Q2 2026 Vista Gold Corp Earnings Call

Speaker #1: Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Vista Gold's second quarter 2026 financial results and corporate update conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode.

Speaker #1: Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. At that time, participants are asked to press star one to register for a question. For assistance during the call, please press star zero.

Speaker #1: As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. Today is Thursday, July 30, 2026. It is now my pleasure to introduce Pamela Solly, Vice President of Investor Relations.

Speaker #1: Please go ahead.

Speaker #2: Thank you, Joanna, and good day, everyone. Thank you for joining the Vista Gold Corp second quarter 2026 financial results and corporate update conference call.

Pamela Solly: Thank you, Joanna. Good day, everyone. Thank you for joining the Vista Gold Corp Q2 2026 financial results and corporate update conference call. I'm Pamela Solly, Vice President of Investor Relations. Also on the call today is Fred Earnest, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Doug Tobler, Chief Financial Officer. On 29 July 2026, Vista reported its financial results for the quarter ended 30 June 2026. For additional details, our full financial statements and MD&A are included in our Form 10-Q available for review at sec.gov or sedarplus.ca. Copies of the news release and quarterly report on Form 10-Q are also available on our website at www.vistagold.com. During the course of this call and the question-and-answer session, we will be making forward-looking statements.

Speaker #2: I'm Pamela Solly, Vice President of Investor Relations. Also on the call today are Fred Ernest, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Doug Tobler, Chief Financial Officer.

Speaker #2: On July 29, 2026, VISTA reported its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. For additional details, our full financial statements and MD&A are included in our Form 10-Q, available for review at sec.gov or feedourplus.ca.

Speaker #2: Copies of the news release and the quarterly report on Form 10-Q are also available on our website at www.vistagold.com. During the course of this call and the question-and-answer session, we will be making forward-looking statements.

Speaker #2: These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results for VISTA to be materially different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such statements.

Pamela Solly: These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements of Vista to be materially different from results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Please refer to our most recently filed Form 10-K for details of risks and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements and the cautionary note regarding estimates on mineral resources and mineral reserves. I will now turn the call over to Fred Earnest.

Speaker #2: Please refer to our most recently filed Form 10-K for details of risks and other important factors that could cause actual reserved results to differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements, and the cautionary note regarding estimates on mineral resources and mineral reserves, I will now turn the call over to Fred Ernest.

Speaker #3: Thank you, Pam. And thank you, everyone, for joining us on the call today. We will begin with an overview of our second quarter achievements, and then discuss our outlook for the remainder of the year.

Fred H. Earnest: Thank you, Pam. Thank you everyone for joining us on the call today. We will begin with an overview of our Q2 achievements. Then discuss our outlook for the remainder of the year. During the Q2, we continued to execute our strategy to develop the Mt. Todd Gold Project on a standalone basis. We achieved meaningful progress on permitting, added to our Australia-based project leadership team, progressed technical optimization programs, and advanced project execution planning in line with our plans to commence detailed engineering and design in 2027. With our strong cash position at quarter end, we are well funded to continue achieving our interim project development activities while systematically reducing development risk. As we build our Australian leadership team, complete the technical and regulatory milestones ahead of us, we are positioning Mt.

Speaker #3: During the second quarter, we continued to execute our strategy to develop the Mount Todd Gold Project on a standalone basis. We achieved meaningful progress on permitting, added to our Australia-based project leadership team, progressed technical optimization programs, and advanced project execution planning in line with our plans to commence detailed engineering and design in 2027.

Speaker #3: With our strong cash position at quarter-end, we are well funded to continue achieving our interim project development activities while systematically reducing development risk. As we build our Australian leadership team and complete the technical and regulatory milestones ahead of us, we are positioning Mount Todd for the start of detailed engineering and design in 2027, followed by the commencement of an approximately 27-month period encompassing construction and commissioning.

Fred H. Earnest: Todd for the start of detailed engineering and design in 2027 and the commencement of an approximate 27-month period encompassing construction and commissioning. I will discuss these topics in greater detail later in the call, I now turn the time over to Doug Tobler for a review of our financial results for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.

Speaker #3: I will discuss these topics in greater detail later in the call, but I will now turn the time over to Doug Tobler for a review of our financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.

Speaker #4: Thanks, Fred. And for those of you on the call, thanks for joining. We very much appreciate your interest. My comments will provide a recap of our financial position and our results of operations as presented in the second quarter Form 10-Q.

Doug L. Tobler: Thanks, Fred. For those of you on the call, thanks for joining. We very much appreciate your interest. My comments will provide a recap of our financial position and our results of operations as presented in the Q2 Form 10-Q. All the dollar amounts that I talk about today will be in US dollars. I am pleased to report that we maintained a strong balance sheet at the end of the Q2. We had cash on hand of $49.5 million, compared to a cash balance of $13.6 million at the end of 2025. This increase in cash is based on having completed the March 2026 offering for net proceeds of $42 million, which is supporting the work that Fred will discuss during this call. We continue to have no debt.

Speaker #4: All the dollar amounts that I talk about today will be in US dollars. I'm pleased to report that we maintained a strong balance sheet at the end of the second quarter.

Speaker #4: We had cash on hand of $49.5 million, compared to a cash balance of $13.6 million at the end of 2025. This increase in cash is based on having completed the March 2026 offering for net proceeds of $42 million, which is supporting the work that Fred will discuss during this call.

Speaker #4: And we continued to have no debt. Turning to our results of operations for the second quarter, we reported a net loss of $3.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2026, which compares to a net loss of $2.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025.

Doug L. Tobler: Turning to our results of operations for the Q2, we reported a net loss of $3 million for the three months ended 30 June 2026, which compares to a net loss of $2.4 million for the three months ended 30 June 2025. For the H1 ended 30 June 2026 and 2025, we reported net losses of $6 million and $5.1 million respectively. There were three main drivers of the increases in net losses for the three and H1 period ended 30 June 2026. First, exploration, property valuation, and holding costs were $2.5 million and $1.8 million for the comparative three and six months ended 30 June 2026 and 2025 respectively. They were $4.2 million and $3.3 million for the H1 period ended 30 June 2026 and 2025 respectively.

Speaker #4: For the six months ended June 30, 2026, and 2025, we reported net losses of $6.0 million and $5.1 million, respectively. There were three main drivers of the increase in net losses for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2026.

Speaker #4: First, exploration property valuation and holding costs were $2.5 million and $1.8 million for the comparative three and six months ended June 30, 2026, and 2025 respectively.

Speaker #4: They were $4.2 million and $3.3 million for the six-month periods ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively. The increases in 2026 for the three- and six-month periods resulted mostly from the addition of executive and project management team members in Australia, and higher power costs incurred to meet our water management pumping requirements.

Doug L. Tobler: The increases in the 2026 for the three and H1 period resulted mostly from the addition of executive and project management team members in Australia and higher power costs incurred to meet our water management pumping requirements. These increases were partially offset by lower project program costs in 2026 compared to the prior year when work on the Mt. Todd feasibility study was in progress. Secondly, our corporate administrative costs were $850,000 and $680,000 during the three months ended 30 June 2026 and 2025 respectively. They were $2.5 million and $2 million for the H1 ended 30 June 2026 and 2025 respectively. These increases for the three and H1 period resulted from additional legal, consulting, and board costs to support our increasing pre-development activities at Mt. Todd.

Speaker #4: These increases were partially offset by lower project program costs in '26, compared to the prior year when work on the Mount Todd feasibility study was in progress.

Speaker #4: Secondly, our corporate administrative costs were $850,000 and $680,000 during the three months ended June 30, 2026, and 2025 respectively. And they were $2.5 million and $2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2026, and 2025 respectively.

Speaker #4: These increases for the three- and six-month periods resulted from additional legal, consulting, and board costs to support our increasing pre-development activities at Mount Todd.

Speaker #4: And finally, we partially offset the increases in costs with about $300,000 of greater interest income for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2026.

Doug L. Tobler: Finally, we partially offset the increases in costs with about $300,000 of greater interest income for the three and six months period into June 30, 2026. That concludes my comments for today. I'll turn the call back to you, Fred.

Speaker #4: That concludes my comments for today. I'll turn the call back to you, Fred.

Speaker #3: Thank you, Doug. The second quarter was another period of steady progress as we continued to execute our key initiatives in line with our development strategy for Mount Todd.

Fred H. Earnest: Thank you, Doug. The Q2 was another period of steady progress as we continued to execute our key initiatives in line with our development strategy for Mt. Todd. We remain focused on achieving the important milestones that will position the project for the next phase of development. I'll begin with an update on permitting activities. Our work to obtain approvals for the permit modifications required to align existing approvals with the 2025 feasibility study is progressing as planned. We are actively working with regulators, consultants, and stakeholders to obtain these modifications. Some modifications have already been submitted and programs to support other submissions are in progress. I'm pleased to report that we have received authorization for certain modifications that are expected to lead to additional approvals being granted in the H2 of 2026, with final approvals anticipated in 2027.

Speaker #3: We remained focused on achieving the important milestones that will position the project for the next phase of development. I'll begin with an update on permitting activities.

Speaker #3: Our work to obtain approvals for the permit modifications required to align existing approvals with the 2025 feasibility study is progressing as planned. We are actively working with regulators, consultants, and stakeholders to obtain these modifications.

Speaker #3: Some modifications have already been submitted and programs to support other submissions are in progress. I'm pleased to report that we have received authorization for certain modifications that are expected to lead to additional approvals being granted in the second half of 2026, with final approvals anticipated in 2027.

Speaker #3: We are encouraged by this progress and are grateful for the past and ongoing work of the agencies in the Northern Territory. Turning to site dewatering, some of you will remember that the Northern Territory received far greater than normal precipitation in the recent wet season.

Fred H. Earnest: We are encouraged by this progress and are grateful for the past and ongoing work of the agencies in the Northern Territory. Turning to site dewatering. Some of you will remember that the Northern Territory received far greater than normal precipitation in the recent wet season. The inventory of water on the Mt. Todd mine site is accordingly much higher than we expected. We have commenced the initial phase of a dewatering program at the Batman pit and tailings storage facility, with additional phases planned to commence later this year. I'll now provide an update on the progress of our pre-development optimization programs as they were identified in the Mt. Todd feasibility study, which will support detailed engineering and further de-risk the project.

Speaker #3: The inventory of water on the Mount Todd mine site is accordingly much higher than we expected. We have commenced the initial phase of a dewatering program at the Batman Pit and tailing storage facility.

Speaker #3: With additional phases planned to commence later this year, I'll now provide an update on the progress of our pre-development optimization programs as they were identified in the Mount Todd feasibility study, which will support detailed engineering and further de-risk the project.

Speaker #3: A comprehensive metallurgical test program to optimize grind size and gold recoveries, while generating data to support process plant design and equipment selection, is entering its final stages.

Fred H. Earnest: A comprehensive metallurgical test program to optimize grind size and gold recoveries while generating data to support process plant design and equipment selection is entering its final stages. Highlights of the initial results include confirmation of the relationship between grind size and gold recoveries across the complete range of anticipated head grades and the suitability of water collected below the waste rock dump for process makeup water. Characterization of tailings properties is also in progress. Final results of the program are anticipated late this Q. The geotechnical program, designed to evaluate opportunities to steepen the west pit wall, reduce waste stripping, and potentially convert mineral resources to additional mineral reserves at depth is also nearing completion. We have also completed refinements to the site layout design and are preparing for field investigations related to tailings embankment engineering design. At the same time, we continue to advance project execution planning.

Speaker #3: Highlights of the initial results include confirmation of the relationship between grind size and gold recoveries across the complete range of anticipated head grades, and the suitability of water collected below the waste rock dump for process make-up water.

Speaker #3: Characterization of tailings properties is also in progress. Final results of the program are expected this quarter. The geotechnical program, designed to evaluate opportunities to steepen the west pit wall, reduce waste stripping, and potentially convert mineral resources to additional mineral reserves at depth, is also nearing completion.

Speaker #3: We have also completed refinements to the site layout design and are preparing for field investigations related to tailings embankment engineering design. At the same time, we continue to advance project execution planning.

Speaker #3: Let me turn now and talk about people. We continue to build our Australia-based executive leadership and project development teams to support the next phase of the project.

Fred H. Earnest: Let me turn now and talk about people. We continue to build our Australia-based executive leadership and project development teams to support the next phase of the project. The executive team is based in Perth, Western Australia. With the project development team being assigned to the Northern Territory, including certain fly-in fly-out roles. Since the beginning of this year, we have made significant progress in strengthening our corporate capabilities across key functions, including projects and technical services, external relations and social performance, legal, and permitting. Recruiting is ongoing for executive and project development team members to further strengthen our project execution capabilities in Australia. As part of this effort, we are well advanced in our search for a managing director to be based in Australia with a proven track record in project development and building successful organizations to lead the development of Mt. Todd.

Speaker #3: The executive team is based in Perth, Western Australia. With the project development team being assigned to the Northern Territory, including certain fly-in, fly-out roles, since the beginning of this year, we have made significant progress in strengthening our corporate capabilities across key functions including projects and technical services, external relations and social performance, legal, and permitting.

Speaker #3: Recruiting is ongoing for executive and project development team members to further strengthen our project execution capabilities in Australia. As part of this effort, we are well advanced in our search for a Managing Director to be based in Australia, with a proven track record in project development and building successful organizations.

Speaker #3: To lead the development of Mount Todd. I now turn to safety and our environmental and social and governance commitments. During the quarter, we remained firmly committed to safety environmental stewardship and the interests of our shareholders and stakeholders.

Fred H. Earnest: I now turn to safety and our environmental and social and governance commitments. During the quarter, we remained firmly committed to safety, environmental stewardship, and the interests of our shareholders and stakeholders. Our site team continued to manage the Mt. Todd site and successfully advanced our environmental initiatives with zero reportable incidents. I'm pleased to report that we have commenced a new social impact assessment as part of our commitment to understand the needs and concerns of the local communities and to assist us in our project execution planning. We have also maintained our ongoing engagement with the Jawoyn Association Aboriginal Corporation and other key stakeholders. Looking ahead, we believe the key to greater shareholder value is found in the work we're doing to secure final authorizations and establish the basis for an efficient start to detailed engineering design. With this in mind, Mt.

Speaker #3: Our site team continued to manage the Mount Todd site and successfully advanced our environmental initiatives with zero reportable incidents. I'm pleased to report that we have commenced a new social impact assessment as part of our commitment to understand the needs and concerns of the local communities and to assist us in our project execution planning.

Speaker #3: We have also maintained our ongoing engagement with the Jawoyn Association Aboriginal Corporation and other key stakeholders. Looking ahead, we believe the key to greater shareholder value is found in the work we are doing to secure final authorizations and establish the basis for an efficient start to detailed engineering design.

Speaker #3: With this in mind, Mount Todd holds tremendous intrinsic value, and represents an exceptional investment opportunity at conservative long-term gold prices. With an all-in sustaining cost of $1,500 per ounce, and a very conservative gold price of $3,300 an ounce, substantially less than today's price, the Mount Todd Gold Project will generate $300 million US of free cash flow annually at that same gold price the feasibility study net asset value per share is estimated to be $14.89, nearly nine times our current share price.

Fred H. Earnest: Todd holds tremendous intrinsic value and represents an exceptional investment opportunity at conservative long-term gold prices. With an all-in sustaining cost of $1,500 per ounce and a very conservative gold price of $3,300 an ounce, substantially less than today's price, the Mt. Todd gold project will generate $300 million USD of free cash flow annually. At that same gold price, the feasibility study net asset value per share is estimated to be $14.89, nearly nine times our current share price. We have recently seen considerable volatility in the gold price. Even with this volatility, Mt. Todd is positioned as one of the most attractive large resource development stage projects in the gold sector. Its strong project economics at current gold prices, favorable jurisdiction, permitting status, and existing infrastructure make it well-suited for near-term development. We are confident this is the right market environment in which to move Mt.

Speaker #3: We have recently seen considerable volatility in the gold price. Even with this volatility, Mount Todd is positioned as one of the most attractive large resource development-stage projects in the gold sector.

Speaker #3: Its strong project economics at current gold prices, favorable jurisdiction, permitting status, and existing infrastructure make it well suited for near-term development. We are confident this is the right market environment in which to move Mount Todd into the next phase of development.

Fred H. Earnest: Todd into the next phase of development. In conclusion, Vista is committed to seeing the Mt. Todd project developed in compliance with the highest mining and ESG standards and is diligently working toward that goal. For more information about Vista Gold and the Mt. Todd project, I refer you to our corporate presentation, which can be found on our website at www.vistagold.com. We believe that Vista Gold represents an exceptional investment opportunity and that current prices present a tremendous opportunity to establish a position or increase one's holdings in Vista Gold. This concludes our formal remarks. We will now respond to any questions from participants on this call.

Speaker #3: In conclusion, VISTA is committed to seeing the Mount Todd project developed in compliance with the highest mining and ESG standards and is diligently working toward that goal.

Speaker #3: For more information about VISTA Gold and the Mount Todd project, I refer you to our corporate presentation which can be found on our website at www.vistagold.com.

Speaker #3: We believe that Vista Gold represents an exceptional investment opportunity, and that current prices present a tremendous opportunity to establish a position or increase one's holdings in Vista Gold.

Speaker #3: This concludes our formal remarks. We will now respond to any questions from participants on this call.

Speaker #1: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. Should you have a question, please press the star followed by the one on your touchtone phone.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Should you have a question, please press the star followed by the one on your touchtone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. If you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by the two. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. As a reminder, for any questions, please press star one now. There appear to be no questions. I will turn the call back over to Fred Earnest, President and CEO, for closing remarks.

Speaker #1: You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. If you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by the number two.

Speaker #1: And if you are using a speakerphone, please let the handset before pressing any keys. As a reminder for any questions, please press star one now.

Speaker #1: There appear to be no questions. I will turn the call back over to Fred Ernest, President and CEO for closing remarks.

Speaker #3: Thank you, Joanna. And thank you to all of those who have joined the call today and who will listen to this call as in recorded form in the coming days.

Fred H. Earnest: Thank you, Joanna. Thank you to all of those who have joined the call today and who will listen to this call in recorded form in the coming days and weeks. We're very pleased with the progress that we've achieved in the Q2 of this year. We continue to have a strong balance sheet, and we look forward to the activities and the ongoing execution of the strategy as we've laid out in our plan. This quarter will be a busy quarter for us with participation in a number of conferences, including the Diggers & Dealers conference in Australia, Precious Metals Summit, the Mining Forum Americas, as well as the Wainwright Conference in New York City.

Speaker #3: And weeks. We're very pleased with the progress that we've achieved in the second quarter of this year. We continue to have a strong balance sheet.

Speaker #3: And we look forward to the activities and the ongoing execution of the strategy as we've laid out in our plan. This quarter will be a busy quarter for us with participation in a number of conferences.

Speaker #3: Including the Diggers & Dealers Conference in Australia, the Precious Metals Summit, the Metal Forum in Colorado Springs, as well as the Wainwright Conference in New York City.

Speaker #3: We're very excited about the opportunity to share the story provide updates and we encourage all to pay attention to the news in the coming weeks and months that will capture and highlight the results of studies as well as successes achieved in permitting and our ongoing efforts to build an exceptional team to deliver the Mount Todd project in Australia.

Fred H. Earnest: We're very excited about the opportunity to share the story, provide updates, and encourage all to pay attention to the news in the coming weeks and months that will capture and highlight results of studies as well as successes achieved in permitting and our ongoing efforts to build an exceptional team to deliver the Mt. Todd project in Australia. With that, I thank you again for your interest and your participation in the call and wish each of you a very pleasant day.

Speaker #3: With that, I thank you again for your interest and your participation in the call, and wish each of you a very pleasant day.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating, and we ask that you please disconnect your lines.