Mitch Krebs
Analyst · ROTH Capital Partners
Thanks, Courtney, and good morning, everybody. Thank you for joining our call. The fourth quarter capped a pivotal year for our Company we achieved record production levels for both the quarter and the full-year and delivered another year of improved cost performance. Combined with higher gold and silver prices we posted positive net income for the full-year the first time since 2012. LTM adjusted EBITDA was also up sharply increasing nearly $90 million or 68% since last year to $215 million. For the full-year two-third's of our metal sales came from our U.S. operations and our metal mix last year was 38% from silver and 62% from gold. Together with our ongoing cost and efficiency achievements at each of our silver and gold operations we also delivered on our commitment to meaningfully strengthen our balance sheet last year. During 2016 we reduced total debt by $280 million or nearly 60%. Cutting our anticipated annual interest expense by approximately $25 million and bringing our total leverage ratio down to one times from 3.8 times just a year ago and down from 5.5 times just 15 months ago. I think the only negative to this reduction in debt was an acceleration of $7.5 million in cash interest expense into the fourth quarter and a one-time loss of $11 million related to the early redemption of $190 million of our senior notes that mature in 2021. Together with the timing of metal sales from Palmarejo that spilled over into January. Those were the major reasons for the fourth quarter net loss and negative free cash flow in the quarter. From our perspective the main takeaways are that we now have a strong and flexible balance sheet capable of supporting our future growth initiatives that we achieved our production and cost targets in 2016 and the timing of those metal sales I mentioned from Palmarejo will help us get off to a strong start here in 2017. Before we open it up for questions. I'll offer some quick highlights on each of our mine sites. Starting at Palmarejo we accomplished several important milestones last year that have now positioned our largest operation for strong cash flow in 2017 and beyond. We completed mining in the open pit and in the original underground mines. We accelerated mining rates at the Guadalupe deposit by 40% from 1,700 tons per day up to 2,400 tons per day by year-end. We began mining the new Independencia deposit. We completed important processing plant upgrades in the third quarter which are now boosting recovery rates as planned. And we transition to the new more favorable Franco-Nevada gold stream agreement late in the year. Palmarejo’s production levels declined last year's plans during this transition period. Yet its cost metrics reached record lows. We expect this declining cost trend to continue in 2017 as combined mining rates of Guadalupe and Independencia steadily climbed throughout the year leading to over 50% increases in expected silver and gold production this year. At Rochester we mined and placed nearly 20 million tons under leach in 2016 which was 19% increase year-over-year and the highest level since operations commenced back in 1986. While full-year production levels were flat compared to 2015, cost metrics continue to show incremental declines. We are also pleased to report an increase of over 40% to the silver reserves and nearly 70% to the gold reserves at Rochester. As for Rochester, Stage IV leach pad expansion, we are well in the construction and look forward to completing it mid-year this year. 2017 production levels are expected to be higher in the second half of the year once this new pad is in place. Up at Kensington, its fourth quarter production was its highest of the year topping off another year of strong production as well as record low cost performance. Kensington also delivered $14 million of free cash flow for the year, which was flat compared to 2015, despite a $13 million increase in capital expenditures there. As for development of the adjacent high grade Jualin deposit drilling to expand its size is ongoing and production is expected to commence from there late this year. Full-year production at Kensington is expected to be relatively flat compared to 2016 and our operating plan calls for lower production in the first quarter followed by higher production in the second and third quarters of the year. At Wharf, we had our first full-year gold production since acquiring the mine in the first quarter of 2015 and we saw full-year cost continue to decline. Wharf generated nearly $60 million of free cash flow in 2016 and a total of over $86 million since we acquired Wharf almost two years ago for $99 million. Since we expect to complete mining of the higher grade Golden Reward deposit this summer, we expect Wharf production in 2017 to be lower compared to the 109,000 ounces it produced last year and its unit cost to be higher this year. At San Bartolomé, our fourth quarter production was negatively impacted by an ongoing water shortage resulting from nationwide drought conditions in Bolivia. However, our full-year production remain consistent compared to 2015 and we continued to show incremental cost improvements with the help of higher margin third-party ore purchases and from processing plant enhancements they were implemented last year, which have boosted recovery rates. As a result San Bartolomé generated $23 million of free cash flow last year, an increase of $3 million year-over-year. Unfortunately, drought conditions in Bolivia have persisted and will likely result in first quarter production being the lowest quarter of the year. As we look toward the rest of 2017 and beyond, we remain committed to pursuing high quality growth, prioritizing organic growth projects in near mine exploration. We are planning to spend $115 million to $135 million in capital expenditures this year, a large majority of which will be allocated to continued underground development at Guadalupe and Independencia, and Jualin as well as completion of Rochester Stage IV leach pad expansion. I should note that this guidance range also includes about $10 million of carryover CapEx from 2016, as well as $11 million to $13 million earmarked for resource conversion drilling. In 2016, this capitalized exploration drilling produce significant increases to Rochester's reserves and overall mine life. In 2017, we will look to continue this momentum focusing on resource conversion at Palmarejo, at Kensington, at Rochester and at Wharf. We are also continuing to make substantial investments in our expense exploration program following several years of limited investment. Our 2017 expense exploration budget of $23 million to $25 million is nearly double what it was last year. We are now able to take funds previously earmarked for interest expense and now allocate them to high quality, high return organic growth such as accelerating our near mine exploration efforts. Our priorities include resource expansion at our existing operations with almost a third of the 2017 budget set to be spent at Palmarejo. Drilling also continues at La Preciosa, where we now have five active drill rigs. We're continuing our efforts to confirm our new geologic model there and hope to have an update for you later in the year. Finally, we are allocating more funds to early stage high quality exploration projects in Mexico, the United States and Canada to bolster the longer term end of our pipeline. So in summary, we covered a lot of ground in 2016 and importantly we continued to deliver on our commitments. As I reflect on where we are now relative to where we were three years ago, the difference is remarkable and would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our employees. We will continue to pursue a higher standard across all areas of our business and we thank our stockholders for their continued support. Now that's the extent of our prepared comments. So let's go ahead and open it up for any questions.