David Wolfin
Analyst · Roth Capital Partners
Thanks, Jen, and good morning, everyone and welcome to Avino’s Q1 2018 financial results conference call and webcast. Thank you all for joining us here today. Before we begin, please note that the full financial statements and MD&A are now available on our website. Today, we will cover the highlights of the first quarter 2018 financial and operating performance, and then we will open it up for questions. Please note that all figures are stated in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. The first quarter of this year was fairly consistent to the same period 2017 with slightly lower production rates that resulted in revenues that were almost identical to the same period of 2017. We continued to deliver solid financial and operating results and while our silver and copper production was slightly lower, gold production was 12% higher and silver equivalent increased by 9% over the first quarter 2017. During the quarter, the company produced 2166 tons of bulk copper silver gold concentrate from its Avino Mine and 1074 bulk silver gold concentrate from its San Gonzalo Mine. Also during the quarter, we continued the testing program for recovery of the zinc from the San Gonzalo tailings throughout the fourth quarter. The company produced 233 tons of low-quality zinc concentrate creating 1582 grams silver, 6.96 grams gold, and 13.35% zinc for an additional 22,343 silver equivalent ounces. The product has since been sold to March 31, 2018. We are pleased with the progress of Mill Circuit 4 in Mexico. The installation of a filter press and a bank of floatation cells from Outotec and piping for the thickener are now underway. The work is expected to be completed late May 2018. The start-up and commissioning of grinding ball mill for Mill Circuit 4 commenced during the quarter with flotation feed from the new ball mill reporting to Mill Circuit 3's flotation cells. This is being done in an effort to speed up and derisk the commissioning of Mill Circuit 4. The grinding mill is operating smoothly and no issues have been encountered. Mill Circuit 4 will be used to process mill feeds from the Avino Mine and we will increase the throughput capacity of our processing plant by approximately 70%. For the first six to eight months, we will be running historical stockpile material through new mill circuit. During the quarter, we announced drill results from 19 holes of the planned drill programs on the Chirumbo, Guadelupe and San Juventino areas at the main Avino Mine located on the Avino property. The objective of this program was to explore these targets which were outside the main active mining areas to assess their potential. We are pleased with the results from the Chirumbo area to the east of the Elena Tolosa Mine as they show great continuity and further extension of the main Avino vein to the Northeast. The results from Guadelupe and San Juventino demonstrate additional mineralization between the current mining areas, at Elena Tolosa and San Gonzalo Mine. There are longer term targets that warrant further exploration and drilling. The drilling results of San Juventino are encouraging. The vein demonstrates true width in excess of ten meters and the close proximity to existing underground infrastructure should be advantageous. Additional exploration of the Avino vein system between the San Luis and Elena Tolosa workings where the Avino vein remains open at depth was conducted during the quarter and the results are being compiled and reviewed. During the quarter, we also completed and updated mineral resource estimates for the company’s Avino property, which includes the property San Gonzalo Mine, the Avino Mine vein systems and the property’s oxide tailings. The successful drill program started in 2016 has allowed us to evaluate the tonnage and grades in the areas between the San Luis workings and the ET production area. The results of which were incorporated into the updated mineral resource estimates. This updated mineral resource estimate include a 34 drill holes that were completed during the drill programs from 2016 to 2017. These drilling programs have significantly increased the amount of information available for resource estimatization. The drill holes and assay data were completed into the updated mineral resource estimate. The results of the additional drilling contributed to an approximate 225% increase in tonnage in the measured and the indicated resource categories and a decrease of 25% in the inferred resource due to the conversion of a portion of the inferred resources to the indicated resource category. With respect to the alternative tailings disposal, management retained the services of SRK Consulting out of Canada MPL Mine Paste Ltd. to review the mine operating plan and alternatives for tailings disposal. Additionally, an optimization review of the internal operating plan was carried out resulting in discussions on an alternative to conventional tailing storage and a recommendation to use tailings as backfill. The recommendation is contingent on a revised internal operating plan which is underway. This is based on using these thickened tails as backfills from ground support underground for the mined out stopes, and tailings disposal into the existing open pit as preferred alternatives to conventional tailings storage facility. The advantages of alternative methods of tailings disposal include, limited ground disturbance, and capital expenditures, reduced footprint on surface from future mining, increased tailings storage capacity with minimal permitting requirements, lower drift of social and community issues. Before I hand it over to Malcolm, I’d like to say thank you to the teams in both Canada and Mexico. Avino’s steady results are due to their dedicated efforts. I will now ask Malcolm Davidson, Avino’s Chief Financial Officer to present the financial results.