Aya Gold & Silver Q3 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Record production and stronger results: Aya produced 2.03 million ounces in Q3 2026, while revenue rose to $103 million, net income to $35 million and operating cash flow to $48 million year over year.
• Higher production outlook: The company raised the lower end of its 2026 Zgounder guidance, putting expected consolidated production at 6.6 million to 6.8 million ounces. Nine-month consolidated cash costs were $16.82 per ounce, below guidance.
• Boumadine development advances: Aya is progressing a feasibility study for a proposed 10,000-ton-per-day plant and has completed 181,000 meters of drilling. The project’s PEA estimates $3.5 billion in after-tax NPV, though these are study projections, not guaranteed outcomes.

Aya Gold & Silver TSE: AYA reported record production at its Zgounder mine and Boumadine reclaim operation in the third quarter of 2026, while raising the lower end of its annual production guidance.

Revenue rose to $103 million from $54 million a year earlier, and net income increased to $35 million from $12 million, President and CEO Benoit La Salle said on the company’s earnings call. Quarterly operating cash flow climbed to $48 million from $22 million.

Consolidated production reached 2.03 million ounces for the quarter. La Salle said costs fell from the second quarter despite higher oil prices, with Zgounder’s quarterly cash cost at $17.46 per ounce.

Production guidance raised

Aya narrowed its 2026 Zgounder production guidance to 5.6 million to 5.8 million ounces, from a previous range of 5.2 million to 5.8 million. Combined with unchanged guidance of 1 million ounces from the Boumadine reclaim operation, the company now expects consolidated annual production of 6.6 million to 6.8 million ounces.

For the first nine months of 2026, consolidated production was 5.2 million ounces, including 4.3 million at Zgounder and 900,000 at Boumadine, La Salle said. Consolidated cash costs were $16.82 per ounce, below the company’s guidance. Revenue for the period was $317 million, net income was $119 million and operating cash flow was $167 million.

La Salle said 383,000 ounces of finished silver remained in inventory at the end of the third quarter and had not been included in revenue. The silver was shipped and sold in the fourth quarter, he said, attributing the delay to shipment timing and procedural changes.

At Boumadine, the reclaim operation produced 536,000 silver-equivalent ounces in the third quarter and sold 492,000 ounces. La Salle said the operation realized $34 per silver-equivalent ounce, reflecting 50% payability for the tailings material, while cash costs were around $10 per ounce.

Zgounder costs and 2027 outlook

Zgounder’s mill processed an average of 4,100 tons per day in the third quarter, while the mine had a 435,000-ton run-of-mine stockpile, equivalent to about 100 days of mill feed, La Salle said.

Executive Vice President of Operations Raphaël Beaudoin said the stockpile could decline temporarily during an open-pit pushback lasting about three months in 2027, but management expects it to remain broadly stable over the year. He said he did not foresee a production decline in 2027.

Beaudoin said a relatively low open-pit stripping ratio had contributed to lower costs this year. The ratio is expected to rise from around 11 to approximately 14 in the fourth quarter, potentially bringing costs slightly higher. He expects a ratio of around 16 or 17 next year and costs to remain close to a $17 to $20 per-ounce bracket.

Boumadine development advances

Aya is advancing a feasibility study for the Boumadine polymetallic project based on a 10,000-ton-per-day plant, compared with 8,000 tons per day in its updated preliminary economic assessment, or PEA. La Salle said the company has the project permit and is proceeding with development before the feasibility study is complete.

The updated PEA estimated initial capital expenditure of less than $500 million, a 14-year mine life, an after-tax net present value of $3.5 billion at a 5% discount rate and an after-tax internal rate of return of 93%. It projected nearly $5 billion in free cash flow over the mine life. Those figures are study estimates, not guaranteed results.

La Salle said Aya had completed 181,000 meters of drilling at Boumadine, exceeding its 180,000-meter program in less than 10 months, and could approach 220,000 meters by year-end. The infill drilling is intended to support the feasibility study by converting inferred resources to measured and indicated resources.

The company also is expanding its exploration footprint in Morocco. La Salle said Aya had acquired new permits and agreed to sell its Azegour copper and tungsten project to Sama Resources, with Aya expected to own 19% of Sama once the transaction closes.

About Aya Gold & Silver (TSE:AYA)

Aya Gold & Silver is a Canadian precious metals mining company anchored in Morocco and active across the full mining value chain. The Company has established an exploration track record through a systematic, technology-led, data-driven approach and is focused on expanding its resource base and land package along the Anti-Atlas fault - one of Africa's most geologically rich, underexplored and mining-friendly regions. Aya operates Zgounder, a rare, silver-only mine, producing silver doré from its new processing facility.

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