Q4 2024 Thor Explorations Ltd Earnings Call
Speaker Change: Our shareholder value is underpinned by very high margin gold production from our flagship project in Nigeria, the Segurola Gold Project which is based on a TFS open pit of just over half a million ounces, grading at 4.2 grams per tonne.
Speaker Change: Our production guidance for 2025 is 85,000 to 95,000 ounces and our all-in-sustaining cost guidance is between 800 and a thousand dollars per ounce.
Speaker Change: This is coming off a year where we have just completed a production of 85,000 ounces in Nigeria. So given weather goal prices.
Speaker Change: and given our costs we believe are a very well positioned for strong growth and our value to be underpinned by this cash flow.
Speaker Change: Our second project is the Beta Project, which is now growing to be two continuous licenses.
Speaker Change: The latest resource we have on that is a 1.78 million ounce resource which is pretty much 50-50 divided between an indicated resource and an inferred resource.
Speaker Change: We made a new discovery in the Dutor Project earlier this year, which had implications on the timing of the preliminary feasibility study we have been advancing and are going to more detail it later on in this presentation.
Very well, shall I say, renowned Beremian Greenstone.
Speaker Change: Terrain. That's the tenure we picked up. We picked up three licences there. The Gwitchie Gold Project, which we acquired from Endeavour. The Murrow Hui Gold Project, which we acquired from a local partner and have been advancing.
Speaker Change: since a key fall last year and also the Bruntiali Gold Explorational License.
Speaker Change: We're very encouraged by what we have seen initially, and I will go into more detail of that in this presentation as well. We've set ourselves an internal milestone there together to a maiden resource through the course of this year.
We have it.
Speaker Change: We have slowed down exploration there. One of the things I will mention in this presentation is we have also purchased our own drilling rigs which enables us to drill more flexibly and as a much lower cost we will pick up the drilling here once these drill rigs have been commissioned and mobilized in the country.
Speaker Change: for a more corporate snapshot and capital markets perspective. We have just over the 664 million shares outstanding.
Speaker Change: We have no options or words outstanding, so our fully diverted number of shares is the same.
Speaker Change: As of close of play yesterday, we were in Canada, we were training at an all-time higher 49 Canadian cent which we were pleased to see and which was in and we closed yesterday at 25 British pence.
Speaker Change: So, having a multi-cap of $325 million Canadian dollars.
One of the themes we have seen over the last...
Speaker Change: 12 to 24 months are shares have been supported by both institutional and retail investors who have supported the share price on the way up so we feel
Speaker Change: In addition to this, the fact that management have significant skin in the game, we are supported by what we could call strong hands in terms of the growth of the company.
Speaker Change: We also have coverage on both sides of the Atlantic and the UK and also in North America and you can see by the target prices you are.
Speaker Change: Brokers and bankers do believe we're undervalued and we look forward to unlocking this value through the course of the next few months and years.
Speaker Change: Okay, so the key highlights from last year I would say, first of all, we achieved a revised guidance of 85,000 answers.
Speaker Change: We sold just under 85,000 ounces, the significant milestone being the fact that we fully repaid our senior debt.
Speaker Change: with the Africa Finance Corporation and that has completely taken away the burden of every quarter servicing these large debt amounts and has put us in a much stronger position to.
Speaker Change: fund larger budgets for exploration and also build up cash particularly in this high gold price environment.
Speaker Change: You can see that the highlights of the year last year in terms of financial performance are revenue was $193 million.
Speaker Change: in May on May 16th is the payment date for the record date being May 2nd.
Speaker Change: Alongside the maiden dividend payment we have adopted a dividend policy which has been approved by a board which is a payment of what a recorder Canadian sense every three months on a course on a quarterly basis and we believe you know.
Speaker Change: We are well positioned to build up cash and build up sufficient cash to fund all our organic.
ambitions and also provide above-up provision.
in case any animal got hit.
Speaker Change: Compelling opportunities do come our way, and in addition to that, return our cash to shareholders.
Speaker Change: I mean, the timing of when we announced this dividend, it was a yield north of 11.
Speaker Change: and a half percent which is extremely competitive compared to our peer group.
So we're pleased to...
Speaker Change: We know that as well as our capital growth, which we believe, there are the fundamentals to continue going very strongly. We are well positioned to transition into a dividend paying yield.
performing company and we're pleased to have an answer.
Speaker Change: I will add that this dividend is for a minimum initial two years.
Speaker Change: and the 1.25 Canadian Census is a minimum amount we will page quarter.
Speaker Change: With the ability to increase this, should there be stronger cash flows in any particular quarter? You know, based on the spike in the gold price and, you know, better, better balance sheet positions at the end of each quarter.
Thank you.
So, look here at the production summary last year.
You can see it.
We had a very strong fourth quarter.
We mind...
Speaker Change: just over 380,000 tons of ore, grading at 2.3 grams per ton.
Speaker Change: You know, through the course of the year, in general, in Q1, Q2, and particularly Q3 where we had
Speaker Change: and operational challenges. We knew we had to finish strongly in the air and I think I would take this opportunity to thank the team for all the hard work that went through the course of last year.
Thank you.
Speaker Change: The performance of the process plant as well, if you compare.
Speaker Change: Last year to the year before, yes, we were down in terms of recovery rate percentage.
Speaker Change: and operating costs which doesn't involve mining and those costs are being sunk at the moment.
Speaker Change: So that's also a material amount of gold that does have to pass through the mill at some point in time.
Thank you.
Speaker Change: I spoke at a high level on the financial summary and you can see in Q4, this was...
Speaker Change: Really where there was a bumper quarter, record quarter in terms of revenue profit.
Speaker Change: and even translating across bringing the average for the whole year.
Speaker Change: You know, so, you know, are cash operating costs and all interstaining costs.
in 2024.
was significantly lower than the previous year.
Speaker Change: There are three key reasons for this. I would say the first one is the fact that we are using more compressed natural gas versus diesel to power our processed plant.
Speaker Change: We do still use diesel for our total mining fleet, however the oil price and
and my dear, the diesel prices have.
Reduce Significantly, which is translated to a lower cost there.
Speaker Change: and lastly there has been good recoveries from gravity as opposed to the CIL which is required less power and then we have seen a stabilization in costs for some of our key inputs like ammonium nitrate globally which we locked in.
Speaker Change: at the point last year. So that has managed to keep our costs down. And we believe, you know,
Speaker Change: are cross-control practices that we put in place last year. We're carrying through to 2025 and we expect and anticipate that 2025 we should be on top of our costs as well.
Thank you.
I've previously highlighted.
The fact that we have the social license to operate.
I, without going into every single detail here, I would...
Speaker Change: say we pride ourselves on international best practice, social responsibility and our commitments of the communities around us and you can see that being reflected in who we hire, the projects we do, we've completed over 40 projects.
Speaker Change: We have a community development agreement which we've rolled out benefits from right from the exploration phase through construction and currently during production.
Speaker Change: Oshin State issue we had in September , October , 2024, where there were a number of allegations made against us. We are pleased to press release earlier this year and publish the outcome of the Sackfinding Committee which showed
Speaker Change: All the allegations to be unsubstantiated. So, our operations haven't been affected. We continue our dialogue with the state. We are, you know, physically located in that state and we want a good applicable relationship.
Speaker Change: to continue there and we have an open dialogue there but we think it's very important to stress investors that we have been exonerated at the federal level, the regulator in the mining sector in Nigeria and we continue our operations on the interrupted
Thank you.
Speaker Change: Keep for us, and easily the highest priority for us as a company is to extend the secular
Speaker Change: We are now expanding the scope of that drilling program to test both the shallow dipping plungers and the steeper shoots.
Speaker Change: which we have interpreted here. I think I will go back to the point where I mentioned earlier in the presentation that we have now having paid off our senior debt, have a lot more budget to throw at drilling here in Nigeria.
We're looking to hopefully...
Speaker Change: Extend the mind life and do that in a material fashion and one of the ways we're looking to do that is
Speaker Change: During our in drilling, so we've purchased our in drill rigs which should be in country in the middle of this quarter and that would add to the current third party drill contractors were using to increase the rate of which we drill here.
Speaker Change: We're anticipating we drill for quite an extended period of time and when I say that I mean over the course of the next two quarters.
Push that into an updated mind life.
We, I will stress that.
You know, whilst we haven't had an official...
Speaker Change: My life update, we have drilled beneath the pit, we have drilled mineralized mindable intersections underneath the pit, so we are carrying out this program because we are encouraged by the initial drill results that we have had.
Speaker Change: So there is a 7,500 meter drilling program which has commenced and which we are well positioned to increase based on the success of the drilling.
Speaker Change: Still on Exploration, there are several areas we have now identified and drilled historically and they have been AMR for follow-up drilling particularly to the south of.
Speaker Change: and again, the use of our own rigs is extremely important in terms of our strategy here in Nigeria. One thing we had embarked on last year was looking at a regional...
Regional Scale Exploration and we found consistent
Speaker Change: An area which has been had a consistent golden normalism over 10 kilometres by 5 kilometres square area, about 52 kilometres to the south of Segalore, that's what you see in
Speaker Change: in this presentation. And we have actually been working on this over the last three, four months, where the work we're carrying out is soldier chemistry, extreme sediment sampling. We're doing some magnetic surveys.
Speaker Change: of Golden Normalism, and we're actually looking forward to seeing if we can delineate some drill targets over the next few months. So that's something where we've put on our priority list to update the market with as well.
Thank you very much for your time.
I will move on to the data project.
Speaker Change: which I mentioned, we've now expanded into two separate licenses in a very strategic position on this huge share zone in the Canoea Bay Inn Laire.
We, we, we, we are proud.
Speaker Change: This project, as you can see on the image on the right hand side.
Speaker Change: has a strike length of about 7 kilometers with the Makoza East being running slightly parallel with the shorter strike length to the main Makoza body.
Speaker Change: We then discovered a couple of hundred thousand answers in Makoza-Tail.
Speaker Change: We've submitted our environmental impact assessment. We have been completed all our geotech work. However, you know, fairly late in the game, when we were carrying out some...
Speaker Change: Exploration on our new due to west permit, we did identify a lot of anomalism to the south, which was called which we named the Baraka 3 target and this was characterized by structure, the extended
Speaker Change: and we mapped for over three kilometres, it had a soil anomaly on this footprint and not just in the soils, there was some fantastic rock chip.
Speaker Change: So, geochemical results, you know, from nine and a half grams of tons, six grams of tons.
Speaker Change: 3.67 grams per tonne and just under 3 grams per tonne, extending the entire strike length of this.
Speaker Change: and we planned a few drill lines from the south extending all the way to the north of the structure and as we press released earlier, the first two lines confirmed what we thought.
Speaker Change: and a wide shallow, pretty high grade for this area, Discovery in Burakowest, which gave us a bit of a problem internally in terms of sequencing.
The Preliminary Feasibility Study, and the reason being,
Speaker Change: This mineralisation was all in the oxide, where we met tests have previously shown recoveries of 90 to 96 percent.
Speaker Change: Shallow from surface, a very little blustin quiet, and if this mineralization, which we had in the first T lines, continued for the entire three-kilone-to-strike length, then this is a significant material amount of gold vis-a-vis the size of the project.
Speaker Change: and given the fact that it's in the oxide would probably in terms of the mind planning would be right to the front of the mining and processing.
Speaker Change: So, we had to take that decision to complete this drilling first and see how we could incorporate this into the preliminary feasibility study because
This could be the early answers of this grade.
Speaker Change: with hierarchies easy to mine and this can have a material potentially material economic effects on the data product as a whole.
So...
Speaker Change: We're drilling here. The plan is to have three drill rigs here and try and have this all completed as quickly as possible. We're accelerating an 8,000 meter drill
across the entire strait length of this structure.
Speaker Change: which has been shown to be goldbearing in soils and the rock chips and the first few first couple of hundred meters and once that's done we're going to incorporate that into our total global resource and then update the market on the timing of the completion of the preliminary feasible necessary.
[inaudible]
And then
Cut the far, last year we, we...
Speaker Change: have been incurred by the course of a year doing a lot of reconnaissance work that ends up in us picking up three licenses, North East, North West and in the South.
Speaker Change: Court of Law, Needless to Stay, has been a success story in terms of goal discoveries, construction of goal minds.
Speaker Change: Support from the government. It's underlaid by a lot of the West African prospective barrimian Greenstone belt that probably hosts over 90% of all the gold discoveries in West Africa.
Speaker Change: We like the jurisdiction, we like the mining code and, you know, exploration work commenced here in Q4 last year, early stage exploration work.
Speaker Change: and we were very encouraged by the results of the exploration work out. The first project I will quickly touch on is the...
Speaker Change: The Gwitchie Project, which we acquired from Endeavour, and that already had...
Speaker Change: 11,000 meters of drilling already carried out in it. We've started doing our own work here and divided the centre three clusters of golden omelism around.
A couple of different stretches.
Speaker Change: on two main prospects. These targets remain open, along strike and down plunge. We have our team there. I'm getting this.
Speaker Change: Drill Ready in terms of following our own interpretations so we're very excited about this there has been gold drilled here with some
Speaker Change: So very encouraging intersections already and we look forward to advancing this.
Speaker Change: Our second project, which I'm particularly excited about, is the Mara Huid Project. It's a 750-square kilometer permit in the northeast of the country.
Speaker Change: You can see the work we did here, we did...
A permit-wide soldier can survey just to see what the...
Speaker Change: Signatures and say, and we have picked up a number of structures which you can see have been outlined in red.
Speaker Change: across the entire anomaly. But the most interesting of which is down in the southeast of the Permit itself, where we...
Speaker Change: identified two structures that the larger one being 4 kilometers long and in the widest area is about 200 meters wide and this is sitting on top of some Burmian greenstone the best rocks you can find for gold in West Africa
Speaker Change: So we're very excited about this. You can see that not just the soils define this anomaly.
Speaker Change: It was coincident on the magnetic structure and the Pyramid Greenstone and the rock chips, which we have a sample from here. So the gold hasn't been transferred to the rock chips have.
Speaker Change: showing these gold values for the entire 4km strike length.
Speaker Change: So, more work has been done here, we're coming out some magnetic surveys, some trenching and we will be looking forward to drilling this. And this is something we're very excited about. And also.
Following up on the edition and target of this license.
Thank you.
Speaker Change: So I'll finish off by saying what our outlook and catalyst are this year. I've mentioned, you know, we...
Speaker Change: We do have a target of 85,000 to 95,000 ounces this year at a cost between $800,000 per ounce.
Speaker Change: We've increased our exploration expenditure in the group, so in Nigeria we're looking to spend between 7 and a half and 10 million dollars and that will get the drilling done underneath to segle the pit, the targets around it as well.
Speaker Change: In Senegal and in Côte d'Evoire, we're looking to spend between five and seven and half million dollars and that will get us to the drilling done on Beracca 3, the remaining any outstanding items on the PFS.
Speaker Change: Drilling Programme in Two Drilling Programs in Kodavar, where we're looking to have our made and resourced something this year.
and then, you know, obviously be advantageous exploration across.
Hola, Porfirio.
So.
The, uh, the, uh,
Speaker Change: The program in Nigeria is ongoing. The program in Senegal is ongoing as well. In Coutnevoire we have probably a couple more months to have these targets fully Joe ready and then we all be well.
Speaker Change: Start the drilling there as well. So we're extremely excited about where we are in terms of
Speaker Change: I'm locking value through the exploration. We've now put ourselves financially in a position where we're building a cash on a weekly basis. We've paid off our senior debt.
We have, um, if you look...
on the slide.
Speaker Change: If you have the opportunity to follow up and look on the slide on our financial performance last year, we've significantly reduced our accounts payable by the year and last year. In Q1 as well, that's been reduced even further.
Speaker Change: and in through the course of this quarter now that accounts payable will be will be current on.
Speaker Change: in terms of a 90-day payment basis. So we're confident and that's why we've been confident enough and comfortable enough to adopt our dividend policy.
Speaker Change: So, that's a snapshot overview of my presentation and I'm happy to go through the questions now. Thank you.
Speaker Change: Perfect, Shagann, that's great. And thank you very much indeed for your presentation this afternoon. Ladies and gentlemen, please do continue to submit your questions just by using the Q&A tab that's situated on the right hand corner of your screen. But just while Shagann takes a few moments just to review those questions that have been submitted already, I'd just like to remind you that a recording of this presentation, along with a copy of the slides and the published Q&A, can all be accessed via your Inverte Dashboard.
Speaker Change: Shagon, as you can see there, we have received a number of questions that were both pre-submitted ahead of today's event, as well as those that have come through throughout your presentation this afternoon as well.
Speaker Change: Firstly, thank you to all of those on the call for taking the time to submit their questions and shagging at this point so if I may just hand back to you just to read out those questions and give your responses where it's appropriate to do so. And if I pick up from you at the end, that would be great. Thank you.
Okay, thanks. Just one second now.
Shagan Lawson: Okay, yeah, I'm happy to answer all the questions I've got.
Yeah, so.
Shagan Lawson: I'll just read them out and then I will answer it. So the first question is, have you entered into new forward hedging contracts or are you confident that the gold price remaining elevated for?
a long while to come.
Shagan Lawson: which was also partly the reason we had a lower sales, average gold sales price in Q4 and we completely unwound the balance in Q1 ahead of.
Shagan Lawson: What we had initially planned to do. So now we're completely on edge, we have full exposure to the gold price.
which is obviously trading in near all time highs.
We haven't hedged.
Any as a viet?
Shagan Lawson: It's a discussion that's going on internally. We do believe in the immediate future over the next couple of months. There is a lot of volatility, particularly what's happening in the White House, should I say.
Shagan Lawson: So, you know, we haven't had any hedges. It's not something we're ruling out. Last year around about this time last year we hedge about a quarter of our production for the year.
Shagan Lawson: Thinking we are all-time highs and obviously the gold price kept rising, but the reason we did that was because we knew we had debt service obligations.
Shagan Lawson: at that time we don't have that anymore this year so look if there's the gold price starts to come off a bit we we will look at that and try and lock in some of these high margins
Shagan Lawson: Look, that's a tricky question because I've got to be careful in terms of making forward looking statements like that, but what I can say is the proof of concept drill program was a success, you know, intersecting gold in such a high percentage.
of our draw holes. We have enclazies.
Depost it after death.
The drilling is ongoing where... where...
Shagan Lawson: We wouldn't be stepping up this drilling and spending so much money on this drilling if we didn't.
Shagan Lawson: I feel relatively confident of it being a success, so that's all I can really say now and we will be updating the market with our drug results as they come in batches.
Shagan Lawson: Given the recent goal hides, are you planning to enter another forward contract at these 3K levels? Okay, so we just answer that.
Shagan Lawson: Have you got an ETA on providing initial, my life extension figure for when the additional drilling of data will be finished?
When the D to PFS will be released following the neutral results.
Shagan Lawson: So, the first one, providing an initial mine life extension, so we do plan on drilling very going hard at it over the next two quarters.
Shagan Lawson: and then coming up with the position in Q4, to...
Shagan Lawson: Come up with something, an initial number, that's what we're working towards.
The second question was the D to PFS.
Shagan Lawson: Due to PFS, we will update as soon as we can.
Shagan Lawson: We have all the results in from this drilling. We expect this 8,000 meters of drilling to take to be completed in Mill of May in about 4 or 5 weeks.
I would say there is a time.
Shagan Lawson: Constraint, which we don't have control over, which is the turnaround time from the labs. Obviously we keep as much pressure on them to get this.
Shagan Lawson: Turn around as quick as possible and you know we'll be able to give a timeline then so once we have all the assay results back we all but the drilling program is going to be completed over the next four weeks
Speaker Change: Next question regarding Lithium, do you plan to find a JV partner, some of the other Lithium explorers to develop potential projects within the area?
Prugus on this.
Speaker Change: Progress this on the side, solar, or potentially explore and sell.
on to fun, fun, it's a very cool project.
Speaker Change: So the lithium portfolio is something that's come from us being a first mover in Nigeria.
Speaker Change: We are a gold company, that is our priority, we think that's what our shareholders want to.
See, we believe that's going to unlock significant value.
Speaker Change: So, with the lithium we are, we do want to get to a critical point before making any major strategic decisions. And that critical point will involve us clearly with our own draw rigs rather than pay the higher cost of using third party contractors.
Next question, accounts payable were 46 million in the year.
during the course of the next few months.
Yeah, I believe I already mentioned that in the presentation.
Speaker Change: Given how cheap the company trades on a PE multiple wire buybacks, not being comments. We did consider a share buybacks. The price has rallied. We were on a close period with year end results, so we can initiate a buyback during the
within 45 days of announcing our results.
Speaker Change: We have been keen on returning money to shareholders, whether it was a buyback or a dividend, we evaluated both. The fact that we're listed on aim and the, and the TSXV, the number of, um...
Speaker Change: The regulations regarding a buyback based on our average volume of shares would have taken about six or seven months.
Speaker Change: to buy back a million dollars worth of shares which we just thought, you know, a more effective way of returning money to our shareholders was through a dividend.
rather than such a slow buyback over the six months.
Um.
Speaker Change: If you find the video useful, please like, share the video, and subscribe. Thanks for watching it.
Speaker Change: With the high-grade hits north and south of Seglila, how much open pit life remains? You know, you're considering a move to underground. Yes, we are considering a move to underground. There will be a natural inflection point based on the gold price.
Speaker Change: and based on the drilling we do, we're still basing ourselves on the the DFS, my life so another three years and then hopefully.
Speaker Change: Before the end of this year announcing what an updated my life would look like.
Speaker Change: You have announced difference, can you explain why preferred difference to buybacks, consider?
Speaker Change: The company, especially as you continue the company undervalidum, I think I just answered that based on a previous question.
Um.
The next three questions I've already answered regarding my life.
My life again, bye back again.
Speaker Change: Previously you've mentioned 175 million as a rough estimate of CapEx for Data, is this still the case?
If Majority of the Or is Refactory
Thank you.
Speaker Change: We are based on all the web we've been doing with our contractors, our EPC contractor, that number hasn't changed.
will be to be fully debt-financed.
Speaker Change: No, I don't think it will be complete leverage. I think there will be a component to that.
Speaker Change: Pay from our imbalance sheet as well, but there will be a large debt facility to finance this as well.
For more information, visit www.LawsonLaw.com ©2011 Law Offices of Law
I think I've answered everything.
Speaker Change: Perfect. Shagen, if I may, just to jump back in there. Thank you very much indeed for being so generous of your time. Then addressing all of those questions that came in for investors this afternoon. And of course, if there are any further questions that do come through, we'll make these available to you immediately after the presentation is ended. But um, Shagen, perhaps before now, just really looking to redirect those on the call to provide your feedback, which I know is particularly important to yourself and the company.
Speaker Change: If I could please just ask you for a few closing comments just to wrap up with, that would be great.
Speaker Change: Yeah, look, I think I'll close by saying I'm pleased with where we are now as a company, you know, where where...
Speaker Change: At the start of the next phase in our evolution, no doubt.
Strong Cash Flow, Graying Portfolio
A lot of websites unlock through exploration.
some significant milestones to achieve this year.
Speaker Change: in three different countries and, you know, significant exploration potential in all three countries. So we're very excited. And, you know, the fact that we've transitioned into a dividend-paying company shows our commitment.
Speaker Change: to returning money to shareholders in a sustainable way. I'm personally very excited about 2025. I think there's a lot more to come. As I speak now, the drill rigs turning on...
Speaker Change: Two of our projects in a couple of months it'll be on all three of our projects and yeah look where doing all of this with no debt and in an all-time high-go price environment so it's an exciting time for us as a company and we're very much looking forward to 2025.
Speaker Change: Perfect, Shagann, that's great, and thank you once again for updating investors this afternoon. Could I please ask investors not to close this session, or now be automatically redirected to the opportunity to provide your feedback in all of the management team can really best understand your views and expectations. This won't take a few moments to complete, but I'm sure will be greatly valued by the company.
Speaker Change: On behalf of the management team of Thor Explorations Limited, we would like to thank you for attending today's presentation. That now concludes today's session, so good afternoon to you all.