Equinox Gold (EQX) Q2 2026 earnings call transcript

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking the time to join the call this morning. Before we begin, I would like to direct everyone to the forward-looking statements on slide number two. Our remarks today, including responses during the question and answer session, may include forward-looking information regarding the company's future performance. Although management believes the statements are based on reasonable assumptions, actual results may differ materially.

Please refer to today's cautionary statements and our most recent regulatory filings available on Cedar Plus, Edgar, and our website. Today's presentation also includes certain non-IFRS financial measures. Please refer to our MD&A for reconciliations and additional information. Unless otherwise stated, all figures discussed today are in U. S. dollars. Joining me on the call today are Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Jason Simpson, President, Peter Hardy, Chief Financial Officer, And our operating team, David Schumer and Andrew Cormier. Today, Darren will discuss the quarter and our operational progress. Jason will review our updated outlook and priorities for the second half of the year, and then we'll open the call for questions. The presentation is available on our website, and a replay of today's webcast will be available in the presentation archive.

With that, I'll pass the call over to Darren.

Turning to slide three, and thanks, Ingrid. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining the call today. With the completion of the business combination with all the mining, we enter the second half of 2026 as North America's new senior gold producer, with meaningfully greater production, stronger cash flow, and one of the industry's strongest organic growth pipelines. The financial benefits of the combination will begin to be reflected in our third quarter results. Today's call will also highlight the continued operational progress we've made across the portfolio, particularly at Greenstone and Valentine.

Our focus is now straightforward. Disciplined integration, operational execution, and delivering the long-term value this transformational combination has created. Before I discuss the quarter, I'd like to thank our employees across both Equinox and OLA. Completing a transaction of this scale while continuing to operate safely is a tremendous accomplishment and appreciates everyone's commitment throughout the process. The combined company is built around a portfolio of high quality, long life assets, anchored by three cornerstone Canadian mines. Greenstone, Musselwhite, and Valentine, supported by one of the strongest organic growth pipelines in the industry. Importantly, this isn't simply about becoming larger. It's about creating a stronger company with greater financial capacity, operating resilience, and maintaining a disciplined capital outlook to unlock long-term benefits.

That confidence is also reflected in the actions we've taken today. The Board approved a 50% increase to our annual dividend to $0.09 per share. As a larger, more cash-generative business, we believe it is important that our shareholders participate directly in the value we're creating while maintaining the financial flexibility to invest in our growth pipeline and preserve a strong balance sheet.

Turning to slide four, the second quarter reflected continued improvement across our Canadian operations and increased confidence in our outlook for the balance of the year. Greenstone continued to perform well, with the mill effectively achieving nameplate through the second quarter. The team's focus is now on building on that performance while continuing to improve mining rates and grade delivery. At Valentine, we also saw another meaningful step forward. The process plant continued to perform exceptionally well, consistently delivering above nameplate capacity during the quarter. At the same time, improvements in mining performance, ore control and grade reconciliation resulted in significantly better performance compared to the first quarter, and that positive trend has continued into July. July meal feed grades average more than 1.8 grams per tonne, providing further evidence that the operational improvement initiatives are delivering the expected results.

These improvements reinforce our confidence that the operating initiatives are working and we expect to see that reflected in stronger production and lower unit costs through the balance of the year. Together with Greenstone's continued ramp up and the addition of Musselwhite, we expect our Canadian portfolio to deliver higher production, lower unit costs and stronger cash flow through the second half of the year.

The transaction also leaves us in a strong financial position. We finish July with approximately $650 million of cash, a net cash position of approximately $214 million and approximately $1.2 billion of available liquidity. That balance sheet gives us the flexibility to execute our growth strategy while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation. Today's 50% dividend increase reflects our confidence in the cash-generating capability of the combined company and our commitment to return value to shareholders.

With that, I'll pass the call over to Jason.

Thank you, Darren, and good morning, everyone. Turning to slide five, it's a pleasure to be joining you all on today's call. Since the transaction was announced, I've spent considerable time with our operating team for reviewing each asset, the operating plans, and the assumptions supporting our outlook for the balance of the year. Based on that work, I'm confident in the assumptions, underpinning our updated guidance, and comfortable with our ability to deliver it. Our updated guidance reflects 12 months of production from the legacy Equinox GOLD operations and 5 months of contribution from Musselwhite and Camino Rojo, following the completion of the transaction on July 31st. For 2026, we now expect consolidated production of between 870,000 and 920,000 ounces.

On a pro forma basis, the combined company would produce approximately 1.1 million ounces of gold. The guidance reflects stronger second-half performance from Greenstone and Valentine, together with the five months of production from Musselwhite and Camino Rojo. As production increases through the second half, we expect improved fixed-cost absorption and lowered unit costs. Combined with the addition of Musso White and Camino Rojo, that supports our expectation for consolidated total cash costs of $1,600 to $1,700 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs of $1,900 to $2,000 per ounce. With stronger cash generation through the balance of the year. From my perspective, the opportunity over the second half is really about execution. The operating plans are in place. The teams understand the priorities at each site, and our focus is on safely delivering against those plans while maintaining discipline around costs and capital allocation.

As Darren mentioned, at Valentine, the process plant continues to perform exceptionally well and has consistently demonstrated throughput above nameplate capacity. The opportunity now is continuing to improve mining performance and grade delivery. The initiatives the team has implemented around selective mining or control, grade definition, dilution management, and blending are beginning to deliver the expected results.

We saw meaningful high-grade reconciliation during the second quarter compared to the first, and that positive trend, as Darren mentioned, continued into July. In July, as indicated earlier, mill feed averaged approximately 1.8 grams per tonne goal, providing further evidence that the operational improvements are transitioning and translating into stronger mill feed and positioning us well for the second half.

There is still work ahead of us, but we are encouraged by the progress we have been seeing. As we continue executing those initiatives, we have been increasing our confidence in our ability to deliver full-year guidance and continue realizing the full potential at Valentine. Overall, I'm confident with the operating plans across the combined portfolio and confident in our ability to deliver a stronger second half.

Turning to slide 6, the completion of the Orla transaction fundamentally changes the scale and quality of Equinox Gold. We now have a stronger operating platform, greater financial capability, and one of the industry's strongest organic growth pipelines. Our immediate focus needs to be execution. That means delivering on our second-half operating plans, achieving our full-year production and cost guidance, and successfully integrating the combined organization while maintaining the operational momentum we have built. Looking beyond 2026, we have a portfolio of high-quality assets and a pipeline of organic growth opportunities that provides a clear path for long-term value creation. We will continue advancing those opportunities in a disciplined and measured way, prioritizing the projects that generate the strongest returns while maintaining financial flexibility.

We have the assets, the balance sheet, and most importantly, the people to deliver on that strategy. Now it's about consistent execution and delivering on our commitments. With that, we'll pass it over to the operator, and we'd be pleased to take your questions.

Yeah, morning, Wayne, and thanks for the questions and thanks for TD's support. I'll start with the last part of that question first. From a reserve grade perspective, we're comfortable in the contained metal within the deposit, and that's what we've said quarter on quarter for the last couple of quarters.

Our challenges have been about reflecting the selectivity that was intimated in the feasibility study The technical report that we released, and we've made significant improvements quarter on quarter to deliver a higher grade above a cutoff. So the ability to deliver an average grade above an all-waste cutoff is solid. We're comfortable with that. And what we saw of Q2 over Q1 was a marked improvement in our high-grade reconciliation above an elevated cutoff. We improved reconciliation by close to 20% in the quarter, and that was reflected in a stronger grade in the quarter, But more importantly in July we saw a 1 gram grade That has continued into August and it only early but we approaching around a 2 gram grade in August month today If we talk about some of the operating initiatives that we are focused on I will throw it over to Dave Dave, do you want to give a little bit of an outline of some of the things we have been focusing on over the last quarter or two?

Yeah, for sure. Thanks, Darren. So we have been applying the software called Orpro 3D, which helps us understand as we blast the material how much this displays and helps us better outline the polygons. We're also focused intently on improving the Polygon mining compliance, and that compliance was up in the high 90s this last month, which is a significant improvement over previous.

We're focused on dilution across the board, operator training, training our technical people, et cetera, and I believe the results we're seeing are consistent with what I'd expect, and expect that to continue through the rest of the year, as Darren mentioned.

And we start thinking about the longer term, right? You know, I see no need to reset expectations in that space. I mean, we've revised guidance for this year, and the revised guidance reflects the performance that we have seen carried forward for the balance of the year, and I don't think it fully represents the improvements that we have seen and will see. We've kind of arguably set the bar arguably a little conservatively as we want to kind of increase the level of confidence and ability to deliver into expectations for that asset.

And the production profile on the back end of the year is, you know, 80,000 to 90,000 ounces. So when you annualise that, you're still towards the midpoint of guidance of what would have been a full-year guidance. So as we roll into 2027, we're going to continue to see those benefits improve, the realised grade increase, we'll maintain throughput, and importantly, the board just yesterday approved full funds for Valentine, for the phase two, which we disclosed in the release as well. And as we implement or build that expansion, that will take a lot of the issues out of the selectivity, issues that we see in the short term until we have that 5 million ton plant in place.

So I think that what we're seeing is typical and normal sort of ramp-up related issues. We were overly aggressive in terms of our selectivity for the start of the year. We're working through those issues. We're improving. We'll continue to. And we're very comfortable and confident with the estimates we've put out there.

Jason, anything you'd layer on that, buddy? Yeah, I think, and David, Andrew, and I will be down in Newfoundland very shortly to oversee and confirm our confidence in the work that's already been initiated in terms of grade control and selectivity to preferentially feed that high grade. But in my experience with these ramp-ups, you know, this kind of stabilization of the operation, everything from grade control to, you know, operating efficiencies of the equipment and so on, is normal course in ramping up any project, and that's represented here in Valentine. And both in the production and the costs. You know, we've basically taken a run rate that we have seen for the year projected at full. So the gains that we've seen, the efficiencies we've seen in the reduction in spend, and that we have not been factored into, and we'll be transparent here.

The point estimate of our internal estimates going forward is lower than our low end of guidance for costs. So we're really trying to set the asset up for delivering to expectations and not disappoint.

Wayne, did we cover your question? Kevin, is there anything else outstanding that you had?

Yeah, for sure. And I'll start at the end of the question because I can remember that part, right, and then go backwards. The trommel is still in play here for the end of the year, and we will see the benefit of that before the end of the year. And what that will do, it will take out a lot of the tramp that we're feeding into the plant, which creates unnecessary downtime, and also reduces efficiencies within the plant. And that was always envisaged to get us to nameplate, but you know, pleasingly, you know, where we see today, I mean, for the average throughput for Q2, we were just a smidgen under nameplate capacity. We're 26.8 thousand tons for the quarter.

Now for the third quarter, so through actually yesterday morning, so through the 4th of August or 5th of August, we were just over nameplate at 28,000 tonnes a day. So what we are seeing is all of the activities that Brian and the team have been leading over the last year at Greenspone are truly paying dividends. So, you know, we're comfortable that we can deliver into nameplate or exceeding the nameplate without the trommel. So the trommel then positions as well as we head into 2027 to start challenging that installed capacity to maybe 30 or beyond thousand tons a day. So, we're very comfortable with where that sits. We're seeing grades consistent with our expectations in terms of reconciliation with the model.

We are still seeing some kind of a bit of an overhang here from a recovery perspective. Recovery is in the quarter around 80% thereabouts, and we are seeing higher levels of arsenopyrite.

Dave, do you want to, or Matt, do you want to give a little bit of colour on? Sure, yeah, on the arsenopyrite we are seeing, you know, we're learning more as we mine through the ore body, and we're trying to model better. We're undertaking some efforts to do a sampling campaign to understand the distribution of that arsino pirate within the ore body, and we'll know more as we go through that in the remainder of 26 and into 27. So, yeah, comfortable with where we sit and looking forward, you know, I think that the technical report, you know, kind of holistically reasonably represents what we expect to get out of the assets. There will be some unders and overs, as always.

But, you know, I think with the improved throughput above the nameplate, with grade reconciling well, we'll work through the recovery issues. I think we're setting ourselves up to be able to comfortably deliver into those long-term expectations for Greenstone.

Yeah, Wayne, thanks for remembering our last conversation, and I stand by it. Darren and I are absolutely and remain partners in this business. What prompted the change is two things. One, internally, as we combine the companies and Etchan is working on integration, Dave and Andrew working on operations, at the corporate level, the clarity of who's making the decisions needed to be enhanced. And so Darren and I spoke about this, and we felt that internally for us it was best to clarify that. externally, making sure that we understood who was representing the company outside at Chen again and Capital Markets and his team as well as myself will do that. But Darren isn't going anywhere. He's sitting right next to me right now.

He will continue to be an advisor to the company. He and I speak every day about the combined company. And frankly, I will be relying upon his support to run this bigger entity, you know, the likes of which, you know, is going to be daunting as we operate all these mines and build all these projects. So I will seek his counsel and continue to receive it.

We've got a great team at Equinox. The folks out in Newfoundland are combining operations in Ontario. And that's just speaking about our Canadian operations. So I look forward to the work ahead to run what is a strong company. And I'll need the counsel of people like Darren, like our new board of directors that met for the first time yesterday. And so now it's about getting to work and delivering on expectations. And that starts with hitting our numbers.

And Jason, just let me layer on that. We've thought long and hard about this over the last couple of weeks. I mean, this is something that's emerged pretty quickly, but it was through the rapport and the relationship we developed over the last six months has been working through this process. And, you know, when I looked at what was in front of this organisation and the amount of change we'd seen within the business, we needed someone who could turn up and say that I'm committed to be here for the next five years. Jason's in that position, and I remain a significant shareholder in this business. Even though I may not be an executive employee, I'll be with Jason for whatever he needs for whatever period of time unless I find myself in a position where I'm conflicted to do so.

And I don't have any plans to be conflicted. So, no, I think that externally it probably creates a little bit of discomfort, but we've done it for what we believe is best for the business to ensure there's clarity internally. So the people who deliver the results to you all can be absolutely certain about their future and what the business looks like. And so I think we're having our cake in here too. So I'm very comfortable with the change.

And Jason's well positioned too. He's got a great team around him, and he's got lots of support from clients like myself. So I think we're in a good position, Wayne.

Yeah, thanks, buddy.

No, and it's reflecting the buoyancy we see in throughput, and it's reflecting a lower grade than anticipated. Now, I'll ask Matt to comment on the specifics of, but from memory, I think for the balance of the year, we're probably anticipating a grade of about 1.8, 1.85 grams per tonne.

Correct. And recoveries in that 93, 94% which we've seen.

And encouragingly Anita, what we have seen is that we've seen recoveries maintained with significantly higher throughputs which is fantastic. And so you're back into the tons to get those ounces. That's kind of the math. Matt, have I missed anything?

No, that's correct. Yep.

So it truly reflects throughput performance without any further improvements which we still anticipate there will be as we work through. And the team continued to optimize that plant, but it reflects arguably a somewhat conservative view on metal in terms of being able to deliver into that high-grade cutoff. Again, we're only six weeks into the quarter, but we are seeing grades consistent or better than what was fundamentally assumed within the forecast. So I think we're well positioned in that space, Anita.

Yeah, Anita, and I'm happy to have a real fulsome discussion offline as well, but I guess I will, for the general audience, separate out two things. is that, you know, what we have seen, we have seen a slower ramp up in absolute mining, but that's unrelated to the selectivity issues. Regardless of how many tons you mine, you want to be as selective as you possibly can. So we're not compromising selectivity for volume, right? Volume will always want to deliver the best possible grade.

So no, the grade assumption reflects basically backwards looking performance with some moderate increases in quality. I don't think it really reflects where we will get to. In terms of the absolute volumes, Dave, I mean, we're not mining 110,000 tons a day now.

No, no, the number is accurate earlier in the year, but now we're in the 140,000, 145,000 tons per day range.

Yep. We've had some significant improvements. All right. Okay.

Correct. The bigger bucket you mine, the more you can select from, absolutely.

The short answer is yes, and its throughput's consistent with the 27, its grades consistent with basically the one gram, and its recoveries that are consistent with as well. So it's basically taken the last quarter and said, okay, let's just project that forward, and any benefits that come from improvements are not reflected in those estimates. And that's what we did. What we did is we kept the floor the same and just lowered the top end range at Greenstone, and the worst thing we can do is do a little better than what we said.

Yeah, thanks, Anita. And as most of the audience probably knows, I spent a lot of time there building Torex, and I would offer that there's three components of your question that we need to focus on. The first component is the agreement that the Equinox team just achieved with the three communities there. And obviously, I've been aware and involved in the discussions throughout and feel that that is absolutely the right approach for working there going forward. So now that the agreements are in place and you have social stability, we can then focus on resuming operations for the heat bleach process. But in parallel with that, we need to be planning for the big opportunity at Vilos, which is the ounces that we have in resources there.

And so we will be updating the study and planning our construction in Guerrero based upon what is available in terms of gold resources. While we're doing that, and our technical teams are preparing for that decision point at the board, we need to resume operations at Los Felos and have it begin producing gold. We got approval from the board yesterday to do exactly that. So we'll begin leaching and in parallel preparing for the future conversation of the board. And as we recall in our capital allocation going forward, that Los Felos increase in production out of the heat region into CIL process will occur after the construction of Self Railroad, the construction of Castle Mountain, and our expansions in Mexico will follow in the years to come.

Yeah, and the one thing I'd layer on that, Jason, was a good summary, is that, you know, with the funds to commence the restart are included in the guidance now, because that was not budgeted, and that's in the project pipeline space. There likely will be some metal that falls out before now and the end of the year. That's not reflected in any of the production numbers.

It's at the minimum level, given the 1.1 million ounces of annualized rate that we're producing.

Pete will pick that one up. Pete, dive.

Yeah, I mean, essentially, we made a change from a jaw crusher to a gyratory crusher, and that's the balance that we're in. On phase two. Yeah.

Yeah, we'll get back to you on that one offline, Anita.

Thanks, Anita. Appreciate the questions and the support.

Yeah, so I'll take the Los Feliz part first. It's Peter. The additional capital for Los Feliz for the year, keeping in mind that we were on care maintenance, What we told you about for the year was concerning keeping in mind on care maintenance. The additional capital that we have there is for the gradual restart of operations, and then we'll inform for next year as we firm up our plan to go forward and then do our 2027 budget. And then, sorry, what was the second part of your question?

The Camino Rojo, Peter, I'll take that one. So the Camino Rojo reflects the There's an update. We did not include in the original guidance the portal to head underground on the sulfides, as you recall, Josh. So it includes the last finalization of the heat bleach pad expansion, but frankly there's not a lot of spend left there, but it does include that. And then the $25 million for the portal caller and development underground, so that's what represents the Camino Rojo share. We did not include that in the original Orla guidance. We're now including it in our company at Equinox.

And for clarification on that as well, it's the prudent step forward to get in and start getting, you know, a higher level of knowledge with respect to the metallurgy, get some bulk samples, do that sort of work as part of it. It doesn't preempt a full funds commitment for the project, as Jason alluded to, in terms of, you know, we've got a clearly defined growth capital project schedule in the next couple of years. This is the continuing learning of, just like we'll have it at Los Healots, right? There's work that will be spent to be able to progress the understanding so we can understand what the right size of the facility is. This is exactly the same level of work that's been done at Camino Rojo.

And again, as a larger, bolder, stronger organisation, it allows us to be able to take a very methodical and thoughtful approach to those development projects and spend a little bit more money up front to understand exactly what we're dealing with, So that when we make commitments, we're very, very clear on what we're committing to and can do it with a significantly higher degree of confidence. And that's what those fundings fall. So it's a very good move.

Yeah, I guess there's two parts. Let's just tackle the grade issue. If we think about grade, the back half of the year, we will have a higher grade than we did in the front half of the year. That's going to be reflective of improved performance, which will continue into 2027 and to 28. By the end of 28, you've got a doubling of the size of the plant, so the exposure on selectivity becomes less. In terms of the unit costs, ubiquitously across the portfolio we've seen tension from a, just like everyone else has, on fuel prices. There's about $100 an ounce of increase in spend or cost across our business with respect to WTI and related costs.

At Valentine it's a little higher, it's probably in the order of closer to probably $200 between volume and price this year. We have seen additional resources that we've added to work through the effectiveness so we can become more efficient. We will see that spend start to trail off through the back end of the year and into 2027. So I think we'll see that those unit costs will come down as a function of efficiency. It will obviously be positively impacted by a denominator increase in terms of more metal, but you'll also see less spend for any volume as a consequence of the team getting better and working out the king's end. Part of the normal kind of ramp-up process, and arguably we were probably overly aggressive about the rate at which we would get to that kind of steady state, if you will, when we foreshadowed the 2026 guidance.

I mean, Jason, you've been through this before, but...

Yeah, very typical ramp-up process where we are trying to resolve various issues and spending a bit more to get through them just to deliver the results. So absolutely consistent as part of the ramp-up process. And as you've articulated clearly, and Josh, you know this well, you need to do both, start to reduce the numerator spending, which you will do as your teams get organized as they get a flow of what they need to be doing everything from geologists to truck operators and then once they get better at that the costs drop and the ounces then follow In the case of Valentine, of course, achieving a greater grade introduced to the mill before it gets expanded, and simultaneously with doing that, we're expanding the mill so that we'll be at that 5 million ton per year.

Yeah. Okay, Mohamed. Yeah. As-salamu alaykum. Hey, just a – I think it tails onto the last part of the conversation that Jason and I were having here is that it's a reflection of the on-costs associated with supporting the activity that we've seen increasing in terms of mining and those sort of things. It's a direct relationship too. So as those efficiencies come on, you'll see the G&A costs go down, because it's not really G&A. It's site services and support. It's camping. It's messing. It's those sort of things that go into it, which is the majority of that tension on that quote-unquote G&A space. And full disclosure, it's in the order of $10 million for the full year is what it is above what we saw, and that'll probably come down to single digits over the course of, yeah, at an annualised rate between now and the interview.

Yeah, on fuel price, fuel price, it's Peter, and thanks for the question, Mohamed. Fuel prices, we have assumed about 50% higher across the board consolidated fuel prices from original plan and guidance overall. And so as we see, hopefully as we see things modulate here in the near future, we expect that to return down back to what the original plan was. And so, in short, it's basically reflecting average price year to date going forward.

Yeah. And that's probably our best crystal ball, and we will be wrong, right? And hopefully that, like everyone, that we're wrong to the conservative.

Well, and I guess there's two parts to that, right? Gold price, the effect on gold price is only in royalties and those related costs, right? I'd like to just be clear that there's very little of our business that's impacted by gold price, and there's very few decisions we make on a day-to-day basis that are impacted by the gold price, because we're spending capital like it's our own, and we're making the right decisions for the long term. But in terms of the gold price assumption used... It's very close, actually, to current gold price, so you shouldn't see too much tension there. So if we see gold go to $6,000 an ounce between now and the end of the year, you will see some additional tension from the royalties and wide costs that then fly back through.

But that will be an easy discussion to have.

Okay, Adrian, well, thank you very much for your support anyway, and have a nice day.

In the release, Jason, sorry, Jeremy, I was looking at Jason when I did it. We actually, in the highlights of subsequent events, we talked about the team going forward, and no, I mean, you know, we've set the team, we know who it is, and that was part of, you know, again, day one. And I guess that's a little bit unique in this compared to a lot of transactions. You know, we've come out and we've spent the last three months working out who's who in the zoo, if you will. And now we're building out those teams from that down. So, no, we're clear on those senior leadership positions.

There's some decisions that need to be made below that. But, you know, as we foreshadowed, you know, we have more than enough work to do to accommodate everyone on both sides of the business. So, you know, retention of human capital is really our challenge rather than necessarily working out who shouldn't be here. You know, we see it across the industry. You know, we're blessed by having great teams on both sides, and utilizing those people to the betterment of the product is what our focus is. So, no, you know, I'm very comfortable with where we're at, where we're headed, and I think the team is gelling very, very nicely at this point.

Yeah, since the beginning, Darren and I have been talking about the combination of these companies and, frankly, the combination of that human capital that is so sought after in our industry. What we have been announcing in the recent days and what we'll need to sort through in the future is how we can keep everybody within Equinox GOLD and make sure everybody understands what they need to do to contribute to our combined success. And that's the work ahead of us. It's about understanding who's doing what, and hopefully we can retain the majority of that human capital.

Maybe I'll kick it off and then, you know, Jason and I can do a Bert and Ernie on this, but, you know, the short-term organic growth, as Jason's already talked to, is well-defined. You know, we've got Valentine's South Railroad, and then we'll be in a position middle of next year to make a decision in and around Castle Mountain. In the background, we'll be progressing and doing the work that we need to do in Mexico to be able to surface value from that, and that comes from Camino Rojo Underground, right, or A potential open pit expansion, and that's why we're continuing with the underground portal to get bulk samples to understand metallurgy, which is obviously key to that asset.

Lost Fear Loss, we're doing the work in the background on scoping level studies to understand the benefit that can come from a larger process plot and what that means. So over the next year or two, those things will flesh out, but we're very, very comfortable in what we see in terms of that organic growth profile. And if you look at the leverage that we have from the asset base without even considering the Mexico opportunity, it's significant going forward. So, no, I think that, you know, what we've been talking about for the last couple of months remains. There will be, as always, timing changes as we work through, understand. And, you know, could there be Sophie's choices in the future?

Yeah, absolutely. But it's not going to come from a liquidity or ability to pay. It's going to be from what makes sense from the organisation to be able to bolt these things on and realise the full potential of our existing assets. You know, we haven't talked at all about Busselway. We haven't talked about the fact that we have a million and a half ton a year facility that we're only using a million ton of. And, you know, if you look at the opportunity that can be surfaced there, we're not talking about $150 to $200 million annually of exploration burn and what that will generate in terms of optionality of our existing assets. So, you know, there's going to be – we're going to be spoiled for choices, and I think that, you know, what we have foreshadowed in the business and position going forward I think is a fair representation, but it will change, and I think it will only change for the positive.

Yeah, Darren, I'll layer on. Frankly, the business needs to focus on the next six months of execution and delivery, but a business this size has to look across the entire portfolio and make sure that we have work progressing, everything from exploration, finding more ounces for the future, the projects that you asked the question about, projects in Mexico that you asked the question about, making sure that we're doing the data collection, We will do the collection and study work to set those assets up in the years to come, which is what we are doing this year and next, so that we are doing the study work. And then of course, near term, the six months that I talked about, but also advancing the construction starts in Nevada followed by Castle Mountain, the expansion that we just got approved yesterday in Newfoundland.

So we as a larger business need to focus on all ends of our pipeline to make sure that we are, as Darren likes to say, laying track in front of the train and then making sure that the trains arrive on time so that this bigger business is now stronger because we have all of those choices that Darren talked about. And in the future, we have to acknowledge that our choices of capital allocation will not be governed by our ability to fund them and will be governed by making sure that we're methodical in our selection of what we build, when, to deliver the best value return for investors as approved by the board in the years to come.

Yeah, just keeping in mind that the reason we exist is, as you know, we're a financial instrument to create shareholder value through share price appreciation, and all of our capital allocation decisions were made in that mindset. It won't be growth and growth sake. It'll be about value creation for the people that own the business, which is you all. So, you know, appreciate the questions and appreciate the support that we have seen in both companies, and, you know, we look forward to that continued support going forward.

Appreciate it. Thanks, Jeremy.

Thank you, Operator. We're almost at the hour, so Etienne and myself will be available and will be answering the questions that came on the webcast. And I'll pass over the call to Darren for his closing remarks.

Yeah, thanks, Ingrid, and thanks again, everyone, on the call. I'd like to thank all of our shareholders for their continued support. You know, over the coming months, I'll be working closely with Jason, who will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer upon my retirement from Equinox. Leading Equinox has been one of the greatest privileges of my career. I'm incredibly proud of the team we have around the table and throughout the business, and what we've accomplished in all precursor companies to get us to that point. Every decision that's been made throughout all of those businesses has positioned us with the privilege to be able to build on that basis going forward. So I'm very, very proud of what we've all been able to do and where we're at.

And Jason's exceptionally well positioned to lead Equinox through its next phase of growth and value creation. I have complete confidence in Jason and his ability to guide the company forward. And as we foreshadowed, I'll be around and available to and supporting the initiative as a very interested shareholder. So as always, the leadership team are available if you have any further questions. And again, thank you very much for your participation today, and take care and be well.