Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

And so I think we — there is some sympathy there that we’ve — that this is — we’ve done all we can and that it’s not an intolerable situation. But it’s regulators, and we do the best we can. But we are genuinely hopeful this gets resolved pretty soon.

Operator: Your next question comes from John Tumazos from John Tumazos Very Independent Research. Please go ahead.

John Tumazos: Thank you. Just continuing the Fosterville discussion. Maybe six years ago, I went out by myself after a Fortescue iron ore trip, left-hand side driving and whatnot. And I got lost and went through Bendigo and circled around a little bit. And there aren’t too many houses close to the mine. And there’s other mining districts in Australia like Kalgoorlie, where the town is right there, and it’s huge. Is there — I don’t understand why noise abatement would be a significant issue at Fosterville. Is there some environmental impact on the thousands of green parakeets near the core shoot or something?

Ammar Al-Joundi: Well, John, it’s — we’re glad we still have you after the left-hand driving. But this stuff is not uncommon in our business. And sometimes — and in this case, it’s — it might be a specific individual who is utilizing this as a way to achieve something else. So, I don’t really want to get into it, but what’s important is we will always do what we are asked to do by the relevant legal authority. We respect people’s perspectives. And we are hopeful this gets resolved fairly soon.

Operator: Presenters, there are no further questions at this time. Please proceed with your closing remarks.

Ammar Al-Joundi: Well, thank you, operator, and thank you, everyone. This is — I know there’s been some initial questions about the production and the adjustments. I just want to remind everybody, three years ago, we had some rehabilitation and a ramp at LaRonde. We had apron feeder that failed. We had some water we had to pump out of the bottom of a pit at Meadowbank. It was all resolved in the same quarter. So these types of — the fourth quarter, the team did a good job, 800,000 ounces. Yes, there were a few operational challenges. That’s the nature of our business. But big picture, we are a much stronger company than we were a year ago. We are just scratching the surface of delivering, I think, exceptional value. A lot of this stuff is with minimal capital.

Remember, we’re in the business not just to produce ounces but to produce profitable ounces and good return on capital, and we think we’re on the right track. So with that, everyone, thank you again for your time, but more importantly, thank you for supporting us, and we’ll be marketing over the next few days and happy to take more questions then. Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for joining and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Thank you.