Coeur Mining Q3 2024 Earnings Report

Coeur Mining EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.12
• Consensus EPS: $0.07
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.05
• One Year Ago EPS: -$0.05

Coeur Mining Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $313.50 million
• Expected Revenue: $289.19 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$24.31 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: +61.10%

Coeur Mining Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q3 2024
• Date: 11/6/2024
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, November 7, 2024
• Conference Call Time: 11:00AM ET

Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE) (NYSE: CDE) is a precious metals mining company that explores for, develops, and produces gold and silver. The company’s activities include mine operations, mineral exploration, project development, processing, and the sale of refined or doré metals to commercial customers.

Coeur’s operating and development portfolio has included assets in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Key operations have included the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska, the Wharf gold mine in South Dakota, the Palmarejo silver-gold complex in Chihuahua, Mexico, and the Las Chispas silver-gold operation in Sonora, Mexico. The company has also maintained exploration and development interests, including the Silvertip project in British Columbia.

Founded in 1928 as Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation, the company adopted the name Coeur Mining in 2013. Coeur Mining is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Mitchell J. Krebs, who has served in that role since 2013.

Coeur Mining Q3 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Strong Q3 performance: Production increases at four operations, higher gold and silver prices, and double-digit cost per ounce declines drove multi-year highs in revenue, adjusted EBITDA, net income, and free cash flow.
• Debt reduction accelerated: Used most free cash flow to pay down $50 million of revolver debt, pushing net debt/EBITDA below 2× for the first time in three years and targeting full revolver repayment by mid-2025.
• Silvercrest acquisition announced: Agreement to buy Silvercrest Metals will create a global silver leader with expected 2025 production of 21 million ounces of silver and 432 thousand ounces of gold, and ~$700 million of EBITDA.
• Rochester expansion on track: QoQ silver and gold production rose ~20% while per-ton costs fell in double digits, with leach recoveries matching models and setting up for a strong 2025.
• Portfolio momentum across mines: Palmarejo, Kensington, and Wharf all generated significant free cash flow—Wharf set a record 34 koz gold production—and exploration is extending mine life.

Presentation

[Operator]

Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mitch Krebs, President and CEO. Please go ahead.

[Mitch Krebs, President and CEO at Coeur Mining]

Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining our call today to discuss our third quarter results. Before we start, we want to quickly point out our cautionary language regarding forward-looking statements in today's slide deck and refer you to our SEC filings on our website. I'll start off with a few comments starting on slide three before turning the call over to Mick and Tom. We obviously had a very strong quarter, which represented the free cash flow inflection point that we've been anticipating. Our strong results were driven by production increases at our four operations, higher gold and silver prices, and double-digit declines in our cost per ounce. This Goldilocks environment led to double-digit quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year increases and multi-year highs in quarterly revenue, adjusted EBITDA, net income, and free cash flow.

[Mitch Krebs, President and CEO at Coeur Mining]

We applied most of the free cash flow to paying down $50 million of our revolving credit facility. Together with LTM adjusted EBITDA now approaching $300 million, we're now seeing our leverage ratios quickly drop as we delever the balance sheet. Tom will go in a bit more detail on our balance sheet plans and priorities in a few minutes. Adding to our momentum and to these multiple converging catalysts was our announcement last month of our agreement to acquire SilverCrest Metals to create a global leader in the silver industry. The addition of SilverCrest's low-cost Las Chispas primary silver operation and its pristine balance sheet will lead to a much larger, stronger company with peer-leading expected 2025 production of over 21 million ounces of silver and 432,000 ounces of gold, with over $700 million of EBITDA and free cash flow of approximately $350 million.

[Mitch Krebs, President and CEO at Coeur Mining]

Since the announcement on October 3rd, we've received positive feedback from both Coeur and SilverCrest shareholders about the combination and for creating a silver industry leader at a time of extremely strong fundamentals for this essential metal. We expect formal shareholder votes to take place around year-end and for the transaction to close late in the first quarter. Looking ahead quickly and highlighting our top priorities, a key focus remains on continuing the progress at Rochester to set ourselves up for what should be a very strong 2025. Rochester achieved its key operational metrics during the third quarter and remains on track to achieve its full-year guidance ranges. Mick will provide some additional details on Rochester. Overall, we've reconfirmed our company-wide full-year guidance ranges, which implies another strong quarter to end the year and an opportunity to further reduce our debt levels by year-end. Mick, over to you.

[Mick Routledge, SVP and COO at Coeur Mining]

Thanks, Mitch. Operating strength across our portfolio, continued easing costs, and accelerated contributions from the Rochester expansion led to Coeur's strongest quarterly results in over a decade. Beginning with Rochester, the positive trend lines we outlined last quarter showed continued momentum in the third quarter. Production of both silver and gold increased by roughly 20% compared to the prior quarter. The team has been achieving targeted tons placed since July, and they continue to focus on dialing in pressure controls, process fine-tuning, and industrial hygiene management. We are systematically taking advantage of runtime data and down periods to optimize and refine the operation to prepare the line for its long multi-decade run going forward.

[Mick Routledge, SVP and COO at Coeur Mining]

Slide 22 detailed the excellent progress being made on reducing per-ton costs at Rochester, with double-digit percentage decreases in mining, processing, and G&A highlighted how the scale of the expanded operation is driving down Rochester's cost profile as expected. A number of you on this call saw firsthand in September the scale and power of the circuit in operation. What we are beginning to see manifest through the circuit is the finesse to complement that raw power. Particle crush size optimization remains the primary focus during the second half of the year, and on that front, the percentage of crushed material reaching the 5/8 target approached 75% during the latter part of the quarter, well within expectations for this point of the year. Our three other operations are also on track for a good finish to the year.

[Mick Routledge, SVP and COO at Coeur Mining]

Palmarejo generated another strong quarter of free cash flow, with gold and silver production increasing 8% and 14% respectively compared to the second quarter. The team made good strides on a couple of key projects to position the mine for future success, with the first being the breakthrough and connection of the new Hidalgo portal near the end of the third quarter. Following completion of associated development ramps, the Hidalgo access portal is expected to unlock new zones within the Independencia deposit and enhance overall mining flexibility and efficiency. We've also made good early progress on getting after the newly acquired claims from Fresnillo that closed early in the third quarter. The concessions adjacent to current mining areas, collectively known as the Independencia Sur block, presented the most immediate near-term development opportunity.

[Mick Routledge, SVP and COO at Coeur Mining]

The pace of mapping, drilling, and development planning work continues to accelerate, and it's important to note that these prospective areas sit completely outside the Franco-Nevada gold stream boundary. Moving to Kensington, the higher gold price helped drive a $42 million swing back to positive free cash flow in the quarter to $18 million. The mine's multi-year underground development and drilling investment continues to progress and remains on track to wrap up by the middle of next year, which is expected to leave Kensington well-positioned to deliver sustained free cash flow with greater operational flexibility. Exploration drilling also continues to demonstrate success towards our goal of building up to a five-year mine life by year-end. Finishing up with Wharf, positive reconciliation and timing of ore placement led to an extremely strong quarter.

[Mick Routledge, SVP and COO at Coeur Mining]

Gold production of nearly 34,000 ounces set an all-time record high in the mine's 42-year history, generating quarterly free cash flow of $49 million and bringing the year-to-date free cash flow total to $75 million. We expect the more typical fourth quarter for Wharf, which is still a very, very good outcome. The two new exploration targets at Wharf we introduced last quarter continue to demonstrate strong potential to materially increase mine life at an operation that continues to exceed expectations. Drilling at the North Foley and Juno targets continued during the quarter from two surface drill rigs, with recent assays showing good continuity in areas west of the historic Juno pit. Overall, Wharf continues to deliver and show the potential to keep delivering for years to come. With that, I'll pass the call over to Tom.

[Tom Whelan, SVP and CFO at Coeur Mining]

Thanks, Mick. As discussed on prior calls, the long-awaited free cash flow inflection point for Coeur arrived this quarter. Higher revenues, lower unit costs, and lower CapEx were all expected and delivered. During the third quarter, we saw 15% higher metal prices and a 12% decrease in operating costs per ounce to $1,113 per ounce of gold and $15.67 per ounce of silver. These two factors were a powerful one-two punch that led to $69 million of free cash flow and $126 million of adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter alone, showing the power of the portfolio. With Rochester still in the optimizing phase and the addition of Las Chispas free cash flow, we expect even stronger results in 2025.

[Tom Whelan, SVP and CFO at Coeur Mining]

Coeur's free cash flow inflection point is projected to be sustained during the fourth quarter based on continued higher metals prices and production growth at the higher-cost Rochester and Kensington mines. As we have stated consistently, we will be allocating free cash flow to reducing our debt levels, beginning with our revolving credit facility, which sat at $225 million drawn at quarter-end, a $50 million reduction from the prior period. As shown on slide 11, our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio has plunged below two times for the first time in three years. This, of course, does not include the very healthy SilverCrest balance sheet, which has approximately $160 million of cash in bullion as of September 30, 2024.

[Tom Whelan, SVP and CFO at Coeur Mining]

By mid-2025, we expect to have the revolver fully repaid and could likely be in a position to begin a period of building up cash on the balance sheet, whether it's to reinvest in high-return brownfield exploration, support the future development of Silvertip, repay the $290 million of 5.125% notes, or a return of capital to shareholders in some form, or a combination of all of the above. We will continue to abide by our long-stated capital allocation framework and continue to focus on generating returns greater than our cost of capital. Returning briefly to the recently announced definitive agreement to acquire SilverCrest, the short-term focus has been on finalizing required regulatory filings. We're actively planning for a smooth integration so we can hit the ground running upon closing, likely in late Q1 2025. I'll now pass the call back to Mitch.

[Mitch Krebs, President and CEO at Coeur Mining]

Thanks, Tom. Before moving to the Q&A, I want to quickly highlight slide 12 that summarizes our top priorities for the remainder of the year, with the continued optimization of Rochester, pursuing the closing of the SilverCrest acquisition, and planning for the integration of Las Chispas at the top of the list. We look forward to delivering a strong and safe fourth quarter highlighted by even higher production, another quarter of positive free cash flow, and further debt reduction, which should leave us well-positioned for a very strong 2025. With that, let's go ahead and open it up for questions.

[Operator]

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star, then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. The first question comes from Joseph Reagor with ROTH Capital Partners. Please go ahead.

[Joseph Reagor, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at ROTH Capital Partners]

Hey, Mitch and team. Thanks for taking the questions.

[Mitch Krebs, President and CEO at Coeur Mining]

Yeah. Hey, Joe. Good morning.

[Joseph Reagor, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at ROTH Capital Partners]

Morning. I guess the first thing on Rochester, and I apologize if you guys touched on this. I joined a couple of minutes late. Is this leach cycle that you guys have modeled internally matching what you're seeing as far as production in the third quarter, given that we don't have the exact timing of how the ore was stacked?

[Mitch Krebs, President and CEO at Coeur Mining]

Yeah. Thanks for the question. I'll start, and then Mick, you can add to it. In short, it is, Joe. As we get that crush size down to the target by the end of the year of five-eighths, obviously the recoveries will improve as we do that. But in this period of time where we've gone from kind of focusing on stabilizing things out there and running at a bit of a higher size fraction, the recoveries are obviously lower to start, and then they'll improve as we get that crush size down. And they have been tracking according to what we've modeled based on those crush sizes. So things are tracking as we expected. Mick, anything you want to add?

[Mick Routledge, SVP and COO at Coeur Mining]

Yeah. We had a great period of a couple of years with the ex-pit to really try and model and upgrade recovery curves. And that gave us insight into the larger size fractions all the way down to the fine material. And so far, we're seeing that those recoveries are tracking on that recovery curve. As we said earlier in the year, though, we focused on getting the tonnage up and hitting the tons run rate by the middle of the year. And that was a larger size fraction. So we're regularly hitting 100,000 tons per day, which is making me really happy. But now we're focused on dialing that in, as Mitch said, to the five-eighths size fraction. And we're not quite there yet, but we're heading in the right direction. We're seeing some really good results there.

[Mick Routledge, SVP and COO at Coeur Mining]

But we're going to see that those recoveries are going to improve over time, and we'll gain some momentum as we come towards the end of the year and through into 2025. But overall, as planned.

[Joseph Reagor, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at ROTH Capital Partners]

Okay. Fair. And then on the SilverCrest acquisition, what are the remaining hurdles you guys have as you see it to getting this closed?

[Mitch Krebs, President and CEO at Coeur Mining]

Yeah, really three, I guess. I don't know if they're hurdles, just steps. Both companies will have shareholder votes around year-end. We do have the COFECE approval from Mexico that we expect to get in the first quarter, which should then set us up for that late first quarter close. So those are really the three biggest hoops that we'll need to jump through between here and closing.

[Joseph Reagor, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at ROTH Capital Partners]

Okay. And then one final thing on the balance sheet. You guys finished the quarter with about $77 million in cash. Is that a good number for us to assume as we're trying to forecast debt repayment that you guys will keep about that level? Do you want to grow it a little bit back towards more traditional levels around 100? How should we think about that?

[Mitch Krebs, President and CEO at Coeur Mining]

My thought is, and Tom, you can go after me, but in the first half of next year, at least as we're prioritizing repayment of that revolver, that cash balance will probably stay in that zip code. But then once that revolver's fully repaid, and I think, Tom, you mentioned mid-year, by mid-year, then we should start to see some cash start to build, which we're okay with for a little while as we get through the end of next year, have Las Chispas integrated, and then we can kind of go from there. But Tom, anything to add?

[Tom Whelan, SVP and CFO at Coeur Mining]

No, perfect.

[Joseph Reagor, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at ROTH Capital Partners]

Okay. Thanks. I'll turn it over.

[Mitch Krebs, President and CEO at Coeur Mining]

Okay. Thanks a lot, Joe.

[Operator]

Again, if you have a question, please press star, then one. At this time, we have no further questions. This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mitch Krebs for any closing remarks.

[Mitch Krebs, President and CEO at Coeur Mining]

Okay. Thanks. Well, hey, we appreciate everyone's time today. I know it's a super busy reporting period today. And we look forward to discussing our fourth quarter and full year 2024 results with you in February, and we'll be able to give you a good update on the progress on the SilverCrest transaction at that point as well. So until then, have a happy and safe holiday season.

[Operator]

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• Tom Whelan, SVP and CFO
• Mick Routledge, SVP and COO
• Mitch Krebs, President and CEO

Analysts

• Joseph Reagor, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at ROTH Capital Partners