Eldorado Gold Corporation (NYSE:EGO) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Mike Parkin: Okay. And it’s nice to hear that you’re expecting to have the impact of the heavy rains pretty much behind you by the end of this quarter. Just follow up on Cosmos question, is it fair to assume kind of Q3 is better than Q2, but probably pretty stellar Q4, given you’re going to have quite a bit of gold in solution to be pulling from in the fourth quarter?

George Burns: Yes. The way I look at it, we were expecting a strong second half. And that the catalyst partly is the solution inventory that’s going to come out Q3. But the rest of it is, we’ve been at the top of the pyramid on the Soft Leach Pad. And limited for space, we now have the North Leach Pad, we’re placements are ongoing, we’ll have both sets of those solutions reporting to independent ponds. And we’re ramping up the production as planned coming out of the new circuit. So all the larger grasshoppers, the conveyor, we’re in a strong position for the second half. And I guess the other thing was the agglomeration drum, what we wanted to get out of that system was get those fines combined and get good permeability through the heap and it is performing.

So predicting Q2 versus Q3 and how they’re going to pan out. It is tough to say on this call right now, I just tell you, stronger second half leech kinetics are going to be better that solution inventory is going to come out. And we’re going to have solutions coming out of both heap. So we’re pretty confident about the second half.

Mike Parkin: That sounds good. And I guess also going back to the high pressure grinding rolls, you’re still even in that optimization phase there where you’re able to tweak things and boost recoveries going forward a bit as up on top of that, additional solution, correct?

George Burns: Yes. I mean, our second half remains as planned. That we’ll be testing how fine we can crush the or with poor is power and recycle through the HPGR in combination with the success with the agglomeration. So we have to maintain good permeability. If we go too fine, you lose in the end. So yes, the second half is all about optimizing throughput, crush size and agglomeration to get optimum cash out of a future or placement. So yes, we remain optimistic focused on the upside at Kışladağ. We’ll have more to talk about early next year when we have that data in front of us.

Mike Parkin: Okay. And more familiar with kind of rainy season impacts on heap leaches. In Mexico, where you typically see like a shocking of the pad, on the back, but the rainy season there, is that something you had to do in June? And therefore is already in your offering cost? Or is it something that you don’t necessarily do? Because of the longer leap cycle like Kışladağ?

Joe Dick: That’s correct. We don’t have to be as dramatic as what happens in other places in terms of reagent addition. We had up to set points, if you like, within the back half of June and early July, to ensure that we had sufficient [indiscernible] concentration, but not to the level that you would be familiar with it in other places.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from Fahad Tariq of Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.

Fahad Tariq: I just want to circle back on Skouries and the update in Q3, I just want to make sure I’m understanding it correctly. Based on the comments, are you seeing directionally without getting into specifics, but directionally, that estimate could be revised higher based on labor productivity, how the contracts are awarded, inflationary pressures over the past few years?