Robert Van Niekerk: Hello, everybody, and thank you very much, Mika. I’ll talk to the Century zinc retreatment operation and the Mount Lyell Copper Project. We acquired a majority interest of New Century Resources in March 2023 and 100% ownership of New Century Resources on 15 May, 2023. Since then, we have restructured the company to optimize both the regional as well as operational efficiencies. And I can report that the integration is progressing well. As of March, we have produced 76,000 tonnes of payable zinc metal and an all in sustaining cost of less than $2,000 per ton. Over the same period, we have sold 77,000 tonnes of zinc metal. As we’ve reported previously, adverse weather, in fact, the worst storms on record for that particularly — particular area strongly affected production in H1 2023.
Having said that, assisted by good cost control measures, adjusted EBITDA are returned positive by Q4 2020. Capital expenditure over the period was $9 million. This included $6 million sustaining CapEx and $3 million growth project CapEx. We have now also acquired 100% of the Mount Lyell copper project in Tasmania and are busy conducting a feasibility study, which will be completed by the end of the first half of this year. Having said that, I’ll hand over to Neal to conclude. Thank you.
Neal Froneman: Thanks, Rob. And, let me wrap up with some brief conclusions. So with the photograph of the Keliber refinery well progressing in Finland. Let me, just bring up what I think the key messaging you should take away from today’s presentation. So, we have delivered on guidance. We had a solid operational year. Financially, of course, we were impacted by lower commodity prices in fact all around. But we ended up with a net debt to adjusted EBITDA of just under 0.6x. And I think that that was a good operational outcome under the circumstances. Hopefully, you’ve seen the proactive austerity measures that we implemented, essentially over the last 18 months, recognizing the potential for a global economic downturn. That has resulted in savings on both the costs and, of course, rescheduling of capital to date of just over R6.6 billion or $375 million.
Very, very significant. Doesn’t mean we’ve arrived. There’s continuous ongoing assessment of all operations and projects and investments to further ensure longer term, sustainability. I do hope that the analysis on really just the PGMs, show that the fundamentals remain sound. And we’ve been very consistent in our view over the last few years about these fundamentals, about the fundamentals that underpin, battery metals. And today we didn’t cover lithium. But lithium also has in our view, good long term fundamentals. But we need to batten down the hatches for this year and work through this, destocking phase. But lots of positive signs on the horizon. Strategically, we’re absolutely convinced be in the right metals at the right time. We’re in the right global systems.
We’ve chosen the right partners. Also, at the right time, having identified multipolarity as a gray elephant. We are prepared for lower earnings in 2024, predominantly due to current commodity prices. And we are being very circumspect about M&A. But it’s also prudent to ensure that we do not miss county — countercyclical opportunities to diversify and grow our global portfolio. I think it should have come across that we are disciplined. We are focused on the strategic ascent essentials. We are very transparent in capital allocation and in fact, in terms of our strategic thinking. And, I want to finish with saying, the antifragility journey continues. And the strategic essentials and the focus on the balance sheet remain our priority for 2024.
So with that, over to you, James, for Q&A. Thank you.
A – James Wellsted: Thanks, Neal. I’ll try and find similar questions together just to save a bit of time. We’ll first ask from the webcast, and then we’ll go to some of the call questions on Chorus Call. So first of all, first up is, it’s about Stillwater. At what level — which level of palladium price will the still water operations be forced to cease production? When are you looking to turn positive from a bottom line point of view at Sandouville? Are you still looking for acquisitions? And at what level of price so let me just keep the Stillwater ones first. So what level of palladium price will the Stillwater operations be forced to cease production? CapEx is being guided to decline by 50% year-on-year. Can you specify which initiatives are behind this decrease?
And then all in sustaining costs are far higher at in the U.S. and in South Africa. Why are the PGM costs in the USA so much higher than in SA? And it looks like a bad investment to me. So I guess the question is, what’s our sense on costs at Stillwater and perspective on the future and on the value of the investment there, please?
Neal Froneman: So, James, let me start. And, Charles, if you could also come in at the right time. Listen, first of all, it’s absolutely not a bad investment. I think it’s pretty well known by now that, Stillwater has paid for itself. So we’ve got a high quality ore body with 50 years of life. I mean that’s not a bad investment. So I think the challenges in the short term to get the cost structure down to a level where the operations are at least washing their face. And I believe that is possible. And certainly, I think, with the — with enough time, Charles and his team could get that cost structure down to $1,000, a two-year ounce. But, Charles, you can you can comment on that. Just in terms of your question on the very different cost structures between South Africa, and the U.S., that is real.
They’re two very different operations. The workforce is different. It’s less labor intensive. It’s more mechanized, and that is the nature of the cost structures in the U.S. I think it’s important to realize that that higher cost structure is also offset by a grade that is roughly 3x higher than what we mine in South Africa. So it’s horses for courses, and none of the fact that it has a higher cost base shouldn’t be seen as a business that is not well run. But, Charl’s, over to you on some of the other aspects, and perhaps you can confirm, your planning, to get the cost even lower and [indiscernible].
Charles Carter: Thanks, Neal. Well, let me just pick up firstly on the capital shift question year-on-year? So I touched briefly in the presentation on the fact that we put in a lot of infrastructure through last year. These were big capital items. So the vent infrastructure at both operations, we did the met furnace rebuild. And those kinds of things are behind us. So the stay in business capital has moved from a $118 million down to $54 million. And so that’s a good set of decisions for this plan for this year. So we’re not really shortchanging anything there, but we’ve been very prudent on what we want to spend on this year. The growth capital, we have pushed out without sacrificing future growth, and we can do that for a year or so.
