Operator: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Resolute Mining Limited Q3 2026 conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session through the phone lines, and instructions will follow at that time. For those listening via the phone lines, the presentation is now available within the Investors section of Resolute Mining's website. For those watching the webcast, if you wish to submit a written question, you may do so by using the Ask a Question button on the Spark Live page. I would like to remind all participants that this call is being recorded. I will now hand over to the Chief Executive Officer, Chris Eger, to open the presentation. Please go ahead.
Chris Eger: Welcome to our Q3 operating results. I am Chris Eger, CEO of Resolute Mining. I am joined today by Gavin Harris, our COO, Dave Jackson, our CFO, and Matt O'Toole, our Head of Corporate Development Investor Relations. Moving to slide 4. Very pleased that our Q3 activities continue to show progress across the business. Let's first start with the metrics on the right side of the page, starting with gold poured of just over 44,000 ounces, with 31,000 ounces coming from Syama, and just about 13,000 ounces coming from our Mako operations in Senegal. Our group AISC was at $2,506 per ounce, which came in at $2,596 per ounce at Syama, and $1,516 per ounce at Mako, which I am quite pleased to say was lower than our Q2 AISC. In addition, we spent over $85 million on capital expenditures, with about $53 million coming from Doropo.
Chris Eger: Very pleased to say that we sold 33,000 ounces of gold in the Q3 at an average realized gold price of $4,325 per ounce, which generated an EBITDA of $64 million, and therefore an operating cash flow of just about $56 million, which was less than our Q2 operating cash flows, but that was due to the timing of not selling the total amount poured in the quarter. We ended the quarter with a total net cash of $276 million. The business remains very healthy from a balance sheet perspective. What does this mean? We are still very much now on track for revised guidance of 205,000 to 225,000 ounces for the year at an AISC of approximately $2,225 to $2,350 per ounce. Most importantly, our projects and activities in exploration are going extremely well.
Chris Eger: Doropo is on track, on budget, and first gold pour is planned in H1 2028. At ABC, we completed over 22,000 meters of drilling, and we have also launched the technical studies with the aim to complete our feasibility study in 2027 so that we can apply for mining permits. Also in the quarter, we completed drilling in our La Debo project, also in Côte d'Ivoire, with an updated MRE, which increased the overall resource by 44%, up to close to 1 million ounces. We are near completion of our Syama Sulfide Conversion Project in Mali, which has been a very significant achievement for that site. Finally, in Senegal, we made continued progress with our Mako Life Extension Project, whereby we have advanced our ESIA process and we are on the verge of filing for our mining applications for both Bantaco and Tomboronkoto.
Chris Eger: As previously described in our last quarter results, we completed over $260 million of local bank financings for our Doropo project, and to date, we have actually drawn $29 million from those facilities. Now moving to slide 5. This is a slide that we have presented numerous times in the past, but it is important to talk about it again, as this provides clear visibility around the business' strategy to achieve over 500,000 ounces from 2028, which will considerably diversify the production portfolio away from Mali with a strong focus of activities in Côte d'Ivoire. We are very comfortable with our progress in the business, and not only do we see potential in the four assets that we have today, which includes ABC, we also see opportunities to grow the production footprint at each of our assets, which we will go into more detail in the upcoming slides.
Chris Eger: Now moving on to the next section, starting with slide 7. I wanted to talk to you about our progress at our ABC exploration project in the west of Côte d'Ivoire. As mentioned before, we think it is a very interesting project for the business that could become our fourth operating asset within the portfolio. As highlighted in our Q2 results, the intention was to do infill drilling in H2 of this year, and we have made meaningful progress with those activities. Since July, we have entered into an infill drilling program, and in the past several months, completed over 24,000 meters of drilling, and we have currently 11 rigs on site. We have also kicked off metallurgical studies as well as the ESIA impact study, which we anticipate to complete by H1 of next year.
Chris Eger: Moving to slide 8, I want to give you some additional specifics around our ABC exploration project in Côte d'Ivoire. If you remember from our Q2 release, today ABC has 3 million ounces at 0.7 gram per ton, but all inferred resources. The infill program is meant to obviously increase from inferred to indicated. To date, we have completed the infill drilling in Kona South and we are now moving into Kona Central. You can see on the right side of the page in the blue dots are the completed holes, with the red dots being the planned holes. I have to say very pleasingly that the results we are seeing in Kona South are as expected, so expect that by the beginning of next year, we will be able to update the markets with an updated MRE, which will obviously convert quite a fair bit of the inferred into indicated.
Chris Eger: Looking at the study schedule on the bottom left, the plan is to complete the infill drilling by the end of this year, publish an updated MRE in the beginning of next year. In parallel, completing the ESIA and technical studies required to get to a point of completing a feasibility study, which will allow us to file for a mining permit, hopefully by the end of next year. Again, very pleased with how this project is progressing, and again, I believe that it has strong merits to become our fourth operating asset within the portfolio. Now moving on to page 9. In addition to our ABC exploration project in the west of Côte d'Ivoire, it is also worth noting that we have a third asset, the La Debo exploration project, which is located 280 kilometers west of Abidjan.
Chris Eger: It is a smaller deposit, but it still could be very interesting for the group. In this Q3, we completed roughly 16,000 meters of extension drilling in order to grow the resource of this deposit. The entire drilling efforts were based in the G3 South zone of the La Debo permit, which again provided some good intersections to grow the mineralization. In addition, we secured two additional permits to the south of La Debo in order to try and grow the overall portfolio considerably. Now moving to page 10. With respects to our La Debo exploration project, as you can see on this slide, the focus of the drilling was in G3 South Zone, which occurred over a 600-meter strike. Drilling was completed up to around 200 meters at depth, and encouragingly, we saw the resource expanding by over 75%.
Chris Eger: G3 South today sits with 670,000 ounces with a total deposit of close to a million ounces at a grade of 1.2 grams per ton. With respects to planned activities, at this stage, we plan to pause additional exploration works for the rest of the year at La Debo as we focus on the development plans for 2027, which will be identifying additional exploration targets both within the La Debo permit as well as the new two permits to the south. At this stage, the project looks interesting, but it is not clear whether it is of a scale that meets Resolute's needs. So we will either continue to develop the project and take it into production, or we will look to exit this asset sometime in 2027.
Chris Eger: With that, I will now turn over to Gavin to continue providing updates on Doropo as well as our operating activities in both Syama and Mako.
Gavin Harris: Thanks, Chris. At Doropo, it is full steam ahead with over 800 people mobilized onto the project to date, including recruitment of a General Manager for the operation, who brings with him a decade of managing operations in Côte d'Ivoire. Completion of the first stage of accommodation facilitated the mobilization of multiple contractors and has significantly reduced travel time from surrounding towns, which has also increased productivity. Earthworks in the plant area are substantially complete, allowing construction work to commence and achieve the first major milestone with concrete poured for CIL tank foundations. With construction activity increasing at the plant area, earthworks focus moves to the water harvest, water storage, and tailings embankments as we move into the dry season. The last remaining work package for SMP and electrical have been tendered with awards pending.
Gavin Harris: Nearly two-thirds of the project expenditure is already committed, and costs remain on track with the DFS estimate. During Q3, we also received the tender submissions and completed the adjudication for a 30-megawatt solar power plant. This eco-friendly, low-cost power solution will be fully funded and operated by the supplier with a power off-take agreement for the life of mine. The progress during Q3 was remarkable, especially considering the team were required to ramp up activity whilst navigating the West African wet season. I was on the ground at Doropo a few weeks ago, and I am delighted to see the progress that the team are making. The project remains on schedule and on budget, and we are immensely proud of what Rob and the project team have achieved to date. In line with the schedule, we expect first gold to be poured in H1 2028.
Gavin Harris: As you can see from the photos, things are starting to take shape on the ground, and we expect the landscape to change quickly as the concrete teams begin chasing the ground preparation team. Starting from the top left, moving clockwise, we have the concrete batch plant supplied and operated by WACOM, the ring beam foundations, formwork, and concrete works for the first of the CIL tanks, and finishing with the mill raft foundation preparation works. We have enjoyed a great start to the Doropo project, and we expect to maintain this momentum as we close out 2026. Q4 will see the completion of the second stage of construction accommodation, which will meet the needs of the project. Concrete works will move quickly, and mobilization of the contractors for SMP and CIL tanks will take place before the end of the year.
Gavin Harris: The major focus will be on the water infrastructure and ensuring the harvest and storage areas are in place early in 2027 to maximize the capture and storage of water during the next wet season. Operation readiness work streams are already advancing with the appointment of the General Manager as we prepare for the mining operations to commence in 2027. The Doropo ore reserve released in 2025 was calculated using a $1,950 per ounce gold price. This also aligns with the Doropo mining permit, which considers a $2,000 per ounce footprint. Kilosegui is the largest deposit at Doropo, comprising nearly 40% of the total reserve and is located approximately 30 kilometers from the Doropo processing plant. Kilosegui is located within a six-kilometer mineralization trend and remains open along strike and at depth.
Gavin Harris: During the quarter, a 20,000-meter step-out drilling program commenced to assess potential extension of the mineralization and to increase the reserve. Given the current size and potential extension at Kilosegui, along with the cost to transport ore back to the Doropo plant, a trade-off study is underway to assess the possibility of a standalone plant and associated infrastructure at Kilosegui. A further update will be provided in H1 2027 as drilling results and infrastructure work streams progress. We move on to our mining operation, starting with Syama in Mali. Syama continues to face a number of challenges associated with working in Mali, and after a good start to the year, suffered a poor Q2 off the back of a significant security challenge within the country. These challenges were carried forward, but as we closed the Q3, performance has started to return to expectation.
Gavin Harris: The Q3 production of 31,800 ounces was in line with the operational update released in September, with over half of this production, 15,600 ounces, delivered during September. The major shutdown that commenced at the end of the Q2 and carried on into the Q3 was extended due to inability to mobilize the full international contract workforce required to complete the three-week roaster shutdown. Additional challenges with the roaster upgrade, part of the Syama Sulfide Conversion Project or SSCP, resulted in intermittent operation of the roaster through the first half of the quarter. By the end of the quarter, these challenges have been rectified, and the roaster is currently performing in line with expectation. Bulk explosive deliveries improved midway through the quarter, but the lack of explosives in the first half of the quarter significantly impacted the underground caving operation.
Gavin Harris: A more positive update is that the delivery and construction of the emulsion manufacturing plant took place during the quarter, and commissioning is currently underway with the first batch of explosives expected to be manufactured next week. This significantly de-risks future production and is expected to return Syama mining operations to targeted production levels and allow for further optimization work. The SSCP workstream remains on track with ball mill commissioning underway, and the benefits should be seen towards the second half of the Q4. Gold production is expected to return as 45,000 to 50,000 ounces during this quarter, following on from a robust end to the last quarter.
Gavin Harris: Some challenges remain with mining contractor performance in the open pit operations at A21, but overall, the Syama management team have overcome most of the challenges they were up against, and the operation has largely stabilized after a turbulent four to five months. Now we move to our Mako operation in Senegal. Mako also achieved an important milestone during the Q3, as we are pleased to announce the appointment of a Senegalese general manager of the operation, replacing the previous expatriate general manager. Gold production of 12,621 ounces delivered during the Q3 met expectations and continues the successful year at our Mako operation. The all-in sustaining cost of $1,516 per ounce for the Q3 was below our annual guidance target, reflecting a number of cost optimization initiatives that have been completed at the operation.
Gavin Harris: This favorable all-in sustaining cost achievement, despite higher fuel prices and increased royalties in the higher gold price environment, is a good indication of what is achievable in more stable jurisdictions. Mako continues to deliver strong free cash flow and remains on track to meet annual gold production guidance whilst outperforming the lower end of cost guidance. The Q3 focused on progressing ESIA, or Environmental Social Impact Assessment approvals and permits for both the Tomboronkoto and Bantaco deposits. Of note was the approval of all the ESIA submissions at the public hearings within unprecedented time frames and allows mining exploitation permits to be submitted.
Gavin Harris: The key workstreams for the rest of the year include continuing the Tomboronkoto village relocation studies and the submission of the Tomboronkoto and Bantaco exploitation permit applications, both of which we expect to file within the coming weeks and expect to be granted during H1 2027.
Dave Jackson: Thanks, Gavin. I will begin by taking you through the key financial outcomes for the September quarter. Overall, Resolute remains in a strong financial position. The business continues to generate healthy operating cash flow while funding increased investment in Doropo and our broader growth portfolio. At quarter end, net cash was $276 million, and available liquidity was approximately $480 million. During Q3, we sold 33,000 ounces of gold at an average realized price of $4,325 per ounce. All gold continued to be sold at spot prices, consistent with our unhedged position. The timing of gold shipments affected reported sales volumes in the quarter as we ended the quarter with nearly 23,000 ounces of bullion on hand, which was sold shortly after the quarter closed. As a result, Q3 revenue was $143 million, and EBITDA was $64 million. Operating cash flow before capital expenditure, exploration, and working capital was $56 million.
Dave Jackson: This demonstrates the underlying cash-generating capacity of the portfolio, even in a quarter with lower sales volumes. Group all-in sustaining cost was $2,506 per ounce, compared with $2,484 per ounce in Q2. The result was broadly consistent with the prior quarter, with production and costs largely remaining stable. As announced in the operational update in September, we have revised full-year group all-in sustaining cost guidance to $2,250 to $2,350 per ounce as we expect a stronger Q4 in Syama. Moving to the next slide, I will now walk through the principal movements in net cash during the quarter. We began Q3 with net cash of $317 million. The business generated $56 million of operating cash flow with a $6 million working capital inflow and VAT paid of $9 million.
Dave Jackson: The largest cash investment was CapEx spend of $85 million, comprising $19 million at Syama, including $6 million for the SSCP, $3 million at Mako, including $2 million for the Mako Life Extension Project, $10 million of capitalized exploration expenditure, and $53 million at Doropo as construction activity continued to ramp up. After these movements, together with other financing and cash flow items, we closed the quarter with net cash of $276 million. Cash and bullion amounted to $330 million at quarter end. This included $95 million of bullion on hand. Total borrowings were $54 million, including $29 million drawn under the Doropo financing facilities. The reduction in net cash from Q2 was driven primarily by the planned increase in investment at Doropo. Our capital allocation remains disciplined and focused on maintaining our operating assets while advancing the projects that will support Resolute's next phase of growth.
Dave Jackson: As mentioned earlier, Doropo remains on track and on budget. During Q3, CapEx increased in line with expectations with the year-to-date spend at Doropo of $93 million. At the end of Q3, we have committed approximately $315 million or 61% of the total project capital budget of $516 million. Post quarter end, we completed the full local financing arrangements for Doropo with $260 million of credit facilities implemented. These facilities have attractive terms, including minimal security commitments and no financial covenants. As I had mentioned, at 30 September, we have drawn $29 million from these facilities. The remaining funds are expected to be drawn progressively through 2026 and 2027 in line with the project CapEx profile. Together with Resolute's existing balance sheet and operating cash flow, they provide sufficient liquidity to fund the development of Doropo under current market and regulatory conditions.
Dave Jackson: At Mako, capital investment continues to support the life extension project while maintaining disciplined sustaining expenditure. At Syama, investment remains focused on operational reliability, the SSCP, and infrastructure required to improve production performance. At 30 September, available liquidity was approximately $480 million. This provides substantial financial flexibility as we execute our near-term operating priorities and fund the construction of Doropo. In summary, Resolute closed the September quarter with a strong balance sheet, positive operating cash generation, and a well-funded growth program. Our immediate priorities are clear. Improve operating performance at Syama, maintain Mako's cost discipline, complete the commissioning of the SSCP, and continue the safe on-budget execution of Doropo. With substantial liquidity, an unhedged gold position, and the Doropo financing now fully established, we are well-positioned to deliver these priorities and create long-term value for shareholders. With that, I will hand it back to Chris. Thank you, Dave.
Chris Eger: In conclusion, the business is making very good progress in achieving its milestones. I am very pleased to say that Doropo is staying on track, on budget, fully funded, with anticipated first gold production in the beginning of 2028. We are also advancing our organic pipeline across the business with ABC drilling progressing very nicely, as well as kicking off expansion study work at Doropo. We are maintaining a very healthy balance sheet with a net cash position of $276 million, in addition to the financing facilities that were secured in Q2. That means that the business is very well positioned in order to achieve its target of 500,000 ounces from 2028. With that, I will turn it back over to the operator for questions. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. If you are dialed into the call and would like to ask a question, please signal by pressing star followed by the number 1 on your telephone keypad. Once again, if you would like to ask a question on the phone lines, please signal by pressing star followed by the number 1 on your telephone keypad. Our first question comes from the line of Flora Tan with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Flora Tan: Hi. Good morning. Thanks so much for the call. I just have a couple questions on my side. Just the first one, there was a pretty large difference between production and sales this quarter. Can you just talk to whether it is simply just a timing thing, and can we expect a full catch-up into Q4, or has there been any kind of logistical constraints getting gold out of the country?
Chris Eger: Morning, Flora. It is Chris here. Look, it is exactly as you said, it is a timing issue. So no constraints. It happens from time to time. We have seen the past, we have actually sold more gold than we poured and vice versa. Yes, we would expect to catch up at the end of the quarter, but again, it depends on, I have not checked the calendar what day 31 December falls on and exactly when we plan to ship the final gold shipments. But generally, we will catch up.
Flora Tan: Okay. Understood. Look, how much waste stripping at Syama has been deferred into 2026, and what is the kind of catch-up requirement in 2027? How are you thinking about that impacting production into next year?
Chris Eger: Yeah. So look, we had originally planned to do about $30 million of waste stripping as we opened up the A21 pit. We are now in the process of looking at our 2027 budget and aligning with our models to make sure that it makes sense that all that stripping next year or to do it in a more deferred basis. We will have to have stripping next year. Some of the stripping that didn't happen this year was due to the equipment challenges as well as explosive issues that we had at the beginning of the year. So we do plan to catch up, but we'll have to wait till we issue our guidance in order to give a proper number. Look, I don't think it'll be $30 million for next year.
Chris Eger: It'll be less than that, but I don't have a good number in front of me right now as to what we plan for next year on waste stripping.
Flora Tan: Okay. Understood. Sorry, just two more from my side. On Doropo, what is the quarterly kind of CapEx phasing there through 2027, and what are the key risks that you're seeing into construction over the next kind of 12 months?
Chris Eger: Yeah, look, on the CapEx spending, it's going to be pretty consistent. Again, I think we're budgeting around $300 million of capital next year, but what's hard with this too is the timing of the cash payments. We've been able to work with our vendors to put in deferral dates. That's why we're probably going to spend less than the original guidance this year. So that's why it should be pretty smooth moving forward, but again, we'll have to come back to specifics on the exact numbers as we just finish off the year and be able to project into next year. Maybe I'll turn it over to Gavin to give context around some of the key risks that he sees around the project for next year.
Gavin Harris: Yeah. Thanks, Chris. Hi, Flora. Look, we really haven't had too many issues going forward so far. The supply chain is very good going into Côte d'Ivoire. I think the only acknowledgement we have on that at the moment is that the port at Abidjan is very busy, obviously, with a lot of construction projects going on in Côte d'Ivoire, not just only in mining, but in a number of other sectors. A lot of transportation going in there for Mali now. So we have seen a backlog of about 4 weeks, which is obviously a lot longer than we would normally expect for clearance through customs and out of ports.
Gavin Harris: Outside of that, I guess the only other challenge we have is probably going to be around water, which we're de-risking by advancing the water storage harvested and tailings embankments well ahead of the wet season to make sure we maximize capture for next year.
Flora Tan: Okay, great. Understood. Just last one, could you just talk about the underlying cost inflation that you guys are seeing through the business, be it in Mali with the contractor rates, consumables, energy, any kind of color would be quite helpful.
Chris Eger: Yeah, look, the main inflationary that we've seen has been on fuel, which we picked up at the beginning of the year, which we saw prices increasing anywhere from 30% to 60%. That's somewhat stabilized, so we haven't seen any further increases on the fuel pricing. We are, as we're looking now into the mine plan for Syama, evaluating all of our contracts, and there's some slight increases, but generally, we're actually going the opposite way in reducing the cost profiles across the assets. I don't know if you picked it up, but our AISC this quarter was less than last quarter, and specifically at Mako, where we had poured less ounces, we're actually able to reduce our cost profile.
Chris Eger: Yes, we are seeing some cost inflation, but as we look on a year-by-year basis, we expect to be able to manage the cost, with the exception of fuel, in order to keep a flat to down AISC profile moving into next year.
Flora Tan: Okay, great. Thanks so much, guys. I will pass it over to someone else.
Chris Eger: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes to the line of Reg Spencer with Canaccord. Please go ahead.
Reg Spencer: Thanks. Good morning, Chris. Thanks for the opportunity to ask questions. I am just quite curious about how you are thinking about capital allocation, because Kilosegui is something quite new and obviously having some success at La Debo, and then you have ABC in your back pocket as well. Doropo, obviously the near-term growth plan. But clearly Kilosegui and La Debo look like potential mining operations in their own right, and then you have ABC as well. If they all come in and studies and permitting and financing allow, how do you think about the potential sequencing of possible development of those additional assets?
Chris Eger: Yep. Evening, Reg. It is a very good question because we think that all those projects could create substantial value for the business. Next year is pretty clear in that the capital will be focused on development of Doropo, which again, off top of my head is around circa $300 million. We are increasing expenditures for drilling and ABC works, and that will be committed, and that is going to be probably in the tune of $40 million next year. The study work at Kilosegui is being kicked off, and we anticipate to have a scoping study in H1 of next year, which will then provide visibility on the exact capital required to possibly build a second plant up at Doropo.
Chris Eger: But that capital expenditures wouldn't come in until probably 2029, maybe end of 2028, because we would have to go through converting a scoping study to a feasibility study, then also getting the permits in place, which could all take a year or 2. So we see the expansion of Doropo happening more in 2029, which would be self-funded from the Doropo cash flows. Then look, ABC, if the stars align, we would also look to try and have that finalized by the end of next year with a feasibility study, kick off the permitting, whereby we could start construction of the ABC project in the back half of 2028, also with the intention of being funded by the Doropo cash flows. Because look, Doropo, once it is operating, should produce over $400 to $500 million of fresh cash to help fund these projects.
Chris Eger: We have also been very active in working with financing facilities who are very interested in providing debt facilities for all of our projects, both in Senegal and in Côte d'Ivoire. So I am not too fussed around the ability to get cash if needed to build these projects because the rates of return are so attractive. The payback periods are between 1 and 1.5 years, if not less than that. So I cannot give you an entire, call it visibility on our capital allocation because we haven't done the study works for ABC and Kilosegui, but we do have good visibility into next year. The other slightly complicating aspect, too, is we have capital requirements in Senegal with the expansion and extension of the satellite deposits that will feed the plant. But most of that capital won't start to get spent into the end of next year.
Chris Eger: Really next year, from what we know today, it is very much Doropo construction and exploration and then study work for ABC and Kilosegui.
Reg Spencer: Okay. Geez, wow. You can take a breath now, Chris. Quite a lot going on.
Chris Eger: No.
Reg Spencer: I know it.
Chris Eger: I know it is.
Reg Spencer: It is actually a really good problem to have. Just curious, because Kilosegui obviously is a little bit new to me, as is La Debo, and I was not quite aware of how advanced that was and what those returns were. But, the near term looks to be okay. Obviously, just trying to get a feel for, I guess, a five-year view. You have laid that out pretty well, so I appreciate that. My last question is on Mali. I know you have provided an update there on the emulsion plant and the explosive situation. There has not been a lot of news, so is it safe to presume that the situation has settled down a little bit? Can you provide some comments on transport of materials, equipment, labor, the general security situation, and fuel in Mali as it stands?
Chris Eger: Yeah, but maybe look, it will be easier. Gavin, do you want to maybe give color on those points?
Gavin Harris: Yeah, that is fine. Look, I think, we all acknowledge Mali is a challenging place to be operating and general supply chain is a lot longer than you would see in the other countries we are working in. We still have challenges, I guess, getting things through in a timely position. The fuel has not been an issue for us, to be perfectly honest. We are bringing in a lot of fuel from Côte d'Ivoire. That is not so much an issue because we are quite close to the border there, about 2 hours, and it has been relatively easy for us to get in there. So, we have had no real disruptions to fuel other than obviously the inflation and the cost that we are paying for the fuel at this stage.
Gavin Harris: Explosives continues to be a challenging one because obviously getting permits to move explosive products across borders from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana has been challenging. The original plan after Orica exited the country in 2025 was bringing in explosives from Loulo, which is obviously in a very challenging region at the moment in terms of security. Those have really been the hold ups for us. With the plant now being on site, and like I say, we were expecting to pour next week for our first or manufacturing our first explosive product next week. Once that happens, we should have no real restrictions on explosives, because all the precursor materials coming in are a lot easier to get transported around the country.
Gavin Harris: Other issues around Mali, I guess, there are still challenges within contractors being able to get hold of equipment and obviously, and import things into Mali. There is a lot of risk from external foreign suppliers requiring sometimes 100% upfront payments for all products before they will import them into Mali. I think general stability right now is good for us. Obviously, the supply chain has been morphing over the last 12 months to reduce our reliance on products coming in, I guess, from the port over at Dakar and having to transport right the breadth of Mali. Again, we still do have times where there are things outside of our control. For example, there was a 60-kilometer line at the border of trucks waiting to get into Mali.
Gavin Harris: Just disruptions within their own administrational departments and everything, and then customs and importations has been challenging as well. We keep a close eye on it, but it is anyone's guess from a week-to-week position as to how complex or how challenging it could be. Some weeks it is absolutely fine, other weeks it can turn quite quickly. We are conscious that there is going to be continued disruption. That is the normal operating case, I think, for Mali at this stage.
Reg Spencer: Thank you. Appreciate that. I just feel like the tone of your quarterly report suggested that things had stabilized somewhat. Obviously with your backup plans with the emulsion plant and explosives, gives you a bit of a plan B, but that is really helpful. I have got a bunch of other questions, but I might take those offline, Chris, shoot you an email or something like that. But appreciate the opportunity to chat. Thanks very much.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Jasper Mainwaring with Berenberg. Please go ahead.
Jasper Mainwaring: Morning, all. Just one from me. I guess, given you have a number of permits and approvals working in the background against a global backdrop of projects have been pushed out to the right due to permitting. Can you just talk through if you see any risks here or are you still quite confident in your timelines? Thanks.
Chris Eger: No, look, I think you are absolutely right, and that is obviously an area of concern because it is outside our control. But I am confident that we are making good progress on getting our permits because, look, in Senegal, it is not a very sizable gold mining community, and the new minister of mines is much more pro investment activities. So I had a chance to meet with him a few weeks ago and I am getting the right signals that we will get our permits fast-tracked in Senegal. So I feel very confident with that country. In Côte d'Ivoire, it consistently stays the same with regards to wanting international investments. So as we get ready for filing for permits for both ABC and possibly the Sirocco expansion, again, we have high confidence that we can work with our relationships to expedite those. So it is a risk, something we think about.
Chris Eger: But compared to other countries in the region, I am confident that both Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal will do the right things. And look, in Mali, we have actually seen quite a bit of progress with the cadastre opening up and permits starting to be reissued and renewals. We do not have any permit issues in Mali, but it also speaks to the fact that Mali is trying to also change the perception and attract international investments. And we are maintaining very constructive and productive dialogue with the government. So, where we operate today, I am feeling quite comfortable that we have the right relationships in place to get the permits we need.
Jasper Mainwaring: Okay. Very clear. Thank you. I will pass it back.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Regan Burrows with Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Regan Burrows: Hi, Chris and team. Thank you for taking my questions. First one just on Doropo. Obviously, the debt financing coming through is positive. Just wanted to get your feeling around, obviously, the remaining balance being roughly, as you said, nearly $300 million to be funded through existing liquidity and cash flow moving forward, given that you have also quite a few irons in the fire with other projects and expenditure on other options going ahead. How do you feel about that balance being met?
Chris Eger: Yeah. No, it is a good question, and evening. So look, we are obviously trying to provide enough liquidity in the balance sheet to be overly funded. We see that today at above $4,000 gold price with the cash we have on hand, future cash flows from operations and the debt facilities, we are fully funded through the end of next year. That is what also captures the expenditures that we plan to spend at ABC. Look, once we get into operations in 2028 with Doropo, we will start generating meaningful cash flows, which will then, like I said, fund predominantly the rest of the projects should we go ahead with them. So that is why we are feeling very confident in our liquidity situation at this stage.
Chris Eger: We do plan to continue to draw down on those debt facilities because they are very attractive and they are effectively cash neutral, and there are tax benefits in doing the drawdowns. So look, we are not going to look to increase those debt facilities at this point, but we may look to put in other debt facilities in the future. This would be in 2028 or 2029 to possibly fund some of the other capital projects. So look, it is a dynamic situation with the gold price, but at these current levels and with our models for what we see for next year, we are well covered.
Regan Burrows: Thank you. Just on Syama at the moment, with the emulsion plant ramping up over the next couple of weeks, are there any bottlenecks outside of the raw ingredients that you import that could potentially trip you up there? Things like detonators and stuff like that, have you got ample visibility on deliveries for that?
Chris Eger: Well, I guess to what Gavin highlighted in the previous question, there are lots of requirements we need for the site. We feel from a supply chain perspective that we have been mitigating as many of the risks as we can. But it does not take one or two events to disrupt the supply chain activities. But today, we are a lot more comfortable with regards to explosives. We are focusing on all the ancillary products required between detonators and cords that are necessary to meet the needs of the site. We are also working very closely with our contractors to make sure they are getting in the right equipment and the people. So I would not say there are one or two other items that we are focused on. We are focusing on all of them, to be honest. So look, we have good visibility between now and the end of the year.
Chris Eger: I think what we are more focused on at Syama is with the completion of the SSCP, is just being intelligent about the mining schedule for next year and the years beyond to maximize cash, and to provide a stable offset of operating environment so that we can really think about future growth in that country. Because again, Syama has an enormous amount of gold in the ground. That has not been the problem. It has just been the sequencing and dealing with the complicated dynamics that exist in country. It has been a quiet period, which has been good. But sometimes that gives us concern that things may get complicated. But at this stage, we are feeling more confident that we have got our arms around the business.
Regan Burrows: Thank you. One more, I guess, if I could just squeeze it in there in terms of ramp up and site, obviously bringing in the new fleet, and additional contractors. Have you been in any issues or anything? Is everything traveling well there from, I guess, an introduction point of view, bringing that new contractor on? And with the fleet that was required, how much have you got versus how much do you need now?
Chris Eger: Yeah, look, I'll start maybe, then I'll turn it over to Gavin for some of the more specifics. It has been a work in progress for roughly 9 months, to be honest, on the contractors, because we had challenges with one contractor at the beginning of the year. We brought in a second. They were slow to mobilize their equipment, and also getting the right people in place. That is progressing much better. That is why we were able to achieve the right production targets and levels in September and what we are anticipating for Q4. We do have a series of additional pieces of equipment that are coming to site. Barring any constraints at the border, we should be okay for 2027. I do not know, Gavin, if there is any other specifics you want to highlight.
Gavin Harris: Yeah, look, I think we are about 75% mobilized now in terms of the second contractor that has come on at A21. We are expecting based on their revised mobilization plan, to have everything in place by the end of the year. Going into 2027, we should be in a reasonably strong position. I think one thing to highlight here that probably is not as well communicated or understood is that as part of the new Mining Code in Mali and the local content restrictions, there are heavy penalties and rules that we have to adhere to within Mali when appointing contractors. Obviously that is excluding a lot of international contractors that are probably at a bit higher level and set the standard a bit higher.
Gavin Harris: They have all effectively walked out of the country, so we are having to rely on local partners, and we are having to work with them to bring them up to what we would consider Western standards. There are a lot of challenges there with the internal contractors. Again, it is something that we work through, and obviously we just need to take that time to get them up to where we expect them to be.
Regan Burrows: Great. Thank you very much for taking my questions. I will leave it there.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Richard Knights at Barrenjoey. Please go ahead.
Richard Knights: Thanks for the call, gents. I just wanted to follow up on Reagan's question on the amount of headroom you have. I suppose everything looks pretty good now, but we are in a falling gold price environment, and I am just wondering where you see your debt capacity at and what sort of gold price you would need to see in order to start thinking about maybe increasing that debt facility.
Chris Eger: Yeah, look, the planned EBITDA for this year, again, I am speaking roughly off the top of my head, is probably around $600 million or $700 million. So we effectively have less than a half a turn of leverage on the business with what we have put in place. We know we can increase that if we needed to, but we are also cognizant that we do not put too much leverage on the business at this stage. Look, what I said before, at $4,000-plus gold price, we are very well funded. If we were to drop back down to $3,000, we would have to think about capital to fund the business. But I do not have a shortfall at this stage that I can provide publicly. But we also have levers that we can pull.
Chris Eger: Obviously, in the business, we can defer the CapEx spending at ABC, and we can obviously defer some of our other capital projects and keep Doropo fully funded all through next year with what we can do. So that is why I am not too fussed around this stage getting additional capital in the business because of the flexibility that we have in what we have got today. And we have been offered additional financing terms under the current environment that we could add more debt to the business if we chose to. So we have a few options there.
Richard Knights: Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's great. Thanks. Just wanted to ask a question also on Syama, just to get a bit of a better feeling about what the grade trajectory is going to look like over the next couple of quarters. Obviously, it's improved last quarter, and the SSCP should be up and running in full swing next quarter. But should we think about the project producing at reserve grade from next quarter, or how should we think about it?
Chris Eger: Yeah. Maybe Gavin, that one you're probably a bit closer than I am on.
Gavin Harris: Yeah, look, I think some of the challenges we've had around grade is that we've been processing a lot more low grade. Obviously, because we haven't been able to break as much material with not having the explosives. Certainly as we go forward, we'd expect to see the grade getting closer back to that reserve grade. Obviously, the development of A21 pit has now gone through sort of the oxide and the transitional zone in the first stage. So we're getting down into the better sulfide grades at depth. Yeah, I think it's fair to assume that going sort of towards the end of this quarter and kicking off into 2027, we should see that grade returning up around the reserve grade.
Richard Knights: Yeah. Okay, thanks. And recoveries as well, should we expect recoveries to be edging up as well from, I think it was literally 73% this quarter?
Gavin Harris: Yeah, so look, obviously a function of higher grade is going to give us better recoveries. It's obviously a lot harder at the lower grades to maximize recovery. But we've got a part of our corporate technical team have been investing a lot of time into Mali in the last 3 or 4 months, working through mill optimization and working with the team to improve on that. So we're starting to see better recoveries through sort of the end of September into October now. And I'm hopeful that we'll see closer to 80% rather than 70% by the end of this quarter, and certainly as we go forward into 2027.
Richard Knights: Yeah. Okay, brilliant. That's great. Thanks. Thanks, gents.
Operator: Thank you for all the questions today. That concludes today's call. You may now disconnect. Have a good day.
