Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

When we think about Fortress and earnings power, as we said on the last earnings call, this is about $300 million addressable market. And if you look at the monopoly that is currently in play and you look at those margins, it’s about a $90 million profit pool that’s implied. And so, as we get market share in that business, that would add to that earnings power. So, those are the kind of things that I would think about from a long-term perspective.

David Silver: Okay. Thank you for that. And then, just one other thing. It’s been a few quarters, but we haven’t really had an update on the major upgrading program at Goderich. And as you think about the fiscal year 2023, I mean, could you just maybe update us on how things are going on underground there and whether there is a meaningful improvement in the underground mining efficiency, let’s say, fiscal year 2023 versus fiscal year 2022? Thank you.

Kevin Crutchfield : Yes, David. I mean, I would just say, and George is in here and he can add color, but we continue to advance the new mine plant, as we discussed on a number of occasions before, the first step in that is creating these new permanent long-term 50-year of roadways to connect the existing shaft system with the mine works out in the West. And those are kind of on the order of about 50% complete. So that’s the first step in a long series of steps to reposition the mine. And then, George and his team are also developing the West to set these rooms as we’ve described before to maintain quality and good mining conditions and that sort of thing. So, we continue to progress, it’s a plan that we’re implementing, it will take a number of years, but I would say that the progress is on track. Would you want to add anything to that, George?

George Schuller : Yes. Maybe just a little bit there, and thanks David, George Schuller. I think, as Kevin highlighted, Goderich has continued to be on track and continued to meet and exceed expectations starting with safety in our growth there as far as our new mine development and the existing assets, or existing parts of the mine that we have, so at this stage, I’d say we’re on track, maybe slightly ahead of being on-track for that. I think when Kevin laid this out couple of years ago started, said it was probably a four to five-year journey for us to get there. So, we’re tracking extremely well there, and again really no negatives, expect to see that progress in the next, I’ll call it, two, 2.5 years.

David Silver : Okay. Great. I have a couple of questions on the lithium project. I’ll ask them both here. Firstly, regarding the binding agreement with LG., congratulations on that. I mean, I do recall there was another party, Ford Motor, that signed the preliminary MoU. Should we be expecting something similar from Ford Motor regarding a binding agreement? And would that be kind of the main piece of the puzzle to get to that 80% target, I guess, of committed sales from the Phase 1 production that I believe was mentioned in your earlier remarks? So that would be one question. Second question would be about the Koch Industries’ investment. And I’m just wondering, does their investment come with any future optionality? So, in other words, might they have a right of first refusal if you were to pursue additional investment down the road?

Or does their purchase price should they choose to make further investments as their purchase price cap, or any other optionality regarding the Koch investment that we should keep in mind as this project progresses over the next several years? Thank you.