Erdene Resource Development Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
August 17, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Bayan Khundii production increased 37% quarter over quarter to 11,709 ounces of gold, with 96% recoveries and throughput at 94% of capacity. Management is targeting a 3.5 g/t processing grade by year-end, which could lower all-in sustaining costs from roughly US$2,000 per ounce toward US$1,500.
  • Positive Sentiment: Erdene expects approximately 50,000 ounces of gold production in 2026 and believes updated resources support extending production beyond 10 years. Dark Horse South is being accelerated for mill feed in the second half of 2027, potentially increasing grades.
  • Positive Sentiment: Exploration and development plans could expand the Bayan Khundii complex through Khundii West, Dark Horse, Altan Nar, a potential heap-leach facility, and a possible super-pit with neighboring licenses. Management expects further drilling and metallurgical work to clarify these mine-life and production expansion opportunities.
  • Positive Sentiment: The Zuun Mod molybdenum-copper project’s preliminary economic assessment is expected within roughly 60 days, with management citing strong molybdenum prices, Asian offtake interest, and potential development-bank participation. The company is also considering strategic funding or a corporate restructuring to unlock the project’s value without directly competing with the gold joint venture for capital.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Erdene reported CAD 10 million of Q2 net income and CAD 28 million of corporate cash, while the joint venture held US$40 million of cash and approximately US$120 million of project debt. The joint venture has begun debt repayment, and Erdene also initiated a share buyback, but future expansion will require continued capital allocation and regulatory or partner agreements.
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Earnings Conference Call
Erdene Resource Development Q2 2026
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Operator

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Erdene Resource Development second quarter 2026 financial and operating results conference call and webcast. As a reminder, all participants on the telephone are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star then zero. Participants on the webcast may type in their questions in the chat feature of the webcast. Now let me hand the call over to John Vincic.

John Vincic
Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Erdene

Thank you, operator, and hello everyone, and thank you for joining our call today. A few housekeeping items to note. The accompanying presentation for today's call is available for download from the company's website at www.erdene.com. The press release, financial statements, and MD&A related to this quarter are all posted on Erdene's website and on SEDAR+. I'll point out that management's remarks on the Bayan Khundii Gold Mine's operating performance are at the Erdene Mongol level, a 50/50 joint venture between Erdene and Mongolian Mining Corporation. It is also important to note that this conference call contains forward-looking information that is based on the company's current expectations, estimates, and beliefs, and may also use terms that are non-IFRS performance measures. Please review Erdene's latest disclosure materials, including the company's most recent annual information form, for the risks associated with this forward-looking information and the use of non-IFRS performance measures.

John Vincic
Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Erdene

Please note that all dollar amounts mentioned on today's call are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted. Today's speakers from Erdene are Peter Akerley, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Robert Jenkins, Chief Financial Officer. Peter, please go ahead.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Thanks, John, and hello everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Erdene Resource Development is an emerging minerals producer focused on developing a multi-mine, multi-commodity business in the Khundii Minerals District of southwestern Mongolia. We've established the foundation for that development by advancing the high-grade gold mine at Bayan Khundii to commercial production earlier this year. From this initial open pit, we see great potential for continued growth through mine life extension and expansion, which I'll share with you on today's call. Given our more than 20-year exploration history and development track record in the country, we are confident of the value we can deliver to all stakeholders through the continued development of the Khundii Minerals District. Let me now share with you the highlights of our operating results for Q2 2026, as well as an overview of our growth plans for the balance of the year.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

We delivered strong performance in the second quarter, growing production and improving mining performance at the Bayan Khundii gold mine, co-owned with our strategic partner, Mongolian Mining Corporation. As you can see on slide five, the mine produced nearly 12,000 oz of gold in the second quarter, a 37% increase compared to Q1 2026. Ore feed grades were 2.4 g per ton, a 25% improvement from Q1, largely due to the teams focused on improved mining efficiency, which I'll describe in more detail on the coming slides. We continue to make tremendous progress as we work towards a feed grade of 3.5 g per ton by year-end. The process plant has performed very well to date, operating at expected throughput and outperforming on gold recoveries.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

The joint venture company is generating strong operating cash flow, allowing for its first debt repayment in the past few weeks, and we have ample liquidity at the corporate level following our CAD 29 million financing in Q1. At Zuun Mod, our large-scale molybdenum copper project, we remain on track to deliver a preliminary economic assessment in the next 60 days, which we expect to showcase the scale and economic potential of this asset.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

The broader moly market is very robust, underpinned by strong demand and growth fundamentals. To that end, we have received offtake interest from several Asian counterparties, demonstrating the attractiveness of our project, given its proximity to key markets with growing demand. On the growth side, the Khundii Minerals District remains early in its discovery life. Our exploration and development teams are working on several opportunities to expand resources that could support mine life extensions and plant expansions.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

I'll share those with you as we continue through today's presentation. As shown on slide six, total plant throughput was 153,000 tons of ore at an average rate of 1,682 tons per day or 94% of capacity during the second quarter. Gold recoveries have remained consistent every quarter at 96% since first production and in excess of our target of 93%. In total, Bayan Khundii produced 11,709 oz of gold, 37% more than previous quarter. Since first gold was poured in September 2025, we have produced nearly 28,000 oz of gold. Silver production in Q2 was just over 3,300 oz, largely consistent with the prior quarter. Average realized prices were $4,493 per ounce of gold and $72 per ounce of silver. Turning to slide seven.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

In Q2, the mining team moved 3.8 million tons of material, 19% more than in Q1, mining 247,000 tons of ore at an average grade of 1.4 g per ton. A 59% increase in ore volume compared to Q1. This is a result of multiple improvements across the mining effort. Increasing experience in high-grade selective gold mining, greater precision in defining and mining the high-grade zones, improved blasting techniques and program design, and ore tracking using high-precision GPS have all led to improved efficiency and less dilution and loss. The front-end mobile crusher is now operating consistently, which has reduced stockpiling of oversized material containing relatively higher-grade ore.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Additionally, during the quarter and continuing into July, we continued to expand the pit laterally, generating low- to mid-grade material to position us to drive into higher-grade zones and achieve target head grades of 3.5 g per ton by year-end, which should result in increased metal production and lower unit costs. At June 30, 2026, the mining fleet consisted of 18 dump trucks, five excavators, three dozers, and associated support equipment. While we are very pleased with the recent improvements in mining performance, we are also pursuing resource expansion opportunities near the mine. As seen on slide eight, our immediate focus is two areas adjacent to the Bayan Khundii mine. Khundii West, including Ulaan and Dark Horse, both have seen limited deep or expansion drilling, given our focus over the past few years on mine construction.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

They are part of the same Bayan Khundii hydrothermal system and are expected to add ounces that will support mine life extension and potentially capacity expansion of the Bayan Khundii plant complex. At Dark Horse, we will be testing along the 3 km strike length to expand the near-surface oxide resource for both CIP and possibly heap leach processing. Khundii West provides substantial upside to expand Bayan Khundii pit westward, laying the groundwork for a much larger pit.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Initially, the pit will expand west from Bayan Khundii and, in the future, potentially incorporate both the Erdenetsogt and Ulaan resources, subject to agreement with Erdenes Alt, the entity that holds the narrow triangle of ground between the Khundii and Ulaan licenses. A 12,000 m exploration program has been approved for the second half of 2026 that will focus on these targets. I will now share with you some of the details of this program.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

On slide nine, you can see a plan map on the left of the Bayan Khundii deposit expanding into Khundii West and a section through that area on the right. The Khundii West resource is now incorporated into a plan development by virtue of a revised pit reflecting current gold price. However, this area has seen limited close-spaced or expansion drilling, as can be seen in the section. The highlighted boxes are substantial mineralized zones, as reported in the table, and include significant zones outside of the defined resource and also the highest grade zone reported in the area, including intersections of 22 m of six and 42 m of seven, respectively. A 9,000 m drill program will commence in the coming weeks to provide the information necessary to improve confidence in the continuity of the high-grade zones and, in some instances, to bring new material into resources and reserves.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

This program will allow for the development of final plans and design for the Khundii West expansion later in the development of the Bayan Khundii mine. Discussions are also underway with Erdenes Alt, the Mongolian state-owned company that holds the narrow strip of land between the two licenses, focused on incorporating the resources of the Erdenetsogt license into a potential collaborative Super Pit. That development would drive into deeper resources than the current design in Khundii West, and the western extension of that pit would cross into our Ulaan license, where we currently have a reported resource of 78,000 oz of indicated and 38,000 oz of inferred at a grade of 1.9 g per ton at the 0.7 cut off, with room for further expansion.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

As shown on slide 10, just 2.5 km north of Bayan Khundii is the Dark Horse area, host to the Dark Horse South Satellite Reserve, which currently hosts a 50,000 oz high-grade gold deposit at surface. This deposit is positioned within a 3 km mineralized trend with multiple adjacent gold mineralized structures exposed at surface, providing exceptional exploration potential, as highlighted in our March update and displayed on this slide. Highlights from that drilling included very high-grade near-surface intercepts of 9.6 g per ton over 19 m and 28.7 g per ton over 3 m in areas expanding the limits of the resource. Grade control drilling is underway at Dark Horse South, supporting mine plans to bring this high-grade satellite deposit into the mill feed in H2 2027, ahead of the original year three sequencing in 2028.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

The addition of this very high-grade satellite deposit will provide the ability to deliver higher grades to the BK plant in 2027. At Dark Horse North, 500 m north of the planned Dark Horse pit, the mineralized area spans 700 m of strike length, with oxide material extending to 100 m depth and hosting both high-grade material suitable for the CIP plant but also a substantial volume of lower-grade oxide material that appears amenable for feed to a potential heap leach development. Continuing northeast of Dark Horse, the mineralized structure has been traced over an additional 1.7 km at Altan Nar. This area and adjacent structures to the south will be subject to a 3,000 m drill program later this year, as shown on the plan map on slide 10. Altan Nar is at an earlier stage of exploration.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

However, the gold and silver-bearing shallow oxide zones are very encouraging, and it could provide additional resources to support the heap leach facility. Composites from Dark Horse are undergoing heap leach amenability testing at Blue Coast Research in British Columbia, with initial results indicating good recoveries to support the heap leach facility. The Greater Dark Horse area is a large underexplored portion of the BK complex that provides exceptional potential to continue to add ounces, extending mine life at the BK CIP plant, as well as a very real opportunity to expand production through the addition of a heap leach facility. We have established cornerstone open pit reserves at Bayan Khundii and Dark Horse to support the initial mining period, and we have the related infrastructure to support an extension and expansion of the Bayan Khundii complex.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

With 10 km of interconnected structures already mapped, the Bayan Khundii epithermal system is still in its exploratory life with excellent growth potential. As seen on slide 11, I'd also like to remind everyone of the potential and plans for the Altan Nar deposit, located just 16 km north of Bayan Khundii. The deposit hosts an indicated resource of 313,000 oz at 2.16 g per ton gold and 15.7 g per ton silver, plus a further 210,000 oz of inferred resources. What makes this deposit particularly attractive is how shallow it is. Roughly 90% of the resource sits within 150 m of surface, and it remains open at depth. This gives us development flexibility. We can truck selected ore to our existing plant at Bayan Khundii, build a flotation plant on-site to produce a concentrate, or some combination of the two.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

With about 14% of the gold inventory at Altan Nar hosted in oxides, it is also a potential feed source for a proposed heap leach operation at Bayan Khundii. The real story here is growth. Today's resource is confined to just two zones, Union North and Discovery, with a mineralized corridor that runs 5.5 km long and a half kilometer wide, with more than 20 targets identified along trend. The corridor has seen no exploration in the past several years given our focus on Bayan Khundii. Our 2026 metallurgical program is now complete with excellent results, and we have an AI-based evaluation of the property underway, with planning for a large-scale exploration program to be carried out in 2027.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Altan Nar provides opportunity to expand existing resources and the optionality to develop a deposit that feeds high-grade material into an expanding gravity circuit at the Bayan Khundii plant, complementing the existing CIP plant and possible new heap leach plant. Taking into consideration the impact of higher metal prices, depletion of the Bayan Khundii pit in the first year, and recent drill results from Dark Horse, we recently updated the mineral resource estimates for the gold projects held by Erdene Mongol within the Khundii Minerals District, which includes the Bayan Khundii deposit, Dark Horse deposit, Ulaan, and Altan Nar, as shown on slide 12.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Considering that the operating cutoff grade for the Bayan Khundii plant is in the range of 0.7 g per ton, it is most useful to look at the resources at that cutoff and consider the remaining low grade as stockpiled for future blending or as a potential feed for a heap leach facility. The table displayed summarizes the updated gold resources for the Erdene Mongol deposits. It is important to recognize that while the Bayan Khundii and Dark Horse resources utilize actual cost, the other deposits will not translate to reserves equally. However, it provides a useful snapshot of the potential for mine life extension at Bayan Khundii. The global resource includes 835,000 oz at 2.9 g per ton and 9 g per ton silver in the measured and indicated categories, with a further 265,000 oz at 1.5 g per ton inferred.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

We believe this strongly supports the ability to extend production life to in excess of 10 years. Beyond that, we have room for increased production through three key expansion paths: the CIP plant optimization, adding a gravity circuit, and potentially introducing heap leach processing as we continue to grow resources in the region. For 2026, we are targeting approximately 50,000 oz of gold. Looking ahead, our objective is to reach the 3.5 g per ton processing grade target by year-end and continue that into 2027, with grade enhancement brought into the mix with the development of Dark Horse. It is also important to note that Erdene holds a 5% NSR on all minerals produced from our licenses in the Khundii Minerals District once we reach 400,000 oz of production.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

In September, our three large mineralized deposits and associated prospects in the Khundii Minerals District will be the subject of a Khundii Geo symposium, which we are hosting in collaboration with the Canadian government in Mongolia. We are bringing together global experts and expect to generate new ideas and exploration approaches for the exploration of the district. We are confident that the exploration opportunities in the Bayan Khundii, Dark Horse, and Altan Nar areas, combined with our history of exploration success in the region, support delivery of these ambitious but achievable goals. We see the Bayan Khundii complex as the foundation for further discoveries in this vast and underexplored region, positioning it to underpin the long-term growth of our business. Let me turn to Erdene's controlled exploration and development projects, in particular, the giant Zuun Mod molybdenum copper project.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

As shown on slide 13, Zuun Mod is one of Asia's largest undeveloped molybdenum copper deposits. Located just 200 km from China, the world's largest consumer of both of these critical metals. The deposit is exposed at surface and hosted within a much larger copper porphyry system. We envision a low-strip, large-scale, open-pit operation delivering molybdenum copper concentrates to the Asian market and one that can leverage the infrastructure we have already established in the Khundii Minerals District. Against that backdrop, we are well advanced on the preliminary economic assessment. Mineral resources, mining, metallurgy, and marketing studies are substantially complete with process engineering, power infrastructure, and modeling work underway. We expect to deliver the PEA in mid H2. We see this study as a major opportunity to surface the value of Zuun Mod for Erdene shareholders.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

As shown on slide 14, Zuun Mod looks set to come online in an environment of tight supply and increasing demand. Given molybdenum's use in specialty steels for energy, defense, and construction, and emerging use cases in the computer chip industry, including tungsten replacement, prices have increased significantly over the past two years and have stabilized above $30 a pound over the past six months. At this price level, Zuun Mod is a very attractive project, further supported by its location only 200 km from the world's largest molybdenum consumer. The timing is compelling. Several of China's moly mines are approaching end of life, and the resulting supply deficit, combined with growing demand, is supporting historically strong molybdenum prices. The other projects in our portfolio include the Khuvyn Khar copper prospect and the Tereg Uul property in the Oyu Tolgoi district.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Khuvyn Khar, 4.5 km northwest of the Zuun Mod project, is a high-grade copper discovery. We have engaged Quantec Geoscience, a global leader in geophysics, to conduct an extensive survey starting in late Q3 that will provide deeper targets for follow-up as we seek to build on the intersection of the 30 m of 1.25% copper we reported earlier this year. At Tereg Uul, just 10 km from the Oyu Tolgoi mine, which is on track to be the fourth largest globally by the end of the decade, we recently wrapped up our maiden drill program. This 11-hole, 2,700 m program was a success, with eight of nine shallow holes at the Web Prospect intersecting gold mineralization, outlining a 1.5 km trend, and a deeper hole in the central part of the license intersecting native copper in a propylitic alteration zone.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

On the basis of these results, Erdene extended its option to acquire up to 80% of the license for another year in July. While these projects are at an earlier stage, they have tremendous value creation potential for Erdene shareholders. In summary, the Bayan Khundii complex is our foundation, but the vast exploration pipeline in the Khundii Minerals District is our future. Expansion of the gold exploration targets held by Erdene Mongol and advancing our Zuun Mod, Khuvyn Khar, and Tereg Uul projects provides significant opportunities for mine life extension and optimization, along with new discoveries that would create sustained value for our shareholders. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Bob to provide financial highlights for the quarter. Bob?

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

Thank you, Peter. Moving to slide 16, let me provide the financial highlights for the quarter ended June 30th, 2026. Before getting into the details of Erdene's financial results, a reminder to everyone on the call that Erdene's investment in Bayan Khundii is held through a 50% joint venture stake in the Mongolian company, Erdene Mongol LLC. Included on this slide are financial excerpts representing 100% of the joint venture operations for Erdene Mongol, as well as the consolidated results for Erdene Resource Development, representing our proportionate share of Erdene Mongol performance and our corporate operations. All figures are in CAD unless otherwise noted. Starting with Erdene Mongol, in Q2, the business generated $53 million of revenue on sales of nearly 12,000 oz of gold and over 3,300 oz of silver at average sale prices of $4,493 and $72 per ounce respectively, or CAD 75 million.

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

Revenues were 32% higher in Q2 than in Q1, reflecting higher sales volumes despite modestly lower metal prices. Total cost of revenue for the quarter was $24 million or CAD 33 million, approximately $2,000 per ounce sold. Given minimal sustaining capital expenditures in the period, as we are within the first year of operations, all in sustaining costs are not materially different from this figure. Overall, cost per ounce were approximately 20% lower than in Q1, given the increase in production and improvements in mining efficiency that Peter's outlined earlier. Erdene Mongol ended the quarter with $40 million of cash and the project debt was approximately $120 million or CAD 175 million. Subsequent to quarter end, the business made a $10 million debt repayment on the project's fully drawn $50 million working capital facility.

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

With the mine generating cash, capital allocation priorities will be to pay down the project's debt while investing in the expansionary exploration programs described by Peter earlier. Turning to Erdene's consolidated financial performance in Q2, our share of income from Erdene Mongol totaled 11.2 million, 60% ahead of Q1, reflecting the higher sales and lower unit cost, partially offset by lower gold prices.

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

For Q2 2026, exploration and evaluation expenses for Erdene Resource Development represented work by our team on controlled properties totaled just over 700,000, compared to 900,000 for the three months ended March 31st, 2026. The quarter-over-quarter reduction was primarily due to the timing of payments under the corporation's incentive compensation program to technical staff, partially offset by increased activity associated with exploration at Tereg Uul. Corporate and administrative expenses representing Erdene's public company costs totaled CAD 1.6 million in Q2 2026 compared to CAD 1.6 million in Q1 2026.

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

The quarter-over-quarter change is primarily due to increased marketing and investor relations efforts, as well as costs associated with the company's annual general meeting, which took place in May. In total, Erdene generated net income of CAD 10 million, or CAD 0.15 per share in the second quarter, compared to CAD 4.8 million or CAD 0.07 a share in the first quarter. Erdene ended the quarter with CAD 28 million of corporate cash, an ample liquidity position to grow the business in the period till we see returns of capital from our investment in Erdene Mongol. on June 30, the company launched a Normal Course Issuer Bid, allowing for the buyback of up to 10% of the company's free trading stock. Since that date, Erdene has bought back and canceled almost 100,000 shares at an average price of CAD 5.20 per share.

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

We believe the market price of our shares may at certain times not reflect the inherent value of the company, and we will selectively repurchase, as we see this as an efficient use of capital to increase shareholder value. This concludes the review of our financial performance for the second quarter. I'll turn the call back to Peter.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Thank you, Bob. Turning to slide 17. The health and safety of our employees, contractors, and local communities is a top priority and the core foundation of our operational success. At the end of Q2 2026, there were 565 staff and contractors on site, with a total of 520,000 person hours worked during the quarter. The 12-month rolling average lost time injury frequency rate was two per million person hours. While a respectable result, we will continually strive towards zero. Zero reportable environmental incidents did occur during the quarter. Environmental management efforts remain focused on mitigating potentially adverse impacts and advancing environmental protection activities, such as the endemic vegetation trials at the 2 hectare plantation at the Bayan Khundii mine. One of our ongoing community initiatives is our operator training program, conducted in partnership with Mongolian Mining Corporation and focused on local employment.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

More than 180 residents of Bayankhongor province have taken part in a classroom and hands-on program at MMC's UHG Mining Complex over the past two years, with many of those joining the Bayan Khundii mining team. Erdene Mongol has also been actively supporting community partnership initiatives. Over the past several weeks, the team sponsored the annual Naadam Festival in Shinejinst, the nearest community to Bayan Khundii, and Erdene Mongol has also recently awarded scholarships to over 50 local youngsters, investing in the education of our community. As outlined on slide 18, our key deliverables for 2026 reflect our commitment to value creation and support of our long-term plan to develop a multi-mine, multi-commodity district. Bayan Khundii is rapidly establishing itself as a reliable, steady-state gold producer. This strong operational foundation generates consistent cash flow while enabling us to execute targeted exploration programs across our portfolio.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

This work, in turn, is paving the way towards our longer-term goal of expanding production and extending mine life beyond 10 years. While the first half of 2026 was highly productive, our second half will deliver several major catalysts, including continued improvement of grade and production, targeting 3.5 g as we move through year end into 2027. Preparation to accelerate the Dark Horse deposit for 2027 mining and continued expansion of the adjacent resources to support both CIP and potentially heap leach. Exploration and potential partner developed to expand westward at Bayan Khundii, leading to an enhanced mine plan. The delivery of the Zuun Mod PEA alongside exploration results in the adjacent copper targets. As we reach each of these goals, we expect to unlock substantial incremental value for shareholders.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

In closing, I believe we are well positioned to deliver on these objectives and create value for shareholders and stakeholders alike. With that, I will hand it back to the operator to begin the Q&A session. Thank you.

Operator

As a reminder, to join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star then zero. Participants on the webcast may type their questions in the chat feature of the webcast. Your first question comes from Hanif Jamal with H. Jamal Holdings. Your line is now open.

Hanif Jamal
Shareholder at H. Jamal Holdings

Hi, guys. This is a question for Bob. Congrats on the ramp-up. It looks like it is going well. Question for you, did you say that your AISC are around CAD 2,000 an ounce for this quarter?

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

That is correct.

Hanif Jamal
Shareholder at H. Jamal Holdings

Okay. Your cost of revenue, $33 million. Do you see that staying stable into Q3 and Q4 of this year?

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

We expect that to come down as we look to the back half of the year, Hanif.

Hanif Jamal
Shareholder at H. Jamal Holdings

Yeah.

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

I mean, it is simple as a significant portion of the cost in the business would be fixed, and the grade has been a little bit below where we expect to be. Once we get close to that 3.5 that Peter mentioned as our target, we expect to see the AISC end up in the range of about $1,500 per ounce U.S. if we are able to see those improvements.

Hanif Jamal
Shareholder at H. Jamal Holdings

Got it. Okay. Thanks. I have no more questions.

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from Don MacLean with Paradigm Capital. Your line is now open.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

Good morning, guys. Yeah, good progress in the second quarter. Peter, just a couple questions on the current operations. I actually have some others as well, but I will just focus on the current operations for the moment. The grade outlook, you said you are targeting 3.5 g by year end. Do you think that is kind of the stable, steady state grade that you can maintain at the project?

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Maybe to start with the core resource, Don. When we look at Dark Horse and Bayan Khundii combined, we have at a 0.7 cut-off, around a 4.5 g average grade at a 0.7 cut-off. If you factor in dilution, you can get down into that 4 g range. Factoring or targeting 3.5 g, I think is achievable by year-end. One of the key elements that could influence that and perhaps enhance it is the acceleration of the Dark Horse development next year. As you know, we have a very high-grade supergene satellite deposit that we're now looking to bring on earlier, and if that comes into the mix by mid-year, then we could see that 3.5 g improved upon. But I feel comfortable with that target. We've seen great strides in both the dilution control and our engineers and geology teams getting a better handle on pit sequencing.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

I think just moving dirt in the right time and place is a critical part of this as well. But yeah, I feel confident with those targets.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

When we go back to the reserve model reconciliation, how do you feel now about that exercise during a feasibility study is often somewhat academic. It becomes very different.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Yeah.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

When you're actually trying to chase narrow structures in a pit at substantial volumes. How is the reconciliation working out, not just in terms of ounces and grade, but just the internal dilution versus the blasted dilution?

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Yeah. It's taken a while to get to the point where we're comfortable with the grade control models reflecting mining. I'd say just in the last month or so, we're seeing those start to line up. Early on with the amount of dilution we were underperforming significantly, in terms of delivering what was reported in the mine to the mill. But in the last few months, that has flipped with us overachieving. We're working with the modelers and the engineers to refine those grade control models further. I'd say just in the last few weeks, they're starting to line up. It's taken a bit of a back and forth amongst the modelers, geologists, and the mill-reported grades, but it's coming into line now.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Shifting into the dilution side, I would guess we were in that 30%-40% range for the first few months and getting down into that 20% or less range today. Ultimately, our target is to be closer to 10%, but that's also headed in the right direction. Still work to do, but yeah, it's lining up. The resource estimate that we did for Bayan Khundii most recently used a vein-type model as opposed to intrusive type model, and it came in about 10% less overall when you look at the lower grade cut-off. But the high-grade core remains intact, and that's at the 0.7 or higher level. Yeah, hopefully, that answers your question, but let me know if I missed anything in there.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

But overall, the ounces are there and the grade from what was originally expected once you looked through the mining dilution, the original model.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Yeah, that's right.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

I guess every. Yeah.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Yeah. Today, as we look at the grade delivered by the mine and reported in the mill is starting to line up, so that verifies the model we are using to determine those block grades being delivered to the mill.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

Great. Then, just specific to the mill, because that has been, the recovery has been terrific. You are at 6% below rated capacity. What we often see with mills is they are actually able to run at higher than rated capacity once the mine is able to deliver the volume. The mine can usually deliver more than the mill can handle, or they bury the mill, as they like to call it. But this is more selective mining. Do you think the mill has the capacity to run at higher than rated capacity based on what you have seen? Or will it always be constrained by the ability of the mine to deliver the kind of grade that you want to see?

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

I do not see a constraint on delivery of ore as we get to this higher level of efficiency that we just talked about. The plant is designed for a maximum capacity of about 1,950 tons per day, and we have always looked at our targeted throughput at about 92% of that. That gets you up, I think, into the mid 17, sort of 1,750 tons per day, a little higher. The reported throughput, as you would have seen in today's announcement, was, I think it was 1,686. A little lower than what our target is, but that does not account for the days of shutdown as we started things up. We had, I think, a three or four-day shutdown. On a daily basis, we are exceeding that 1,780 or that 92% of maximum throughput.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

I do feel steady state, we can get up a little higher than where we are today. I would also point out from a conservative perspective that you are always going to have softer rock in the upper benches, which is where we have been. As we get deeper into this mine, we could see somewhat harder rock that would probably keep you closer to our target. But, yeah, just a little bit more detail around the throughput.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

Sure. Yeah, that makes sense. That is great. Okay, so onwards and upwards. I have some other questions about the future, but I will pass it back to the operator in case somebody else has some questions.

Operator

There are no further questions from the telephone. I will now pass the call over to John Vincic to ask management the questions that have come in from email and on the webcast. Please go ahead, John.

John Vincic
Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Erdene

Thank you, operator. Peter, I will give you a question from the webcast before you go back to Don for his follow-ups. The script mentions that the heap leach opportunity several times, Dark Horse North, Altan Nar, Altan Nar oxides, the low-grade stockpiles. What are the decision gates and rough timelines to sanctioning this, and what did the Blue Coast results actually show?

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Maybe just to back up a little bit on Mongolia in general, there are half a dozen heap leach gold operations in Mongolia that are operating today. In fact, one, I think about 100 and some kilometers to the west of us. It is sort of a proven technology. We often get asked about cold weather climates for heap leach, but a number of viable operations in country and therefore a number of experienced operators in the heap leach industry and country. When we first went into the Khundii district or the Khundii district, we didn't expect to see the depth of oxidation we see today. And we're seeing it now at each of our project areas. Dark Horse has been the one we focused on the most, given that that entire 50,000 oz of 7 g sits in an oxidized supergene.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

We began to step out from that. We see Dark Horse Altan Nar, that 3 km trend, as the key delivery of ounces for a heap leach. And what we'd like to see is economic viability utilizing that as the resource base. We do have, as I've mentioned, multiple sources for additional oxide from the other projects, and we also have the low-grade stockpile that's growing at Bayan Khundii that won't give as high a recovery as we see in the oxides. But we're still seeing in the range of 50% recoveries from that 0.7 and less material at Bayan Khundii, so another potential source. I feel like after we get this drilling done in Q4, we will update the resource again and be targeting somewhere around 100,000 oz as a baseline to justify the startup of a moderate size heap leach facility.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

The column leach test is not complete yet at Blue Coast, but we do expect recoveries well in excess of 60% from Dark Horse material and perhaps in that low 70s, but we'll see as we get final results out of that. There are some synergies that we can bring into play from the Bayan Khundii facility. But we would look to have a pad set up somewhere in the neighborhood of the Bayan Khundii plant. We feel like once we've made that investment decision in 2027, we would have perhaps a year or so to put that in place. At 2028, bringing on stream of a complementary heap leach production facility.

John Vincic
Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Erdene

Thank you, Peter. Another question from the webcast. Once the Zuun Mod PEA is complete and published in the next 60 days, how would a gold-focused company fund a large molybdenum copper development project? Are the Asian offtake discussions potentially strategic partnerships, and does Zuun Mod compete with Khundii for capital?

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Good question. Given the financial element there, I will let Bob cover that one.

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

Thanks for that, John. Just as a reminder to all on call, the Zuun Mod project is wholly owned by Erdene, while the gold projects are held by Erdene Mongol, the joint venture with our strategic partner, Mongolian Mining Corporation. Given the success of Bayan Khundii, the gold extension and expansion projects that we have discussed on today's call are likely to be self-funded within the joint venture, either from operating cash flows or asset-level debt. With that as background, there is not necessarily an inherent competition for the capital. Maybe some more color just on what we are seeing at Zuun Mod and how we are thinking about this. We are working on several different funding options, considering that the project of this scale will require a fair bit of capital. Any offtake agreement from a counterparty does provide certainty to all the financiers, reducing overall financing risk.

Bob Jenkins
CFO at Erdene

Given the current dynamics in the moly market, we have received offtake interest from several potential counterparties from across Asia, being China, Korea, and Japan, just at least from an initial indication of interest. We have also had preliminary discussions with the major development banks in the region where we have got pretty strong relationships, and they, again, at an early stage, have expressed some interest in pushing this project forward. Given that we are still 60 days or so from the release of the PEA, we expect these discussions to really ramp up once that is out in the market, and we have got some firm figures we can start to speak to.

John Vincic
Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Erdene

Thanks, Bob. The question from the webcast on the 5% royalty. Can you clarify the 5% royalty mentioned on the call? Is that an NSR payable to Erdene on 100% of JV production once 400,000 oz is reached, and what is it worth?

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

The first part of that question is easy to answer. I will address the second. The royalty is payable on all ore derived from the joint venture licenses. It is a net smelter royalty, so off the top 5% payable to Erdene on 100% of production. If you look at what we are producing today or targeting to produce, it is pretty simple math. You could multiply the ounces by 4,000 oz, and that would be our pre-tax payment. At 80,000 oz per year, which was our target, that would be $16 million U.S. per year. But you can do some more creative math on what this could look like four years out, should we bring on some of these other projects. That is the royalty, John.

John Vincic
Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Erdene

Thank you, Peter. Question on the Super Pit. What needs to happen with Erdenes Alt to incorporate Khuvyn Khar and Ulaan into the mine plan? Who funds what, and when would this potentially show up in the mine plan?

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Yeah. Just a little bit of background here or painting the picture. The Bayan Khundii deposit is continuous to the west. It stretches for well over 1 km from the northeast side of the pit, across West Striker, across the Khuvyn Khar license, which is about 300 m wide, and onto Ulaan, where we have over 100,000 oz that would form the back portion of this. Both of the Khuvyn Khar and Ulaan licenses are currently exploration stage.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

So in order to advance those to mining development, they have to go through that government regulatory process, which both parties have now embarked upon. And we have had discussions that will bring us to a point where once the mining license is established, resources registered, we will look at jointly developing a development plan, and based on that, begin to enter into discussions on how to share development. Is this a product sharing?

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

There is a number of different routes that we could take, but I expect to see that start to mature in 2027. There is plenty of room for us to continue development as we move to West Striker and Dark Horse in the coming years. This is out a few years from now. But that is the plan that we have discussed with the Erdenes Alt folks at this point. I would also highlight that there is significant potential for additional exploration as we move to that westerly area, both at depth in West Striker, Khuvyn Khar, and Ulaan as well. Plenty of room for growth in that area. But it is good to see us moving forward with Erdenes Alt on that plan.

John Vincic
Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Erdene

Thanks, Peter. I'm just going to turn it back to the operator to re-poll to see if anybody else wants to come back into the queue on the live call.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, should you have a question, please press star one. Your next question comes from Don MacLean with Paradigm Capital. Your line is now open.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

Thank you, operator. Just touching on the future. I was really intrigued with the Altan Nar metallurgy and comment that it could be a potential feed to the Bayan Khundii mill, because it's a large resource. You talked about the threshold for heap leach being 100,000 oz, but Altan Nar is quite a bit larger than that. Can you just provide us a bit more color on what the metallurgy is saying as to the possibility of actually feeding that into the Bayan Khundii mill? Because that would extend the project life a lot.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Yeah, we had some good results come out in our metallurgical testing this year on a high-grade sample from Altan Nar, which we carried out of Blue Coast, and also just going back and reevaluating where the cutoff would be in terms of the polymetallic nature of the ore and what could go into the CIP plant. We've arrived at approximately 80% of the ore that's reported would be amenable to the CIP processing. 20% is higher in arsenic, but fairly well isolated, and we could selectively mine around that. We're seeing 89% recovery of gold in the higher grade sample. We're up in the five-gram range on that sample, but that is probably about 70% of the ore. It's another high-grade deposit. Overall, we think we could be seeing 75% recovered from the resources we reported.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

I'd also just note that the exploration opportunity here is immense. We've only tested a small portion of the strike length to come up with that half a million ounces. Our objective in 2027, from an exploration perspective, is to focus much of our budget on Altan Nar growth.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

Yeah, that's quite a different sort of view to, at least the way I've been looking at it. I'm not sure how other investors have looked at Altan Nar, because looking at it as a concentrate, that's a whole different process and a whole bunch of additional infrastructure, whereas being able to make use of the Bayan Khundii mill saves a lot of capital, one would think.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Yeah, there's.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

More than justifying the recovery difference.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Yeah, the improved recoveries and our look at the deposit that provides us with that higher available amenable ore has really changed our thinking. On a trade-off study, we see the route as being superior to truck it into the CIP. You are correct, if we paid CAD 120 million to build Bayan Khundii and we add inflation, assume a similar size plant, we are probably up in the CAD 140 million-CAD 150 million range by the time we build Altan Nar, which is capital we do not have to inject. It is only a 16 km trucking distance. The oxide cap could become quite valuable to us as well with, I think it was about 12% of the resource is oxide near surface, with plenty of room to expand that as well. Getting excited about that opportunity. Obviously, we could accelerate that production.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

We could be providing some high-grade material to blend upwards in the early days. I really like the optionality that is starting to materialize with Altan Nar, which as I spelled out in our presentation, would certainly give us that ability to be well in excess of 10 years with the combined resources available to us.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

What is the next step here? Are you doing more metallurgical work on, I guess, lower grade, more representative samples?

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

We will, but what I want to do first is make sure we have completed that much more complete exploration program, and then characterize the ore that we have based on that larger resource, and then invest in the metallurgical work. In 2027, the focus will be on Altan Nar to do both of those things. Ideally, as you are coming out the back end of 2027 into 2028, you can put a pin in this, let us say, what is a conceptual option to go to the CIP, put a pin in that, and start to really develop that plan to be trucking ore into Bayan Khundii in the future.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

Excellent. The other question on the Zuun Mod, I know you do not have the answers from the PEA in hand yet, but a couple questions. Do you think the market attaches any value to this based on your discussion with investors?

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

No. I think that it is a curiosity for some, but I really do not think we are valued at much more than what our six-year gold production profile is. We have never had an economic study out, so ideally, as we move into that phase in September, we will be able to demonstrate that value. We will also begin to look at what opportunities do we have corporately to restructure, spin out. We will take a closer look at that, because I think that may be the path we need to take to crystallize full value for Zuun Mod.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

Yeah. It is a bit of chalk and cheese relative to the gold side, but projects of that scale generally are pretty sensitive to the price that you see are being used in the study. There is a big delta between what the, shall we say, three-year average price is and what the current spot is. That would suggest this thing would have a lot of sensitivity to the metal price. Do you have any kind of visibility about how the project economics, are they looking encouraging in the low 20s, or is it way too early to tell? Below $20 per pound for moly.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Yeah. I think you need to be.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

I think probably at the average.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

In the low 20s to make this project attractive. The current, I think the three-year trailing, or maybe it's five, Bob, is 22.50. About that range. Current spot price is closer to 32-33. But we feel pretty comfortable in between those two numbers, as this project becomes very robust. Looking at the demands we're seeing long term, and we've done a lot of our own marketing work on the ground in Asia, speaking with the entire industry. We do feel good about that long-term demand continuing and growth rate continuing at close to 4%, which will generate a need for pretty much the equivalent of what we plan to produce from Zuun Mod coming online every year. I think we're right time, right place. We're on the border of the largest consumer who's in deficit. They put export controls on molybdenum.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

In our discussions with those end users, they'd buy our concentrate today. I think it's a good time from a market perspective, but I'd also like to just revisit the fact that if you look back 10 years ago, this project was considered too remote. But today, we have a metallurgical coal haul road within 30 km of Zuun Mod just completed. We have now demonstrated you can bring power in from the grid. A lot has changed in terms of infrastructure, and it couldn't be in a better place than next door to a country that's consuming more molybdenum than anywhere else and can't find enough of it. We're excited about what Zuun Mod is about to bring for us.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

Yeah. That'll be very interesting to see how this looks when it comes out in H2. Could be a surprise for lots of people, myself included. That's great. Well, thank you very much.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Thanks, Don.

Don MacLean
Don MacLean
Analyst at Paradigm Capital

Good. Best of luck on Q3.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Appreciate it.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, should you have a question, please press star one. There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call over to Peter Akerley for closing remarks.

Peter Akerley
President and CEO at Erdene

Well, thank you everyone for joining us today. We look forward to speaking again in a few months, and as always, in the meantime, should you have any questions, please reach out to Bob or I, and please have a good day. Thank you.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating, and as stated, please disconnect your lines.

Analysts
    • John Vincic
      Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Erdene
    • Peter Akerley
      President and CEO at Erdene
    • Bob Jenkins
      CFO at Erdene
    • Hanif Jamal
      Shareholder at H. Jamal Holdings
    • Don MacLean
      Analyst at Paradigm Capital
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