SSR-MINING Earningcall Transcript Of Q2 of 2024

Rod  Antal,  executive  chairman,  will  be  joined  on  today's  call  by  Michael  Sparks,  chief  financial

officer; and Bill MacNevin, EVP operations and sustainability. I'll now turn the line over to Rod. 

Rod Antal -- Executive Chairman

Right. And thanks, Alex. I will start with an update on Copler, summarizing where the site currently

stands. And then we'll provide an update on the second-quarter results from Marigold, Seabee, and

Puna, with all three operations performing well against plan to this point in the year.

At  Copler,  there  have  been  four  priorities  in  our  ongoing  efforts  since  the  incident.  In  summary,

these are: one, the recovery of our missing colleagues; two, the containment of the incident; three,

the  remediation  of  the  site;  and  lastly,  four,  the  incident  review  and  preparing  for  next  steps.  With

respect to the recovery of our missing colleagues, the nine individuals who were lost as a result of

the tragic incident have been recovered, and we want to thank all those who have worked tirelessly

to locate and return our colleagues to their families. We are continuing to support the families, our

employees, and the community members impacted by the incident.

And  to  date,  we  have  retained  a  full  complement  of  salaried  staff  at  Copler.  Secondly,  all  of  the

planned  containment  infrastructure,  including  a  grout  curtain,  coffer  dam,  and  buttress,  as  well  as

pumping systems in the Sabirli Creek diversion, have been successfully installed. Public statements

from  Turkish  government  officials  continue  to  reiterate  that  there  has  been  no  recordable

contamination to local soil, water, or air in sampling locations. Third, with respect to remediation, we

continue to prioritize the clean-up of the Sabirli Valley and remain on track to have all the displaced

heap leach material removed by the end of the third quarter.

Of  the  total  displaced  material,  we  have  moved  more  than  70  %  into  temporary  storage  locations.

More  importantly,  this  includes  more  than  90  %  of  the  material  from  the  Sabirli  Valley.  The  total

remediation  spend  in  the  second  quarter  was  $55  million  against  our  estimated  total  remediation

spend at $250 million to $300 million. We are continuing discussions with the Turkish government

officials  around  the  remediation  plan,  including  the  approval  and  construction  of  the  east  storage

facility.

As we look ahead, it's important to note that the investigations into the cause of the terrible incident

continue,  and  we  are  cooperating  fully  with  the  relevant  authorities  in  Turkiye.  We  have

commissioned  independent  third  parties  to  review  the  design,  construction,  and  operation  of  the

heap leach pad. To date, these reviews have not identified any material nonconformance with the

construction  or  operation  of  the  heap  leach  pad  relative  to  third-party  design  parameters.

Simultaneously, we continue to work closely with all the relevant authorities to advance the permits

required to restart the Copler mine.

These include the reinstatement of the Copler EIA and operating permits. If and when the permits

are  granted,  we  would  anticipate  commencing  sulfide  plant  operations  through  the  processing  of

existing  ore  stockpiles  on  site.  These  stockpiles  contain  more  than  700,000  ounces  of  gold.

Certainly, there is a lot of work ahead for us to Copler as we continue to advance the remediation

efforts.

However, we have made meaningful progress to date and remain fully committed to a restart of the

operation once we receive all the necessary permits. And now with that, we'll move on to slide four,

where Michael will discuss the second-quarter results.

Michael Sparks -- Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Rod. And good afternoon, everyone. Second-quarter 2024 production was 76,000 gold

equivalent  ounces  at  all-in  sustaining  costs  of  $2,116  per  ounce,  which  includes  cash,  care,  and

maintenance costs incurred at Copler, representing approximately $245 per ounce. For the first half,

Marigold, Seabee, and Puna combined to produce 156,000 gold equivalent ounces in line with our

continued expectations for a second half weighted production profile, and each asset remains well

on track for their full-year production and cost guidance.

We  finished  the  quarter  with  a  cash  position  of  $358  million,  inclusive  of  the  aforementioned  $55

million in remediation costs and another $17 million in cash, care and maintenance costs at Copler.

With an undrawn revolving credit facility and an outlook for improved production and free cash flow

generation  in  the  second  half,  we  remain  in  a  strong  position  financially.  During  the  quarter,  we

continue to advance brownfield exploration programs at Marigold, Seabee, and Puna, which Bill will

discuss  later.  Additionally,  site  establishment  and  engineering  activities  at  Hod  Maden  continue  to

progress as we move toward a construction decision for the project.

Onto Slide 5 for a brief look at the financial results. We recorded attributable net income of $0.05 per

share  in  the  second  quarter.  While  adjusted  net  income  per  share  was  $0.04,  reflecting  the

exclusion of the mark-to-market gain on our portfolio of marketable securities. As a reminder, in the

first quarter of 2024, we booked a $250 million remediation expense for costs we expect to incur at

Copler, and the impact of this expense was fully reflected in first-quarter income statement.

Including  the  remediation  spend  at  Copler,  second-quarter  cash  generated  by  operating  activities

was negative $78 million, while free cash flow was negative $116 million. As noted, our total cash

position  remained  strong  at  $358  million.  With  an  additional  undrawn  revolving  credit  facility  and

strong second-half free cash flow expected from the other operations, we remain well positioned to

manage remediation costs of Copler as well as our reinvestment needs across the business. Now

on to Slide 7, where Bill will discuss the operations starting with Marigold.

Bill MacNevin -- Executive Vice President Operations and Sustainability

Thanks,  Michael.  Marigold's  second-quarter  production  of  26,000  ounces  was  in  line  with

expectations. The 2024 mine plan called for the second quarter to feature the lowest production and

highest costs of the year, reflecting the focus on waste stripping at Red Dot in the first half of 2024

and a catch up in sustaining capital spend to bring us back on track for the year to date spend. With

the first half now complete, we expect production and costs to improve meaningfully in the second

half of the year, particularly in the fourth quarter.

Marigold remains on track for its full-year production and cost guidance. Brownfield growth activity at

Buffalo  Valley  and  other  near-mine  targets  advanced  during  the  quarter  as  we  look  to  continue  to

replace mine depletion and potentially further extend Marigold's operating life. Now on to Seabee. At

Seabee, second-quarter production was 17,000 ounces at an ASIC of $1,626 per ounce.

Production and costs were in line with expectations as grade mined and processed are expected to

average  between  5  grams  and  6  grams  per  tonne  for  the  remainder  of  2024.  Seabee  remains  on

track  for  full-year  guidance.  Exploration  activity  at  Seabee  continues  to  focus  on  near-mine

extensions to existing underground mineralization, as well as the continued advancement of Porky

and Porky West targets. The Porky targets represent a potential mine life extension opportunity, and

the Seabee team are aggressively advancing technical studies to better delineate the opportunity.

Now on to Puna. Puna produced 2.7 million ounces of silver in the second quarter, a strong bounce

back from softer production in the first quarter due to heavy rains. ASIC of $15.90 per ounce in the

second  quarter  demonstrated  Puna's  significant  free  cash  flow  with  margins  in  the  current  silver

price  environment.  With  first  half  production  of  4.6  million  ounces  of  silver  at  an  ASIC  $15.36  per

ounce, Puna remains well on track for full-year guidance.

In addition, exploration and technical work continues to evaluate opportunities to extend operations

at Puna through potential extensions at Chinchillas and continued advancement of the Cortaderas

targets through near-mine drilling. Now we'll turn back to Rod for closing remarks.

Rod Antal -- Executive Chairman

All right. Thanks, Bill and Michael. As you can see, our second-quarter results were well-aligned to

our expectations with Marigold, Seabee, and Puna all on track to meet full-year guidance. We will

continue to diligently advance remediation efforts at Copler and remain fully committed to returning

to operations in Turkiye.

So with that, I will turn the call over to the operator for any questions you may have.

Operator

Questions & Answers: