Equinox Gold Q2 2026 Earnings Report

Equinox Gold EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.16
• Consensus EPS: $0.17
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$0.01
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.11

Equinox Gold Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $769.80 million
• Expected Revenue: $775.79 million
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$5.99 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: +60.80%

Equinox Gold Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q2 2026
• Date: 8/5/2026
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, August 6, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 10:00AM ET

Equinox Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) is a mining company focused on the acquisition, development and operation of gold properties in the Americas. The company produces gold doré and related byproducts from its portfolio of open-pit and underground mining operations, while also advancing development and expansion projects intended to increase production.

Equinox Gold’s assets have included operations in the United States, Mexico and Brazil, as well as the Greenstone mine in Ontario, Canada. Its portfolio has included the Mesquite and Castle Mountain properties in California; the Los Filos complex in Guerrero, Mexico; and the Aurizona, Fazenda and Santa Luz mines in Brazil. The company also evaluates exploration opportunities and operational improvements across its properties.

Equinox Gold was formed in 2017 and expanded through acquisitions, including its combination with Leagold Mining Corporation in 2020. The company is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Greg Smith serves as chief executive officer, while Ross Beaty, a co-founder and prominent figure in the company’s history, serves as chairman.

Equinox Gold Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Orla Mining combination completed July 31, creating what management describes as a North American senior gold producer with approximately 1.1 million ounces of pro forma annual production, greater cash flow and a broader organic growth pipeline.
• Positive Sentiment: Equinox raised its annual dividend by 50% to $0.09 per share and ended July with approximately $650 million in cash, $214 million of net cash and $1.2 billion of available liquidity, supporting continued investment and shareholder returns.
• Positive Sentiment: Updated 2026 guidance calls for 870,000–920,000 ounces of production, with management expecting stronger second-half output, improved fixed-cost absorption and consolidated total cash costs of $1,600–$1,700 per ounce.
• Positive Sentiment: Operations at Valentine and Greenstone are improving; Valentine’s plant is running above nameplate capacity with July mill-feed grades above 1.8 grams per tonne, while Greenstone reached near-nameplate throughput and could exceed 28,000 tonnes per day in the third quarter.
• Negative Sentiment: Execution risks remain, including Valentine’s slower mining ramp-up and historical selectivity and dilution issues, Greenstone’s recovery pressure from higher arsenopyrite, and higher fuel-related costs; 2026 capital spending also increased to fund Valentine Phase 2 and restart or development work at Los Filos and Camino Rojo.

Presentation

[Operator]

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Equinox Gold second quarter 2026 results conference call and corporate update. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there'll be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. If you're participating through the webcast, you can submit a question in writing using the form in the lower section of the webcast frame. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star then zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ingrid Rico, SVP, Capital Markets for Equinox Gold. Please go ahead.

[Ingrid Rico, SVP of Capital Markets at Equinox Gold]

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking the time to join the call this morning. Before we begin, I would like to direct everyone to the forward-looking statements on slide number two. Our remarks today, including responses during the question and answer session, may include forward-looking information regarding the company's future performance. Although management believes the statements are based on reasonable assumptions, actual results may differ materially. Please refer to today's cautionary statements and our most recent regulatory filings available on SEDAR+, EDGAR, and our Chief Executive Officer, Jason Simpson, President, Peter Hardie, Chief Financial Officer, and our operating team, David Schummer and Andrew Cormier. Today, Darren will discuss the quarter and our operational progress. Jason will review our updated outlook and priorities for the sec archive. With that, I'll pass the call over to Darren.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Turning to slide three. Thanks, Ingrid. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining the call today. With the completion of the business combination with Orla Mining, we enter the second half of 2026 as North America's new senior gold producer with meaningfully greater production, stronger cash flow, and one of the industry's strongest organic growth pipelines. The financial benefits of the combination will begin to be reflected in our third quarter results. Disciplined integration, operational execution, and delivering the long-term value this transformational combination has created. Before I discuss the quarter, I'd like to thank our employees across both Equinox and Orla. Completing a transaction of this scale while continuing to operate safely is a tremendous accomplishment, and I appreciate everyone's commitment throughout the process.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

The combined company is built around a portfolio of high-quality, long-life assets anchored by three cornerstone Canadian mines, Greenstone, Musselwhite, and Valentine, supported by one of the strongest organic growth pipelines in the industry. Importantly, this isn't simply about becoming larger. It's about creating a stronger company with greater financial capacity, operating resilience, and maintaining a disciplined capital outlook to unlock long-term value creation. That confidence is also reflected in the actions we've taken today. The board approved a 50% increase to our annual dividend to $0.09 per share. As a larger, more cash-generative business, we believe it is important that our shareholders participate directly in the value we're creating while maintaining the financial flexibility to invest in our growth pipeline and preserve a strong balance sheet. Turning to slide four.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

The second quarter reflected continued improvement across our Canadian operations and increased confidence in our outlook for the balance of the year. Greenstone continued to perform well, with the mill effectively achieving nameplate through the second quarter. The team's focus is now on building on that performance while continuing to improve mining rates and grade delivery. At Valentine, we also saw another meaningful step forward. The process plant continued to perform exceptionally well, consistently delivering above nameplate capacity during the quarter. At the same time, improvements in mining performance or control and grade reconciliation resulted in significantly better performance compared to the first quarter, and that positive trend has continued into July. July mill feed grades averaged more than 1.8 grams per ton, providing further evidence that the operational improvement initiatives are delivering the expected results.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

These improvements reinforce our confidence that the operating initiatives are working. We expect to see that reflected in stronger production and lower unit costs through the balance of the year. Together with Greenstone's continued ramp-up and the addition of Musselwhite, we expect our Canadian portfolio to deliver higher production, lower unit costs, and stronger cash flow through the second half of the year. The transaction also leaves us in a strong financial position. We finished July with approximately $650 million of cash, a net cash position of approximately $214 million, and approximately $1.2 billion of available liquidity. That balance sheet gives us the flexibility to execute our growth strategy while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation. Today's 50% dividend increase reflects our confidence in the cash-generating capability of the combined company and our commitment to return value to shareholders.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

With that, I'll pass the call over to Jason.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

Thank you, Darren, and good morning, everyone. Turning to slide five. It's a pleasure to be joining you all on today's call. Since the transaction was announced, I've spent considerable time with our operating team for reviewing each asset, the operating plans, and the assumptions supporting our outlook for the balance of the year. Based on that work, I'm confident in the assumptions underpinning our updated guidance and comfortable with our ability to deliver it. Our updated guidance reflects 12 months of production from the legacy Equinox Gold operations and five months of contribution from Musselwhite and Camino Rojo following the completion of the transaction on July 31st. For 2026, we now expect consolidated production of between 870,000 and 920,000 ounces. On a pro forma basis, the combined company would produce approximately 1.1 million ounces of gold.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

The guidance reflects stronger second half performance from Greenstone and Valentine, together with the five months of production from Musselwhite and Camino Rojo. As production increases through the second half, we expect improved fixed cost absorption and lower unit costs. Combined with the addition of Musselwhite and Camino Rojo, that supports our expectation for consolidated total cash costs of $1,600-$1,700 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs of $1,900-$2,000 per ounce, with stronger cash generation through the balance of the year. From my perspective, the opportunity over the second half is really about execution. The operating plans are in place. The teams understand the priorities at each site, and our focus is on safely delivering against those plans while maintaining discipline around costs and capital allocation. As Darren mentioned, at Valentine, the process plant continues to perform exceptionally well and has consistently demonstrated throughput above nameplate capacity.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

The opportunity now is continuing to improve mining performance and grade delivery. The initiatives the team has implemented around selective mining, ore control, grade definition, dilution management, and blending are beginning to deliver the expected results. We saw meaningful high-grade reconciliation during the second quarter compared to the first. That positive trend, as Darren mentioned, continued into July. In July, as indicated earlier, mill feed averaged approximately 1.8 grams per tonne gold, providing further evidence that the operational improvements are transitioning and translating into stronger mill feed and positioning us well for the second half. There is still work ahead of us. We are encouraged by the progress we have been seeing. As we continue executing those initiatives, we have been increasing our confidence in our ability to deliver full-year guidance and continue realizing the full potential at Valentine.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

Overall, I'm confident with the operating plans across the combined portfolio and confident in our ability to deliver a stronger second half. Turning to slide six. The completion of the Orla transaction fundamentally changes the scale and quality of Equinox Gold. We now have a stronger operating platform, greater financial capability, and one of the industry's strongest organic growth pipelines. Our immediate focus needs to be execution. That means delivering on our second half operating plans, achieving our full-year production and cost guidance, and successfully integrating the combined organization while maintaining the operational momentum we have built. Looking beyond 2026, we have a portfolio of high-quality assets and a pipeline of organic growth opportunities that provides a clear path for long-term value creation. We'll continue advancing those opportunities in a disciplined and measured way, prioritizing the projects that generate the strongest returns while maintaining financial flexibility.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

We have the assets, the balance sheet, and most importantly, the people to deliver on that strategy. Now it's about consistent execution and delivering on our commitments. With that, we'll pass it over to the operator. We'd be pleased to take your questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your touch tone phone. You'll hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. If you're participating through the webcast, you may submit a question in writing using the form in the lower section of the webcast frame. Our first question is from Wayne Lam with TD Securities. Please go ahead.

[Wayne Lam, Analyst at TD Securities]

Yeah, thanks. Morning, guys. Maybe just starting with Valentine. The grades were nominally higher this quarter, but the mine plan that was released in March calls for average processed grades of two and a half gram through 2028. Just was wondering if you could outline a bit more detail on the steps being taken here on the selectivity and the dilution front, and just wondering if that's still a reasonable target or does there need to be a bit of a reset in the reserve grade or expectation at some point as we think ahead to the coming quarters in 2027?

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah. Morning, Wayne, thanks for the questions and thanks for TD support. I'll start with the last part of that question first. From a reserve grade perspective, we're comfortable in the contained metal within the deposit, and that's what we've said quarter-on-quarter for the last couple of quarters. Our challenges have been about reflecting the selectivity

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

That was intimated in the feasibility study or the technical report that we released. We've made significant improvements quarter-on-quarter to deliver a higher grade above a cutoff. The ability to deliver an average grade above an all waste cutoff is solid. We're comfortable with that. What we saw Q2 over Q1 was a market improvement in our high grade reconciliation above an elevated cutoff. We improved reconciliation by close to 20% in the quarter, and that was reflected in a stronger grade in the quarter. More importantly, in July, we saw a 1.8 gram grade. That has continued into August, and it's only early, but we're approaching around a two-gram grade in August month-to-date. If we talk about some of the operating initiatives that we're focused on, I'll throw it over to Dave.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Just, Dave, do you want to give a little bit of an outline of some of the things we've been focusing on over the last quarter or two?

[David Schummer, COO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah, for sure. Thanks, Darren. We've been applying the software called OREPro 3D, which helps us understand, as we blast the material, how much it's displaced and helps us better outline the polygons. We're also focused intently on improving the polygon mining compliance. That compliance was up in the high 90s this last month, which is a significant improvement over previous. We're focused on dilution across the board, operator training our technical people, et cetera. I believe the results we're seeing are consistent with what I'd expect and expect that to continue through the rest of the year, as Darren mentioned.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

When you start thinking about the longer term, I see no need to reset expectations in that space. We've revised guidance for this year, the revised guidance reflects the performance that we have seen carried forward for the balance of the year. I don't think it fully represents the improvements that we have seen and will see. We've arguably set the bar arguably a little conservatively as we want to increase the level of confidence in our ability to deliver into expectations for that asset. The production profile on the back end of the year is 80,000-90,000 ounces. When you annualize that, you're still towards the midpoint of guidance of what would've been a full-year guidance. As we roll into 2027, we're going to continue to see those benefits improve. The realized grade increase will maintain throughput.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Importantly, the board, just yesterday, approved full funds for Valentine phase II, which we disclosed in the release as well. As we implement or build that expansion, that'll take a lot of the issues out of the selectivity issues that we see in the short term until we have that five million ton plant in place. I think that what we're seeing is typical and a normal sort of ramp-up related issues. We were overly aggressive in terms of our selectivity for the start of the year. We're working through those issues. We're improving. We'll continue to. We're very comfortable and confident with the estimates we've put out there. Jason, anything you'd layer on that, buddy?

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

I think, David, Andrew, and I will be down in Newfoundland very shortly to oversee and confirm our confidence in the work that's already been initiated in terms of grade control and selectivity to preferentially feed that high grade. In my experience with these ramp-ups, this kind of stabilization of the operation, everything from grade control to operating efficiencies of the equipment and so on, is normal course in ramping up any project, and that's represented here in Valentine.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Both in the production and the costs. We've basically taken a run rate that we have seen for the year, projected it forward. The gains that we've seen, the efficiencies we've seen, and the reduction in spend, and we have not been factored into. We'll be transparent here is the point estimate of our internal estimates going forward is lower than our low end of guidance for costs. We're really trying to set the asset up for delivering to expectations and not disappoint. Wayne, did we cover your question? Is there anything else outstanding that you had?

[Wayne Lam, Analyst at TD Securities]

Yeah, thanks. No, that's great. That's a lot of detail. Maybe moving to Greenstone. Nice to see the improvement in the process grades quarter-over-quarter alongside the tonnage getting towards design. Just wondering if you had any commentary on the lag in the recoveries. Then would you be able to give us some color on the timing of the installation of the trommel and expected impact that might have operationally on throughput or recoveries?

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah, for sure. I'll start at the end of the question because I can remember that part, and then go backwards. The trommel is still in play here for the end of the year, and we will see the benefit of that before the end of the year. What that will do, it'll take out a lot of the tramp that we're feeding into the plant, which creates unnecessary downtime and also reduces efficiencies within the plant. That was always envisaged to get us to nameplate. Pleasingly, where we see today, for the average throughput for Q2, we were just a smidgen under nameplate capacity. We're 26,800 tons for the quarter. Now, for the third quarter, so through actually yesterday morning, so through the 4th of August or 5th of August, we were just over nameplate at just over 28,000 tons a day.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

What we are seeing is all of the activities that Brian and the team have been leading over the last year at Greenstone are truly paying dividends. We're comfortable that we can deliver into nameplate or exceeding the nameplate without the trommel. The trommel then positions us well as we head into 2027 to start challenging that installed capacity to maybe 30,000 or beyond thousand tons a day. Very comfortable with where that sits. We're seeing grades consistent with our expectations in terms of reconciliation with the model. We are still seeing some kind of a bit of an overhang here from a recovery perspective. Recoveries in the quarter around 80%, thereabout, and we are seeing higher levels of arsenopyrite. Dave, do you want to or Matt, do you want to give a little bit of color on?

[Matt MacPhail, EVP of Technical Services at Equinox Gold]

Sure, yeah. On the arsenopyrite, we're learning more as we mine through the ore body, and we're trying to model better. We're undertaking some efforts to do a sampling campaign.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah, no, comfortable with where we sit, and looking forward, I think that the technical report holistically, reasonably represents what we expect to get out of the assets. There'll be some unders and overs, as always. I think with the improved throughput above the nameplate, with grade reconciling well, we'll work through the recovery issues. I think we're setting ourselves up to be able to comfortably deliver into those long-term expectations for Greenstone.

[Wayne Lam, Analyst at TD Securities]

Okay, great. Thank you for that. Then maybe just last one for Jason. Just curious, when the merger was announced, I had posed a question about whether you were coming in to run the larger entity, and you had said, quote, "Let me be clear about the leadership. Darren and I are partnered in this combined company." Just wondering now with Darren stepping aside pretty shortly and some kinks still to be worked out with some of the Equinox assets, you have a pretty successful track record dating back to Torex and with Orla, but just wondering if something had prompted a change in the management structure since our last discussion, and just curious where you're prioritizing your focus as you get into the seat. It just seems like a pretty big portfolio to take over in a very short period of time.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

Wayne, thanks for remembering our last conversation. I stand by it. Darren and I are absolutely and remain partners in this business. What prompted the change is two things. One, internally, as we combine the companies and Ed Chan is working on integration, Dave and Andrew working on operations. At the corporate level, the clarity of who is making the decisions needed to be enhanced. Darren and I spoke about this, and we felt that internally for us, it was best to clarify that. Externally, making sure that we understood who is representing the company outside. Ed Chan, again, in the capital markets and his team, as well as myself, will do that. Darren isn't going anywhere. He's sitting right next to me right now. He will continue to be an advisor to the company. He and I speak every day about the combined company.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

Frankly, I will be relying upon his support to run this bigger entity, the likes of which is going to be daunting as we operate all these mines and build all these projects. I will seek his counsel and continue to receive it. We've got a great team at Equinox. The folks out in Newfoundland, our combined operations in Ontario, and that's just speaking about our Canadian operations. I look forward to the work ahead to run what is a strong company. I'll need the counsel of people like Darren, like our new board of directors that met for the first time yesterday. Now it's about getting to work and delivering on expectations, and that starts with hitting our numbers.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Jason, just let me layer on that. We thought long and hard about this over the last couple of weeks. This is something that's emerged pretty quickly, but it was through the rapport and the relationship we developed over the last six months as we've been working through this process. When I looked at what was in front of this organization and the amount of change we'd seen within the business, we needed someone who could turn up and say that, "I'm committed to be here for the next five years." Jason's in that position. I remain a significant shareholder in this business. Even though I may not be an executive employee, I'll be with Jason for whatever he needs, for whatever period of time, unless I find myself in a position where I'm conflicted to do so.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

I don't have any plans to be conflicted. No, I think that externally, it probably creates a little bit of discomfort, but we've done it for what we believe is best for the business to ensure there's clarity internal to the business so that all people who deliver the results to you all can be absolutely certain about their future and what the business looks like. I think we're having our cake and eating it too. No, I'm very comfortable with the change. Jason's well-positioned too. He's got a great team around him. He's got lots of support from folks like myself, I think we're in a good position, Wayne.

[Wayne Lam, Analyst at TD Securities]

Okay, great. Thanks for the detailed responses. Best of luck in the months ahead. Darren, thank you for the partnership over the years and best of luck in retirement.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah, thanks, buddy.

[Operator]

The next question is from Anita Soni with CIBC. Please go ahead.

[Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC]

Hi, good morning, Darren and Jason and the team. I just had a few more questions on Valentine. I wanted to understand what the assumptions are just from a throughput and mill feed grade perspective for the guidance at Valentine for this year. You delivered like 7.7 on the mill throughput. Is that the kind of back half assumption above nameplate, and lower grades or whatever the implied grades would be, or are you still assuming 6.5 K ton per day in the back half?

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

No, it's reflecting the buoyancy we see in throughput, and it's reflecting a lower grade than anticipated. Now, I'll ask Matt to comment on the specifics of, but from memory, I think for the balance of the year, we're probably anticipating a grade about 1.8 grams.

[Matt MacPhail, EVP of Technical Services at Equinox Gold]

That's right.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

1.85 grams per ton.

[Matt MacPhail, EVP of Technical Services at Equinox Gold]

Correct.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Recoveries in that 93%-94%, which we've seen. Encouragingly, Anita, what we have seen is that we've seen recoveries maintained with significantly higher throughputs, which is fantastic. You're back into the tons to get those ounces. That's kind of the math. Matt, have I missed anything?

[Matt MacPhail, EVP of Technical Services at Equinox Gold]

No, that's correct. Yep.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yep. It truly reflects throughput performance without any further improvements, which we still anticipate there will be as we work through, and the team continue to optimize that plant. It reflects, arguably, a somewhat conservative view on metal in terms of being able to deliver into that high-grade cutoff. Again, we're only six weeks into the quarter, but we are seeing grades consistent or better than what was fundamentally assumed within the forecast. No, I think we're well positioned in that space, Anita.

[Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC]

Okay. That 1.8 grams, 1.85 grams, that's not that much above the actual head grade you should be seeing out of the pit, which I believe was about 1.7 grams for the year. My question, I guess, relates now to the mining rates. The average over the year should have been about 154,000 tons per day, and you're doing about 110 right now. I guess with the less segregation involved, and from getting the 1.7 grams to be upgraded to 1.8 grams, 1.85 grams, is that a fair assumption that you'll be basically doing less segregation than the original mine plan? Because I think it called for almost 5.5 million tons of ore versus a mill feed of about 2.5 million tons of ore.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah, Anita, we'll happy to have a real fulsome discussion offline as well. I guess that I will, for the general audience, separate out two things, is that what we have seen, we have seen a slower ramp-up in absolute mining, but that's unrelated to the selectivity issues. Regardless of how many tons you mine, you want to be as selective as you possibly can. We're not compromising selectivity for volume, right? Volume will always want to deliver the best possible grade. No, the grade assumption reflects basically backwards-looking performance with some moderate increases in quality around the segregation, but I don't think it really reflects where we will get to. In terms of the absolute volumes, Dave, I mean, we're not mining 110,000 tons a day now.

[David Schummer, COO at Equinox Gold]

No, the number's accurate earlier in the year, but now we're in the 140,000, 145,000 ton per day range, yeah.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yep. We've had some

[Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC]

Okay, that

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

significant improvements.

[Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC]

Yeah, I guess I was using the word selectivity and meaning, or segregation, where you have a certain number of high-grade bin, high-grade volume, right? That you can put into the mill, if your mining rates are behind, you don't have as much of the higher-grade ore to put into the mill, right?

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Correct.

[Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC]

That's Yeah. Okay.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

The bigger bucket you mine, the more you can select from. Absolutely. Yep.

[Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC]

Okay.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah.

[Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC]

Just a similar question on Greenstone for the back half of the year. Are you assuming throughput rates that are around 27K ton per day and grades similar to what you saw in Q2, and then also in terms of recovery rate, because I think the recovery rate's probably the big question in correlation to the grade with, obviously, the higher-grade material having a bit more arsenopyrite content in it.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yep. Its throughput's consistent with the 27, its grade's consistent with basically the 1 gram, and its recoveries that are consistent with as well. It's basically taken the last quarter and said, "Okay, let's just project that forward." Any benefits that come from improvements are not reflected in those estimates. That's what we did, is we kept the floor the same and just lowered the top-end range at Greenstone, and the worst thing we can do is do a little better than what we said.

[Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC]

Okay. Last question, I'll get back in the queue. Los Filos, you made some progress with the communities and got a three-way agreement there. Could I ask, perhaps Jason, how he's thinking about Los Filos going forward, and I mean, obviously, you guys are doing a study, but where does that fit in your capital allocation priorities at this stage?

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

Yeah. Thanks, Anita. As most of the audience probably knows, I spent a lot of time there at building Torex. I would offer that there's three components of your question that we need to focus on. The first component is the agreement that the Equinox team just achieved with the three communities there. Obviously, I've been aware and involved in the discussions throughout and feel that that is absolutely the right approach for working there going forward. Now that the agreements are in place and you have social stability, we can then focus on resuming operations through the heap leach process. In parallel with that, we need to be planning for the big opportunity at Filos, which is the ounces that we have in resources there.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

We will be updating the study and planning our construction in Guerrero based upon what is available in terms of gold resources. While we're doing that, our technical teams are preparing for that decision point at the board, we need to resume operations at Los Filos and have it begin producing gold. We got approval from the board yesterday to do exactly that. We'll begin leaching, in parallel, preparing for the future conversation of the board. As we recall, in our capital allocation going forward, that Los Filos increase in production out of the heap leach and into a CIL process

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

One thing I'd layer on that, Jason, it was a good summary, the funds to commence the restart are included in the guidance now, because that was not budgeted, and that's in the project pipeline space. There likely will be some metal that falls out before now and the end of the year. That's not reflected in any of the production numbers. It's at a de minimis level, given the 1.1 million ounces annualized rate that we're producing.

[Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC]

Okay. Actually, I had one last question on Valentine and the CapEx. Now includes $50 million-$60 million for the phase II in the back half of the year. The CapEx guide went up, I think, a little bit more than that, I'd say, what, $25 million-$35 million, by my rough math here. Can you let me know what that extra growth capital at Valentine is going to be attributed to?

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Pete will pick that one up. Pete, dive.

[Peter Hardie, CFO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah, essentially, we made a change from a jaw crusher to a gyratory crusher. That's the balance that we're in.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

On phase II.

[Peter Hardie, CFO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Was that the question, Anita.

[Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC]

Nope. The question was, your capital went from, I believe it was $95 million-$115 million, up to $180 million-$200 million, and $50 million-$60 million of that is for the phase II. That still leaves a differential of about $30 million. I was wondering what that growth capital in 2026 was associated with.

[Peter Hardie, CFO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah. We'll get back to you on that one offline, Anita.

[Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC]

Okay. All right. Thank you very much.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Thanks, Anita. Appreciate the questions and the support. Thank you.

[Operator]

The next question is from Josh Wolfson with RBC. Please go ahead.

[Josh Wolfson, Analyst at RBC]

Yeah, thank you very much. Continuing along the question that Anita had on CapEx, I noticed that there was some additional spend included for some of the development projects. Less core opportunities right now, but $35 million-$40 million at Los Filos for half of the year, effectively, and then $30 million-$35 million at Camino Rojo. Presumably, that's on the sulfides. Should we assume a similar run rate maybe on an annualized basis into 2027, despite some of these development opportunities being longer dated?

[Peter Hardie, CFO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah. I'll take the Los Filos part first. It's Peter. The additional capital for Los Filos for the year, keeping in mind that we were on care and maintenance, what we had told you about for the year was concerning keeping the mine on care and maintenance. The additional capital that we have there is for the gradual restart of operations. We'll inform for next year as we firm up our plan to go forward and then do our 2027 budget. Sorry, what was the second part of your question?

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

Camino Rojo, Peter. I'll take that one. Camino Rojo reflects an update. We did not include in the original guidance the portal to head underground on the sulfides, as you recall, Josh. It includes the last finalization of the heap leach pad expansion.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

Frankly, there's not a lot of spend left there, but it does include that. The $25 million for the portal collar and development underground. That's what represents the Camino Rojo share. We did not include that in the original Orla guidance. We're now including it in our company at Equinox.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah. For clarification on that as well, it's the prudent step forward to get in and start getting a higher level of knowledge with respect to the metallurgy, get some bulk samples, do that sort of work as part of it. It doesn't preempt a full funds commitment for the project, as Jason alluded to, in terms of we've got a clearly defined growth capital project schedule in the next couple of years. This is the continuing learning of, just like we'll have it at Los Filos, right? There's work that will be spent to be able to progress the understanding so we can understand what the right size of facility is. This is exactly the same level of work that's been done at Camino Rojo.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Again, as a larger, bolder, stronger organization, it allows us to be able to take a very methodical and thoughtful approach to those development projects and spend a little bit more money up front to understand exactly what we're dealing with, so that when we make commitments, we're very, very clear on what we're committing to and can do it with a significantly higher degree of confidence. That's what those funding's for. It's a very good move.

[Josh Wolfson, Analyst at RBC]

Thank you. Back to Valentine, I understand things are a little bit in flux with the ramp up. On the grade outlook, I guess more so as it skews into 2027, is it fair to assume the disclosures the company's made on mining selectivity challenges and looking to increase throughput to offset that, is it fair to say that the grades are likely to remain

[Josh Wolfson, Analyst at RBC]

In line with the second half of the year, should we still expect an improvement? Similarly on the unit costs, is there any sort of perspective that can be provided on what are steady-state unit costs? Especially given that throughput rates are already very high, why would they decline going forward? Thank you.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah. I guess there's two parts. Let's just tackle the grade issue. If we think about grade, in the back half of the year, we will have a higher grade than we did in the front half of the year. That's going to be reflective of improved performance, which will continue into 2027, and to 2028. By the end of 2028, you've got a doubling of the size of the plant. The exposure on selectivity becomes less. In terms of the unit costs, ubiquitously across the portfolio, we've seen tension from a, just like everyone else has, on fuel prices. It's about $100 an ounce of increase in spend or cost across our business with respect to WTI and related costs. At Valentine, it's a little higher. It's probably in the order of closer to probably $200 between volume and price this year.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

We have seen additional resources that we've added to work through the effectiveness so we can become more efficient. We will see that spend start to trail off through the back end of the year and into 2027. I think we'll see that those unit costs will come down as a function of efficiency. It will obviously be positively impacted by a denominator increase in terms of more metal, but you'll also see less spend for any volume as a consequence of the team getting better at hand working at the [audio distortion]. Part of the normal ramp-up process, and arguably, we were probably overly aggressive about the rate at which we would get to that kind of steady-state, if you will, when we foreshadowed the 2026 guidance. Jason, you've been through this before, bud.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

Very typical ramp-up process, where we are trying to resolve various issues and spending a bit more to get through them just to deliver the results. Absolutely consistent as part of the ramp-up process. As you've articulated clearly, and Josh, you know this well, you need to do both, start to reduce the numerator spending, which you will do as your teams get organized, as they get a flow of what they need to be doing, everything from geologists to truck operators. Then once they get better at that, the costs drop and the ounces then follow. In the case of Valentine, of course, achieving a greater grade introduced to the mill before it gets expanded. Simultaneously with doing that, we're expanding the mill so that we'll be at that 5 million ton per year.

[Josh Wolfson, Analyst at RBC]

Great. Thank you.

[Operator]

The next question is from Mohammed Sidibé with National Bank. Please go ahead.

[Mohammed Sidibé, Analyst at National Bank]

Thanks Darren and Jason for taking my question. Maybe continuing on Valentine, specifically on the unit costs, as it relates to the G&A there, I think that's also slightly higher than what we expected in the tech report there. Is that just as a result of more labor hours or more manpower required versus your tech report? How do you expect that to, call it advance, over the next, call it 6-12 months outside there? Thank you.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah. Okay, Mohammed. Yeah. [Non-English content] I think it tails onto the last part of the conversation that Jason and I were having here is, it's a reflection of the on-costs associated with supporting the activity that we've seen increasing in terms of mining and those sort of things, it's a direct relationship too. As those efficiencies come on, you'll see the G&A costs go down because it's not really G&A, it's site services and support, it's camping, it's messing, it's those sort of things that go into it, which is the majority of that tension on that "G&A space." Full disclosure, it's in the order of $10 million for the full-year, is what it is above what we saw.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

That'll probably come down to single digits over the course of, yeah, on an annualized rate between now and the end of the year.

[Mohammed Sidibé, Analyst at National Bank]

Great. Thanks a lot for that call there. Then maybe at the consolidated level, when I'm looking at your revised all-in sustaining cost guidance there. Could you share what the assumptions on gold price, fuel price you're now using versus what the Equinox standalone was in order to just better understand what that delta is so that when fuel prices start to pair off, we could see maybe how that could improve. Thank you.

[Peter Hardie, CFO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah, on fuel price. It's Peter. Thanks for the question, Mohammed. Fuel prices, we have assumed about 50% higher across the board consolidated fuel prices from original plan and guidance overall. Hopefully as we hopefully see things modulate here in the near future, we expect that to return down back to what the original plan was.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

In short, it's basically reflecting average price year-to-date going forward.

[Peter Hardie, CFO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Right? That's probably our best crystal ball. We will be wrong, right? Hopefully that, like everyone, that we're wrong to the conservative.

[Mohammed Sidibé, Analyst at National Bank]

Is that the same for gold? Is that assuming about $4,500 an ounce gold or?

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

I guess there's two parts to that, right? Gold price. The effect on gold price is only in royalties and those related costs, right? Just be clear that there's very little of our business that's impacted by gold price, and there's very few decisions we make on a day-to-day basis that are impacted by the gold price. We're spending capital like it's our own, and we're making the right decisions for the long term. In terms of the gold price assumption used?

[Peter Hardie, CFO at Equinox Gold]

It's very close, actually, to current gold price. You shouldn't see too much tension there.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yep. If we see gold go to $6,000 an ounce between now and the end of the year, you will see some additional tension from the royalty and cost of employment. Correct. That'll be an easy discussion to have.

[Mohammed Sidibé, Analyst at National Bank]

Thank you. Appreciate it.

[Operator]

The next question is from Adrian Day with Adrian Day Asset Management. Please go ahead.

[Adrian Day, Chairman and CEO at Adrian Day Asset Management]

Yeah, good morning. I'm sorry, I didn't put myself in queue, so I don't know how that happened. I apologize.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Okay, Adrian. Well, thank you very much for your support anyway, and have a nice day.

[Operator]

Our last question is from Jeremy Hoy with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead. Jeremy Hoy, your line is open.

[Jeremy Hoy, Analyst at Canaccord Genuity]

Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. With the leadership transition, can we expect to see any other management changes in the near future?

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

In the release, Jason. Sorry, Jeremy. I was looking at Jason when I did it. Actually, in the highlights of subsequent events, we talked about the team going forward. No. We've set the team. We know who it is, and that was part of, again, day one. I guess that's a little bit unique in this compared to a lot of transactions. We've come out and we've spent the last three months working out who's who in the zoo, if you will. Now we're now building out those teams from that down. No, we're clear on those senior leadership positions. There's some decisions that need to be made below that. As we've foreshadowed, we have more than enough work to do to accommodate everyone on both sides of the business.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Retention of human capital is really our challenge rather than necessarily working out who shouldn't be here. We see it across the industry. We're blessed by having great teams on both sides. Utilizing those people to the betterment of the product is what our focus is. No, I'm very comfortable with where we're at, where we're headed, and I think the team is gelling very nicely at this point.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

Since the beginning, Darren and I have been talking about the combination of these companies and frankly the combination of that human capital that is so sought after in our industry. What we have been announcing in the recent days and what we'll need to sort through in the future is how we can keep everybody within Equinox Gold and make sure everybody understands what they need to do to contribute to our combined success. That's the work ahead of us. It's about understanding who's doing what, hopefully we can retain the majority of that human capital.

[Jeremy Hoy, Analyst at Canaccord Genuity]

Great. Thank you for that color. The other question I have is a bit of a follow-up on Anita's regarding Los Filos. Post announcement of the merger, you guys secured those community agreements and are moving ahead with restart of operations and studies. When the deal was announced, I asked what the timeline was to get to 1.9 million ounces. I believe, Jason, the answer was about five years. I guess, what's the level of confidence in that? Can we expect to see some of these projects shifted in terms of where they fit in the pipeline?

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Maybe I'll kick it off and then Jason and I can do a bit of an Ernie on this. The short-term organic growth, as Jason's already talked to, is well defined. We've got Valentine, South Railroad, and then we'll be in a position middle of next year to make a decision in and around Castle Mountain. In the background, we'll be progressing and doing the work that we need to do in Mexico to be able to surface value from that. That comes from Camino Rojo underground. A potential open pit expansion. That's why we're continuing with the underground portal to get bulk samples to understand metallurgy, which is obviously key to that asset. Los Filos, we're doing the work in the background on scoping level studies to understand the benefit that can come from a larger process plant and what that means.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Over the next year or two, those things will flesh out. No, we're very comfortable in what we see in terms of that organic growth profile. If you look at the leverage that we have from the asset base without even considering the Mexico opportunity, it's significant going forward. No, I think that what we've been talking about for the last couple of months remains. There will be, as always, timing changes as we work through understand. Could there be Sophie's choices in the future? Yeah, absolutely. It's not going to come from a liquidity or ability to pay. It's going to be from what makes sense from the organization to be able to bolt these things on and realize the full potential of our existing assets. We haven't talked at all about Musselwhite.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

We haven't talked about the fact that we have a million and a half ton a year facility that we're only using 1 million ton of. If you look at the opportunity that can be surfaced there, we're not talking about $150 million-$200 million annually of exploration burn and what that will generate in terms of optionality at our existing assets. We're going to be spoiled for choices, I think that what we have foreshadowed in the business and position going forward, I think is a fair representation. It will change, I think it'll only change for the positive.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

Yeah. Darren, I'll layer on. Frankly, the business needs a focus on the next six months of execution and delivery. A business this size has to look across the entire portfolio and make sure that we have work progressing everything from exploration, finding more ounces for the future. The projects in Mexico that you asked the question about, making sure that we're doing the data collection and study work to set those assets up in the years to come, which is what we're doing this year and next, so that we're doing the study work. Then of course, near term, the six months that I talked to, but also advancing the construction starts in Nevada, followed by Castle Mountain, the expansion that we just got approved yesterday in Newfoundland.

[Jason Simpson, President at Equinox Gold]

We, as a larger business, need to focus on all ends of our pipeline to make sure that we are, as Darren likes to say, laying track in front of the train, making sure that the trains arrive on time. That this bigger business is now stronger because we have all of those choices that Darren talked about. In the future, we have to acknowledge that our choices of capital allocation will not be governed by our ability to fund them and will be governed by making sure that we're methodical in our selection of what we build, when to deliver the best value return for investors, as approved by the board in the years to come.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

It's keeping in mind that the reason we exist is, we're a financial instrument to create shareholder value through share price appreciation. All of our capital allocation decisions were made in that mindset. It won't be growth and growth's sake. It'll be about value creation for the people that own the business, which is you all. Appreciate the questions and appreciate the support that we have seen in both companies, we look forward to that continued support going forward.

[Jeremy Hoy, Analyst at Canaccord Genuity]

Understood. Thank you for taking my questions, and have a great day.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Appreciate it. Thanks, Jeremy.

[Operator]

I'd like to pass the floor back over to Ingrid Rico.

[Ingrid Rico, SVP of Capital Markets at Equinox Gold]

Thank you, operator. We're almost at the hour, so Etienne and myself will be available, and we'll be answering the questions that came on the webcast, and I'll pass over the call to Darren for his closing remarks.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

Yeah, thanks, Ingrid, and thanks again to everyone on the call. I'd like to thank all of our shareholders for their continued support. Over the coming months, I'll be working closely with Jason, who will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer upon my retirement from Equinox. Leading Equinox has been one of the greatest privileges of my career. I'm incredibly proud of the team we have around the table and throughout the business and what we've accomplished in all precursor companies to get us to that point. Every decision that's been made throughout all of those businesses has positioned us with the privilege to be able to build on that basis going forward. I'm very, very proud of what we've all been able to do and where we're at. Jason's exceptionally well positioned to lead Equinox through its next phase of growth and value creation.

[Darren Hall, CEO at Equinox Gold]

I have complete confidence in Jason and his ability to guide the company forward. As we've foreshadowed, I'll be around and available too, and supporting the initiative as a very interested shareholder. Right? As always, the leadership team are available if you have any further questions. Again, thank you very much for your participation today, and take care and be well. Back to the operator.

[Operator]

This brings to a close today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.

Participants

Executives

• Ingrid Rico, SVP of Capital Markets
• Darren Hall, CEO
• Jason Simpson, President
• David Schummer, COO
• Matt MacPhail, EVP of Technical Services
• Peter Hardie, CFO

Analysts

• Wayne Lam, Analyst at TD Securities
• Anita Soni, Analyst at CIBC
• Josh Wolfson, Analyst at RBC
• Mohammed Sidibé, Analyst at National Bank
• Adrian Day, Chairman and CEO at Adrian Day Asset Management
• Jeremy Hoy, Analyst at Canaccord Genuity