First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

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First Quantum Minerals : Q3 2023 Conference Call Transcript

October 28, 2023 at 01:23 am IST

Corrected Transcript

25-Oct-2023

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.CA)

Q3 2023 Earnings Call

	Total Pages: 17
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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.CA)	Corrected Transcript
Q3 2023 Earnings Call	25-Oct-2023

CORPORATE PARTICIPANTS

Bonita To	Rudi Badenhorst
Director-Investor Relations, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.	Chief Operating Officer, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.
A. Tristan Pascall	Ryan MacWilliam
Chief Executive Officer & Director, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.	Chief Financial Officer, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

OTHER PARTICIPANTS

Jackie Przybylowski	Ioannis Masvoulas
Analyst, BMO Capital Markets	Analyst, Morgan Stanley Securities Ltd.
Orest Wowkodaw	Alex Terentiew
Analyst, Scotiabank	Analyst, Stifel Nicolaus Canada, Inc.
Greg Barnes	Edward Goldsmith
Analyst, TD Securities, Inc.	Analyst, Deutsche Bank AG
Ralph M. Profiti	Ian Rossouw
Analyst, Eight Capital	Analyst, Barclays Capital Securities Ltd.
Bryce Adams
Analyst, CIBC World Markets, Inc.

MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION SECTION

Operator: Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the First Quantum Minerals Limited Third Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the conference over to Bonita To. Please go ahead.

Bonita To

Director-Investor Relations, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

[audio gap] (00:00:45-00:01:14) , with opening remarks followed by Rudi Badenhorst, our Chief Operating Officer, who will provide an overview of our operations. Ryan MacWilliam, our Chief Financial Officer will review our financial results, and Tristan will wrap things up, after which we will open up the line to take questions.

And with that, I will now turn the call over to Tristan.

A. Tristan Pascall

Chief Executive Officer & Director, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.CA)	Corrected Transcript
Q3 2023 Earnings Call	25-Oct-2023

Thank you, Bonita. And thank you, everybody, for joining us on our conference call today to discuss our third quarter results.

I'm speaking to you today from our Sentinel and Enterprise operations here in Zambia. I'm pleased that production at our three largest operations continued to improve in the third quarter, which Rudi will provide more detail in his review of operations. As well, we saw a modest easing with some of our input costs. As a result of our focus on productivity and costs, our third quarter EBITDA of $969 million was a meaningful improvement from the second quarter, despite the continued weakness in the copper price.

Before continuing with details on our third quarter results, it is pleasing to share with you that the Concession Contract surrounding the Cobre Panamá mine was enacted into law at the end of last week, which marked the final step in revising the legal framework for the mine. The new law received strong support at the National Assembly with 47 votes in favor of the new agreement out of a total of the 55 votes that were registered. I would like to thank the team in Panamá for their hard work and collaboration with the Government of Panamá to ensure the successful passage of the contract into law.

With the law published in the Official Gazette, First Quantum will soon be making payments to cover taxes and royalties for 2022 and the year-to-date in 2023, which Ryan will provide more details on in his financial review. With the legal certainty at Cobre Panamá now established, we look forward to continuing our contribution to the economic benefits of the country through employment, supplying from local businesses, and all our other programs in-country. Nevertheless, we have seen protests from various groups across the country, which acts as a reminder that we as a mining company and the industry as a whole need to do more hard work in communicating the many benefits that our mines can bring to the surrounding communities and our host countries.

And with that, I would like to hand the call over to Rudi.

Rudi Badenhorst

Chief Operating Officer, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

It was pleasing to see improvements continue from the second quarter with each of the three mine operations having production increases in the third quarter. Total copper production was nearly 222,000 tonnes during the period, up over 34,000 tonnes quarter-over-quarter as grades and throughput improved at each of Cobre Panamá, Kansanshi and Sentinel. Copper C1 cash cost in the third quarter improved considerably at all three of the operations. Group-wide C1 costs averaged $1.42 per pound during the third quarter, a $0.56 per pound improvement over the second quarter, which was primarily driven by the higher production volumes, although there was an easing in some input costs, which Ryan will speak to in his remarks.

At Cobre Panamá, the operation delivered record copper production of 113,000 tonnes, 25% higher than the second quarter as grades improved and load throughput was higher with the continued successful ramp-up of the CP100 Expansion project. Throughput was over 24 million tonnes during the quarter, and we remain on track to exit 2023 at a consistent and reliable annualized rate of 100 million tonnes through the plant. There is currently a drought in Panamá, which is impacting water levels in the Panamá Canal and has led to some vessel restrictions. At this time, the Cobre Panamá operations are not impacted by the canal, with most of the mine supplies sourced from South America and delivered through our own port. With regards to concentrate shipments, the only impact on Cobre Panamá are slightly longer voyage times for concentrate shipments to customers based in Asia that have not chosen alternative shipping routes.

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.CA)	Corrected Transcript
Q3 2023 Earnings Call	25-Oct-2023

Moving over to Zambia. At Kansanshi, copper production of approximately 40,000 tonnes was nearly 5,000 tonnes higher than in the second quarter. Production during the third quarter continued to focus on mining cutbacks at elevated benches with higher grades, and this is expected to continue into the fourth quarter. At Sentinel, grades continue to improve in the third quarter, allowing for copper production to improve by nearly 10,000 tonnes to 64,000 tonnes in Q3. The improved copper production was driven predominantly by higher grades, while throughput was challenged by hard ore found in the lower levels of Stage 1 and 2 pits. This harder ore impacted mining, crushing and milling rates during the quarter, and is expected to continue into the fourth quarter. As such, along with the challenges experienced earlier in the year at Sentinel, 2023 production guidance has been lowered for the operation, which Tristan will address in his closing remarks.

Thank you. And I will now hand the call over to Ryan to review the financials.

Ryan MacWilliam

Chief Financial Officer, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Thank you, Rudi. The copper price was broadly flat quarter-on-quarter, averaging $3.79 per pound in Q3, 1% lower than in Q2. However, copper prices fell towards the end of the quarter to just over $3.60 per pound as expectations of higher-for-longer interest rates with a knock-on impact on industrial activity and rising geopolitical tensions have led to a risk-off market sentiment. Despite this, copper demand, particularly in China, remains robust on the back of continued electric grid and electric vehicle spending, a reminder that the lifeblood of energy transition will flow through copper veins.

As Rudi described, production was very strong through the quarter, and resulted in a 23% increase in copper sales to 219,000 tonnes, which is a record for First Quantum. This meant that despite the flat copper price, revenues increased by 23% to $2 billion. As Rudi also noted, there is a drop in Panamá that has led to longer voyage times through the canal for some of our shipments. Based on the structure of these contracts, however, the company's revenue recognition and timing of cash receipts on these shipments is not impacted by these delays.

The record quarterly copper production also benefited unit costs, helping drive copper C1 cash costs down 28% to $1.42 per pound. Cash cost also benefited from higher byproduct credits, as well as lower consumable costs as fuel, sulfur, and explosive prices all reduced compared to the previous quarter. It is worth noting that Brent crude oil prices increased from $75 per barrel at the beginning of the quarter to $92 per barrel at the end, driven by OPEC cuts and tension in the Middle East. This has the potential to impact costs towards the end of the year once existing field inventories are worked through.

On labor costs, it was pleasing to see the Cobre Panamá collective bargaining contract successfully signed in September. This agreement will be in force for the next four years, providing more certainty in our labor spend. More broadly on cost, we have narrowed our C1 guidance for the year to $1.75 to $1.85 per pound. This mostly reflects a weaker copper production at Sentinel in H1, offset by the strong production in Q3 across the other sites and the expected strong end to 2023.

Slide 17 highlights that third quarter EBITDA increased 71% to $969 million, the highest in the last year. This significant increase was a result of the record quarterly sales and lower costs. Net earnings attributable to shareholders increased to $325 million and adjusted earnings per share increased to $0.52. The effective tax rate has averaged 17% year- to-date with full year guidance between 40% and 45%. Effective tax rates in the final quarter will be higher, as income tax expense for 2023 is adjusted under the Refreshed Concession Contract at Cobre Panamá.

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.CA)	Corrected Transcript
Q3 2023 Earnings Call	25-Oct-2023

As noted in our MD&A, it is intended that the charge relating to the taxes and royalties up to the year end 2022 will be excluded from 2023 adjusted earnings. So, the full year guidance rate of 40% to 45% reflects 2023 tax and royalty payments only. I would also note that the anticipated top-up under the new structure in Panamá is treated as a royalty and not a tax in the calculation of effective tax rates.

Moving on to our balance sheet. Net debt reduced slightly by $13 million to $5.64 billion this quarter. Despite strong EBITDA growth, net debt was impacted by unfavorable changes in working capital; the successful completion of the La Granja acquisition and the resulting $105 million payment to Rio Tinto; and an increase in capex spend of $49 million. The increase in capex reflects a steady progress in the S3 expansion project at Kansanshi, which Tristan will describe later.

Lastly, on capital allocation. Current copper prices are well below the level needed to incentivize Greenfield developments, particularly when one considers the high capex and opex inflation in recent years. For context, in real terms, this week's opening copper price of $3.54 per pound is equivalent to a price of around $2.90 per pound in 2018. Our capital allocation focus therefore remains on strengthening the balance sheet and less capital intensive brownfield projects like S3. Rather than allocating any material capital to our portfolio of Greenfield projects.

Additionally, with CP100 commissioned in Q1 and Enterprise now producing nickel concentrate, the brownfield expenditure on two of our three key projects is behind us, with the production growth to come as Cobre Panamá and Enterprise ramp up. Current liquidity remained strong at $2.3 billion, supported by the issuance of the $1.3 billion 8-year bonds in the previous quarter. That positions us well to cover the Cobre Panamá taxes and royalties, which are payable soon as a result of finalizing the legal framework in Panamá.

Total payments for the year will be comprised of tax and royalties for up to the year-end 2022 of $395 million, of which $45 million is already paid and approximately another $215 million will be payable soon to cover the first three quarters of 2023, resulting in a near term payment of $565 million. For 2023 as a whole based on current copper prices, we expect a total payment of $375 million for the year that includes the top-up payment. This will result in a total tax and royalties payable for 2022 and 2023 in Panamá of $770 million. And that brings the finance section to an end.

I'll now hand the call back to Tristan.

A. Tristan Pascall

Chief Executive Officer & Director, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Thanks for that, Ryan. As Rudi noted, the first quarter saw production improvements. However, regrettably, we are lowering our copper production forecast for 2023 to 745,000 to 775,000 tonnes, mainly due to Sentinel. At Cobre Panamá, the CP100 Expansion project continued to ramp up very well. The operation continues to achieve periods of design capacity and remains on track to exit the year at a consistent rate of 100 million tonnes per annum. As such, we have tightened our copper production guidance for Cobre Panamá to between 365,000 to 375,000 tonnes of copper. Construction of the moly plant continues to progress well and commercially production of that unit, which is expected in 2024.

At Kansanshi, mining will continue to focus on the upper benches of Main 15 and Main 17 and we expect the strong growth to continue in the fourth quarter. Kansanshi continues to perform within our expectations, albeit at the bottom end of the range. As such, our copper production guidance range has been tightened to between 130,000 to 140,000 tonnes. Gold production has been lowered to between 65,000 to 70,000 ounces to reflect gold grades encountered to date. Current levels of copper and gold production

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.CA)	Corrected Transcript
Q3 2023 Earnings Call	25-Oct-2023

will remain at or near these levels until the S3 Expansion project comes online. The S3 Expansion continues to progress well. We have started receiving long-lead items during this past quarter, including the first ultra-class trucks and initial components of the mills and primary crusher. Earth and construction works continue and are expected to accelerate into next year. We remain on schedule for first production from the S3 Expansion in the second half of 2025.

At Sentinel given the challenges early in the year and the harder than expected ore counted in the third quarter, we have lowered copper production guidance to between 220,000 to 230,000 tonnes. However, work is being done to bring in the softer ore with mining starting in Stage 3, which should start to meaningfully contribute to ore feed in the second quarter of next year. As well over the last several months, a lot of work has been conducted to better prepare the mine for the upcoming rainy season, including mining down the saddle zone between Stage 1 and Stage 2 and adding additional pumping capacity. We continue to review the impact of harder ore on the coming year mine plan, but at this stage we expect to be able to blend more effectively with the wet season infrastructure being installed. We will address guidance in January, but at this stage we are holding to our previous outlook for 2024 and 2025.

At Enterprise, another important milestone was achieved during the quarter with first sale of nickel concentrate. The focus remains on stripping of waste and the final ramp-up of the process plant to full production capacity, which is expected next year. We encountered challenging metallurgical characteristics of a shallow ore due to weathering leading to a reduction in our 2023 guidance to between 3,000 tonnes to 5,000 tonnes of contained nickel. However, a good understanding of the process impact of this material has been developed and we expect plant recovery and concentrate quality to continuously improve as we gain greater exposure to less weathered ore deeper in the mine.

Lastly, it was with great sadness that we announced the passing of our Chairman, Philip Pascall, during the quarter. I am in Zambia right now, where Philip was posthumously honored for his work and contributions to the country with the Eagle of Zambia Award by President Hichilema yesterday. Philip was a great mentor and inspirational leader, and his loss has been felt deeply across the company and the communities that First Quantum operates within. The outreach from the investment and mining community has been tremendous and humbling. I would like to sincerely thank everybody for their condolences and the sharing of memories of Philip. Built on the legacy of the Founders of the company, we remain committed to the trajectory of First Quantum and we believe we have both the projects and the capability and people to deliver that into the future in an environmentally and socially responsible manner and in the financially disciplined approach, cognizant of continuing to improve our balance sheet.

With that, I will be happy to take questions now. Thank you.

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.CA)	Corrected Transcript
Q3 2023 Earnings Call	25-Oct-2023

QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTION

Operator: We will now begin the analyst question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Jackie Przybylowski with BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Jackie Przybylowski

Analyst, BMO Capital Markets

Thanks very much. And just to echo what you said at the end of your remarks, Tristan, I'll pass on my condolences to you and the team on the passing of Philip. It's a huge loss to First Quantum, of course, and the whole industry. And my question is on your guidance revisions both on those volumes and the costs. It seems like Q3 was a strong quarter across your operations. And my understanding based on prior comments from yourselves was that Q4 is expected to be fairly strong as well. So, I'm wondering if that's changed - if your expectations for Q4 has changed or if you're just reflecting some more of a cautious outlook, just given what we know from the first half of the year?

A. Tristan Pascall

Chief Executive Officer & Director, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Yes, thanks, Jackie. And I'll ask Ryan to provide some more detail. But yeah, we have tightened the guidance. And as you say, that's built off, particularly at Cobre Panamá, very strong performance in the quarter. And we're very pleased with the progress from the CP100 Expansion in terms of the impact that it's having. What we do see is the grades were higher at CP100 during the quarter and they will come off a little bit in the fourth quarter, just in the normal course of the mine plan for the year. And so it's not really conservatism there, but just focus on the existing mine plan. At Sentinel, look, we're in a good position to face the wet season and perhaps I can just ask Rudi to comment a little bit more on that. Rudi, would you just cover that in terms of outlook for the remaining quarter of Sentinel and perhaps also at Kansanshi and then Ryan if you could just comment on the cash cost outlook. Thank you.

Rudi Badenhorst

Chief Operating Officer, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Yes, thanks, Tristan. Hi, Jackie. Thanks for that question. At Sentinel, we experienced a difficult first half of 2023 as a result of the impact of the rainy season, which we discussed on the last call. But we've made a lot of infrastructure investment on the dewatering capability and capacity at Sentinel, effectively tripling its input to dewatering capacity to over 10,000 cubic meters per hour. We've finalized the final environmental treatment pond construction activity during this latter part of Q3. We've also finalized pumping water back to the plant and using it primarily in the plant rather than in utilizing and discharging to the environment under the regulatory limits. So, effectively meaning that we do not have to hold back and wait for water to be neutralized at Sentinel before we can discharge, because all of that's now going into the plant.

Secondly, at Sentinel as well, the saddle that is between Stage 1 and Stage 2 that in the previous wet season resulted in the damming of water has been completely mined out. And, as far as the hard ore is concerned, yes, certainly we experienced some very hard ore in the bottom of Stage 1 and Stage 2 pits, during the quarter, we're mining in an area of the old block called Domain 4, which has hard kyanite. And although that will remain with us during the course of the fourth quarter in both of Stage 1 and Stage 2, we are already noticing drilling and blasting, punching through that domain into the one below which is has seen slightly softer ores. So,

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.CA)	Corrected Transcript
Q3 2023 Earnings Call	25-Oct-2023

we are currently situated in Stage 1 pit, in the hard stuff, it won't migrate out of that towards Q1, Q2 of next year. But it certainly will be with us for the remainder of this year.

Ryan MacWilliam

Chief Financial Officer, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Then, Jackie, maybe if I just jump in on costs. So, we still expect to finish within our initial costs guidance. What we've done is we've moved up our bottom end from $1.65 to $1.75, and that's largely a function of what Rudi described, the weak production from Sentinel for most of this year, which is somewhat offset by slightly better cost inputs, most notably diesel and explosives than what we assumed at the beginning of this year. So, we now have a new cost guidance, $1.75 to $1.85 per pound of copper.

Jackie Przybylowski

Analyst, BMO Capital Markets

That's super helpful. Thanks, Ryan and Rudi and Tristan. And if I could ask a follow-up on maybe to Ryan, you've got a number of cash outflows coming up with the tax settlement as part of this agreement with the Government of Panamá and the La Granja acquisition completion and the work you're doing on S3 and other projects. Can you talk a little bit about your balance sheet and where you see your balance sheet sort of going over the next couple of quarters with those cash outflows and sort of how you expect to fund those if it's through just cash on hand or any other way of funding them? Thank you.

A. Tristan Pascall

Chief Executive Officer & Director, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Sure, Jackie. Go ahead, Ryan.

Ryan MacWilliam

Chief Financial Officer, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

So, we saw leverage metrics improved through the quarter. We were at 2.2 times net debt to EBITDA at the end of Q2. Because of the strong EBITDA performance we're now at just above 2 times net debt to EBITDA. So, pleasing to see that progress of the stronger off the back of stronger EBITDA. And that was also in a quarter where we made $105 million payment to Rio Tinto for La Granja. So, that payment is now behind us. In terms of what is ahead, as you note, we've got the payment associated with the settlement and agreement, and new legal framework in Panamá that will be paid shortly. And we're in a fortunate position where we have $2.3 billion of liquidity, strong liquidity on the balance sheet to address that. And then going into next year, it will be as before, continue to remain disciplined about capital, certainly not looking at spending material capital on greenfield projects and being disciplined around the capital that goes into our brownfield projects which are being advanced.

Jackie Przybylowski

Analyst, BMO Capital Markets

That's super helpful. Congratulations again on a really great quarter. Thank you.

Operator: The next question comes from Orest Wowkodaw with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Orest Wowkodaw

Analyst, Scotiabank

Hi. Good morning. And my condolences as well, no doubt Philip is a legend of the mining industry. Just following up on Jackie's questions, if I'm hearing you correctly, I think you said that you expect the harder ore at Sentinel to

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.CA)	Corrected Transcript
Q3 2023 Earnings Call	25-Oct-2023

spill over into the first half of 2024. Has that already been factored into the existing guidance for Sentinel for next year of 245,000 tonnes to 265,000 tonnes? Or are you finding the ore is harder than what's assumed in the current mine plan in that guidance?

A. Tristan Pascall

Chief Executive Officer & Director, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Sure Orest. So, I'm here at Sentinel now and just looking at what that harder material was and look, it's chemically altered rather than, anything you can see delineated or otherwise. So, it's an area that we really saw as we approached it in terms of drilling performance, the grade control drilling and then the production drilling. So, it really did affect us in Q3. We are starting to get through, it's very much a horizontal band that runs through. And as I said, it's sort of chemical alteration. So, very hard to pick up other than in a physical parameter, but we believe that it is present in the pit and in that horizontal band. We threw some of it in the areas in the bottom of Stage 1. But we do see it continue and as Rudi said we will see that continue to Q4. It was part of the mine plan before, but we did see that during the course of the year, we were going to be indexed across different areas of the pit that would have provided flexibility. The wet weather in Q1 hampered that flexibility and we were very much more sequential as the year turned out that as we mined Stage 2 and we went to Stage 1 and I think next year with the additional water infrastructure in place, we'll see much more of a blended, mixed mine plan across the year. And that's why we say we are where we're at in terms of guidance for next year. We will address that in we're going through the budgets right now at the moment to address that in January, but at this stage, no reason to pre-empt that.

Orest Wowkodaw

Analyst, Scotiabank

Okay. And thank you for that. And just as a follow up question from Ryan, I didn't quite catch some of the numbers that you disclosed with respect to the upcoming payments here in Q4. Can you just give us that total again for the total payments? I think in Panama relating to both 2022 and I guess what would that be the first three quarters of 2023?

Ryan MacWilliam

Chief Financial Officer, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Sure, Orest. So, we'll be paying $395 million, which is for all payments up until the end of 2022. In addition to that, we'll be paying a large portion of our 2023 taxes and royalties, effectively a catch up for this year. And that combined number is at $565 million. We do expect across 2022 and 2023 to pay total tax and royalties of $770 million. But obviously some of that those payments will occur in 2024.

Orest Wowkodaw

Analyst, Scotiabank

Okay. So, that $770 million includes a Q4 number in it?

Ryan MacWilliam

Chief Financial Officer, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Correct.

Orest Wowkodaw

Analyst, Scotiabank

Okay. All right. Thanks so much.

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.CA)	Corrected Transcript
Q3 2023 Earnings Call	25-Oct-2023

Operator: The next question comes from Greg Barnes with TD Securities. Please go ahead.

Greg Barnes

Analyst, TD Securities, Inc.

Yes, thank you. Tristan, with Law 406 now in place, there are a number of Supreme Court rulings and government actions that relates to Law 9, one of them being that Law 9 was unconstitutional. Do all those fall away now and they become really non-issues for you?

A. Tristan Pascall

Chief Executive Officer & Director, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Yeah. Hi, Greg. Thanks. Look, so certainly we're very pleased to have the contract passed into law. The process has alleviated a lot of the concern around that. It received really good support through the National Assembly at 47 votes of the 55 that were cast. And I guess that level of support speaks to the authority of the passing of the contract, the unconstitutionality motion Panamá is a litigious environment and so there is an ongoing unconstitutionality proceedings. We're not a party to those proceedings, so we don't have a detail with specific nature. But it is common practice as I said in Panamá and other mining jurisdictions for challenges like this to be filed, because of the passing and the status, the involvements and the and the deliberation that was involved in establishing now the new legal framework to go forward, it went through public - due public process, it went through the National Assembly.

Our understanding is that due legal process has been adhered to and the Government of Panamá has certainly assured us of the same. Once the details emerge, from those proceedings, we will be able to take part in the proceedings. But, we do see this as just a normal course of action in litigious environments. But we have confidence in the standing off of this process that's taken this long to get to this point. And again we're pleased to have it passed into law.

Greg Barnes

Analyst, TD Securities, Inc.

Okay. That's great. Thanks. Thanks, Tristan. Just a second question and maybe a bit out of left field, but with respect to Ravensthorpe, it continues to lose money. The nickel price is weak and the outlook isn't great. And I just noted in the MD&A that it appears that there was a cash call and POSCO didn't participate. Is there any thought about the future operational viability of Ravensthorpe from here?

A. Tristan Pascall

Chief Executive Officer & Director, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Yeah. Thanks, Greg. Look, Q3 at Ravensthorpe, we were impacted by ongoing maintenance. It's a feature of the salt water that we take there and but also adaption of the plant to the material characteristics of Shoemaker-Levy so for example, magnesium content and so on and the density around what comes in from Shoemaker-Levy, so that adaption is ongoing. I think it will continue to impact us in Q4. We have a major shut on the acid plant coming up. We need to renew the catalyst there and that shut will improve significantly the electrical side and the acid plant performance and efficiency. Really the ongoing focus for us at Ravensthorpe is to get to the 30,000 tonnes per annum plant design capacity. And that really does start to deliver a lot in terms of maintenance improvements. We've put in place those adaptions to the front-end beneficiation, that deal with density and deal with beneficiation from Shoemaker-Levy and also on the back-end on rejects handling and so on. But Ryan, you might comment on POSCO's decision around the cash input.

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. published this content on 27 October 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 27 October 2023 19:51:12 UTC.

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. Announces Consolidated Production Results for the First Quarter Ended March 31, 2024	24/04	CI
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. Reaffirms Production Guidance for the Year 2024	24/04	CI
First Quantum Minerals cuts debt by over $1 bln in first quarter	24/04	RE
First Quantum Minerals Posts Q1 Loss As Eyes Panama Presidential Election For Change of Fortune There	24/04	MT
First Quantum Minerals Brief: Says "Will continue to work with the current administration to implement the Cobre Panama Preservation and Safe Management plan"	24/04	MT

Chart First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

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Company Profile

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is a Canada-based global copper company. The Company produces copper in the form of concentrate, cathode and anode and has inventories of nickel, gold and cobalt. It is engaged in the production of copper, nickel, gold and silver, and related activities including exploration and development. The Company's operating mines include Cobre Panama, Kansanshi, Sentinel, Cobre Las Cruces, Cayeli, Guelb Moghrein, Ravensthorpe and Pyhasalmi. Its development projects include Enterprise, Haquira, Taca Taca and La Granja. Its operating segments include Cobre Panama, Kansanshi, Trident and Ravensthorpe. The Cobre Panama project comprises a series of copper porphyry deposits with main deposits, such as Balboa, Botija, Colina and Valle Grande. The Trident segment includes the Sentinel copper mine and the Enterprise Nickel development project. Its Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation is an open pit mine and primary processing plant located in the southwest of Western Australia.

Sector

Specialty Mining & Metals

Calendar

23/07/2024 - Q2 2024 Earnings Release (Projected)

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Income Statement Evolution

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Ratings for First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Trading Rating

Investor Rating

ESG Refinitiv

A-

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Analysts' Consensus

Sell

Buy

Mean consensus

OUTPERFORM

Number of Analysts

Last Close Price

13.18 USD

Average target price

12.89 USD

Spread / Average Target

-2.24%

Consensus

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Quarterly earnings - Rate of surprise

Company calendar

Sector Copper Ore Mining

	1st Jan change	Capi.
FIRST QUANTUM MINERALS LTD.	+66.27%	10.9B
PT AMMAN MINERAL INTERNASIONAL TBK	+45.04%	42.96B
ANTOFAGASTA PLC	+32.78%	27.51B
SOCIEDAD MINERA CERRO VERDE S.A.A.	+4.11%	13.3B
KGHM POLSKA MIED? S.A.	+21.60%	7.5B
KATANGA MINING LIMITED	+19.23%	6.98B
TONGLING NONFERROUS METALS GROUP CO.,LTD.	+24.09%	7.14B
HINDUSTAN COPPER LIMITED	+32.99%	4.14B
HUDBAY MINERALS INC.	+64.20%	3.07B
SANDFIRE RESOURCES LIMITED	+33.92%	2.96B

Copper Ore Mining

First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Equities

FM

CA3359341052

Specialty Mining & Metals

First Quantum Minerals : Q3 2023 Conference Call Transcript

EPS Revisions