McEwen Inc. (MUX) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to McEwen's third quarter 2026 operating and financial results conference call. Present from the company today are Rob McEwen, chairman and chief owner, Ian Ball, executive vice chairman, Perry Ng, chief financial officer, Amy Wang, vice president, finance and tax. Chana Kumrage, Vice President of Operations. Kevin Bromfield, Vice President, Development Projects. Zaheer Jina, Vice President, Permitting, Government Relations and Sustainability. Stefan Spears, Vice President, Corporate Development. Michael Medding, Managing Director of McEwen Copper. Cameron Dijes, General Counsel and Secretary. Other management of the company will also be available to answer questions during the call. Please note, this event is being recorded. For the question and answer session after the speaker's presentation, if you would like to ask a question, press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Rob McEwen, Chief Owner. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today, we're going to start right in trying to find some sunshine and look at how we're repairing some of our operations. And I'm going to ask Ian Baller, Vice Chairman, to jump right into that discussion.

Thank you, Rob. First, obviously, it was a very difficult quarter. I would call it a very unacceptable quarter. You know, as a mining company, as a gold company, you have to make money, and we did not do that. And there's some very specific reasons, which I believe we're on the route to fixing. But that does not hold the disappointment that we felt with putting out a result yesterday. Despite the difficult quarter, we still are on track to double our gold production by 2030. So nothing in that sense has changed. But I do want to take some time to talk about some of the issues that we had at each of the sites, what we're doing to correct them, where we're at now. And a little bit about the transition we're seeing from our old minds to our new minds. So I do want to spend some time first on Gold Bar because the issues that we started to see there began in Q2. They fed into Q3. And that was happening for a number of reasons. One, I would say there was a lack of oversight that we mentioned in our press release. From there, a lack of detail. There was delayed decision-making. And from there, we made a number of personnel changes, promoted various people who were on this call to higher up. And that is to correct this as soon as possible. Because it is a heap leach mine and not a mill, it does take time for those. Changes to take effect. And we didn't start seeing higher output until the end of September into October. And that's why we released the October production numbers. And for Gold Bar, October was the highest production month in the last 15 months for that mine. Can we do better? Absolutely. There's still a lot of improvement we could do at Gold Bar, but it is now back generating positive cash flow for the month of October, and we've seen a positive trend continue into November. At Fox, it was a situation where that mine, the fruit mine at the Fox complex was scheduled to come to an end. We did find some incremental ore, and it was decided earlier on in the year to do development into that ore area. But most of that development cost was occurred in Q3, despite us mining there for another six to nine months. We could not spread it out over our ASIC. So with that and the fact that the mill had excess capacity, we decided to draw down on a low-grade stockpile to feed the mill. Both of those items elevated the ASIC. Both are temporary, and we showed in October that the costs for the month are now back within guidance, and we suspect that they will be there and move lower as we transition into the new stock mine, which I'll touch upon in a second. Lastly, at San Jose, where we have a 49% interest, as probably many of you know, Latin America, particularly in Argentina, into Chile, experienced significant snowfalls this year, record amounts, and this caused increased moisture at the mill. Typically, the better grades at San Jose are associated with clay-like content, but with the moisture, this was causing issues at the plant, so they moved over to more sulfide-rich stockpiles, which were lower grade. Because the grade was lower, typically the gold and silver recoveries are also lower. So it was a bit of a compounding effect while you saw the elevated cost and the lower production at San Jose. So what could be some good news if I'm an investor looking at this scenario and saying, well, why would I want to continue on with this company? And that's a very good question. What I would say is, one, these are temporary issues. And you probably have thinking to yourself, I've heard this before from this company. You promised me you're going to make changes and you put out another unacceptable quarter. And I would share that frustration. And what I'm saying today is. We do think with all the changes that we have made, we are in a position to make money and to build out the portfolio as we see it. At stock, we're just coming into the ore zone this month. Stocks should be a more profitable mine than Froome. It has much better bull recoveries. There's no royalty. There's no haul to the mill. We can mill at a 30% increased capacity over Froome because the rock is softer. So we should start to see the benefits of that take hold in December and the beginning of the new year. We're also seeing a lot of our operations going from short mine life to much longer mine lives. Froome and Froome West were a couple of years. Stock is eight and a half to nine years. Grey Fox, which is part of the Fox Complex, is another 15 years. We're transitioning Gold Bar from being a three- to four-year mine life with Trinity, Windfall, and Lookout to be a decade-plus. We are now starting construction of our mill in Mexico, and that's expected to go for 10 to 20 years, depending upon the future permit we would receive there. So this quarter is a bit of a transition. We do think we can finance the growth with minimal share dilution going forward. So much as there was a lot of negative, there's still a lot of positive to be seen here. And we'll be happy to take any operating questions you have at the end of the call. I am going to hand it over to Michael Manning, our managing director of Los Azulis, because despite this being a financial operating call, the developments at Los Azulis obviously have a big impact on our overall valuation. Michael?

Thank you, Ian. Good morning, everyone. Four topics on Los Azules. The work towards a final investment decision permits the winter end financing. The FID work, the engineering, cost estimate, and execution plan that form the basis for the decision are on track for completion around the end. METSO has started work on the main process plan packages under limited notices to proceed. Four international engineering firms bid for the EPCM contract. We expect to finish evaluating the bids before year end and will award once final terms are negotiated. Metallurgical test work, including 10-meter column leach tests, continues to favorably support the heap leach design. Two dates, so nobody confuses them. Around year end, we complete the technical and economical basis. The decision itself with full project financing is targeted for mid-2027. We are also updating the feasibility study. Three things drive it. Better geotechnical results than we expected, a higher long-term copper price in line with analyst consensus, and current costs from our recent bids. It's not a redesign. The project stays broadly the same. The base case does not use Newton, as was the case in the feasibility. It is conventional buy heap leaching, as used at many mines in Chile and Peru, some at higher altitude than ours, Quebrada Blanca and Del Abra among them. We see potential for more copper over longer mine life. Lenders and investors in our financing process will work from this updated technical report. We target publishing it in February 2027. Permits. In September, we received the environmental approval to connect Los Azules to Argentina's national grids within three weeks of the public hearing in Calingasta. Calingasta is the community where we're operating in. It covers the high-altitude section of the line, which is common to the supply alternatives we are considering, so we can build it whichever we choose. Basic engineering for the line and substations is complete and advanced enough to tender. We also obtained land-use approvals for the 3,000-bed construction camp and the Candadito camp, and environmental approval to explore the neighboring Marissa 1 property that we acquired some month back. One permit is outstanding the water concession. Our application is complete, the authority has no open information requests, and we await the provincial water council's decision, and we are cautiously optimistic. The winter. The Andes had the heaviest snowfall in more than two decades, and it has delayed the reopening of our access roads. Road crews expect to reach site in early 2027. Snowmelt and spring weather could push that later. Site works will start later than planned, and that may affect the construction schedule. However, it does not affect the engineering cost work for FID, which is done off-site and with information we already have. We are assessing options to recover the lost time, including more camp capacity so more people can work at site sooner. They cost money, and we are weighing that against the time recovered. Our target to first capper remains 2030. Holding it depends on site access and the recovery measures we choose, and on completing the FID work, securing project financing, and customary approvals. I will add additional precisions once we have out the technical report. Safety through all of this, Los Azul is closed the third quarter without a reportable incident or a lost time injury. Financing. In August, commitments under McEwen's copper term loan facility increased to 240 million, funding continued engineering and early works. At quarter end, McEwen copper had 157.8 million in cash and cash equivalents and 138.9 million in working capital. The term loan is bridge funding. It does not build a mine, obviously. For construction, we are working on three sources. The first is senior project debt. Societe Generale is sole financial advisor for the project's debt financing. In late October, it sent an indicative senior debt term sheet to a group of export credit agencies and development finance institutions. Their feedback will shape the final structure. The second is equity at the McCune Copper level from strategic investors. The third is a potential initial public offering of McCune Copper. Preparations continue in parallel. None of the construction financing is committed today. That is normal before the FID basis is complete, and you should hear it from me. We continue to target FID and full project financing in mid-2027. On MacEwan's 46.3%, new equity will be raised at the MacEwan copper level. To the extent MacEwan does not subscribe, its percentage goes down. By how much depends on the amount of debt and the equity price, and neither is said yet. We aim to raise that equity at higher prices than past rounds, so that future capital increases are equative to McEwen, as earlier rounds were. Community. In recent door-to-door survey of 2,529 residents in 10 communities near the project, 97 said they accept Los Azules and 97 said they trust it. From 2023 to mid-2026, the project sourced 27.7 million goods and services from supplies in Calingassa and Barreal. That's an 11,000 people community. The nearest towns. In September, Los Azules was named Outstanding Mining Company in Corporate Social Responsibility at Argentina Mining Norte. So what to watch? The FID basis around year-end, the EPCM award, the updated feasibility study targeted for February 2027, site access in early 2027 and the updated schedule. The lenders feedback and FID with full project financing in mid-2027. Thank you so much, and back to you, Rob.

Thank you, Mike. So, despite our reduced cash flow during the quarter, we do have an adequate treasury, as Ian said, to cover our organic growth. And we're looking to double our production by 2030 to 250 to 300,000 ounces. In terms of our liquidity, at the end of the quarter, we had $49 million in cash and a further $10 million in marketable securities. And then early in October, we closed on a sale of non-core profits and raised that added a further $55 million. We have the asset base. Our gold assets in all categories, resources, 5.8 million ounces. That is a solid foundation to allow us to build longer life mines and, as Ian said, at a lower cost. We also have a world-class copper project that Michael just spoke about, which is equal to, if you put it on... A gold equivalent basis is equivalent to a 56 million ounce gold deposit with very attractive costs. We do think there's some room to improve on that asset, and the technical work is being done, and we'll see the results of that early in the new year. And for those reasons, I'm optimistic about our growth. I've invested over $290 million between McEwen Inc. and McEwen Copper, my own money, because I believe in the assets that we have. Mining, I've found over the years, comes with its challenges every once in a while, and we're going to overcome those and move forward. So, at this point, operator, I'd like to welcome...

We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from Jake Sekelski with Alliance Global Partners. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Hello, Jake. Hi, Rob and team. Thanks for taking the questions.

Hey, Rob.

So just looking at the Los Azulis timeline, I'm curious if the adverse weather Has affected anything here? Have any delays on that front been built into the current timeline for the FID? Any color there would be helpful.

Sure. I'll ask Mike to answer your question, Jake.

Hey, Jake, how are you doing? Jake, we had, I would say, three to four months delay on getting normally to site, and we want to start build out the camp early, and that obviously has impact. So that means that now we need to be more aggressive in terms of scaling up camp capacity. And as you have seen and heard, we are now targeting a 3,000-bed camp instead of a 2,500-bed camp as before. So that will be part of the mitigation. So we are going to have more people working over the construction timelines than before in order to claw that back. Now, how the rest of the... The summer is going, and what does it mean in terms of snowmills and potential access? I think that we will be in a much better position once we have our feasibility out. But that's a 1 in 25 year event, and you had seen lots of impacts on the Chilean side and also on other mine operations in Argentina. We are cautiously optimistic that we can claw back the time we have lost due to inclement weather conditions.

Okay, that's helpful. And then just looking at the quarter at San Jose, I mean, we saw much higher dividends in

2026 than originally expected.

Should we expect the JV to sort of revert back to retaining cash flow as the project gets back steady state here over the next quarter? How should we be thinking about dividends heading into 27 here?

Sure. This is Perry. I can take that, Jake. So I would say, as far as San Jose, we're not expecting any further dividends, further balance of 2026. But I could say, you know, their closure obligations, I think, are substantially or fully met at this point. So I think, you know, barring need for, you know, significant capital development because of a discovery, I would say, you know, we expect further additional dividends in 2027. You know, the quantum will be relative to silver prices. Obviously, we saw, you know, very high silver prices late last year, going into 2026, first half. But overall, you know, we think, you know, they will recover the production, a large part of the production in Q4 this year. And their cash balance was very healthy at the end of the third quarter, I think about a hundred and... $35 million in cash approximately. So I would say look for a similar profile next year compared to this year.

Got it. Okay, that's all for me. Thanks again.

Your next question comes from the line of Joseph Regor with Roth Capital Partners. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Hi, Joe. Hey, Robin Keene. Hey. Thanks for taking the questions. One kind of, like, counting question for me. You guys extend some stuff from Elgayo and... I think the Fox Complex is the Advanced Projects category. Can you give us any guidance on what that might look like in Q4 and for next year? Obviously, it's been a bit higher than in prior years.

Hi, Joe, it's Perry. So in terms of El Gallo, we just started Earthworks for construction of the mill. I think you'll see modest spend in Q4, but we won't get into the heavy spend until the EPCM contracts are finalized. So you'll see, I think, more consistent spend on that in the first half of 2027.

Okay, and will all that be expensed in advanced projects?

No, you'll see that capitalized as we work through that project.

Okay, and then given the production of over 3,000 gold equivalent ounces at Gold Bar in October, are you expecting that kind of like 3,000 per month to continue for the rest of the quarter, or was there some buildup on the pad that kind of came through well in October, but maybe it's more moderate for the rest of the quarter?

Yeah, I can address that, Joe. It's Ian Ball speaking. So there's nothing special about October. The grade was average. We just basically were more efficient with our mining. We moved more tons to the leach pad, and we do expect to see a similar amount in November and December, as well as early budgeting is showing that we would expect to see that every month. They're on average every month in 2027 as well.

Okay.

All right. Thanks. I'll turn it over. Reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. Your next question comes from the line of Heiko Ile with H.C. Wainwright. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Hello, Heiko. Thank you guys for taking my question. How are you? At San Jose, you hinted at this on the call and also discussed it in the release. You were talking about the snowfall of the weather and just the excess moisture and essentially it sort of screwed up the plant a little bit. And I just want to see. What have we seen so far in Q4? I mean, you're only discussing Q3, all on a, you know, web front, and is there maybe any changes you can make to the plan to avoid those blockages in the future? And just sort of help us out on what we should envision on, you know, like a cost production guidance type of thing for Q4, maybe even beyond, if you'd be so kind.

Yeah, so it's Ian speaking again. So just on the plant, we have not had those conversations with With Hochschild and any modifications, I would say this is the first time they've ever seen this type of moisture build up over the 20 years that the plant's been operating. So, you know, will they need to recalibrate the plant for one off? I don't have the answer for you at this point. My gut tells me probably not that they won't do it. But that said, going into Q4, you know, the fourth quarter is typically very strong for Sandals today. And, you know, speaking to the team at site there, you know, they fully expect that they can, you know, have a very strong fourth quarter and meet their production guidance for the year. You know, I think they did a very good job operating under a very difficult situation because there was more than just the moisture as well as the plants, even getting to site, you know, having these record high snowfall and getting people in and out because it is a fly in, fly out camp. You know, you see that, you know, Michael's been speaking about it regarding in the high Andes. It was sort of, you know, all over the country. But that said, you know, we are expecting a very strong Q4 in line with what they've traditionally produced.

So, essentially, in our models, we should, I don't want to say ignore the whole thing, but very much put it on the back burner going forward, that's fair to say?

No, yeah, I expect that everything's going to pick up in the fourth quarter. You know, they're going to move back to the clay material, so that'll automatically increase the grade. The recovery should go back to normal. Like I said, obviously, with lower grade, typically, you know, there's, you know, a fixed tail that comes with those recoveries, and we saw that in the quarter. That fixed tail will continue with the higher grade, so the recovery should just jump back up to where they were in Q2 and Q1. And as you saw sort of, you know, prior to Q3, you know, San Jose was actually running at record rates, you know, highest throughput, highest production due to the mill expansion that we've seen in quite some time. So I think this is really unfortunately just a one-off due to the weather.

Yeah. Completely different question. I'm in Zurich right now at a conference. In two different meetings, the topic of diesel prices came up in regards to costs for drilling. Can you maybe give it a dollar impact on, I mean, I guess how much you spend on diesel and what the delta is now versus call it Q1 and maybe, you know, how we could model it out going forward as well?

Hey, Heiko, it's China VP Operations. I don't have a full dollar value for that, but at Golba, we did see an impact of diesel cost, the increase of diesel cost in Q3, and that accounted for about $200 per ounce increase that impacted the cash cost there. So we do see that impact at all our sites.

But you want to maybe give us a rounded number or like at least like a quantifiable measurement?

Yeah. I would say for our other operations, the impact would be $50 per ounce or less. Gold bars are only an operation subject to significant diesel purchases. So I would not quantify the impact on our other sites as material.

Perfect. That's helpful. I'll get back to you. Thank you, guys.

Thanks, Michael.

There are no further questions at this time. Mr. Rob McEwen, I turn the call back over to you.

Thank you very much, Operator. We're getting on top of the issues that caused the problem in the third quarter, and we look forward to sharing those with you in the next quarter. Thank you.

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.