it could be other things so so I am medium and long-term bullish, but I do expect the industry to remain volatile. Um we're not counting, you know, we are we do our internal cash flow budgeting on a spot price basis. So we're counting on we're planning for a challenging 2025 and hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
Speaker Change: In terms of policy support, I think it's a mixed bag. I think the 30d credits uh may disappear. Uh maybe even the will likely disappear. I really don't see that as that big issue. I think that the US market continues to be a relatively small EV market today. I think the solution for the EV Market in the US is
You know people continued to bring on new vehicles. Um that are interesting that interested with the market which you know, every year, new vehicles come on. We've gone from really 1 or 2 cars. People might buy 5 or 6 years ago, Tesla Model S and model 3 and now we've got multiple vehicles. I think that will help. Um, but, uh, in terms of, you know, it's a global, the, the Commodities price on a global basis. China continues to grow Fant with a fantastic rate, um, and again, energy storage is becoming a really important part of the story. We have some analysts projecting it'll be over 30% of the total Demand by 2030, that's that's up from maybe 2 or 3 or 4% in people's minds a few years ago. So that that's, that's a, a real pleasant surprise. So long term, long term, bullish, medium term and, you know, short term uncertain.
Speaker Change: I should add though, on, on, on kind of policy. I think. I think Trump will pound the table really hard on.
Speaker Change: This whole kind of national energy security theme and I think that could very well include support. We can't anticipate yet for projects like Carolina in particular. He's clearly very focused on USA USA. Um and um, you know, we think that's a good thing for us.
Keith Phillips: Thanks Keith.
Speaker Change: Thanks.
Speaker Change: Your next question comes from the line of Joseph. Regard of Roth Capital. Please go ahead.
Joseph Roth: Hey, Keith and team. Uh, thanks for taking the questions.
Keith Phillips: Thanks Joe.
Keith Phillips: so, uh, I guess the first thing, um,
Speaker Change: Doe you have like an update on the timing of when you guys expect the merger to complete and and what's left for hurdles to get there.
Yeah, and the release I think we said mid 2025. It's really going to be SEC determinant that we should be filing. Uh, we hope to file our, um, it's on the hopes to file initial SEC documents in the next, you know, few weeks. Um, that process is, um, somewhat predictable. But it could, it could be faster or slower. So, if you think mid year or anything June July time frame, I think that's a reasonable way to think about it. Um, the uh, so I'd say the biggest hurdle is always the SEC and, you know, their review, of proformas, their review of, you know, sayana will be registering with the SEC.
Speaker Change: For the first time. So just like in say, an IPO there, it'll be a review of their initial financial information. Um, I think the other hurdles I think are reasonably uh, you. We feel good about the investment Canada, uh, which you know, reviews, uh, transactions from a Canadian perspective, didn't have any comments, so we've kind of passed that hurdle cifas review we filed. Um, we're optimistic, this deal, doesn't present any cifas issues. Uh, Parks got Reino, I mean, you know, the big the company together will be bigger stronger, but it's still going to be a modest player in the overall Market, but I don't anticipate any hard Scott or antitrust issues. So, and then what we need shareholder votes, which we're optimistic, we'll get, we need, it's a great deal for shareholders of both companies. Uh, so no reason to believe we'll have a problem with that. Um, but uh, yeah, we're planning purposes and the ultimately, the real question will be, does it close in with sayana as the surviving company? Does it close in their fiscal 2025? Or is it closed in July as as their fiscal 26? And we
Speaker Change: We'll have better.
Speaker Change: Visibility on that. And, uh, after the first SEC, comments,
Speaker Change: Okay. Uh thanks, that was great color. Um, and then 1 other question um and you may not be able to comment on this. There were some media speculation around the permitting and advancement of your partner in Ghana. Um, do you have any comment on it or or can you give any additional color, you know, more than what they did?
Speaker Change: Yeah, there, I think, you know, they were in Dhaba last week or the week before and they were just, you know, this, it's, it's a, it's a big conference. There's a lot of people with a lot of commentary about this and that different projects around the world and around Africa. Um, I don't attribute, I don't think it's any more serious than that. I think that the Atlanta teams doing a good job advancing to that process. Uh, there was a federal election in Ghana in December, uh, the new the party. That's now in leadership is perceived by Atlantic to be e. Even more friendly toward development of critical minerals mining. Uh, so we think that's a positive. Uh, so I think, um, I think we'll make, you know, good progress this year. Obviously, we're in a market where, um, and and this is, you know, from a medium and longer term perspective, I think bullish. We're in a market where Supply to me prices and, you know, hydroxide carbonate prices are at a level where it's hard to really support new investment in any project anywhere. Um, so even in Ghana, even with the Royle, which is a great project, relatively low cap back to relatively low Opex, it's hard to justify if
Speaker Change: An investment here, right now. I mean, is that that'll change? I have 100% certainty that I was saying at some point, but it just means we're not, we're not as big a hurry. As we might otherwise have been in Ghana or in Carolina or with a project or CA with a project like Mobile in. You certainly take the long lead items like permitting, you advance and you can check those boxes and
Speaker Change: take away those um, those obstacles but uh,
Speaker Change: You know, we're we're comfortable with timeline and gone up.
Speaker Change: Okay, thanks. So it was very helpful. Turn it over.
Speaker Change: Excellent. Thanks Joe.
Speaker Change: Your next question comes from the line of Noel parks of 2.
Speaker Change: Brothers, please go ahead.
Noel Parks: Hi, good morning.
Speaker Change: Morning, Noel.
Speaker Change: um, say I was, um, wondering if you could uh, talk a little bit, uh, from your perspective on, um, the, um, sort of the the
Speaker Change: I guess industry is various projects in Quebec and um,
Speaker Change: just, uh, if you think, um, sort of third party or or or Regional Partnerships around processing,
Speaker Change: um are are something that could be served on the near horizon or or in the longer term and and the you know, do you see those being um,
Speaker Change: Being a a material part of, um, the sort of business model.
Speaker Change: Um, as as sayana, you know, expands possibly into into mobile.
Speaker Change: Uh, that's a great question. Um, you know, when when we were when we were putting Nal back into production, kind of over the 20223 time frame. Uh, supplying be markets were very strong, people weren't particularly focused on Transportation costs. Uh, in a market like today, Transportation costs mean a lot. Uh, if you have a remote mine, Nal is not remote. But every other as you know, most other assets in Quebec are just getting material to the market is an expensive part of the process. So first you have to get to a port. Whether it's Quebec City that we use or Montreal or or they can cool or somewhere else. Then you have to get to a customer most of the customers as you know, are right now in China. So it's an expensive part of the process. So so that means so a couple things I'd highlight number 1. There are a lot of spots me projects in Quebec. Um, some of them have and some of them, you know, many, you know, good really good companies, good people. Many and some really interesting work bodies, many of them are very remote. Um, in, you know, capex will be high. Labor costs will be high infrastructure to get to. Um,
Speaker Change: You know, to get to a, get to the market, will be very challenging and that we think expensive. So we're very happy that we think Nal is by far the best location project in. Quebec my sponsor me perspective and if the James Bay North projects we think Mobile land is by far the best location. So we're very excited about that. Um that'll mean you know and and as you think about projects, we think Nal Brownfield expansion is particularly exciting. The infrastructure is already there for 40 miles from valdor capex per ton, just should be lower to expand.
Speaker Change: That rather than build a Greenfield project somewhere else. So, so we're excited about that. Having said all that, you know, Nal could benefit mobile and could benefit, you know, the North American spot to be Market could benefit from having more conversion locally. Uh, it would mean it would provide a meaningful opportunity to save on transport costs and improve margins. If he just imagined it cost, say 100 bucks a ton to take material from Quebec to China, depending on how big the shipment is and everything else. That's, you know, the business where people are breaking, even that makes a big difference. So we're cheering for people to develop that the only chemical plant being built in Quebec. Right now is The Arcadian plant that Rio Tinto will inherit and bacon core. Um,
Speaker Change: forget the size of that I want to say is 32,000 tons a year, something like that. Um, we're Quebec's going to need a lot more capacity. Um, I think as sayana has said, and I think as we've said, uh, as far as Quebec goes, our strategy is to really ideally partner with other parties who are bigger and stronger and have the technical capability to execute on that basis where we can be, the we can be the minor and provide the spa domain, and make the margin there and potentially participate in some way in the downstream of Quebec. But it would be wonderful if that happened. I think. I think I could I could definitely see. Um you know, someone like Rio Tinto. Uh if the if the Arcadian plant goes well and makes a core sort of doubling down and and really trying to gather up exposure mean for multiple sources of Quebec. That'd be good for. That'd be good for Quebec, it'd be good for the industry. It would be good for uh certainly be good for us.
Noel Parks: Great. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thanks Noel.
Speaker Change: Your next question comes from the line of Greg Jones of pmo. Please go ahead.
Speaker Change: Keith, good morning, good morning, Michael. Um just wanted to follow up on a prior question regarding aoya, please. Um, if the ratification occurs during 2025, how do you envision the project development timeline? Advancing from here? Um you know, heard your comments regarding the current market environment, you know, if if you were in the situation where you get the permit,
Speaker Change: You know, would you advance as quickly as possible? Would you slow it down? How do you think about? Um, moving the project forward and potential startup updates?
Speaker Change: Yeah, good question. And I'll give you, I'll give you our perspective. Um, and I think it's, I think it's shared by Atlantic our partner. I think it's also shared by sayana our merger partner and I think by the time, you know, but, you know, this is a decision that ultimately will be made by what we call merge go. We'll have a new name for the company soon enough. Um, but, but uh, uh, so it's something. It's a, it's a topic of conversation. I think it's fair to say, everyone has a view that have spots means 8, or 9 hundred dollars a year. It's not the time to go build a new mind, you know, if we were real Tinto and we're funded that way, you could take a view that you invest counter cyclically, and you invest at the trough. But to do, so would be really highly diluted to us, would be highly diluted to Atlantic. Uh, we just don't think it'd be the right time to do it. We, we are engaging in conversations with different, uh, debt funding sources for the project on a joint basis. Those
Speaker Change: To be you know, international finance organizations, like the DFC in Washington or others Commercial Banking organizations, uh, that's a development that will take time. So I suspect 2025 will be a year where we wrap up all the, you know, permitting ratification and. And from that perspective, we're ready to go. And then we really refine the funding, um, and put in place, debt funding to minimize the equity, dilution to any participant. Uh, but to put the company put the asset on its strongest footing. Um,
Speaker Change: and then once that done, the question is, does a board approved.
Speaker Change: Doe do I either any of the boards or do all the boards approve, funding the project when at a spot price basis the IRS would probably not meet your hurdle. Um so this is a question that everybody with a project is going to have to deal with and um and I think the answer is they're going to be very few projects that I'd say 900 dollar spot spontaneous mean.
Speaker Change: You know, pass that hurdle test from a board perspective, that'll change because spots me prices are going to have to go up because no 1's going to be building in this environment. And there may be some Brownfield expansions here or there, but we think it's, or I say nobody few people will be building in this environment. Um, but uh, so it's too early to tell. Greg, we still have these steps to go through, um, but my guess is, we'll be waiting for a stronger Market.
Speaker Change: Great, thank you for the color. Alternate back.
Speaker Change: Okay. Thanks a lot Greg.
Speaker Change: I'll see you next week.
Speaker Change: That includes our Q&A session. I will have turned the conference back over to John coslo for closing remarks.
Speaker Change: Thank you, operator. That concludes today's call.
Speaker Change: Thank you for joining this morning as a reminder.
A copy of our earnings release presentation and a replay of this, call are available on our website at pedmont lithium.com.
Speaker Change: Thanks everybody.
Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call, thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect