Alamos Gold Inc Q2 FY2025 Earnings Call

Good morning. I will now turn the call over to Scott Parsons, Alamos' Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Patrick, and thanks to everybody for attending Alamos' Second Quarter 2025 Conference Call. In addition to myself, we have on the line today, John McCluskey, President and Chief Executive Officer; Greg Fisher, Chief Financial Officer; and Luc Guimond, Chief Operating Officer. We will be referring to a presentation during the conference call that is available through the webcast and on our website. I would also like to remind everyone that our presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. As we will be making forward-looking statements during the call, please refer to the cautionary notes included in the presentation, news release and MD&A as well as the risk factors set out in our annual information form. Technical information in this presentation has been reviewed and approved by Chris Bostwick, our Senior VP, Technical Services and a qualified person. Also, please bear in mind that all of the dollar amounts mentioned in this conference call are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Now John will provide you with an overview.

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone. I would like to highlight our second quarter production, which totaled 137,000 ounces. This figure aligns with our quarterly guidance and represents a 10% increase from the first quarter, thanks to improved performance across all three operations. We anticipate an additional rise in production during the second half of the year, keeping us on track to meet our full-year production targets. We have consistently provided guidance like this for a long time, taking it seriously and investing considerable effort into these projections, and we are confident in our forecasts. The stronger operational output resulted in an 18% reduction in all-in sustaining costs compared to the first quarter, with expectations for further cost declines in the latter half of the year due to increased production, higher grades, and processed tonnage. In mid-July, we temporarily shut down the Island Gold mill to process higher-grade underground ore at the more efficient Magino mill, paving the way for substantial processing cost synergies at the Island Gold District for years to come. Our improved production, reduced costs, and higher gold prices led to record revenues and cash flow from operations. We also achieved strong free cash flow of $85 million while simultaneously funding our growth initiatives and exploration efforts. At current gold prices, we foresee sustained strong free cash flow while we reinvest in high-return projects that will foster further free cash flow growth. Due to higher-than-expected share-based compensation and royalty expenses in the first half of the year, along with a slower start at Magino and Young-Davidson, we have updated our 2025 cost guidance. The projected full-year all-in sustaining costs are now expected to be 12% higher than our original estimates, with around 40% of that increase due to external factors. From a cost perspective, our performance in the first half does not reflect our long-standing record of meeting or surpassing expectations, nor does it indicate our positive outlook. We anticipate a significant improvement in both production and costs during the second half of the year, with a trend of increasing production and decreasing costs expected to persist over the coming years, anchoring one of the strongest outlooks in our sector. The key driver of this strong outlook is our expanding Island Gold District. During the past quarter, we announced the base case life of mine plan for the Island Gold District, which integrates the Island Gold underground and Magino open-pit operations. The study indicates that the Island Gold District is projected to become one of the largest, lowest-cost, and most profitable gold mining operations in Canada. This base case life of mine plan, based solely on mineral reserves, reveals an average annual production of 411,000 ounces at mine site all-in sustaining costs of $915 per ounce over the initial 12 years. We believe this is an attractive operation with significant upside potential. We are currently working on an expansion study that is expected to outline an even larger and more lucrative operation. The base case plan relies on milling rates of 12,400 tonnes per day, while the expansion study aims to evaluate an increase to 20,000 tonnes per day to support enhanced mining rates from both underground and open-pit sources. Additionally, ongoing infill drilling is expected to convert a significant portion of the 5 million ounces of resources not included in the base case into larger mineral reserves. This expansion study is on course for completion in the fourth quarter of this year, and there is substantial long-term growth potential beyond this study, which is anticipated to bolster near-mine and regional exploration. Late in the second quarter, we shared an exploration update that highlighted the potential within the Island Gold District. Recent drilling has extended high-grade mineralization across the Island Gold deposit and in several hanging wall and footwall structures. The regional exploration efforts have also successfully identified high-grade gold mineralization near historical mines, such as Cline-Pick and Edwards, with impressive drill results including 8 grams per tonne over 21 meters, 19 grams per tonne over 5 meters, and 56 grams per tonne over 2 meters. These early results have been exciting, showcasing high-grade mineralization beyond the limits of previous mining activities. These targets, located within 7 kilometers of the Magino mill, present opportunities for additional high-grade feed for the expanding mill and highlight the significant potential across our 60,000-hectare land package within the underexplored Michipicoten greenstone belt. Our portfolio of high-return projects positions us with one of the strongest growth profiles in the sector. We anticipate steady growth and declining costs in the coming years, driven by the completion of the Phase 3 expansion. By late 2028, we expect the Lynn Lake project to elevate our consolidated production rate to over 900,000 ounces per year at well below the industry average all-in sustaining costs. In the long term, there is excellent potential to raise production to approximately 1 million ounces annually through further expansion at the Island Gold District. We expect to detail this potential in the expansion study set for release in the fourth quarter. Looking forward, we expect strong ongoing free cash flow while funding our growth initiatives. Following the completion of the Phase 3+ expansion, we anticipate generating even higher levels of free cash flow starting next year. This growth trajectory is expected to continue with the completion of our PDA and Lynn Lake projects, leading to annual free cash flow exceeding $1 billion at current gold prices.

Thank you, John. On to Slide 9, we sold approximately 135,000 ounces of gold in the second quarter at an average realized price of $3,223 per ounce for record revenues of $438 million. The average realized price was below the London PM fixed price for the quarter, primarily as a result of delivering over 12,300 ounces into the gold prepayment facility based on a prepaid price of $2,524 per ounce. We will continue to deliver the same quarterly number of ounces into the facility until the obligation is completed by year-end. As a reminder, the prepaid facility was executed in July 2024 with the proceeds utilized to retire 180,000 ounces of forward sale contracts inherited from Argonaut Gold across 2024 and 2025, with an average price of $1,840 per ounce. Total cash cost of $1,075 per ounce and all-in sustaining cost of $1,475 per ounce decreased 10% and 18%, respectively, from the first quarter. Costs are expected to trend lower through the remainder of the year as production increases, driven by higher grades and tonnes processed. Our reported net earnings were $159 million in the second quarter or $0.38 per share. This included $17 million of unrealized losses on commodity hedge derivatives, net of tax, $34 million of unrealized foreign exchange gains recorded within deferred taxes and foreign exchange loss and other adjustments totaling $2 million. Excluding these items, our adjusted net earnings were $144 million or $0.34 per share. Operating cash flow before changes in noncash working capital was a record $233 million in the second quarter or $0.55 per share. Capital spending totaled $115 million and included $34 million of sustaining capital, $72 million of growth capital and $10 million of capitalized exploration. Free cash flow for the quarter totaled $85 million, a significant increase from the first quarter, driven by strong contributions from all three operations. This included $55 million from the Mulatos District, $52 million from the Island Gold District and a record $59 million at Young-Davidson. Following the release of our first quarter results, we are active on our share buyback, repurchasing 400,000 shares at a cost of $10 million. Including our quarterly dividend of $11 million, we returned $21 million to shareholders in the quarter. Our cash balance at the end of the second quarter grew to $345 million, and combined with the undrawn balance on our credit facility, our total liquidity is $845 million. With production increasing and costs decreasing through the remainder of the year, supporting strong ongoing free cash flow, we are well positioned to internally fund our growth plans. Moving to Slide 10. As John outlined earlier on the call, we have increased our full year cost guidance. This reflects higher-than-budgeted share-based compensation and royalty expense through the first half of the year, as well as a slower start to the year at Magino and Young-Davidson. Full year total cash costs are now expected to be between $975 and $1,025 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs between $1,400 and $1,450 per ounce. This represents a 12% increase in all-in sustaining cost guidance with approximately 40% of the increase attributable to external factors. This included the revaluation of previously issued share-based compensation given the significant increase in our share price during the first half of the year and higher royalty expenses given the sharply higher gold price. Consistent with our updated guidance, we expect a significant improvement in our costs in the second half of the year. We expect costs to continue to trend lower over the next several years, driven by low-cost production growth. I'll now turn the call over to our COO, Luc Guimond, to provide an overview of our operations.

Thank you, Greg. Over to Slide 11. Production from the Island Gold District totaled 64,400 ounces, a 9% increase over the first quarter, driven by higher combined milling rates from the Island Gold and Magino mills. Production is expected to increase further through the remainder of the year, reflecting higher mining and processing rates. Island Gold delivered a strong quarter with both underground mining rates and grades in line with annual guidance. Magino's mining rates averaged 13,700 tonnes of ore per day in the quarter, a 16% increase over the previous quarter. Mining rates are expected to increase in the second half of the year to be consistent with annual guided levels of 14,800 tonnes per day. Costs declined slightly from the first quarter, with a more significant decrease expected in the second half of the year. This is expected to be driven by higher milling rates within the Magino mill and increasing underground mining rates at Island Gold. Mine site free cash flow increased to $52 million, more than double the first quarter, an impressive performance given the ongoing reinvestment in growth through the Phase 3+ expansion and a significant exploration program. The Island Gold District remains well positioned to self-fund its expansion plans with significant free cash flow growth expected from 2026 onwards. Moving to Slide 12. The performance of the Magino mill continued to improve during the quarter, with milling rates increasing 18% from the first quarter to average 8,500 tonnes per day. Following the installation of a redesigned liner and bulk configuration within the SAG mill earlier this month, throughput rates have steadily improved to average approximately 9,500 tonnes per day in the second half of July. We will remain on track to reach 11,200 tonnes per day later this quarter. Reflecting the improved performance of the Magino mill, the Island Gold mill was shut down mid-July and underground ore is now being processed within the larger and more productive Magino mill. Since the introduction of higher-grade underground ore, the mill has performed well with recoveries from the blended ore consistent with expectations. Moving to Slide 13. The Phase 3+ expansion continues to progress well, with the shaft sink currently at a depth of 1,265 meters, representing 92% of its ultimate planned depth. The remainder of the shaft sink is on track for completion in the fourth quarter of this year. Other progress during the quarter included completing cladding and roofing for the bin house, advancing work on the paste plant, which is now 70% complete, and completing both earthworks for the administrative complex and the mill expansion to 12,400 tonnes per day. Lateral development also continued to advance, which is expected to support higher mining rates later this year and following the completion of the overall expansion. Over to Slide 14. Work is also underway on the evaluation of a larger expansion of the mill beyond 12,400 tonnes per day. Detailed engineering for the larger mill expansion is ongoing and expected to be completed by early 2026. To support a potential larger expansion, the earthworks for the new mill building was sized with a footprint that can accommodate an expansion up to 20,000 tonnes per day. The new building will be configured to allow for additional leachings as well as a second SAG and ball mill, all of which can be sized to support increased processing rates of up to 20,000 tonnes per day. The larger mill is expected to have a parallel circuit dedicated to processing a higher grade blend of underground and open pit ore. Given the increased capacity, a larger expansion is expected to allow for higher underground and open pit mining rates. We look forward to outlining the upside potential within the expansion study later this year. Over to Slide 15. As of quarter-end, we spent and committed 79% of the total Phase 3+ expansion capital of $835 million. The expansion is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026 and will be a significant driver of low-cost production growth and free cash flow generation. Over to Slide 16. Young-Davidson produced 38,700 ounces, a 9% increase from the first quarter with further improvement expected in the second half of the year, driven by higher mining rates and grades. This is also expected to drive costs lower compared to the first half of the year. Mining rates improved over the first quarter, but were lower than targeted levels. Higher-than-average snowfall and precipitation earlier this year led to a significantly higher-than-normal spring melt. This resulted in the increased inflow of groundwater into parts of the underground mine. This impacted the ability to skip ore to surface, resulting in nearly one week of downtime in May. Additionally, mining rates were impacted by power outages caused by storms in the region. Managing groundwater is a normal part of operating an underground mine. The increased inflow in the second quarter and resulting downtime was the first occurrence in 15 years of operating Young-Davidson. Through enhanced regional watershed management practices and increased pumping capacity, this is not something we expect to recur in the future. Mining rates are expected to improve in the third quarter following a planned 5-day shutdown for rope changes in the Northgate shaft that was completed in July. We expect a further increase to targeted levels of 8,000 tonnes per day in the fourth quarter. Grades mined and milled were consistent with the low end of full year guidance. Grades mined are expected to be at similar levels in the third quarter but increased in the fourth quarter. Reflecting higher milling rates through the remainder of the year and higher grades in the latter part of the year, we expect a much stronger second half. Young-Davidson generated record mine site free cash flow in the quarter of $59 million and $98 million in the first half of the year, putting the operation on pace for another annual record in 2025. Over to Slide 17. The Mulatos District delivered a solid quarter and achieved a significant milestone, producing its 3 millionth ounce of gold over its 20-year history in operation. With at least another decade of production defined within PDA and a number of other emerging opportunities for higher grade ore within the district, we expect more milestones to come. Production during the quarter totaled 34,100 ounces, a 12% increase over the first quarter, reflecting higher grades stacked. Further increases in quarterly production are expected as a significant portion of the higher grades stacked in the second quarter will be realized over the second half of this year. Costs decreased 18% compared to the first quarter with a further reduction expected in the second half of the year. Mulatos remains well positioned to meet its production and cost guidance for the year. PDA development continues to advance with a focus on detailed engineering during the second quarter. Spending will accelerate in the second half of the year with the commencement of underground development and placement of long lead time orders for the mill. The Mulatos District generated mine site free cash flow of $55 million in the second quarter. With stronger free cash flow expected in the second half of the year, driven by higher production and lower costs, the operation is well positioned to continue generating strong ongoing free cash flow while funding the construction of PDA. With that, I will turn the call back to John.

Thank you, Luc. Our operations demonstrated a significant improvement in the second quarter. We expect this trend of growing production and declining costs to continue into the second half of the year and over the next several years. The Island Gold District will be a key driver of this improvement. Transition of processing high-grade island ore within the Magino mill was one of the last key steps towards integrating the operations and realizing significant cost synergies going forward. I'll now turn the call back to the operator to open the call for your questions.

The first question is from Ovais Habib from Scotiabank.

Really great to hear that Magino Mill is ramping up and that Island Gold ore is being processed at Magino. John, a couple of questions from me. The first one, I mean, look, it was widely expected that you would increase the AISC guidance. So glad that's out of the way. And I'm glad you maintained the production guidance as well. John, I'm getting a lot of questions on this. So I just want to make sure that I'm asking this on this conference call. How confident are you in meeting the production guidance comfortably? And what levers do you have within your portfolio to make sure the production guidance remains on track?

Let me provide some context, Ovais. I have been the CEO since 2003 and have participated in nearly 90 quarterly calls. We have consistently provided guidance since we started building our first mine, Mulatos, which we completed on schedule and within budget in 2005 during a challenging market. Throughout this time, our guidance has been remarkably accurate, as you can verify. For 14 consecutive quarters up to Q1 of this year, we either met or exceeded our production and cost guidance. This year, we faced a slow start due to tough conditions in Canada that affected our operations at Young-Davidson and Island Gold. Despite this, we managed to persevere. However, this has impacted our cost guidance for the year, leading us to revise it. Nonetheless, we remain very confident in our production. We would not have reaffirmed our guidance if we did not feel this way. While we adjusted costs, we could have also reduced production guidance if necessary, but we did not find it necessary. Do you want to add anything, Greg?

I could just touch on the drivers a little bit as Ovais asked about. I mean, we outlined our Q3 guidance to be between 145,000 and 155,000 ounces, and we expect Q4 to step up even higher than that. And really, the key drivers are going to be at Young-Davidson. At Young-Davidson, it's higher milling rates. It's higher milling rates and grades are going to drive that in the second half of the year, and we had expected that from when we released our original guidance in January. With Island Gold, Magino is ramping up. So we'll have higher milling rates from Magino, but we're also looking to step up the underground mining rates coming from Island Gold given the fact that we have the bigger mill now. And then at La Yaqui Grande, we stacked very good grades in Q2. We're going to continue to stack good grades or higher grades in Q3 and Q4. So it's just a matter of where the ounces coming off the pad. So all of those things are going to drive our production significantly higher in the second half of the year.

I just want to move on to the exploration side then. John, when we were visiting the Island Gold site in June, your team was really highlighting exploration potential in close proximity to the Magino mill, the regional kind of exploration work, plus you guys were hitting some interesting intersections on the west side of Island Gold. Any of these drill targets really standing out? And are we expected to see more results from this area? That's part 1. And then part 2 of the question is also, is the plan to delineate a source to feed the Magino mill from these areas before you release the expansion study?

Look, we have exciting exploration results coming from right across the company. We've made some interesting new discoveries down in Mexico. We've been hitting into some fabulous grades, as I outlined in my comments, as far away as 7 kilometers from our mill in areas of workings. We had high expectations for those areas. They've come in very well. We've been drilling. We've actually been focusing quite a lot of our effort on converting resource to reserve, so we can incorporate more reserves into this big expansion study we're coming up with in the fourth quarter. We're having excellent results on that front. But I've got Scott R.G. Parsons sitting next to me here. And I'm going to turn it over to him to give further color to your question.

Thank you for the question, Ovais. There are many opportunities that our team is excited about, and I'm equally enthusiastic. We've discussed the surface and underground drilling at Island Gold and Magino, which is located at the up plunge extension of the Island West zone. As we set up underground drill platforms and continue surface drilling, we are defining high-grade mineralization in that area, which is not surprising to us. It’s just a matter of time before we start drilling there. We're seeing success in the hanging wall and footwall zones, which are adding incremental ounces in terms of ounces per vertical meter near existing infrastructure. These areas continue to expand as we define new zones. The most exciting part is the down plunge of Island, which remains open at depths below 1,500 meters, a relatively shallow depth for gold systems in Canada. Our earlier drilling has indicated that Island continues down plunge, and later this year, after we complete our delineation drill program, we will focus on exploring Island at depth. Additionally, as John mentioned, we have near-mine opportunities including Cline, Edwards, and Pick, which are historic mines located 7 kilometers from the Magino mill. We have consolidated all the land in that area, and we're beginning to explore a new gold system. The results from our efforts this year are promising, and we will continue drilling at those targets into the second half of the year.

And Scott, I mean, based on this drilling and the drilling results expected, I mean, is the plan to kind of have these results incorporated into the expansion? Or is this kind of the next phase of that expansion that these opportunities would be brought into any sort of production profile at the Island Gold complex?

Our primary goal at the moment is to convert the inferred mineral resource at Island into indicated resources to include in the expansion study by the end of the year. We currently have about 1 million ounces that we are actively drilling from both surface and underground. We are on track to complete this program for the year-end expansion. The other targets I mentioned, including Clien, Edwards, and Pick, will be longer-term, medium-term targets. Additionally, there is the North Shear, which I didn't discuss, but those will likely be new resources in the medium term that could offer potential opportunities for higher-grade mill feed at Magino.

The next question is from Cosmos Chiu from CIBC.

Maybe my first question is on Young-Davidson. Just to talk about the higher levels of groundwater due to the spring melt. Has that been fully resolved just to confirm that the groundwater is now normalized?

Yes, it has been resolved. As we mentioned, it was a bit of a perfect storm with a quick spring melt and significant precipitation during that time, which contributed to increased water in the regional watershed. This led to more groundwater inflow into the mine. We are committed to understanding the entire regional watershed and monitoring it for the long term. Additionally, we have added more pumping capacity as backup for both our open-pit and underground dewatering systems. Therefore, we do not anticipate this event happening again. As we noted, we have been operating there for 15 years, and this is the first time such a significant event has occurred, but we believe we have it managed moving forward.

Great. I guess there's no pun intended when you said perfect storm. Maybe on the throughput here, you did 7,190 tonnes per day in Q2. Reading your MD&A, you will get to 8,000 tonnes per day, but likely not until Q4. Am I correct in that interpretation?

Yes. I mean we had a rope change scheduled part of this year for the head ropes at the Northgate shaft, and that occurred early July. Post completion of that rope change, we've been running at 8,000 tonnes per day. But obviously, when you factor in the number of days over the course of the quarter, we'll probably come in around 7,500 to 7,600 tonnes per day for the quarter. But as we move into Q4, we don't have any significant scheduled maintenance requirements for the plant, and would expect to be running at 8,000 tonnes per day.

Great. And then also at YD, I think you mentioned that in Q3, grades will remain at the lower end of full year guidance and closer to 2.05 gram per tonne. Is that as expected? And was there any ability on your end to potentially mine higher grades in Q3, even maybe in Q2 to offset the lower than 8,000 tonnes per day throughput?

No. I mean we've got a pretty committed schedule with regards to the extraction sequence for the underground. And again, it's just to manage the overall regional extraction of the waterbody to be responsible as far as the mining phase of what we're doing for Young-Davidson. So I mean, really, the lower grade being at the lower end of guidance has been a function of, obviously, the slower first half of the year, not mining all the tonnes that we expected, and as well as a slight change in sequence has resulted in us being more at the lower end of guidance as opposed to maybe being near the mid or upper end of guidance. But as we move through the mine plan through the second half of the year, it is pretty flat line between Q2, Q3. But as we move into Q4, as per our mining sequence that we expected, we will be getting into higher grades that would be more near the higher end of our guidance. And then the other point I would make is based on where we had been mining, even though there has been a slight sequence change or we haven't mined all of the tonnes from a reconciliation point of view, the planned grades that we were expecting are aligned with the actual grades that we've been seeing from a reconciliation point of view.

And then maybe just a few numbers question on Island Gold. As you mentioned, with the transition of the Island Gold ore to the Magino mill, recovery looks to be as expected. So how should we look at recovery? Like in Q2, it was 98% for Island Gold, 95% for Magino. So should we just take a weighted average, and that should be kind of the expectation we should expect on a go-forward basis?

Yes. Our expectation based on the blended mill feed into the Magino mill with the Island ore as well as the Magino ore, the expectation should be an overall recovery of about 96% is what you should expect.

Okay, great. And then in terms of the redesign liner and the both configuration of the SAG mill. Just to kind of confirm, you now have the configuration needed at the Magino mill to achieve your near-term target of 11,200 tonnes per day. So it's just really down to kind of getting it up and running, availability and things like that, you don't need to change anything else.

Correct. I mean the last step really there was just having more plant availability for the SAG mill. And by making the change that we did in early July with the liner configuration as well as the bolts, that will give us more industry standard plant availability for the SAG mill moving forward to be able to continue that ramp-up to strive for the targets that we're expecting as we move through the quarter.

And then one last question on the grades at Magino, the open pit. As you mentioned, 0.82 gram per tonne in Q2. How should we look at the mine grade on a go-forward basis? I think your full year guidance is anywhere between 0.8 to 0.9 gram per tonne, your reserve grade is 0.91. So could you remind us how we should look at grade? Or does it really matter given that you stockpile at the lower grades anyways and what's actually going to the mill is high?

Yes. If you review our processing in Q2, we averaged approximately 0.94, which is within our guidance range of 0.9 to 1.05. The overall mine grade will typically be a bit lower because we are stockpiling lower-grade material and processing the higher-grade material. Therefore, you should consider it based on what we process each quarter. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, we expect to stay within that range of 0.9 to 1.05 from Magino ore.

The next question is from Don DeMarco from National Bank.

Good to see the strong free cash flow in Q2 while keeping the projects on track. My first question is about Island. Congratulations on the shutdown of the Island mill. Regarding the Magino mill, I understand the throughput has been around 9,500 tonnes per day in the last couple of weeks of July. What throughput do you expect for the rest of the quarter in August and September? Do you anticipate a quick ramp-up to 11,000 tonnes per day, or do you expect a more moderate increase that might reach 11,000 tonnes per day in September?

Yes, Don, it's Luc here. It will be a bit of a gradual ramp-up as we continue to move forward through the quarter. But certainly, as we hit our stride in Q4, we'd be more consistently running at 11,200 tonnes per day. Just with the liner change that we've just completed, the liner and bulk change, we've got the ball chart setting that we're looking at optimizing certainly, as well as there's a little bit less volume with the new liners. So that's part of where the gradual ramp-up occurs through the quarter, but we would expect to hit our stride certainly in Q4.

Yes. And just to add, the critical thing for us is to ensure we're maximizing the amount of underground ore that's coming from Island, and that's continuing to be where we expect it to be.

Okay, great. Yes, it was mentioned in response to an earlier question that you plan to step up the processing of the high-grade ore at the Magino mill. So should I take this as that Island might contribute more than 1,200 tonnes per day to the mill in Q3 or Q4?

Yes. I mean as part of our Phase 3+ expansion and our ramp-up, our mining rates were starting to gradually increase from the Island underground component. So yes, through the second half of the year, you will start to see there would be more contribution from Island underground ore going into the Magino mill on a combined basis. We'd be targeting about 1,400 tonnes per day.

Okay. But should we consider 1,400 for the entire second half of the year? Or how should we compare Q3 with Q4?

Q3, you're running around 1,300 tonnes per day. Q4, we'd be running at about 1,400 tonnes per day.

Excellent. And it's great to hear that, John, as a final question, you reiterated the consolidated production guidance. Are you expecting to achieve production guidance at all the mines? Like of course, Young-Davidson and Island are currently running at the low end of their respective ranges. So just wondering if it's on a consolidated basis or if there's any additional color on a mine-by-mine basis?

We hit it on a consolidated basis; you've got to hit it mine by mine. So we give variations across each of those operations, just given the unforeseen things that can happen in mining operations. But all things being equal, we're quite confident in the guidance we provided on a mine-by-mine basis and on a consolidated basis.

There are no further questions at this time. This concludes this morning's call. If you have any further questions that have not been answered, please feel free to contact Mr. Scott Parsons at (416) 368-9932 extension 5439. Thank you. The conference has now ended. Please disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.