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Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM)

Q2 2016 Earnings Call· Thu, Jul 28, 2016

$189.23

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning. My name is Kirk and I will your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Agnico Eagle Second Quarter Results Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers’ remarks there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Thank you. Mr. Sean Boyd. You may begin your conference.

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Thank you, operator, and good morning everyone. Welcome to our second quarter 2016 conference call and thank you for joining. We know it’s an extremely busy time over the last 24 and the next 24 hours for everybody. I would like to start and just give you a brief overview of the quarter. We continue to make very good progress on several fronts on operational improvements, on advancing key development projects, on strengthening our financial position and on expanding several of our deposits through exploration success. From an operating perspective it was an important quarter because we set another safety performance record. In the quarter we had the fewest last time accident since we’ve been reporting on that basis from a safety perspective. And that’s important because we’re a bigger company, more employees, lots of activity across the board and we are doing it safer than we’ve ever done it. So that’s great. And I want to thank our employees for that focus on not only their own well being but the well being of the employees they work with. From a production standpoint another really good quarter over 400,000 ounces produced at cash cost little below C$600 an ounce. As a result of that performance getting to the second half of this year we have upgraded our full-year production guidance to between 1.58 and 1.6 million ounces previously at this 1.565 and we’ve slightly lowered our cash cost estimate and our all-in sustaining cost estimate. What that has allowed us to do with the strong start to the year is to continue our quarterly efforts to reduce our net debt position and improve our financial flexibility going forward. So we are able to see a significant reduction net debt down to C$742 million and our investment grade credit status…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Andrew Quail from Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

Andrew Quail

Analyst

Good morning, Sean. Thanks very much for the update and congratulations on a very, very strong quarter. Again, first question is on Malartic obviously you guys have been trying to get up to that that [indiscernible] capacity for a while. What was it that got you that 55,000 tonnes today that you guys have been trying. Was it the growing size or what was it?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Well, I think it’s a combination of factors Andrew. The team over there has been working a lot on the side goal and on the crushing configuration. I think one of the bigger impact is also on the maintenance side they worked a lot on the maintenance availability of the plant. Configuration is secondary, crushers where we've been able to push better quality product from the machines back to the side bill. So its several factors it's a combination of between this improvements initiatives that are part of the exercise. Some of it also is cyclical and dependent on some ore hardness profile as we mined various zones in the pit, very happy with the performance in the quarter.

Andrew Quail

Analyst

Yes. It’s great. Do you think that sort of bankable or sort of you know able to be achieved in the next few quarters and into perpetuity?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

The budget is at 53,000 for the rest of the year and I think 53,000 is pretty sustainable. But keep in mind that the ongoing target at 55 depends on key permits that will be delivered in next year and to be put us in a position to improve our pre-crushing capacity over there.

Andrew Quail

Analyst

Just moving on to Amaruq obviously looking forward to the update this quarter on the exploration, but Sean with the construction of that the excess rate, how much is it going to cost you over the next couple of years. Is it minimal or what’s…?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

That’s about C$70 million or C$80 million in that range and that gets expense – make us expense side.

Andrew Quail

Analyst

And that will be done by the end of next year?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Yes.

Andrew Quail

Analyst

Great. That’s it. Thanks.

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Thanks Andrew.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Stephen Walker from RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open.

Stephen Walker

Analyst

Great. Thank you. Just a couple questions starting with Amaruq, the V Zones coming together very nicely and looks like it's got some continuity comes to surface? Is that going to be permitted in conjunction with the current Whale Tail permitting, so you'll be able to begin mining that in conjunction with Whale Tail? And as a follow-up to that, almost given – you don't have to drain any major lakes or water bodies north of – in the V Zones area. Could that potentially be mined in 2018?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

No. It has to be an amendment to the original permit which has been submitted for the Whale Tail construction. And at this point, we still don't have a published resource on it. We will have a published resource, the initial resource in the third quarter. We will have an updated resource in February. It continues to grow. There are several lenses. Our expectation is that it could potentially start two years after Whale Tail, all driven off of permitting, but what we're seeing now is it’s got that potential to be able to deliver higher grade to that plant. And there are still a number of areas on that. Alain is raising his hand here, so he has got some color and update on Amaruq.

Alain Blackburn

Analyst

Hi, Steven. The lake is very – too small lake when we compare with the bigger lake that we can get a little bit. And we are not looking the location of V Zones to looking for a second source of material for the project; I will say probably it’s the best place to find something close to [Vault], close to the ramp and close to the camp that we are designing right now. I think we're a little bit sluggy and what mentioned from that doesn’t can be increase to the east. And the last well that we drill is at 400-meter below surface and we hit again V is [military lenses], and I can tell you two that we intercept is better or higher grade [indiscernible].

Stephen Walker

Analyst

That’s very helpful. Thank you for that. Any chance of a bulk sample?

Alain Blackburn

Analyst

The [indiscernible] six rig, two are in the regional program and three are concentrating to increase the footprint and what we try to do is with the next result calculation to help the studies.

Stephen Walker

Analyst

Okay. Thank you for that Alain. Just on Meliadine, on some of the long sections there's a portal number two that’s been illustrated. When do you expect to begin coloring that in development of number two portal?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Development strategy for next year, we will likely start the development of that second ramp access.

Stephen Walker

Analyst

Okay. That’s 2017 for that capital, okay. And just finally with the exploration success at Barsele, north and south Odyssey and those grades that are associated with some of those deposits and the similarity with Goldex. Can you talk a little bit about the cost savings, the Rail-Veyor system is going to result in at Goldex Deep 1? Just want to get a sense of the benefit of the Rail-Veyor system that you're currently installing and the work that you've done on cost savings that it could bring. I don’t know Yvon if you can speak to that.

Yvon Sylvestre

Analyst

Yes. I guess it's difficult to comment on that at this stage. The main reason for installing the Rail-Veyor is mainly to reduce our CapEx involved and get an access to the ore zone quicker. So I think that's the biggest benefit, we've been able to – without keeping the shaft and incurring production disturbance, we've been able to advance the development of that zone by year by installing the Rail-Veyor concept. So time will tell what’s the operating costs, what we're seeing now is that the – they will be putting us in a position to maintain our current OpEx numbers at close to 1.2 kilometers in depth, but we need to validate that as we operate.

Stephen Walker

Analyst

Okay, great. That's very helpful. Thank you for that.

Operator

Operator

The next question is from David Haughton with CIBC. Your line is open.

David Haughton

Analyst

Good morning, Sean and team.

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Good morning.

David Haughton

Analyst

Thank you for the update. I guess my question is a sort of exploration related. Looking at Page 15 of the presentation just thinking about V Zone, it seems to be filling out very nicely. The mineralization that you are seeing in the V Zone, is it similar to what you are encountering at Whale Tail?

Yvon Sylvestre

Analyst

Not really. Exactly speaking. In Whale Tail we are more talking about something that is all said in our information whereas in the V Zones it’s clearly a set of [vein – course vein with lot of free gold in it], so in that sense it's different.

David Haughton

Analyst

Okay. And just looking at this diagram again is it still open to the Northeast and Southwest?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Yes, it is. We are currently continue to investigate the Eastern portion because we can expect that it would be multiple [indiscernible] that vein that we see in the V Zones system and as Alain mentioned previously still open – we’ve got hole in it that 400 meter below surface.

David Haughton

Analyst

And on a similar thought here Whale Tail, is that also open to the Northeast?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Yes, it is still open to the Northeast and at that point in time, we saw more benefits of drilling near surface to identify the second source of open pit ore as opposed to continue to drill at Whale Tail, but we are still in the zone, it’s 600 meter below surface in the Whale Tail deposits.

David Haughton

Analyst

Okay. Just switching over to Odyssey if I may, if refer to going to its being amenable to Goldex style mining. I know it’s still early days, but would you be thinking if this as a supplementary feed to Malartic or could you see it as possibly justifying an expansion at Malartic to accommodate the ore?

Alain Blackburn

Analyst

Well, I think at this stage it's really early to comment, but I think the idea is to get some decent tonnage and perhaps double the grade first then we're getting from the pits and sort of slowdown in the stripping in the – both the main Malartic pit in the Barnat pit to just improve the overall economics of the site. So that's the focus at this stage and we've created a dedicated team to sort of focus on these studies going forward and also looking at satellite, underground satellite length is around the current Malartic pit as well.

David Haughton

Analyst

Okay. A little bit earlier you had mentioned that you are seeking permits to have sustained throughput at Malartic of 55,000 tonnes a day, would that permit accommodate for even greater throughput than the 55,000 or you only going for that level?

Alain Blackburn

Analyst

No, we're targeting the 55,000 for now.

David Haughton

Analyst

Okay. Thank you very much. It’s helpful.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And the next question is from [indiscernible]. Your line is open.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Thank you, Sean for the update. And congrats on the good quarter again.

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Thank you.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Quick question on Amaruq. Have you guys given much thought to the type of trucking operation you're going to be doing for once Whale Tail is up and running in 2018?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

In terms of transport to Meadowbank?

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

That's correct, yes. I was looking at cycle times and just figure that you might need an increase from your existing fleet at Meadowbank. And I just want to know if you thought of a plants around that?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Well, at this stage what we see from the Whale Tail pit studies is that the production from that area will essentially meet the current equipment fleet that's present at Meadowbank without needing to expand it. Having said that the 60 kilometers distance between the two sites will require dedicated transport fleet for ore only and that's part of our ongoing study and evaluation, but we would have a dedicated team just to truck the ore.

Alain Blackburn

Analyst

We bought four new trucks at Meadowbank last year, haul trucks for the open pit and that was partly done knowing that we would be developing the satellite pit at Whale Tail.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Perfect. And then just a follow-up, would that be the 100 tonne or 150 tonne?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Well, the haul trucks on the road we were looking at now some white train type combination in trucks anywhere around 100 tonne capacity.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Perfect, great. That’s it for me. Thank you very much.

Operator

Operator

The next question is from Anita Soni with Credit Suisse. Your line is open.

Anita Soni

Analyst

Good morning, guys and congratulations on a good result.

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Thank you.

Anita Soni

Analyst

Thanks. I just want to ask a question with regards to Amaruq and I'm just wondering what are you envisioning right now for sequencing of these two pits at this point?

Alain Blackburn

Analyst

Well, the Whale Tail comes first, that's the subject of the permit that was submitted a few weeks ago and we expect that to be in production in 2019. As we continue to drill V which is looking like it's becoming more important. We still need to put our resource on it and put a mine plan around it before we file amendment. So our best guess is that V would start a couple years after the Whale Tail starts so sometime in 2021-ish or so but again that's subject to the permitting process, but we're working hard from an exploration point of view to get as much information as we can on V to calculate that resource and to put a pit outline around it and then file for the permit amendment.

Anita Soni

Analyst

And my second question is with regards to the Malartic exploration at Odyssey some good drill results there. How do you see that sort of sitting into the whole Barnat Malartic mine plan at this point? In terms of sequencing?

Yvon Sylvestre

Analyst

Well I think it's all part of the ongoing life of mine improvement overall at Malartic. We’re looking at the full potential of the property. At this stage we've gone through the permitting varies with Barnat and things are moving as per the schedule and we're continuing to optimize the pit sequencing at both Malartic and Barnat to improve the studies. But at this stage there hasn't been a major change to the mining sequence and as we move studies further in 2017 we’re most likely going to be in a better position to answer that question more specifically.

Anita Soni

Analyst

All right. And then last question on another developed project or exploration project that you have. Meliadine you received the last permit there so what's the next phase in sort of when do we expect another catalyst out of that or is that sort of in a optimization and sort of holding pattern mode at this point?

Sean Boyd

Analyst

While it's in an optimization mode in terms of moving some of the resource into a mine plan and also from the perspective of fine tuning the construction plan and program. And we expect that to improve the project. And one of the reasons to bring the Board up this week, so they can get an update on some of our thoughts there and where the emphasis is on what we're sort of focused on over the next six months. So that study and all that work should be completed by the end of this year.

Anita Soni

Analyst

All right. My apologies if you've covered [indiscernible], I jump on this call late.

Sean Boyd

Analyst

No problem.

Anita Soni

Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Showing no further questions at this time. I'll turn the call back over to the presenters. My apologies, we do have one from Steve Butler with GMP. Your line is open.

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Steve, welcome back.

Steven Butler

Analyst

Thank you very much Sean. It's great to get back as I said on the [Nigel] call especially after five guys reporting last night, a lot of fun.

Sean Boyd

Analyst

We did it on purpose.

Steven Butler

Analyst

Exactly. Thank you.

Yvon Sylvestre

Analyst

We were in a hurry.

Steven Butler

Analyst

Anyway speed reading is required. On the V Zone, do you guys remind me again is our resource on the V Zones at Amaruq and what is it?

Yvon Sylvestre

Analyst

Well, there was a small resources that year-end last year of about 200,000 ounces at about six gram, but when looking back at it then having a better understanding of the shape of the Zone, we managed to track the [indiscernible] extension of the original structure and find some more parallel zone which and then significantly the whole concept of that area. So that’s a lot it for now and we'll have a better update – we have an update in the third quarter as mentioned by Sean previously. So we're working hard that I think as much to whole weekend. It’s been our primary focus of building this year and we expect this year good outcome of that area with a number you’ve seen in the press release.

Steven Butler

Analyst

Okay. Guys. That’s it. Thanks. End of Q&A

Operator

Operator

And no further questions at this time. I’ll turn the call back to the presenters.

Sean Boyd

Analyst

Thank you, operator and thanks everyone for your time and attention this morning. Take care.