Earnings Call Transcript - UAMY Q3 2023

Operator, Operator

Greetings. Welcome to United States Antimony Corporation Third Quarter Financial Review and Investor Update Webcast. Please note this conference is being recorded.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Thank you, Matthew, and I appreciate everyone joining our third quarter financial statement review and investor update call this Friday afternoon. On the call today, we have four others: John Gustavsen, our Chief Executive Officer; Joe Bardswich, one of our directors; and Rick Isaak, our CFO who joined 3.5 months ago and is responsible for ensuring all our cues are caught up and this report is filed on time. Melissa Pagen is also on the call and will assist during the Q&A session and help organize today’s call. We have divided up the conference call among the participants. I won’t say much upfront, but I wanted to inform you that we filed our proxy statement this morning. In that proxy, we have set the date for our Annual Meeting for fiscal year 2023 for December 29. There will be three items on the agenda: the election of our four existing directors, the implementation of an equity incentive plan to motivate existing and new management as well as Board members, and the ratification of our current accounting firm, Assure CPA, which has been conducting our audits for several years. I wanted to make you aware of this. Shareholders will receive information electronically, and the meeting will be held virtually with no physical meeting, especially since the date falls between Christmas and New Year’s. We chose this date simply to ensure we completed everything before the end of the year and to hold an annual shareholder meeting with all our financial statements current, which they now are. This is why we selected that date.

Richard Isaak, CFO

Thanks, Gary. The third quarter was a rough quarter financially, but we made some operational improvements, and operational improvements have been and will continue to be one of our focus areas going forward. First, looking at the income statement. Sales decreased 6% for the third quarter of 2023 compared to 2022 and 27% for the first 3 quarters of 2023 compared to 2022. Gross profit and net income decreased as well for the third quarter and year-to-date time periods of 2023 versus 2022. These decreases came from each of our businesses other than precious metals. First, our zeolite business. Zeolite sales decreased 15% and 22% for the third quarter and year-to-date time periods in 2023 versus 2022. This was primarily due to equipment failure causing production downtime for about 5 weeks during the third quarter and 14 weeks during the year-to-date time periods of 2023. This downtime caused more variation in our average sales price per ton metrics during the quarters. The year-to-date average sales price per ton comparison is fairly similar in 2023 versus 2022 and is more representative of our trend and more in line with our expectations. With the failure of the cone crusher in 2023, we purchased a new cone that has better performance monitoring features and can increase our production. Zeolite gross profit decreased primarily due to increased maintenance costs and equipment and facility-related labor costs during production downtime. The goal with our maintenance has been to strengthen our production process to prevent issues and to store more products so we can fill customer orders quicker. An example of this occurred in October 2023, when we had some production downtime, but we were able to fill customer orders with the production we had stored. Next, our antimony business. Antimony sales decreased 2% and 31% for the third quarter and year-to-date time periods in 2023 versus 2022. This was predominantly due to the lower sales price per pound, which was consistent with the decline in market rates for antimony. Antimony gross profit decreased primarily due to the lower sales price per pound as well as the processing of antimony ore containing a low percentage of antimony. Moving to the cash flow statement. Cash decreased during the first 9 months of 2023. I want to highlight 2 components of this decrease. First, we incurred a net loss of $2.8 million. Even after adding back the noncash charges in the P&L, this was still a drain on cash. However, if you exclude the loss from our Mexico operations, we would have had a slight profit. The Mexico loss from operations is included in our segment footnote. We made improvements in our Mexico operations in the third quarter with better inventory purchasing and some personnel downsizing to name a couple. Based on the results of these changes, we may make additional changes in the fourth quarter. Second, we spent $1.5 million on capital items, much of which was spent in our zeolite business, which, again, was done to strengthen our production process to prevent issues and to store more products so we can fill customer orders quicker. Couple of examples of these improvements are the cone for our cone crusher, the salt sheds that we built to store zeolite ore to eliminate production interruptions during winter and wet seasons and additional warehouse space to store zeolite product to fill customer orders quicker. These improvements build on the improvements made in 2022. I'll pass it back to you, Gary.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Thank you, Rick. We'll now turn the call over to Gus Gustavsen, our CEO. Gus?

John Gustavsen, CEO

I was asked to talk a little bit about the antimony market and antimony pricing. The antimony world price has been on a decline now for 16 or 18 months. It kind of peaked in May of 2022 at $14,450 per metric ton or $6.55 a pound of antimony. Some important things that have happened since then have weighed heavily on the market. One is a complete collapse in the Chinese real estate sector, which is threatening to adversely affect the entire economy of China. Two is the end of pandemic spending in the U.S. During the pandemic, a lot of people outfitted offices in their homes and bought additional furniture, and all of that stuff has to be flame retardant. As you know, those incentives have stopped, and that spending spree has stopped. The war in Ukraine has had a terrible effect on Ukraine, of course, and on the European economy. Russian natural gas got very expensive last winter, and probably will again this winter, impacting especially Germany's economy but the rest of Europe as well. The Israeli-Hamas war has basically shut down the entire Israeli economy. The recent UAW strike here in the U.S. greatly impacts flame retardant and lead antimony alloy for cars, the flame retardant for wire, cable, and upholstery, and the antimony for lead-acid batteries. On the upside, continuing raw material shortages in China are supporting the price considerably; under normal conditions, with a regular supply of raw material, the antimony price would have fallen quite a bit more. On the horizon, we have Perpetua, who may become a large producer of antimony for a few years, could potentially have a large negative impact on global pricing of antimony. All that being said, we do keep ourselves in a sold-out position. We are able to compete with the Chinese prices. Just for an example, back at the peak in May of 2022, we were selling antimony for $6.55 a pound FOB Montana in truckload quantities. Today, the price is $4.52 a pound FOB Thompson Falls in truckload quantities. That's it for the antimony market. Gary?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

All right. Thank you, Gus. That was very insightful. I'd like to turn the call over now to Joe Bardswich, one of our directors who's been on the board for a number of years. Joe?

Joe Bardswich, Director

I was asked to comment about the Los Juarez property in Mexico, which had a lot of fanfare upon its acquisition several years ago. A lot of people feel it hasn't lived up to that initial fanfare. Some work was done, including mining at millions of small quantities, et cetera, but no resource or reserve was calculated, largely due to the lack of sufficient work to establish continuity with drill holes and just delineate the resource. Dr. Baitis, a former Director, was very high on this property. Before he left, he engaged a firm that is proficient in leapfrog technology, which is a 3D software package to assess exploration results. A 3D data compilation and technical review was made available to the Directors, and portions of it are intended to be put up on the website for everyone to see. That study recommends continued exploration at Los Juarez, including reverse circulation, core drilling, or diamond drilling program to follow up on the enormously high gold values detailed in the soil and rock chip geochemical surveys completed over the last couple of years by the company. A detailed geophysical program utilizing more modern, deep-penetrating instruments that were used in our previously completed geophysics program has been advised before doing any drilling. It's believed that these additional geophysics will enhance drill hole selection parameters such as locations, azimuth, and dip of the holes and save on drilling costs. The report also recommends a higher level of quality assurance and quality control in the collection and recording of exploration data to meet the upgraded industry reporting standards required by the SEC. Basically, I'm optimistic about the property, but it's still a long way from delineating an ore reserve or even an ore resource.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

All right. Thank you, Joe. And maybe I'll make a couple of comments about Los Juarez. As Joe mentioned, once management and the Board recognized the importance of the study, we've all taken a hard look at it. It's encouraging to us that there is potential here. It's still not quantifiable. There's still more testing, as Joe mentioned, that needs to be done. But it is definitely the property, when we look at the various assets in Mexico—whether it be Puerto Blanco, Madero smelter or all the other properties we have—has the most potential. We're concentrating our efforts on better understanding it, delineating the potential, and hopefully finding a possible joint venture partner. There is activity going on adjacent properties, which is interesting. I know in the past there was a lot of talk about gold and silver, but we can confirm that there is quite a bit of potential there, including antimony. So it is a property that warrants more work.

Operator, Operator

The Puerto Blanco, Madero smelter and our other properties have significant potential. We are focusing on gaining a better understanding of them, identifying their potential, and ideally finding a joint venture partner. There is activity happening on neighboring properties, which is noteworthy. Although there has been much discussion about gold and silver in the past, we can verify that there is considerable potential, including antimony. Therefore, this property deserves further exploration.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Okay. I'll go ahead and read the questions. We have questions. I'm going to go ahead and consolidate into this first question. First of all, thank you to all management who are working hard at making USAC a prominent and notable company with an exciting future. The question is, is zeolite the main focus right now? And are there any tangible prospects with reference to deals or companies interested in working with USAC?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Okay. Melissa, this is Gary. I will try to respond to that question. I think we've mentioned in some prior calls that we felt like zeolite had a very bright future with respect to the company. If you'll note the capital we spent in 2023, it's predominantly been catered around the Zeolite property, the BRZ property up in Preston, Idaho. We continue to believe that there can be improvements made there. We've obviously had an inordinate amount of downtime this year that we have attempted to repair. A lot of that is due to poor maintenance in the past and poor decisions that were made regarding this property. But I think this property has great potential, and we are continuing to look at additional acquisition opportunities in the zeolite space. We've been working on a couple of different potential acquisitions, and we are at liberty to talk about where they stand, but we think that this is an area the company should focus on in the future.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Okay. Most of the questions were covering the Zeolite segment. So I think that what you just said pretty much covers those questions.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Anything else coming?

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

I think that wraps it up.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Here is someone.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Hold on, please.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

That's a good question. I can repeat that if you want, Melissa. Since U.S. Antimony has met mill spec requirements, are you currently selling antimony trisulfide to the Department of Defense? And with that, I'll let—I think Gus is best to answer this question. Gus, would you also maybe talk about our Montana operations and how we work up there?

John Gustavsen, CEO

Okay. Sure, Gary. Let's see. I'm not reading the same question you read, I guess, but we have met the mill spec. It's an old, old spec; it goes back many years, and we have got approval from DLA that this material can be sold for the military—it can also be sold to the recreational market, which has surprised me, as it is much larger than the military market. At any rate, we do not sell directly to the Department of Defense nor the DLA. We sell material to a company that grinds it and sizes it to the proper size, and they package it and sell it to the Department of Defense. We're in a loose partnership with them. We are the sole company that has the blessing of the DLA to do this. So that's the way we're doing it now. We have a stockpile of material from that company that they have accumulated over the years. We are currently reworking that material. We have a proprietary electric furnace where we melt that at a certain temperature for a certain period of time, and we pour it out into a big ingot. We break it out of the ingot, and we send all baseball-size chunks of this antimony trisulfide to be ground. We do have a stockpile of antimony sulfide concentrate mined from one of our properties in Mexico, and we are currently producing more of that at the Puerto Blanco mill. We've got about 18 tons in Montana. We have converted 2.5 tons of that successfully to acceptable antimony trisulfide, and we hope that we can continue to get that material to suppliers in the future.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Very good. Thank you, Gus.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Thank you, Gus. So the next question is, will you need to raise additional funds?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

So the answer to that question is only if we have a significant acquisition, and I would say, based on everything I know, the answer is no. Our goal is to try to mitigate the cash outlay, which has predominantly been in Mexico. We've done most of the capital spending we need up at the BRZ mine this year already. The intent is to live within the means that we have. I think at the end of the third quarter, you correct me if I'm wrong, Rick, are we around $13 million of cash? Is that correct?

Richard Isaak, CFO

Yes. Yes.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

So if we can continue to reduce our expenditures in Mexico with a combination of headcount and ensuring that we're buying products at the proper price and selling them at the proper price, we should be in a position that no funds will be needed to be raised.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Okay. For the next question, we have. Thank you for all the efforts. Can you speak to the zeolite production rate versus prior to repairs and upgrades? Also, you mentioned improved packaging in the past; is that completed or still in the future?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Rick, why don't you answer that question?

Richard Isaak, CFO

Okay. The second part to that, the packaging. We are still in the process of looking at the packaging to get automation into that packaging line, so that is still in process. Regarding the first part of that, the new cone is able to produce product at a faster rate. I think the production downtime has hurt trying to get a good sense of how fast that can produce. I think before we were producing at around 5 tons per hour, and I think we will produce at a faster rate. But I think that's yet to be seen, given the production downtime that we had in July and early August and then, again, somewhat in October. But I think the maintenance we’re doing, as well as the improvements throughout that line with the cone crusher, hammer mills, and the new screen that we got, our intention is to produce product at a faster rate and get more production out of the line.

Joe Bardswich, Director

Rick, can I just add on there that in the screen, you bumped it up from, I think it was a 30-inch to a 60-inch—or I guess, it was 36-inch to 60-inch, which certainly should increase production and then you were able to take the old screen and put it on the hammer mill line. So I think that accounted for some of the downtime, but I certainly expect that with that much greater surface area of screening, that's going to have a very positive effect on your production as well.

Richard Isaak, CFO

Yes, I agree.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Yes, I also mention one other thing. We actually have engaged a headhunting firm to find a new seasoned general manager for the BRZ production facility up in Preston, Idaho. I just received an email today that we got 2 or 3 candidates to start looking at. Our goal, hopefully within the next 60 days, is to have someone identified, interviewed by all management and Board, and hired so that we can continue to improve our operations at BRZ.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Next question? Okay. This question is related and drilled down a little bit more on that same topic. With the equipment installed and running without any more unforeseen downtime, should USAC return to profitability under current market conditions?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Rick, do you want to respond?

Richard Isaak, CFO

I guess I'm not sure if the USAC terminology refers to the company overall. I'm going to think that it just refers to BRZ since that was the comment that was made. So yes, I do think that with the downtime and with not being able to have production flowing, it has hurt BRZ, and if you look back at previous quarters, there were profitable quarters. I think the issues have caused a lot more maintenance costs and disruptions in the line that caused inefficiencies, whether it's materials or labor. So yes, you can see that in the P&L for the third quarter. The expectation is that with the improvements we've made, that should turn around.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Next question?

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Okay. Does demand currently outstrip your supply of zeolite, and do you anticipate being able to meet all future demand?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

I'll try to answer that, and then Rick can jump in if needed. One of the things we began to change at this BRZ mine was attempting to have greater inventory so that when we do have downtime, like we've had in calendar 2023, we can meet demand. The idea is to have inventory of supply available and also winter conditions in the past have prohibited some of the mining operations. So there were large outdoor storage units filled with unprocessed inventory. Those were being filled at least the last time I was up there. Rick has made some changes regarding some silos that were not being utilized properly so that we could have finished product available in inventory. We are trying to be in a position where that doesn't happen again. We're trying our best to improve daily production and everything that both Joe and Rick mentioned concerning the screens and cone crusher. We're trying to be better. And while we're looking for a new general manager to manage this property in a better way. So at present, we're able to meet demand, largely due to the inventory builds that we've been working on all year long. You'll see those inventory builds in the financial statements.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Next question, are we still in talks to supply Ambri?

John Gustavsen, CEO

Yes. Ambri is a company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which invented a battery that uses a calcium or magnesium electrode at one end and molten antimony at the other end. They have great hopes of being a major supplier of storage for the electrical grid. In other words, a place to store electricity from wind engines and solar energy. We have been talking with Ambri for about 10 years. We have a good relationship with them and we are not only talking to them about supply; we have been supplying them antimony for 3 or 4 years now. The quantity increases every year, not as large as they had hoped, but at any rate, we are very close with Ambri.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Okay. Next question. Is your North American supplier fully back online sending feedstock? It was mentioned that you were getting better ore in Mexico. What has changed in the buying of ore to ensure it stays better quality?

Richard Isaak, CFO

Yes. The American supplier is back up, sending us feedstock and that's been a very good relationship that I know Gus can talk about for U.S. Antimony. The better ore from Mexico is twofold: One, they are good at producing ingots of metal, which gets the antimony into a state that is ready to be sold to a customer. The antimony ore and concentrate they were buying, what we're doing is having them make sure to purchase antimony at a certain price per pound or less and with a certain percentage of antimony or higher. This allows them to process antimony at a better rate that can hopefully be lower than the sales price.

John Gustavsen, CEO

They do have an extended breakdown early in the summer. They will likely go down for a maintenance shutdown in December or January. Other than that, they're keeping up with shipments; by the end of the year, we will have received the same amount as we did last year and the year before. So we're in good shape with them.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Okay. Next question? Melissa?

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Sorry. Are there any thoughts on a reverse split? Or can the stock climb back up without the need for that?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

I will answer that question. I think everybody, especially investors on this call today, know that a reverse stock split can be a double-edged sword. The positive is a reverse stock split gets your stock over $5 and allows institutional ownership. If you look at our shareholder mix today, it is 98% retail based. There's nothing wrong with that, but institutions are what historically moves stock. I'm a big believer, though, that you don't do a reverse stock split just to do one. It needs to be done in conjunction with either an acquisition, an equity offering, or something that's material and beneficial to shareholders. You will see in our proxy statement next year an approval to have the ability to do a reverse stock split, if and when needed, but we are not at this point mandating that as necessary. We think that we can turn this company around, be profitable, and allow the stock to move back up to where it needs to be and then maybe entertain that at that time. So at this point, it is not on the table.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Is management able to buy in the open market at this time? Or are they limited due to the possible zeolite acquisitions being negotiated?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

I cannot answer that question.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

In the future, will modernization at BRZ change the zeolite product mix to higher average price zeolite sales?

Richard Isaak, CFO

Yes, I can start that. The goal with BRZ is to stabilize and secure the production line to the desired level. We have knowledgeable employees who know how to run the machines when they're operating. Customers are requesting as much as we can make. Once we have production flowing and store the product, we will explore other opportunities in areas where we haven’t been as strong to generate sales. Is there a likelihood of a higher average sales price? Possibly. It's important to focus on gross profit and the bottom line, and that's where our focus should be in that financial aspect.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

No, I think that's good, Rick.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Next question? Would you comment on any potential collaboration with Perpetua Resources since they are likely to start mining next year?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Okay. I'm going to say a little bit here, and then I'll let Joe respond. He knows this better than me, but we have talked about this quite a bit within the company. They will not be mining next year. We believe a minimum of 2 years and possibly 3. We have done some work with Perpetua. Gus and Joe can comment on that further, but we are presently not doing anything with the firm.

Joe Bardswich, Director

To elaborate on that, they still do not have their permit, which reflects the difficulties in mining anywhere on federal land in the U.S. Their feasibility study shows a 2-year ramp-up for construction before any mining starts. So there's a long way to go there.

John Gustavsen, CEO

This is Gus. I can tell you that we have been in conversations with Perpetua even back when it was minus gold. We don't have any official collaborative agreement in place, but we are in communication quite frequently.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Great. Thank you. Next question?

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

What are some ways to incorporate Antimony into more mainstream uses?

John Gustavsen, CEO

The users of Antimony are very well-known and have been for a long time. New uses for antimony are very few and far between. One bright spot we spoke about recently is the Ambri technology for storage batteries. These batteries are huge and they store significant amounts of electricity. However, in terms of being mainstream, virtually nothing you can touch in a hotel you visit that doesn't have antimony in it as a flame retardant. It is used in car batteries, submarine batteries, and hardening lead for bullets. Lead, used for piping and cables, contains antimony. So the users are quite mainstream, but new applications are few and far between.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Next question?

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

With an increased effort into zeolite, would you consider rebranding the company to U.S. Antimony and Zeolite Corporation?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Well, if we get out of antimony in a large way in Mexico, that is a real possibility. I hate defining any company with a specific term or mineral. It might be U.S. Mineral Corporation or something similar. We don’t want to be stuck with a zeolite name if we find ourselves mining gold and silver. That said, it’s ultimately a board decision or a shareholder decision. If antimony becomes a smaller part of the company's overall business, then there's no reason to keep that name.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

What is the maximum capacity at BRZ?

Richard Isaak, CFO

That question is probably not answerable. Whenever we get to that max capacity, we will increase it. Zeolite is used in many areas and industries. We will continue to push hard to increase sales and production. As needed, we will increase our capacity at BRZ.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Next question?

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Are there any new equipment purchases or technologies available that may help the company?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

The answer is yes, and we're continuing to look at those technologies. We've actually had a number of companies come out to BRZ. We've talked about automation and other factors. Obviously, capital is required to buy new equipment or new technology. This company has run on used equipment in the past, and we are paying the price today, but that was how the company developed without capital. We strive to preserve our current capital and make improvements as we deem feasible to enhance production. The efforts we've made in 2023 can significantly affect production, especially at BRZ. We hope our new general manager can assist us in evaluating that possibility.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Who are our primary competitors for antimony?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

I will say one thing real quick, and I'll let Gus jump in. Remember, 92% of worldwide antimony is controlled by China. So that's our competitor.

John Gustavsen, CEO

That's exactly correct. The competitor is China. China is not a market economy, so they don't view profits and losses the same as an American capitalist company. They control 90%-92% of the world's antimony and determine the price; we have to compete with that. I will say, when I started in the antimony business in 1974, there were 7 antimony oxide manufacturers in the United States, and U.S. Antimony is the only one left.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Melissa, I want you to ask the last question: Do you anticipate reshoring?

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Okay. Do you anticipate that with reshoring and potential delinking from China, the demand will increase?

John Gustavsen, CEO

The demand will stay the same. It grows very slowly. The world economy right now is slowing down. So the market is actually shrinking. Whether we're linked with China or not, the market will be there. I hope that answers the question.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Yes. Next question, Melissa?

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Has any thought been given to splitting the company into two distinct entities with zeolite as its own listed entity and antimony as its own listed entity in a way to unlock value? I'm assuming zeolite alone would be nicely profitable and command a better market cap; antimony could be treated more like a speculative mining play.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

This would be a great question if we were 5 to 10 times larger. But the company's current size and market cap make splitting it up imprudent. We really don't know what we're doing on the antimony side going forward; we are still analyzing that. So, the answer to that question is no.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Does BRZ operate 24/7, or what are the production hours today?

Richard Isaak, CFO

They have 2 shifts, and the overlap is around 4 p.m. every day, Monday to Friday.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Okay. Any more questions, gentlemen? Yes, there are a couple more there.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

How has inflation impacted U.S. Antimony?

Richard Isaak, CFO

It has impacted us like all other companies; whether it's supplies or fuel or propane, we've seen prices go up. Even pallet prices have doubled over the past 2 years. We've been going back to our suppliers to find opportunities; we've had good luck sourcing products while maintaining quality at lower prices. It's all areas of the P&L that, in this environment, you have to work on; growing sales and controlling costs all add up to the bottom line. Just to add on the technologies, we receive calls or reach out on new technology; we look to see what might work and ensure we get a good return on it.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Let me just make a couple of comments there. Everybody needs to remember this, something Gus made a great point on. At this time, or in May of last year, antimony prices were $6.55 a pound. Now, they're $4.52 a pound. So there's a $2 drop in price of our main commodity. At the same time, inflation has gone up tremendously, as you've seen at the grocery store or gas station. So we've experienced inflation concerning repairs, maintenance, and equipment, at the same time experiencing a decline in the price of the product. That's why we are doing our best to button down expenses, cut costs, and improve efficiencies.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Have there been any thoughts of sharing resources with other mining companies such as Taseko Mines or others?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Gus, is that something you could address?

John Gustavsen, CEO

We have said that we're looking for potential joint ventures for those with mining projects. Other than that, I'm not sure there's anything else we could share or joint venture with.

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

Yes, I would agree with that. Last question there, Melissa.

Melissa Pagen, Q&A Moderator

Will this Q&A be available as a recording?

Gary C. Evans, Chairman of the Board

I can answer that question. Yes, it will. Okay. That's been right at an hour. We appreciate everybody participating. We think it's been a good dialogue. Feel free to reach out to us either by e-mail or phone if you have additional questions outside of this call. Everybody have a great weekend and a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you for your time.

Operator, Operator

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