United States Antimony Corp Q1 FY2024 Earnings Call

Greetings. Welcome to United States Antimony Corporation First Quarter 2024 Financial and Operational Results Meeting Webcast. Please note, this webcast is being recorded.

Thank you, Karen, and thank you, everybody, for joining the U.S. Antimony Corporation conference call regarding our first quarter financial results ending March 31, 2024. I have with me today Joe Bardswich, who is our Board member and co-CEO with me; as well as Rick Isaak, who is our Chief Financial Officer. This was our turnaround quarter. We have successfully stopped the bleeding, we hope. And something I know our Board and our management team is very proud to announce, something I hope our dedicated group of shareholders will also appreciate. I want to say that revenues were up. Cost of sales were up less. Therefore, gross profit was up significantly. Our crown jewel, our cash position increased modestly and equates to a price per share of $0.11 per share or basically half of our stock price. So the market is not really giving us much credit for our primary assets here in the U.S., nor the monies we anticipate receiving from Mexico with our divestiture there. I want to not steal Rick Isaak's thunder, our CFO, and let him go through in more detail our financial report for the first quarter. Rick?

Thanks, Gary. At our last earnings call, we discussed how we shut down our operations in Mexico in the first quarter and intend to sell them. Now we have presented our Mexico operations as a discontinued operation in all reporting periods in our financials and first quarter 10-Q. It's easier to see and discuss the results of our continuing operations. So to that end, let's first talk about some financial highlights from our continuing operations. Sales for the first quarter increased 28% over last year's first quarter. Gross profit dollars in the first quarter more than doubled last year's first quarter, and we had income from continuing operations for the first quarter of this year of $86,000. Cash provided by the operating activities of our continuing operations in the first quarter was $350,000, and cash provided by our continuing operations in total was $327,000. Also, we sold more antimony and zeolite in the first quarter than in last year's first quarter. Where do we go from here? At a high level, grow revenue profitably and increase cash flow, as I've said in the past. This is a management team and Board and employees that all contribute and do not stop. We all share ideas and challenge each other to improve ourselves and our company. What are we doing specifically? First, we're adding experienced personnel to an already strong group. A good example of this is that our zeolite plant in Idaho. We added experienced personnel to an already strong group at BRZ and are changing and strengthening our mining and processing of zeolite. It is costing some money, but it's paying off. The amount of zeolite sold in the first quarter increased over last year's first quarter. And we're meeting the delivery timing requested by our customers more now than in the past. Second, we have a Board that is seasoned and experienced and very involved with our company. They have connections on potential mineral reserves that have not yet been claimed and mineral companies that are potentially for sale. They also have government connections and are trying to position our company to sell product to the U.S. government. I don't know if these initiatives will be realized and unfortunately, we can't discuss the details yet. However, be assured, we are a team that continues to challenge the status quo and does not stop. Let's review our financials in a bit more detail. First, cash flow. So cash flow from the operating activities of our continuing operations improved by $1.4 million in the first quarter compared to last year's first quarter. This improvement was primarily due to improved working capital management with better collections on receivables, better inventory management and maintaining a low amount due on royalties. Cash flow used by financing activities of our continuing operations improved by $800,000 in the first quarter compared to 2023. Primarily, that was due to a payment of a dividend of almost $800,000 in the first quarter of last year to our Series D preferred stockholders. Overall, as Gary mentioned, cash and cash equivalents increased in the first quarter of 2024. And our cash balance at March 31, 2024 was $11.9 million. Next, let's take a look at the income statement. As I said earlier, sales from continuing operations increased 28%, mainly on higher demand for antimony and zeolite. You can see this increase in product sales affecting our inventory levels a bit. Zeolite inventory is about 20% lower in the quarter and antimony inventory is about 50% lower in the quarter. We have sourced the majority of our antimony ore over the years for our plant in Montana from a company headquartered in Canada, and we have a few new sources of antimony ore that we are currently evaluating. Also, we had some sales at the end of the first quarter, and receivables are noticeably higher at March 31, 2024, but these receivables have since been collected. Gross profit, as I said, more than doubled in the first quarter versus last year. Our antimony gross profit was very strong in the first quarter. It's tough to predict that this will continue. However, I can say that one variable that helps our gross profit is the increasing antimony market price, which is currently around $7.44, which is a 40% increase since the end of 2023. We have not seen this high of an antimony market price in over 5 years. Our zeolite business struggled at the beginning of 2024 with higher repairs and maintenance costs and other inefficient costs, but we finished the quarter strong, with older machinery, equipment, vehicles that were not maintained over the years, and this makes it difficult to predict future levels of these types of costs. However, we have been working and are continuing to work to prevent issues with our assets in the near term that caused these types of costs and downtime, while at the same time, working on a solid plan for the future. We'll keep both these streams progressing and share more details on future webcasts. Last, operating expenses increased about $577,000 for the first quarter compared to last year's first quarter. About $200,000 of this expense is higher than it should be going forward. This expense mainly relates to a portion of the stock compensation that was front-loaded in the first quarter of 2024 and audit and legal fees that were incurred later in the year last year when we were filing our 10-K. That's it for now. Gary, I'll pass it back to you.

Okay. Thank you, Rick. I'd like to now turn the call over to Joe Bardswich, who's going to talk about our Bear River Zeolite operation up in Preston, Idaho.

Thanks, Gary. We faced a significant challenge due to an aggressive inspection program by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration during the fourth quarter and into the first quarter of this year. This involved temporary shutdown orders related to dust and extensive repairs and reconstruction. Our comprehensive response was bolstered by our new General Manager, Jeff Fink, who is an experienced mechanical engineer, and the addition of Joseph Carrabba, a seasoned executive in mining, as a director. We also hired Nick O'Neil, who had collaborated with Jeff on previous projects as plant manager, bringing further hands-on experience. We engaged site safety experts to provide additional training for our workforce in both English and Spanish. Management emphasized the critical importance of safety for the company’s success, highlighting the responsibility of every employee to ensure their own safety and that of their colleagues. They continue to foster a culture of safety within the organization. Jeff reported a noticeable positive shift in attitude across operations, including reduced resistance to wearing personal protective equipment and proactive requests for the right tools before starting tasks. We made physical modifications and upgrades in the plant, such as installing new liners on the jaw crusher and completely reconstructing the support base of the cone crusher. This new base allows the cone to operate at the recommended full speed without the intense vibrations previously experienced. We anticipate that this will minimize, if not eliminate, the frequent plant shutdowns that have occurred over the past 15 months. The downstream impactors and final screening equipment, still comprising used equipment from the original plant construction, remain a bottleneck. With the upstream production issues resolved, we can now focus on the downstream components. Importantly, we have not experienced a full day of lost production since March 6, which sets a new record. We are now able to align delivery dates with orders received, meaning we inform customers of shipping times as they place their orders, and thus far, we have not missed any deadlines. The pit operation has been running since the start without defining the ore body or having a mining or reclamation plan, but this is about to change. A drone survey, scheduled for today depending on the weather, has been commissioned. With Burn Engineering's help, this survey will produce a contour map of the entire property that will lay the groundwork for the mining and reclamation plan. A drilling program to define ore, consisting of 80 drill holes, is set to begin in mid-June, which will facilitate preliminary calculations of ore reserves at the start of both the mining and reclamation plans. These calculations will comply with newly established SEC regulations for reporting reserves. A notice of operations will be submitted by month’s end to the Bureau of Land Management to allow for the expansion of the drilling program on federal lands managed by the bureau, followed by future permitting to actually mine on that land, positioning us well ahead of potential delays. That concludes my prepared remarks, Gary.

Thank you, Joe. And I want to emphasize that this first quarter of 2024, we were down at least 30 days at Bear River. And since the end of the quarter, we haven't been down, I don't think, a single day. So I know the month of April was a banner month for us, and we will be anxious to report the second quarter numbers when they're all done. Let's jump to antimony now. That is the name of our company and has been a big factor in the company's past. President Biden, just over the last couple of days, raised tariffs on Chinese steel and AI technology. He painted that these cheap goods are flooding our market and they're all subsidized by the Chinese government. He actually says that's an attempt, this is his quote, to put everybody else out of business and they take over. Well, guess what? That's what they've been doing on the critical mineral antimony side for a number of years, and that is one reason why antimony has all of a sudden become a hot ticket item, as Rick mentioned, being up over 40% in price since the beginning of the year at over almost $7.50 per pound. So why exactly has this price increased so dramatically and so fast? Because China and Russia, which control over 90% of the worldwide supply of antimony, have reduced the supply available. They bought up the reserves all around the world, and now the United States needs U.S.-derived antimony for primers and bullets required by our military in order to harden the lead and construct primers. That's the firing mechanism for shells. So what are we, as a company, doing to meet this need? Because as you well know, we shut down Mexico and for good reason; we could not see any light at the end of the tunnel with the cost of mining antimony in Mexico. So we have been working feverishly for about four months now trying to locate other antimony deposits in a safe country like the United States, and we have done so, and we're actively leasing those properties. We obviously can't talk about that in detail yet, but we're excited about it. It's something that, as Joe mentioned, one of our other Board members is excited about as well because of his experience in this business. So that is something that we hopefully can disclose in the not-too-distant future. I also want to mention our Thompson Falls facility. We've been getting some significant inquiries. Gus, who runs that processing facility for us, just a couple of days ago got inquiries from four major different customers for truckloads of our antimony oxide. This, in our mind, indicates there is a severe shortage in the market and gives us the opportunity to sell our product to the highest bidder. We are getting inquiries from customers we hadn't heard from in a long time. And we are selling product in the $6.75 to $7 per pound range. So we obviously only have a limited supply, and that's what we're working feverishly to try to change with respect to these new leasing activities, among other things that we're doing. As I mentioned in our last conference call that we held on April 17, your management team and Board are pursuing not only new mineral leasing activities for both antimony and zeolite, but also acquisitions. Due to the confidentiality and competitive reasons surrounding all these activities we have ongoing, we're not in a position yet to disclose them. Believe me, we want to. We're most anxious to disclose to you these various activities, but we simply can't do so yet. So my answer to all of you about this is patience, grasshopper. We are working hard, and I think you'll be pleased when we are able to disclose these activities. Before we turn the call over to our listeners for questions, I also want to mention to you that we have planned an Annual Shareholder Meeting scheduled sometime in July. As you know, we had an annual shareholder meeting for last year right near the end of December. So as we're doing everything to try to improve speed in operations, having the shareholder meeting earlier in the year is one of those goals. When we are qualified to file a Universal Shelf Registration statement, we definitely plan to do that, and that will likely be sometime in July as well. So Karen, I would like to now turn over the call to our first question.

And our first question is, 'Are you going to get a DoD injection like PPTA did?'

We obviously would love to get any kind of grant injection. As I mentioned at our last call, I have actively been to Washington, and we are having discussions with other parties in Washington about helping us. One of the things that is holding that up is this leasing activity that I mentioned to you. When that's completed, which should be in short order, we'll have a little more meat on the bone to go back to Washington and seek some of this money. I think the fact that antimony prices have increased so much, the fact that China is reducing the supply of antimony worldwide, the fact that we're funding a couple of wars being the Israeli-Hamas situation as well as the Ukrainian-Russian situation and we're using up our supply, believe me, we're getting attention. We do have the only antimony smelter in the United States. And that means a lot, and we are anxious to get back to Washington, but we want to wait until we have completed this leasing activity so that we have more to talk about because it does involve other areas of the country.

And our next question is, 'Has zeolite returned to profitability, and how?'

Rick, do you want to jump on that one?

Yes. So as I went through earlier, zeolite has had some difficulties, as has been mentioned, with older machinery equipment, older vehicles, and in the first quarter, we saw some of that with some downtime. Obviously, with downtime comes inefficient costs. So as you saw in the press release and in the 10-Q, they are in a loss position right now. I think with what Joe talked about and what Jeff is doing at BRZ, there are signs of improvement, definitely. What is that point at which the sales and the cost kind of link up is difficult to predict. I think we continue to chip away at it. I think the machinery and equipment is something that we inherited, and as you can imagine, unforeseen costs come up. So long-winded answer, but I think it's difficult to predict at what point that will turn. But we know that we are working at it every day to try to get that to profitability.

And as I follow up on what Rick just said, remember, if you've lost one-third of your ability to produce products in one quarter, that has a dramatic effect on anybody being able to generate positive cash flow. As we said, we haven't had any downtime since the end of the first quarter. And I'm expecting that the second quarter numbers will look much better, and hopefully, profitable.

And the next question is, 'Is there a plan to shop UAMY to institutions?'

I assume that means the stock. The answer to your question is absolutely. I was actually at a Tiger 21 just kind of an investment club meeting this morning here in Dallas from 8:00 till 2:00. I gave out 12 antimony business cards because people were asking what I was doing, and a lot of these people I've known for years. And I know at least 2 or 3 of those, and these are guys that represent $40 million to $2 billion in capital. And I know a couple of them definitely were buying stock this afternoon. So it's not a hard sale when you have half of your share price in cash and you're seeing profitability and improved operations, and you're dealing with a mineral that's a critical mineral that the government wants. So as I've mentioned in the past, one of the difficulties of marketing to institutions is our share price and is our market cap. It's hard for an institution to get excited about a $24 million market cap company. So when we continue to perform with respect to the financial results and the operating changes that we're making and are able to announce some of the things I've mentioned, I think undoubtedly, we'll be able to market to institutions. We're not quite there yet, but that will happen this year. Next question.

And the next question is, 'Do the BLM lands command a royalty?'

There is no royalty from the BLM. However, on the original agreement with the Websters, where Webster Ranch is where the rest of the zeolite deposit is located and where the plant is located, the original agreement there was that the royalty to Websters applies even on material coming from the BLM onto their property for the plant to process. The answer is yes, the Websters get a royalty; no, the BLM does not get a royalty.

The next question, 'Have you yet to perform cost-benefit analysis on potentially moving some of the Mexican assets, furnaces, et cetera, to Montana? Has there been any interest in these properties from third parties? Any potential valuations?'

I'll address that, and then I'll pass it over to Rick. Our management teams in Thompson Falls and Preston, Idaho have assessed the rolling stock to determine its potential use. There may be one piece of equipment under discussion, but overall, most of it is not applicable to our other operations. Regarding the marketing of the assets, we've been interviewing two or three different firms to handle the sale. We were surprised to learn that the land value is quite high, which we didn't anticipate. As a result, we aren't able to discuss specific price ranges yet, but we have learned that they are higher than expected based on the brokers' insights. We are in the final stages of finalizing an agreement with a broker to start marketing those assets. Rick, would you like to add anything?

Just a couple of quick things. Yes, there has been interest in the properties, nothing firmed up yet, and potential valuations we did like any company would look to make sure that the fair value of the assets was higher than the book value. And as you noticed, at the end of the year, we did not have any write-down or impairment. So that can give you a little bit of an indication on valuation.

And the next question is, 'Aside from antimony and zeolite, is there any other material that you may start looking at as a possible valuable resource needed currently and in the future?'

Yes. Just so you know, some of the material we received at Thompson Falls contains gold and other elements that we extract. It's very small, but the answer is yes. One of the properties that Joe Bardswich is diligently working on definitely has potential for other hard mineral opportunities. I'm not sure if we want to discuss them just yet. We are aware of what they are, and it is another critical mineral from a list of about 25. So, yes, to answer your question, the property we are currently leasing has another hard mineral that is classified as a critical mineral. Typically, when exploring new mining sites, different companies look for gold, silver, copper, while we are unique as an antimony company focused on antimony since not many companies are familiar with it.

The next question is, 'What does filing the shelf in July entail for common shareholders?'

Filing the shelf provides us with financial flexibility, allowing us to act on unique opportunities as they arise. If you're not equipped with the right tools, you won't be able to seize those opportunities when they come. The universal shelf grants the Board and management the ability to utilize our securities when we find it appropriate for acquisitions, capital raising, or similar purposes. Essentially, it is a tool that we qualified for in July. The timing is set for July because the previous management delayed our K and Q filings last year, and we are out of the penalty period as of July. Without that delay, we would have already filed the shelf.

Excellent. The next question is, 'Will any of the leasing opportunities you are pursuing for antimony produce an antimony source within the next few years? And what is the timeline?'

That's a good question. Joe, I'll let you provide the answer on that.

I'm restricted on a number of bases. I don't want to publish some of the areas that we're trying to operate in because then we'll increase the competition. And I don't want to speculate and get my hands slapped by the SEC for making outside comments on that, but I'm very optimistic. There's lots of opportunities to come.

I agree. I don't think it's something we should probably get into. Once we're able to disclose this information, then we'll be able to give you a little more detail. But it's just too early to talk about that yet. Obviously, the speed at which we can move will greatly depend on our ability to obtain federal grants, and that's what our plan is.

Next question is, 'Any luck getting institutional buyers yet or getting the stock price up enough to attract them, avoid a reverse split?'

I was with several institutions today, and we have not engaged in any marketing yet because we needed to complete certain items in our plan. I am confident that we will be able to announce some of these developments in the upcoming months. Additionally, we have a marketing strategy to reach high net worth individuals, family wealth offices, and small institutions that focus on micro cap and small cap companies.

Any interest in Los Juarez?

We have decided at present to keep Los Juarez. So it's not on the list of assets to be sold in Mexico. And we're still exploring how we might do something at Los Juarez. So it may very well be a joint venture with somebody. But we do recognize that property has some significant value, and we are still trying to figure out how to realize that value.

And the next question is, 'Where do you see United States Antimony Corporation in 12 months' time?'

We expect to generate larger revenues, be more profitable, and have a higher market cap. I am very optimistic. When I joined just over a year ago, I could see a faint light at the end of the tunnel, and that light grows brighter every day. The results from this first quarter showcase a rapid turnaround, which typically takes companies a couple of years to achieve. We managed to do it in about six to eight months, and I take great pride in that and the opportunities we have ahead of us. Moreover, we've been lucky with the recent increase in antimony prices, positioning us very well. We should be on many more radar screens than we currently are, and it’s our mission to change that.

And the next question, 'What contribution volume-wise would you aspire to make toward America's antimony needs versus what you can achieve now?'

Well, I think the main response to that question is U.S.-derived antimony. And so the activities we have going on could be very significant, assuming we got the dollars required from the government to develop them. So that's why we haven't gone to Washington yet on the second round. We did a first trip and we heard what Washington wants, what they're looking for. And we've now been talking to a very seasoned expert in raising dollars out of D.C. that we will likely be using and has been successful for other companies. And so I think the proof will be in how much capital we can raise and how fast we can deploy it to realize the opportunity of the antimony we have found in this particular property. And so we're excited about that, the fact that we won't be dealing with the Mexican government, we won't be dealing with all the problems we have in Mexico. Remember, we're still owed $1.2 million from the Mexican government. And they can't pay us because they say they don't have any money. So dealing in a regime where you don't have to worry about those kinds of things and you're not fighting the bureaucracy and not having to worry about losing your life, I mean those are all kind of things that we just said, hey, the risk is too great, the cost is too high, and let's stop the cash drain and redeploy elsewhere. And that's what we've done.

Thank you. We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. And I will now turn the call over to Gary C. Evans for closing remarks.

Okay. Well, thank all of you for listening. We think that this ship has turned, and we're very excited about our prospects, where we're going, and what we're doing. As Joe and Rick mentioned, you got a management team and a Board that is working very well together. We're all spending days and nights trying to do things that will benefit you as a shareholder, and we're excited about what we see. And so I think just stay tuned, and hopefully we will keep you enthralled with our activities. Thank you for your time today, and have a good afternoon. Bye-bye.

This concludes today's webcast, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.