Earnings Call Transcript - EGO Q1 2020

Operator, Conference Operator

Thank you for your patience. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Eldorado Gold Corporation First Quarter 2020 Conference Call. Please note that all participants are in listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be a chance to ask questions. Now, I will hand the conference over to Peter Lekich, Manager, Investor Relations. Please proceed, Mr. Lekich.

Peter Lekich, Manager, Investor Relations

Thank you, operator. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for taking the time to dial into our conference call today. With me in Vancouver this morning are George Burns, President and CEO; Phil Yee, Executive Vice President and CFO; Joe Dick, Executive Vice President and COO; Paul Skayman, Special Advisor to the COO; and Jason Cho, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. Our release yesterday details our 2020 first quarter financial and operating results. This should be read in conjunction with our first quarter financial statements and management's discussion and analysis, both of which are available on our website. They've also been filed on SEDAR and EDGAR. All figures discussed today are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise stated. We will be speaking to the slides that accompany this webcast. You can download a copy of these slides from our website. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that any projections included in our discussion today are likely to involve risks, which are detailed in our 2019 AIF and in the cautionary note on Slide 1. I will now turn the call over to George.

George Burns, President and CEO

Thanks, Peter. And good morning, everyone. Here's the outline for today's call. I'll give an overview of Q1, along with some comments, then I'll pass it along to Phil for financials. Joe will follow by reviewing operational performance, then we'll open it up for questions. Before getting into things, I want to take a moment to recognize the ongoing and considerable efforts all of our global teams have had in managing our business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our overarching priority each and every day is keeping our people safe. I've witnessed a huge amount of collaboration across Eldorado as we put in place new protocols that mitigate the risk to our people and prevent the spread of the virus. I'll talk some more about these later. But for now, I'd like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to our teams for looking out for one another and maintaining business continuity during these unprecedented times. In light of COVID-19, operational performance in the first quarter was exceptional, with production of approximately 116,000 ounces. This was consistent with Q4 production rates, but slightly below our 2020 plan, due to rainfall in Kisladag and curtailed operations at Lamaque, as a result of government-mandated restrictions. We expect quarterly production to increase going forward, as a solution is processed at Kisladag and operations have already resumed at Lamaque. Costs were marginally higher than expected due to fewer ounces produced during the quarter and lower silver and base metal prices. We're expecting our costs to be lower over the remainder of the year. We delivered two key catalysts this quarter, including extension of mine life at Kisladag and receipt of the expansion permit for underground production at Triangle. Also of note was improved production rates at Olympius, which resulted in the mine's highest production in over a year. At this time, we are maintaining guidance for 2020 of 520,000 ounces to 550,000 ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of $850 to $950 per ounce sold. We will continue to evaluate capital allocation, operational performance, and monitor the impacts of COVID-19 on our business. As I mentioned earlier, we effectively maintained business continuity in light of the global pandemic. Our operations in Greece and Turkey continued throughout the quarter, and Lamaque is now back online. As the spread of the virus increased, we activated a global COVID crisis management team, which identified risks to the business. In addition to implementing safety protocols across our sites, the company was proactive in drawing $150 million from its credit facility. We do not see an immediate need for these funds, but are looking to ensure the company has sufficient cash on hand. With approximately $400 million in total liquidity at quarter end, Eldorado is well capitalized and positioned to maintain its strategic goals as we begin paying down our term loan in June of this year. Here on Slide 5 are some of the global operating controls we have put in place across our sites. Our main focus has been on training and compliance, including physical distancing and personal hygiene in order to keep our people safe. We have worked closely with governments to ensure we have all necessary protocols in place. We have also collaborated with industry associations and peers to share best practices. We continue to consider ways in which we will be able to further protect our people and limit the spread of the virus. Our sites are currently operating at 75% normal staffing levels, as employees considered to be at high risk have been asked to stay at home. We do not expect this to affect production in the near term, but are reviewing the potential longer-term impact of certain discretionary activities such as waste stripping, underground development, and drilling that are temporarily reduced. We will continue to track the situation closely, interactively working with sites to transition back to normal staffing levels. Here on Slide 6, we highlight how we've been working with and supporting local communities during COVID. To date, we have donated approximately $0.5 million towards local emergency response efforts. In Greece, we have helped procure critical medical equipment for hospitals in Thessaloniki and Halkidiki regions. In Turkey, we've helped provide health services, supplies, and information to local communities. And in Quebec, we've donated to the Val d'Or Hospital Foundation and helped the local food bank and other vulnerable groups. In each jurisdiction, we have worked with local communities to ensure this funding has the greatest impact and supports their long-term resilience and recovery. That's it for me. Over to you, Phil.

Philip Yee, Executive Vice President and CFO

Thank you, George. Good morning, everyone. Starting on Slide 7, I will provide an overview of Eldorado's financial results for the first quarter of 2020. Eldorado generated $204.7 million in total metal revenue in the quarter. This includes $183.7 million in gold revenue, and is an increase of 156% compared to the same quarter in 2019. This significant increase in revenue resulted from higher gold sales volumes of 116,219 ounces, compared to 43,074 ounces in the first quarter of 2019. The increase in revenue also reflects the higher average realized gold price in the first quarter of 2020 at $1,580 per ounce, compared to $1,265 per ounce in the comparative quarter in 2019. The company reported adjusted net earnings for the quarter of $12.5 million or $0.08 earnings per share, a significant improvement over the first quarter of 2019, which reported an adjusted net loss of $21.1 million or $0.13 loss per share. Adjusted net earnings in Q1 2020 removes items not reflective of the underlying operations of the company, including a $12.2 million loss on foreign exchange related to the translation of deferred tax balances, and a $4.4 million loss on a non-cash revaluation of a derivative related to redemption options on the senior secured notes. Prior to these adjustments, the company reported a net loss to shareholders in the first quarter of $4.9 million or $0.03 loss per share. This was a significant improvement over Q1 2019 and reflects higher depreciation charges, higher expensed finance costs, and increased tax expense in Q1 2020. EBITDA for the quarter was $84.7 million, and adjusted EBITDA was $90 million, a material improvement over EBITDA of $4.9 million and adjusted EBITDA of $12.5 million in the first quarter of 2019. Adjusted EBITDA removes certain non-cash items, as well as a $1.1 million charge of mine standby costs incurred at Lamaque during the government-mandated suspension of operations in the last week of March. Depreciation and amortization increased to $52.4 million in the first quarter from $20.2 million in the comparative quarter in 2019, reflecting higher production and sales volumes in 2020. Expense finance costs were $16.2 million in the first quarter of 2020, compared to $7.3 million for the comparative quarter in 2019. This increase was primarily due to a change in accounting for interest starting in Q2 of 2019, as capitalization of interest ceased following the commencement of commercial operations on Lamaque in April 2019. Income tax expense for Q1 2020 amounted to $21.4 million for the quarter, compared to $6 million in the comparative period of 2019. The significant increase was a result of higher sales volumes in Q1 of 2020, leading to higher income tax on operations in Turkey and higher provincial mining duties for Lamaque. Deferred tax expense of $2.8 million in the quarter included $12.2 million of expense arising from the significant weakening of certain currencies in which income tax is paid, and this was partially offset by deferred tax recoveries related to timing differences, primarily in property plant equipment. Eldorado reported $53.3 million in net cash generated from operating activities in the first quarter. This was a significant increase from the first quarter of 2019, which reflected the usage of cash for operations of $600,000. With our continued strong operational results, the first quarter of 2020 also represented our fourth consecutive quarter of positive free cash flow since Lamaque commenced commercial production on April 1, 2019. We finished the quarter with approximately $400 million in available liquidity; of this, $364 million was in cash, cash equivalents, and term deposits, and includes $150 million in proceeds from the March 30 draw on our credit facility, which was completed as a proactive measure in light of uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately $36 million remains available under the $250 million revolving credit facility. Approximately $64 million of this facility is allocated to secure certain reclamation obligations in connection with our operations. I will now turn it over to Joe for a recap of operations.

Joe Dick, Executive Vice President and COO

Thanks, Phil. And good morning, everyone. Here's a quick summary of our quarterly operating results. As George mentioned, we produced 115,950 ounces of gold in the quarter at cash operating costs of $627 per ounce sold, and all-in sustaining costs of $952 per ounce sold. This was consistent with Q4 2019 but slightly below our current plan. Looking forward, we are maintaining our 2020 guidance at this time. We have not observed any negative productivity impacts resulting from COVID-19, but we are continuing to monitor the situation. We have seen a reduction in our workforce of approximately 25%, as some workers who are considered to be high risk to COVID-19 have been asked to stay at home as a precaution. This has led to a reduction of certain discretionary activities at our sites and has affected underground development and waste stripping at Olympius and Kisladag, respectively. Here on Slide 9, we have some further color on the quarter at each of our operations. At Kisladag, as George mentioned, we had increased rainfall during the quarter. This led to increased solution volumes and impacted our production. The amount of gold that was leached into solution was in line with tons of waste, and we expect to recover this gold in the coming months. At Lamaque, we had a very good quarter, despite having to temporarily move the mine into care and maintenance on March 23 to comply with restrictions as mandated by the Quebec government. The Quebec government has since declared mining operations an essential service, and we put Lamaque back into operations on April 15. We lost about three weeks of production there, but we are confident that we can make up for this over the remainder of the year. I'd also like to note that at Lamaque, we have initiated testing of a mechanized mining system called Minrail for extraction of shallow dipping structures. Current resources potentially minable with this technology are estimated at 160,000 tons at an average grade of 9.16 grams per ton. We expect to have results on Minrail tests during Q3. The commercial success of Minrail could support increased exploration opportunities to expand resource and gently dipping vein systems common to the Lamaque project area. Efemcukuru was once again consistent with our expectations. Production was lower compared to the fourth quarter due to lower grade mines so far this year. We did manage to offset this a bit by increasing the amount of tons put through the mill. And finally, at Olympius, I'm pleased to report that we had our highest gold production in 18 months. This was a result of the work we have completed on underground development and improvements to the pace backfill system. That said, unfortunately, Olympius had a poor quarter from a cost perspective. Low base metal and silver prices, as well as higher treatment charges, led to increased cash operating costs and all-in sustaining costs. We will continue to drive operational improvements and look to lower costs as the year progresses. Over to a quick update on some of our projects on Slide 10. At Kisladag, we're continuing waste stripping, though at a reduced rate. We have also selected a vendor for the HPGR and are expecting delivery of that unit late this year. At Lamaque, we are continuing technical work to increase production from Triangle, and we now have the permit to increase underground production up to 2,650 tons per day. We intend to increase our mining rate to roughly 2,200 tons per day, which is the current capacity of the Sigma Mill. As a reminder, this expansion requires no incremental capital investment. It simply accelerates underground development in the current plan. Eldorado will continue to study and optimize the Triangle deposit. We'll focus on the decline of the Triangle deposit to the Sigma Mill, and we'll also look at de-bottlenecking the mill, and long-term paving solution to enable us to go beyond 2,200 tons per day. At Efemcukuru, construction of the flotation columns is underway, as you can see from the picture. Once these are completed and commissioned, which is expected in the second half of the year, we will be able to further increase the quality of our concentrate and reduce our treatment charges. And finally, over to Skouries. Early in the quarter, we mobilized crews to commence site protection work. We placed concrete at the mill building to protect the rebar that was installed several years ago, and we had planned to install the mill building, but that work has now been postponed due to COVID-19. With that, I'll turn it back over to George for closing remarks.

George Burns, President and CEO

Thanks, Joe. Perhaps a few words on Greece before wrapping up. The COVID-19 pandemic has diverted both our own and the Greek government's attention, leaving limited time to discuss the advancement of our investment. However, we look forward to continuing negotiations and remain committed to developing our assets in Greece safely and responsibly for the benefit of our investors and the Greek people. Eldorado's assets in Halkidiki have the potential to be economic engines for Greece, creating high-quality jobs, increasing tax royalties and export revenues for the country, and providing an additional revenue stream to help mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19. The safety of our people, their families, and our local communities is always top of mind. As we look forward to the remainder of the year, we will continue to adapt to our new normal while focusing on delivering our objectives. Thank you, everyone. I will now turn it over to the operator for questions.

Operator, Conference Operator

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Our first question comes from Cosmos Chiu with CIBC. Please go ahead.

Cosmos Chiu, Analyst

Hi, thanks, George, Phil, and Joe. My first question is about maintaining your production guidance for 2020. George, you mentioned that you're currently operating at about 75% of normal levels. How much of that has been considered in your guidance for production this year? Additionally, you mentioned some discretionary spending that might be on hold right now. Regarding the potential long-term impact, are we looking at effects in 2020, or should we consider 2021 as well?

George Burns, President and CEO

Thanks for the question, Cosmo. Regarding our 5-year outlook, we have experienced limited impact, and we remain committed to our 5-year guidance. If the reduction in stripping and development continues, we will need to reassess on a daily basis. Currently, we are focused on returning our manpower levels to normal and are optimistic about achieving that. Specifically for Kisladag, we are not moving all the waste as planned, but the current impact will not affect the 5-year guidance because we have re-optimized the next two phases. We are mining Phase 3 to feed the crusher, with Phase 4 and Phase 5 pushbacks included in the 15-year mine plan. We've slightly reduced Phase 4, allowing quicker access to ore and optimizing our truck fleet and stripping over the mine's lifespan; this provides some cushion against the challenges posed by the lack of truck drivers. On the development side for underground mines, it’s crucial to proceed with development to open future phases. I am confident that our teams will find ways to restore our workforce to normal levels and develop where necessary. Overall, I feel confident in how we have managed the COVID situation so far and believe we will address any issues in the coming weeks and months to return to normal.

Cosmos Chiu, Analyst

For sure. And then, maybe more specifically on Lamaque here, you know, any challenges in terms of getting it back up and running since restarting on April 15? And then, on top of that I believe before COVID-19, before the shutdown, you were running at about 1600 tons per day; are you back to about those levels? And Joe, as you talked about, you're aiming for getting to about 2200 tons per day in Q2; can you maybe elaborate on how you're going to get there? And can you do that even as you run at about 75% of normal levels?

George Burns, President and CEO

Go ahead, Joe.

Joe Dick, Executive Vice President and COO

So, first off, at Lamaque the development went very well in Q1 and we finished Q1 ahead of the development schedule, even though we lost the last week of the quarter. And as for the ramp-up, we have ramped up fairly quickly. It took us roughly from the 15th until about the 20th to get the mills turning. And since we have been able to feed the mills at close to 2000 tons a day, so that early development and being prepared and knowing that this potential permit was coming, we were working hard to ramp development up in advance and be prepared; so things have gone well in the Lamaque restart and in the continued growth at Lamaque.

George Burns, President and CEO

And I might just supplement those comments, Cosmos. On the mill, we had planned maintenance for the mill, and we basically, since it was already down, took advantage of that opportunity. And I think it's another example where our team quickly rallied around the restart, got the planned maintenance completed, and the mill back up and running; so hats off to our team there.

Cosmos Chiu, Analyst

And then, as you mentioned, in the MD&A, Lamaque grades were lower, but as expected as you targeted some of the lower grades stopes; the head grade was 6.05 grams per tonne. Could you give us a bit more insight into what we should be looking for for the rest of the year?

Joe Dick, Executive Vice President and COO

Cosmos, this is Joe. Part of the issue with lower grades was higher development tons, which were typically at lower grades; so that was somewhat expected and then towards the close of the quarter we didn't get to the higher grade stopes at the end. As the year progresses, the grade will recover, but we're likely to stay a bit below the original plan due to that increased development.

Cosmos Chiu, Analyst

Great. And then, maybe one last question for Phil. As you talked about Phil, taxes based on compared to my model they were quite high in Q1; $21 million under earnings, that were $15.9 million. I think you touched on it in terms of higher revenue from Turkey and what-not, but it would still have worked out to over 100% of earnings as taxes. I think a bit of it might have been adjusted out for the adjusted earnings but I don't know exactly how much. I'm just trying to get a better handle on how I should look at the rest of 2020.

Philip Yee, Executive Vice President and CFO

Thanks, Cosmos. The factors influencing the current income tax expense are the corporate income tax in Turkey and the mining duties in Quebec. With production increasing at Kisladag this year, we anticipate higher output compared to last year. The income tax rate in Turkey is expected to correlate with the production increases at both Kisladag and Efemcukuru, from my perspective.

Cosmos Chiu, Analyst

Okay. I believe your earnings today fell short of consensus, partly due to taxes. I would like to gain a clearer understanding of taxes to project for Q2, Q3, and Q4.

Philip Yee, Executive Vice President and CFO

Yes. For Turkey, the total income tax expense is $18.7 million, with $17.7 million coming from Turkey. The remaining $1 million corresponds to other factors. If you calculate the effective tax rate, it is approximately 33%.

Cosmos Chiu, Analyst

Perfect. Thank you. Those are the questions I have. Have a good weekend and stay safe.

Philip Yee, Executive Vice President and CFO

Okay. Thanks, Cosmo.

George Burns, President and CEO

Thank you.

Operator, Conference Operator

Our next question comes from Kerry Smith with Haywood Securities. Please go ahead.

Kerry Smith, Analyst

Thanks, operator. Joe, just a follow-up on Triangle; how long do you think it will take you to get the development in place to be able to get to 2200 tons a day? Do you think you can get there by year-end?

Joe Dick, Executive Vice President and COO

I think we'll be closer to year-end; I wouldn't guarantee 2200, but I think we'll be very close.

Kerry Smith, Analyst

Okay. And that wouldn't assume any benefit from the mineral thing, right, that would just be conventional?

Joe Dick, Executive Vice President and COO

That's just conventional. We installed the Minrail in the first quarter and plan to conduct testing in the second quarter, followed by an evaluation of economics in the third quarter. In total, there are approximately 20,000 tons in the Minrail test plan.

Kerry Smith, Analyst

Okay. And one, maybe I'm not sure that this question would be best for, but there is the updated results that you plan to put out on parameter, the updated capital and operating costs. When might we see that? It sounds like it's going to be finished this year; is that something that we'll see in maybe the Q3 results or what would the timing be?

George Burns, President and CEO

So, it's probably something we'll talk about in Q4, should we complete the work in Q3 and then talk about it in Q4.

Kerry Smith, Analyst

Okay. So it might not be in the Q4 call next year in February, but rather sometime later this year; is that correct, George?

George Burns, President and CEO

Yes, I would say late this year.

Kerry Smith, Analyst

The standby costs incurred at Lamaque were slightly over $1 million for the last six or seven days of March. I'm curious if there were any significant expenses included in that amount. What do you estimate the costs might have been leading up to the startup on April 15? I don't want to normalize the $1.1 million, but I'm interested in what the actual figure could have been.

Philip Yee, Executive Vice President and CFO

Yes, that $1.1 million for Kerry was actually from March 24 to March 31. You could likely estimate that amount for one week, so for the following two weeks leading up to April 15, it would be reasonable to project it to approximately $2.2 million.

Kerry Smith, Analyst

Okay. And then, maybe the last question if I could. You mentioned not having enough manpower to handle some of the pad maintenance at Kisladag, as about 25% of your workforce is unavailable. Are you considering bringing in contractors to address that situation, or how do you plan to manage it to prevent any long-term impact on your production?

George Burns, President and CEO

I mean, that's one alternative for sure. But the best scenario is putting additional measures in place to protect the health of the employees that happens in coming to work, and that's priority one. And I guess, if that's not completely successful, we could look to bring in some temporary workers until COVID evolves to a better place.

Kerry Smith, Analyst

Okay. And George, when do you have to get back to normal manpower levels at Kisladag and get back to stripping at the rate you had budgeted so that doesn't impact the mine plan even though you did sort of reject that Phase 4 plan?

George Burns, President and CEO

It's difficult to specify an exact date, but I believe we will be evaluating that during this quarter. I am hopeful we can return to normal levels in the second quarter, or at least close to them. I think we can manage all of this based on the previous discussions regarding phase four stripping. If the situation continues beyond that, we'll need to run schedules and forecasts to assess the impact and then inform the market about our output. However, based on our current understanding, we feel quite optimistic that we can navigate through this without any negative effects.

Kerry Smith, Analyst

Okay, great. Thanks very much.

Operator, Conference Operator

Our next question comes from Tanya Jakusconek with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Tanya Jakusconek, Analyst

Good morning, everyone. Kerry covered many of my questions. I just wanted to confirm my understanding about Kisladag. George, you mentioned that we are aiming to return to 100% capacity or close to it in Q2 to ensure we don't affect our guidance for 2020. Is that right? Did I get that right?

George Burns, President and CEO

No, for 2020, we're okay. The stripping won't impact 2020. We are moving all the ore and waste in phase three and removing a great deal of the waste in phase four, just not everything we had planned currently. So the issue of getting back to normal attendance and manpower levels is about stripping waste for the five-year plan, not for 2020. And, again, there's work to be done to sort out how we can put additional protection in place for those employees. But believe we can get there.

Tanya Jakusconek, Analyst

Okay, so I understand, so 2020, even if we operate with 75% of employees at Kisladag, you're comfortable with the 2020 guidance? It's that 75% going beyond the five-year plan?

George Burns, President and CEO

Yes, correct. So 2021 and beyond could get impacted if stripping does not resume at the normal pace.

Tanya Jakusconek, Analyst

So when you mention 2021 and later, are you indicating that it might affect 2021 specifically, in addition to the following years? I get it could go beyond five years, but are you referring to 2021?

George Burns, President and CEO

Yes, 2021. The 2025, say, is potentially a risk. If you look at the Kisladag plan, we've got five plus years, five or six years of stripping, at which point our truck requirements drop off substantially. So what we've done with this re-sequencing is we've made phase four a bit smaller, we get to ore quicker. That's mitigating, to some degree, the stripping issues we're currently experiencing. And so, without getting that waste moving, there could be some impacts in 2021 and beyond. And that's why we're working hard to come up with ways to get all the trucks moving again.

Tanya Jakusconek, Analyst

Do you have an understanding of how COVID and the implementation of social distancing and other health and safety measures have affected your cost structure? Have you found ways to offset these impacts? I'm trying to determine if this will have a long-term effect on costs and if we have established a new level.

George Burns, President and CEO

I'll maybe answer at a high level, and Joe can add any detail. So, at a high level, we're not seeing any cost impact. We're obviously using a lot more PPE than normal, but that's minutiae in the scheme of things. And there's lots of habit changes that have to happen amongst our workforce to maintain that physical distancing and to have appropriate hygiene. So equipment operators between shifts and the like, they're doing a lot more cleaning than we would have in the pre-COVID era. But the impact that's having on cost, I mean, we don't see it and can't measure really any impact to date. And I think that's probably going to be the case moving forward. So as Joe said, we're not seeing any measurable change in productivity. And to me, that's the key issue. If these control measures start lowering productivity, that obviously would then have an impact on cost and cost per ounce. But to date, we're not seeing any material change there. And it's really about the quality of our people adapting to these new risks, and everybody's motivated to keep themselves and their co-workers safe, and at the same time maintain the health of our business because we all rely on it. So again, I think the collaboration has been fantastic. And to date, we haven't seen any material impact on our costs that we can speak to. Joe, I don't know if you had any color around that.

Joe Dick, Executive Vice President and COO

I think a couple of points, George. One of them being there's been some positive offsets. We've done a lot of task observation, which means getting out and looking at the work with teams. And that alone has maybe made some of our work more efficient. Even though you have the distancing, I think the engagement and interaction with kind of the leadership and teams in the field has helped us a bit. And I think we can look to some other things; there's lower fuel prices and some other offsets that for any increases we're seeing, we're likely seeing some offsets as well. So I think we'll continue to look at those impacts over time and be able to better quantify them. But qualitatively, so far, we're managing to maintain productivity levels pre-COVID.

Tanya Jakusconek, Analyst

And you touched a little bit, Joe, on opportunities. You talked a little bit about better engagement or more efficient engagement. Are you seeing other opportunities as you look at your operations that this whole change of workplace has brought to your attention?

Joe Dick, Executive Vice President and COO

Well, I think it's early days in that, but yes, we are, I think. We're working on kind of the tracking that we might do for potential management of any outbreak on-site, which is also helpful in managing work and people's proximity to work. So, it's a little different environment, and we're early days in kind of figuring out how to take advantage of that. But I think there's an opportunity in that, yes.

George Burns, President and CEO

It's a good example. We have tagging and tracking of equipment at most of our underground mines and in our Kisladag pit, but we haven't focused on surface facilities. With COVID, we believe this is a significant mitigation factor. As we implement this in Q2, we'll see benefits from further investment in that technology. At a high level, this is changing our approach to everything, including management. We're not traveling to our sites, but we're utilizing the technologies we've established over the past couple of years. I believe our communication is actually improving. Our days are longer, and there is a lot of stress from global events, but I think we're becoming better at communication and teamwork. So, while it's an unusual positive outcome, we will learn a lot from this entire situation, and we'll carry forward the good things to enhance our business.

Tanya Jakusconek, Analyst

That's good to hear. Thank you so much.

George Burns, President and CEO

Thank you. Again, I'd like to thank all of our employees and partners for their ongoing support during these unprecedented times. Look forward to catching up with everybody in the next quarter. Stay safe and stay healthy, everyone. Thank you.

Operator, Conference Operator

This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.