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Thanks, Tara, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to this conference call for Resolute's June, 2018 quarterly activities report. And it's a comprehensive report, representing an update on the information we've released at the end of the quarter in what has been a very busy financial year for Resolute and a very successful one. So the headline number is we achieved gold production during the financial year of 284,000 ounces at all-in sustaining cost of AUD 1,355 an ounce, or USD 1,051 an ounce. And pleasingly, that was slightly ahead of our revised guidance during the year of 280,000 ounces of production at AUD 1,360 and that represented the result of a solid quarter in June, where we produced 75,000 ounces at an improved cost over the previous quarters, representing the ramp up of development ore from the underground and our improving recoveries in processing across the business and a very good result from Ravenswood. People will be aware of the information we've now put out in the quarterly, which represented the flurry of announcements we had at the end of the quarter. The most significant of those was the update on the Syama project, DFS update, which demonstrated that the work we've done on automation in power and recovery, is going to bring down the life of mine, all-in sustaining costs for that mine from its previous DFS level of USD 881 an ounce, now down to below USD 750 an ounce. The study demonstrates USD 746. So that's a great result, and that's also driven by some really stunning exploration success we've had over the last couple of years, with a very focused program where we've recently increased the reserve by almost 40% and that flows through when you look at the announcement on the footprint of the sublevel cave we're building and the opportunities we're identifying at Tabakoroni. Syama keeps on getting more and more exciting. For people who looked at that announcement in detail, we have provided some more information in the quarterly activity report and specifically focused on demonstrating that the capital intensity of the mine has actually come down. We're mining a lot more metal -- the gold we're extracting has actually gone up significantly. And so while some people have focused on the capital that we're investing in the mine, importantly, the capital intensity of the mine over the last of its current reserve has gone down from AUD 186 an ounce from AUD 177 an ounce, and we're really confident that, that number will continue to improve. And the scale of the production and the potential to lower cost is very much demonstrated and part of both the automation journey and, particularly, the processing journey that we're on at Syama. That remains our #1 focus. And the other information included in the quarterly at Figure 6 was a development schedule, and that really shows our focus for the year. We are on track to start sublevel caving in December. We actually start adding to the development ore we're currently extracting from the underground mine with some long-haul stope ore this quarter. Sublevel caving will start in December, and you can say that the ramp up to full production at the nameplate capacity of 2.4 million tonnes happens during the course of this financial year by June. And that figure demonstrates and represents how our production profile through the sulfide circuit during Syama is going to improve, as we get more and more of that high-grade ore in. Pleasingly, when we've been running that circuit on the development ore, we're getting the recoveries that we expect, and we remain really confident in the commissioning of Project 85 and our ability to achieve high recoveries from the sulfide processing plant, as that high-grade ore comes online, and as we continue to improve that circuit.The other key announcement during the June quarter was an update on the Ravenswood Expansion plan feasibility study. Again, we've done a lot of work on this project. It's really being driven by very careful management of our on-site leadership team. This is an asset we've owned for more than a decade. It's been a great performer for Resolute. I often talk about the sublevel caves, that we are owner/operators on, where we've mined a 2.5 gram ore body to 900 meters underground at an average cash cost, the cost of life of mine of AUD 850 an ounce. It's a remarkable achievement, and we're taking those learnings into the sublevel cave that we're about to start in Syama. That update from Ravenswood demonstrated -- and we've taken a different approach, it's largely been driven by our ability to achieve the approvals that we required from the Queensland Government and use of the prescribed project and the support we've had at various levels of the government there, as well as the ability we've had to continue producing Mt. Wright longer than we had expected, and we now expect that, that mine will continue to produce during the course of the current financial year. That has allowed us to restage that project in a way that conserves our capital expenditure and maximizes value for Resolute. Over the revised life of mine plan, average annual production is now 115,000 ounces per year. The all-in sustaining cost over that life of mine is reduced to below AUD 1,100 an ounce. That's roughly around a AUD 70 reduction on our previous plan. It's a simpler plan. And increasingly, Resolute is really pleased with the asset value of Ravenswood in our portfolio. It's -- it represents a stable producing asset for the company.Our third asset, the Bibiani gold mine in Ghana, currently on care and maintenance. We've been carefully going through a process of valuation improvement of that asset. It was demonstrated by the study update that we've released. We're looking to run mines that have a minimum of a 10 year mine life and produce more than 100,000 ounces a year. We have an ambition across our portfolio to bring down our all-in sustaining cost to at or below USD 750 an ounce. And I'm really pleased that the work we've done from the original scoping study we did shortly after requiring the asset in 2015. The original feasibility study, and now this update is demonstrating that Bibiani will fit within those metrics. So the study we've published demonstrated a 10-year mine life and all-in sustaining cost of USD 765 an ounce. And demonstrated a de-risked approach to the mine plan, and we're now moving into an operational readiness phase. We've also indicated that we're going to make sure we manage both the capital, and more importantly, the human resources aspects of developing that mine. And we've quite clearly indicated that our focus on development during FY '19 is the Syama underground mine and that's demonstrated in the updated guidance that we've made, or the results that we published for our FY '18 and the guidance we've provided for FY '19 of 300,000 ounces of production at an all-in sustaining cost of AUD 1,280. Importantly, in that guidance, we've also included an outlook over the next 4 production years and the Figure 6 that I've referred to in the quarterly, and the figure in that guidance note, really go together for me because they demonstrate that our guidance in FY '19 is 300,000 ounces, but delivery of the Syama underground project and the -- maintaining the operations that we've demonstrated we can do at Ravenswood will take us to 400,000 ounces in the following financial year, with Bibiani, a growth option taking us to 500,000 ounces. It remains a very exciting, well-funded and well-managed growth profile within Resolute.Before I open up questions, the other thing I'll talk about, having mentioned it briefly is the excitement we're having in our exploration. And particularly at Syama, where the Nafolo discovery continues to have our attention. It's immediately adjacent to the existing ore body that we're about to start mining underground, and we continue to publish some good results for that. 30 kilometers to the south, we're about to open up a new satellite pit which will feed the oxide plant at Syama. And the exploration results we're having at that project Tabakoroni are incredibly exciting. During the quarter, we increased our ownership of this project from 85% to 90%. And that acquisition also included the acquisition of a royalty interest at the project, so we've got a very strong ownership over this asset. We're about to start feeding high-grade ore into the oxide plant, and we're getting some spectacular results in 2 different areas. We're extending the oxide resources, but we're also very excited by the 2 high-grade sulfide shoots we've discovered. And we mentioned at that announcement during the quarter that in the 30 years that BHP and Randgold and ourselves have been exploring across the 80 kilometers of the Syama belt, we've never had results like this. So visible gold in the core, 40 meters at 12 grams a tonne. It is something different. It is occupying our attention. We have a number of rigs down there, and I'm looking forward, during the current quarter, to updating that exploration program, and we do expect to have a revised resource from Tabakoroni and a follow during the course of the current financial year. And during the course of this quarter, we will be updating our reserves and resources statement, most of the additions to that overall inventory have been well signaled during FY '18, with the resource and reserve updates we've made at all of our major projects, and it demonstrates that exploration continues to be a value driver for the company. We've also expanded our banking facilities with a flexible revolving facility locked in place. And that demonstrates that -- I have been speaking for a while about the disciplined approach we're taking to investing in growth, but also we've been quite clear that we do have an ambition to expand beyond our organic opportunities. So we're focused on the huge and ongoing ability we see to build Syama as a major gold mine, not just in Africa, but globally. We are taking the responsible approach to Bibiani as a growth option, and we are looking at other opportunities and during the June quarter, we've announced and summarized in the quarterly, the acquisitions we've made in Loncor, a company with resources in the DRC; Oklo with a very exciting exploration project in Mali; Manas, which has some interest in the Côte d’Ivoire, where we are also exploring. And significantly, stake we've taken in Orca, a company with also exploration assets in the Côte d’Ivoire, with a very interesting development project in Sudan, a region that we're taking an interest in, as sanctions are lifted and one of the largest gold rushes seen in the last century is currently taking place, without any involvement of the large industrial miners, and so that's quite exciting in terms of our growth and investment portfolio. And I'm interested in any questions, Tara, so I'll throw back to you and await anyone's interest.
[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Larry Hill from Canaccord.
Just a quick question I have around your comments with Ravenswood capital requirements for the next year moving to AUD 33 million. You talk about it being optimized, how can I think of what the planned Capex is for the next 12 months at Ravenswood?
Thanks, Larry. It's a stage development program. So the -- as you say, we have guided AUD 33 million. Actually a significant amount of that money is part of the investment we're making in the local community, and I mentioned the approvals process. A key element of that was the heritage agreement that we've signed. But also, it's a small North Queensland community at Ravenswood. Our operations actually, among other things, provide the water for the local community. And one of the challenges with opening up the Buck Reef West deposit, which we're now going to mine early in our mine plan is that it is relatively close to the existing population, the 2 pubs, and most importantly, the school. So we've, through the use of technology and bunding, and with the support of the government and our environmental work have demonstrated that we're not going to impact a lot of that infrastructure. However, it does involve moving the Ravenswood school, and that's something we're going to have to invest in during the course of the year. And also obviously, it's the pre-stripping work and roadwork in and around Ravenswood. So the AUD 33 million is really made up of pre-stripping, moving the school and the relocation of some roads in and around -- and all related to Buck Reef West.
Great. And that still goes, I suppose, supporting activities that still very much, that's all captured in your overall time frame of, ultimately when you get into mining and yet obviously ramping things up?
Yes, that's right. So the key element, be it during the course of this year is we'll continue to manage the asset in the same way we have this year, in that it'll be a combination of the plus 2 gram material from Mt. Wright, and the sub-1 gram material from various stockpiles in our open pits activity at Nolans. And I did commend the Ravenswood team. We're mining one of the open pit. We're mining one of the lowest grade ore bodies in the country. And we're managing a transition period across our portfolio, both at Syama, but we're doing a really good job at Ravenswood. This year it's particularly difficult. I mean, we've guided relatively low production. The assets have been producing 100,000 ounces or more, really, during most of the period that we've owned it. And obviously, life of mine, average is [ 115,000 ounces ], and at stages, will produce more than [ 130,000 ounces ]. But this year, it's a difficult year. We're opening up a new open pit deposit and the asset will only produce 70,000 ounces. And so the discipline of that team will be really important. But it does represent a very stable long-term value driver. There's not a lot of Australian mines that can look at the history we've had there, the amount of gold we've produced, the confidence we have in the mill, the confidence we have in the team and the ability to mine gold over a long period of time very effectively.
Right. And can I just maybe get a little bit more detail on Project 85 or just that ramp up in recoveries? When you transitioned away from development ore, you got the roaster shut. And then, what does the -- when can we think of the circuit being heated up in terms of being able to hit those recoveries over the next 12 months?
Yes. Largely, Project 85 represents a series of related improvements to the sulfide circuit. Most of those in terms of the infrastructure have already been implemented. And been commissioned during the -- are already in action, and we'll see that by the fact that we can, during the 42-day roaster shut, which obviously will put us some under some pressure at the start of this year, alongside the fact that we continue to have to use low-grade stockpiles in the sulfide circuit particularly early in this financial year. But it is augmented by the work we've done on processing, will allow us to pull gold through the sulfide circuit while the roaster is shut. The answer to the question about -- the reality is, is that the processing improvement journey continues for us and is aligned with the commencement of sublevel caving and the ramp up of that underground mine. And we do expect that all of those improvements will be operational by the end of this financial year. And obviously, the roaster shut allows us to do some tie-in work on that Project 85 that has been waiting. So -- and the -- and we've delayed that roaster shut for a while. We're now ready to do all of the work that we can do during that 42-day period. So there's a very intense start to the year at Syama, with a lot of very skilled industry experts across the globe having found their way there for a very intense 42-day period. And then obviously, other parts of the circuit improvement are linked to the steady-state operation of the underground mine. So we expect to see an improvement in recovery, but we're very confident that we'll get the 89% to 90% recovery that's possible. Once we're up and running in a steady-state of the underground mine and getting the high-grade ore, so really that benefit and those sort of numbers won't be achieved until FY 2021.
Our next question comes from Warren Edney from Baillieu.
Just a bit of a follow-up on that recovery. So when things are up and running, so when you have sort of, full production rates from underground at Syama, does the -- is the recovery more of a constant tale? Or does it vary significantly over time?
One of the challenges we've had, over really the whole time that we have been operating Syama, but particularly recently, is dealing with different metallurgical ore types. And so the -- I, and I'm sure that the entire team at Syama are really looking forward, probably for the first time in the asset's history, to having a steady state, metallurgically consistent feed. And one of the advantages of the sublevel cave mine is that it does -- we already know that we've got a very homogeneous ore body in C2 at Syama, and then the sublevel cave will obviously add to that in terms of that steady-state feed. So the -- we do expect to have, therefore, consistent recoveries once that circuit and that mine is up and running. And in terms of looking at our life of mine, we don't see any metallurgical differences as we go down the orebody. The work we've done on the metallurgy would indicate that it's a very consistent grade and metallurgical quality. So therefore, we're expecting to have consistent recoveries once we get to that steady-state.
[Operator Instructions] And we have a follow-up question from Warren Edney from Baillieu.
Just a quick one on D&A. In terms of Ravenswood D&A, does it sort of start kicking in terms of like a longer-term run rate once the -- you transition all the way to open pit, just in the very low, obviously during the -- this quarter?
Yes, thanks, Warren. It's very minimal at the moment. And it really, will obviously kick in after we've made the big capital investments we expected, and we've indicated those in the announcement, that's actually a stage profile. So obviously, during this year it'll be very minimal.Well, if there are no more questions, Tara, I'll close the call. We are -- oh, there's one more, I can see on the screen, okay.
Yes, I've had one more come through, from John Andrews from Forsyth Barr.
Would you able to comment on political risk in the geographies that you're operating in? Not including Australia, I guess.
Sure. Well, I think you're calling from New Zealand. So I won't comment on the rugby. We've got a focus on Africa. We went into Africa in 1996 and in the late '90s, we built the first modern gold mine in Tanzania, and we've been operating in Mali for 10 years. We're exploring in the Côte d’Ivoire and the investment in growth assets that I indicated is increasingly expanding in that continent. But we are very careful about the jurisdictions in which we operate in. The key driver that is matched with our ambition to having long-life mines, is making sure that we are confident we have recourse to the rule of law, and that we have a very positive and direct relationship with government, which is actually also consistent with the success we've had at Ravenswood in dealing with the Queensland Government, a jurisdiction that others can be quite critical of. And we've actually had great success with a partnership model, which is really driven by the reality that in Africa, you are not a miner who owns the mine, paying royalties and taxes to a government, you're actually an equity partner in a business, along with the government. And I think that mindset's actually helped us deal with our Queensland asset as well as the reality in Africa. Clearly, if you look at the range of countries we're operating in, they all have, what I believe to be, a very clear guideline on the rule of law. But I also don't hide from the fact that we see security at our operations as a critical skill level that we have. So while we're very much in the south of Mali, and we're close to the Côte d’Ivoire border, we recognize that it is a jurisdiction with security challenge. We invest in that, it's something that I think we're very good at. And as long with our -- just as a miner, we have shared the industry's focus on making sure that we have an ambition of zero harm. At Resolute, we also expand that focus into the way we look at security, in terms of looking after our people and looking after the long-term value of our assets and that is both in terms of physical security, but most importantly, to again emphasize, it's around the relationship and the partnership we have with the leadership and the governments, both locally and nationally, in which -- the countries in which we operate. I have been a long-term advocate of the opportunity in Africa. I grew up here in Western Australia in the 1970s, where no one, or very few people in this country saw the opportunity of the expanding Asian economies, it's something that seems very obvious now, that we are all, in Australia and particularly in the commodity cycle, linked to the expansion of the Asian economies in a way that seems very obvious. To me, there is a very long-term story about Africa in terms of its potential in mineral resources, its expanding working population and its ability to drive value, and that's why Resolute took a very early interest in the continent from a gold operating, development, exploration point of view. I think it represents an enormous opportunity and one that we're very poised to participate in.
There are no further questions in queue.
Thanks, Tara. Look, thanks very much for everyone's interest. I can't promise that we'll be continuing the flurry of announcements we've had over the last month or so, but we are looking forward to updating the market on our progress. It is going to be a very exciting time as we ramp up the Syama underground mine. We are on track for that development. We are -- we will be updating our reserves and resources position during the current quarter. And I look forward to any interest and further updates on our exploration activities, particularly in Mali. Thanks very much.