McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE:MUX) Q2 2022 Earnings Conference Call August 11, 2022 11:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Rob McEwen – Chairman and Chief Owner
Perry Ing – Chief Financial Officer
William Shaver – Chief Operating Officer
Stephen McGibbon – Executive Vice President-Exploration
Michael Meding – Vice President, McEwen Copper and General Manager
Conference Call Participants
Jacob Sekelsky – Alliance Global Partners
Mark Ehlert – LendUS
Operator
Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to McEwen Mining’s Q2 2022 Operating and Financial Results Conference Call. Present from the company today are Rob McEwen, Chairman and Chief Owner; Perry Ing, Chief Financial Officer; William Shaver, Chief Operating Officer. Stephen McGibbon, Executive Vice President of Exploration; and Michael Meding, Vice President, McEwen Copper and General Manager.
After the speakers’ presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] I will now turn the call over to Mr. Rob McEwen, Chief Owner. Please go ahead, sir.
Rob McEwen
Thank you, operator. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome – the first quarter of this year was a lot weaker than our second quarter. Second quarter was much stronger. We had higher production and lower cost per ounce. The drivers of this improvement were our Fox Complex that delivered its best performance since 2018 and the San Jose mine, which bounced back sharply, delivering in Q2, what it should have done in Q1.
Looking ahead, we expect Gold Bar South to be in production in the fourth quarter of this year, and it will be delivering more ounces, and lowering Gold Bar’s cost per ounce. Exploration at the Fox Complex has been successful, building the gold resources at Stock, and should result in a significant reduction in the payback period from its current six years towards our goal of less than three years for the FOX, PEA, which we published in January of this year.
The PEA, I’d like to stress, outlines a longer mine life extending into the mid-2030s, and a higher average annual production of 80,000 ounces, which is almost twice this year’s guidance for production at Fox Complex.
Progress at McEwen Copper’s Los Azules project has been substantial. During the year, a strong management team with extensive experience operating in Argentina has been assembled. Drilling, there has improved our knowledge of the deposit and will result in a big conversion of inferred resources into the indicated category. Multiple simulations have been conducted to optimize the mine planning. These results and other results will be included in the updated Los Azules PEA that will be released early next year.