© 2024 Alpha Spread Limited. All Rights Reserved.
www.alphaspread.com is not operated by a broker, a dealer, or a registered investment adviser. Under no circumstances does any information posted on www.alphaspread.com represent a recommendation to buy or sell a security. The information on this site, and in its related newsletters, is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, investment advice or recommendations. The information on this site is in no way guaranteed for completeness, accuracy or in any other way. In no event shall Alpha Spread Limited be liable to any member, guest or third party for any damages of any kind arising out of the use of any content or other material published or available on www.alphaspread.com, or relating to the use of, or inability to use, www.alphaspread.com or any content, including, without limitation, any investment losses, lost profits, lost opportunity, special, incidental, indirect, consequential or punitive damages. Past performance is a poor indicator of future performance.
You don't have any saved screeners yet
Intrinsic Value is all-important and is the only logical way to evaluate the relative attractiveness of investments and businesses.
Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Sandfire Resources 2021 September Quarterly Update. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Ben Crowley, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Good morning, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today, and welcome to Sandfire's conference call for the September quarter. My name is Ben Crowley, I'm the Head of Investor Relations here. With me today, I have -- we have Karl Simich, our MD and CEO; Matt Fitzgerald, our Chief Financial Officer; Jason Grace, our Chief Operating Officer; and Julian Hanna, Director of Growth for Botswana. Karl will give us some introductory comments, and then we'll hand over to Jason and Matt who will run us through the quarterly. So with that, Karl, over to you.
Thanks very much, Ben, and welcome, everyone, to what is, in my view, the most significant quarter for Sandfire probably since the discovery of DeGrussa. And I look forward to updating you at a very high level on those strategic initiatives that we have been able to bed down as we're going forward. So it really is a delight to be able to present in the September quarter, not only the results of the quarter but those strategic moves that we have made as an organization.I draw your attention to the purpose of this business, and we are here to create value through opportunity. Our 5 key strategic imperatives are to execute delivery, build a sustainable production profile, accelerate discovery, ensure our people are aligned and empowered, and also to optimize our capital strategy and to ensure that we are engaging and disseminating the information regarding our business to our wider key stakeholders.With respect to executing delivery, DeGrussa and Monty continue to perform. Every quarter they do it. They continue to do that. With respect to Motheo, not only have we completed the definitive feasibility study for T3, but we've also released the scoping study and pre-feasibility study for A4 and announced the expansion of those operations. And that is part of executing delivery as well as continuing to work through our gold assessment up at the Greater Doolgunna region and in and around seeing if there is an opportunity for an ongoing gold operation after the current closure of the DeGrussa Monty copper operations.In terms of building a sustainable production profile. With the announcement of the transaction to acquire a wonderful asset in the MATSA complex, that is absolutely critical in terms of us building the sustainable production profile as per our strategy. And well and truly Sandfire will be looking to achieve above 150,000 tonnes of copper production per annum with the completion of the MATSA transaction and actually much -- very much closer to an annual production profile of close to 200,000 tonnes of copper per annum, at very reasonable and very relatively speaking, low operating cost structures.But what is important about that, a couple of key elements. One is we are absolutely and utterly focused on building and putting into our portfolio, quality assets. I think the assets that we are assembling both in what's come out of DeGrussa, Monty, what is coming to bear in Botswana and also with respect to Namibia, what we're acquiring in MATSA in Spain, and the opportunity that is before us also in the U.S. and to build on is amassing quality projects in this portfolio for the long term for many decades to come. So I think these opportunities are wonderful.And as we also go through the evolution of our strategic plan, which is a living, breathing beast, we will find that we modify that. And our production target profiles will be closer to 200,000 tonnes of copper per annum as we complete the MATSA transaction. And we will look in the next 5 years to be in a production profile of closer to over 300,000 tonnes of copper per annum production profile over those -- that 3- to 5-year period. And that will be our internal objective.With respect to accelerating discovery, we continue to be moving forward on many, many fronts in Western Australia, Eastern Australia, in Botswana. We look -- we are also exploring in the U.S. with interesting results. And as well as once the MATSA acquisition is completed, we will be undertaking exploration there as well on a number of fronts on some excellent targets.We presently have 14 drill rigs turning at the moment, and we're very, very excited about the opportunities that will come to bear. Julian Hanna will be updating you a little bit today on what's happening in Botswana, but it's needless to say, from our perspective, it is an extraordinarily exciting province with huge opportunity that has just not been explored.It is absolutely critical as we embark upon the strategic push is that we ensure all of our people all over the world are aligned with our business model that understand where we're coming from and understand the culture that we're building in this business and that the values are all aligned. And that is absolutely critical to have the business to perform in all these multiple jurisdictions and to deliver what will be those targets, ensuring our people do have the capacity, they do have the resources and have the support to ensure that they complete the targeted objective. So that is something we continue to work on and improve consistently. And I'm very, very happy, in fact, with the capabilities that we are building on a global basis, which is really excellent. And ensuring that we can actually commercially deal with this is to have an appropriate balance and optimize our capital structure, understanding the balance between shareholders' returns, leveraging the balance sheet, utilizing equity and debt in appropriate forms for the respective activities and strategy that we have. And hopefully, what we have been executing over the last little while in terms of working our balance sheet is the first time in a long time that we've got to flex a little bit of that balance sheet. And we're very happy with the transactions that we're undertaking and how we are funding those ultimately with the objective to maximizing that value and that return to our shareholders.And ensuring that through this process, we are able to disseminate that information to all of our stakeholders, and clearly our shareholders and analysts and regulators in terms of what we are doing. So we're really, really, really excited about where we are at the moment.At a very, very high level, highlights for the quarter. Totally and right on budget production profile in terms of copper and gold for the quarter, we're very happy with that. We maintain our guidance as we sit here today around the middle of expectations are around the middle of copper production, the high end of gold production and also still -- even though the quarter is a little bit up, still within that $1 to $1.10. And probably, as we see it at the moment on the high end of C1 costs for the year-end is our expectations. But once again, an extraordinary asset that continues to deliver fantastically ever since the first day we put the first tonne through the mill at DeGrussa and complemented with Monty as well.We're working hard on completing the scoping study for Old Highway gold project, and we expected in the March quarter to come out with those completed studies. And then we can make some sensible decisions with respect to our strategy for the DeGrussa facilities and that strategic footprint that we have in the region.As another significant highlight for the quarter and as announced on the 22nd of September, the day before the MATSA transaction was announced, we announced the expansion of the Motheo production hub from 3.2 million to 5.2 million tonnes per annum when we completed the pre-feasibility study together with the maiden ore reserve for the A4 deposit, which will complement the 3 T3 deposits. So now we have that satellite deposit feeding and higher grade material on average.And what was delightful to see in the preparation of the maiden ore reserve for A4 was about an 83% to 85% resource to reserve conversion ratio, which augurs well for the future in terms of the work that we'll be doing in and around that complex, where we have a multitude of other exceptionally exciting targets to drill, and where our expectations are that we will have other potential satellite feed to give that expanded production profile now of moving from up to 60,000 tonnes of copper per annum from that Motheo production hub. And it's something that then we will be working hard to ensure that we can continue that a long ways into the future with those further satellite potential opportunities.Our construction is full steam ahead at the moment in Botswana at Motheo hub, and we will see, as we roll into 2022, significant work on foot. So there's a lot of work, and Jason will go through that in a little bit more detail today. Clearly, a critical point, as we've touched on, is the transformational acquisition of MATSA. It is the single largest thing in terms of strategic imperative that we had set ourselves over the last 2 years, and we were looking to buy a long-life quality, high-grade, low-cost mining asset with excellent infrastructure and personnel and all the other attributes in an excellent mining jurisdiction. And I can tell you, after 4.5 years of working in and around the MATSA asset is that we were delighted when it came to market in a process. Obviously, a process is always an interesting and a challenging exercise, but we were very steadfast in our views. And I think at the end of the day, we have paid what was for the sellers of that asset a fair price, I think what is for Sandfire and its shareholders an excellent price. And in a relative sense, the acquisition price of USD 1.865 billion is about 2/3 of what I think this asset is worth in the listed public company market using standard market multipliers for peer assets and peer companies for this asset.So I think from a public company listed vehicle perspective, it is worth probably order of magnitude of $3 billion asset as it sits today. And the opportunity there is significant in terms of optimization of that asset, in terms of significant resource to reserve conversions well and truly above what are there at the moment. And can I say, from an exploration perspective, there is so much more work to be done there. We're very, very excited.We have -- we are acquiring 3 high-quality underground mines in the VMS province. So we've got lots of special skills there for a wonderfully presented plant of 4.7 million tonne per annum central processing facility, which is underutilized as it sits today and for a production profile that is in excess of 100,000 tonnes of copper equivalent and about 65% of that being a dominant copper production. And from our business going forward we want to be facing to the future and as the world is working towards zero carbon emission by 2050, we will continue to build in our business very much those future-facing metals and predominantly a copper business.So we're looking forward to moving to the next level as a business into the international global base metals and copper-focused situation. And I think the assets that we are amassing, and those significantly prospective opportunities within those assets are yet to be delivered. And we look forward to doing that over the next 5 to 10 years and building on what we've got.Cash at the end of the quarter is about $405 million. Matt Fitzgerald can give you a greater detail as to what's happened, but it's wonderful to know that DeGrussa still has pumped around order of magnitude, $100 million of free cash into the system for the quarter, and there's been a variety of different things that have worked its way out of the system to leave us with over AUD 400 million cash. But he can get into that detail if you're interested in due course.I look forward now to handing over to Jason to give you a bit more detail in what I have talked about. Thank you.
Thank you, Karl, and welcome to everybody on the call today. Starting with HSEC. Across the company, we lost some ground on our TRIFR, which was 5.6 as at the end of the quarter. This was a result of a small number of low potential injuries occurring. And while this rate is still well below the industry average for underground mining, all Sandfire teams remain highly focused on safety and continue to strive towards the elimination of all injuries.Our COVID-19 response remained a major focus during the September quarter, and at the company's Perth head office, DeGrussa operations and Doolgunna exploration, we continue to operate without interruption due to the absence of community transmission of COVID-19 in Western Australia.In Botswana, COVID-19 infection rates have rapidly declined. And at the same time, the Botswana government has also stepped up its COVID-19 vaccination program with now approximately 30% of the population having received the first dose and over 11% of the population now fully vaccinated.In Montana in the U.S.A., due to the advanced status of the COVID-19 vaccination program, infection rates have continued to remain low. And the Black Butte team have returned to pre-COVID work routines. And as a result, as a highlight for the quarter, Sandfire was very proud to be awarded the Resources Sector Award for Community Partnerships by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety of Western Australia for the Dandjoo Darbalung Indigenous Access Program. Established in 2021, this program is hosted by St Catherine's College to support aboriginal students who are starting at any of the 5 universities and other institutions in Perth. And they provide a culturally secure space, access to culturally sensitive counseling, support to return home for funerals and wartime, participation in aboriginal cultural activities, cultural leadership workshops and academic support from specialized teaching staff. Sandfire was introduced to the program in early 2019 and has been a very proud supporter ever since.Moving on to an update on DeGrussa operations for the September quarter and starting with mining. Underground mine production at DeGrussa closed out the quarter at 303,102 tonnes of ore at a grade of 3.2% and 1.17 grams per tonne gold. Monty produced just above 116,000 tonnes of ore at a grade of 6% copper and 1.49 grams per tonne gold. And when combined, this delivered a total production of 419,152 tonnes at a grade of 4% copper and 1.26 grams per tonne gold. Ore processing achieved a mill throughput rate of 405,000 or just over 405,000 tonnes at a head grade of 4.2% copper and 1.34 grams per tonne gold and delivered concentrate production for the quarter just below 67,500 tonnes at a grade of 23.4% copper and 3.3 grams per tonne gold. This, in turn, allowed us to execute concentrate sales that slightly exceeded the production rate with 70,391 tonnes sold for the quarter.
Unit operating costs and capital for DeGrussa, as you may remember, for the full year, we guided that copper production for quarter 1 and quarter 3 was likely to be slightly lower than the annual average and quarters 2 and 4 are likely to be slightly higher. That would put an expectation within our guidance band, which is USD 1 to USD 1.10 a pound that the September quarter would be up towards the top end of that. There has been some additional cost pressure, predominantly in the mining and transport areas. So in mining, the impact of some lower grade areas has bumped it up by around $0.02 a pound.Probably the larger impact is more on the transport side, particularly with overseas shipping, which is a global issue as many are experiencing at the moment. Those costs are higher. And we would note they are also likely to be impacting the copper price in a positive way at the same time. And so there are some cost pressures in that way at DeGrussa.With Q2, Q3, Q4 gold production likely to be -- or at this stage, likely to be higher than Q1 and also with some of our recent hedging work, we do see that cost for the full year in terms of guidance are expected to be at the upper end of $1 to $1.10 at this stage. We're only 1 quarter in, of course, but at the top end of $1 to $1.10.
In line with the Sandfire's strategic plan, we have continued to work to assess the potential to transition to gold production at DeGrussa. And during the quarter, resource estimation activities on the Old Highway deposit continued and will support a feasibility study on the project. We will provide further updates to the market on mineral resource estimation in the December quarter. And the completion of studies is on track for the March quarter in 2022.In the meantime, Sandfire is continuing drilling at Old Highway in 2 areas. Firstly, in the Central Deeps area, we have commenced a 7,000 meter diamond drilling program to test down dip extension of mineralized zones. The design of this program has been revised to open up the drill hole spacing to a 50-meter by 100-meter pattern and allow us to assess the potential deeper extensions of mineralization.And in the area that we call the Central-East Link zone, a reverse circulation drilling program totaling approximately 4,000 meters is now close to completion. This program is designed to delineate probable along strike extensions and connections between 2 previously drilled areas.Expanding out from the Old Highway area, the Doolgunna exploration team continued to execute the dual-track copper and gold exploration program throughout the quarter. The key components of exploration activities for the September quarter included aircore drilling and ground-based geophysics in the western portion of the tenement package; a magneto-telluric survey was completed in the area close to DeGrussa Mine to aid in the development of deeper massive sulfide targets or generation of those; and processing of surface regular geochemical data in the Yerrida area was also undertaken and has identified copper and gold anomalies, which will require follow-up work.Our Eastern Australia exploration team have also continued to operate, albeit at a lower level of activity due to the COVID-19 restrictions in regional New South Wales, with diamond drilling, airborne magnetics and ground geophysics programs undertaken on our 100% owned tenure in the Cobar region. And as part of the Endeavour Joint Venture, diamond drilling and downhole EM surveys were carried out during the quarter.If we now move on to the Kalahari region. Early in the September quarter, Sandfire was very pleased to announce an updated indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate for A4. When reported at a 0.5% copper cutoff grade, the updated A4 resource totals 9.8 million tonnes at 1.4% copper and 21 grams per tonne silver for 134,000 tonnes of contained copper and 6.6 million ounces of contained silver. This represents a 34% increase in the contained copper and importantly, 93% of the contained copper is now included in the higher confidence indicated mineral resource category and therefore available for inclusion in the ore reserves.And moving on to the next slide. As Karl mentioned earlier, throughout the quarter, Motheo expansion case studies progressed to a stage where pre-feasibility studies were completed and underpinned the reporting of a maiden ore reserve for A4 on the 22nd of September. The A4 ore reserve is classified as probable and totals 9.7 million tonnes at 1.2% copper and 18 grams per tonne silver, for 114,000 tonnes of contained copper and 5.7 million ounces of contained silver. This represents an outstanding resource-to-reserve conversion rate of 85% of the contained copper in the mineral resource.If we now look more closely at the expansion case prefeasibility study that underpins the A4 reserve, the key elements of the project include an open pit mine at A4, approximately 1.2 kilometers long and 0.5 kilometer wide to be mined in 2 stages and at a stripping ratio of 6.5:1 waste to ore over the life of mine; expansion of the Motheo processing plant to a 5.2 million tonne per annum capacity through -- predominantly through the addition of a 4.5-megawatt ore mill; supporting infrastructure at A4 also includes a breakdown workshop, a tire repair bay, fuel storage, power offices and crew facilities; it also includes open pit dewatering infrastructure to support open pit mining operations; a haul road and services corridor linking A4 to the Motheo processing plant; and a light vehicle access road linking A4 to the permanent accommodation facility.When we compare the key outcomes of the pre-feasibility study for the 5.2 million tonne per annum expansion case to the initial 3.2 million tonne per annum base case, across the board, the project delivers outstanding project economics, including a 47% increase in the estimated life of mine revenue to USD 3.6 billion; a 116% increase in pretax NPV to USD 682 million; and an IRR of 36%; a 99% increase in post-tax NPV to USD 417 million; an 88% increase in pretax net cash flow to USD 1.24 billion; our payback period has now been reduced to 2.9 years from previous estimates of 3.2 years; a USD 71 million preproduction capital, which is inclusive of the USD 20 million that has been preapproved as part of the existing Motheo development; and mine life of 10.5 years, with a peak production rate of 60,000 tonnes of copper per annum; and then a 20% decrease in life of mine C1 cash cost to USD 1.32 per pound; and a 15% decrease in life of mine all-in sustaining costs to USD 1.56 per pound.Given these fantastic results from the pre-feasibility study, we have moved to finalize the feasibility study and it is on track for completion in the March quarter of the current financial year.If we now step back to progress on the development of the Motheo project, work throughout the September quarter has proceeded according to the project plan with 2 key milestones achieved. The first is associated with the Botswana government approval of the permanent accommodation village environmental management plan; and the second being the completion of process plant engineering and preconstruction works. On this basis, we are able to confirm that we remain on track for first copper production in half 2 of financial year 2023. And leading into this day, the remaining key milestones to be achieved for financial year 2022 are: the completion of construction of the permanent accommodation village early in the June quarter; and mining contractor mobilization and establish also by the June quarter; and with pre-strip mining operations to commence immediately after.Now if we look at the development work undertaken on the Motheo project in the September quarter, our mining contractor, Perenti, has completed their support infrastructure designs and are on track to commence mobilization of construction contractors in November. The major earthworks contractor has mobilized to site and commenced works, and we can see some of their efforts there in the attached photos to this slide. The construction accommodation village is now well advanced with 200 rooms now operational. And it is also on track to increase to an operational capacity of 600 by the end of December. Concrete, permanent accommodation village and HV contractors are currently mobilizing to site. And as I touched on before, a detailed engineering design of the process plant is now fully completed. Also touching on before, prefeas study on A4 and the expansion case scenario is now complete, and we are, as mentioned previously, on track for completion early in the new year.We've also done a lot of work on mobilizing key personnel in-country, so our Country Head and our GM of Operations are now on the ground in Botswana. And we've commenced the recruitment of key mining operational roles, the bulk of which will be Botswana or Botswana nationals. Project debt funding also continues to progress well.Moving on to Kalahari exploration. During the quarter, Sandfire completed the acquisition of 11 exploration licenses, which are adjacent to and complementary to Sandfire's existing exploration ground holding in the Kalahari Copper Belt. Sandfire has also entered into an option agreement for several other exploration licenses in the region. The license acquisitions consolidate Sandfire's exploration holdings in the Central Kalahari Copper Belt and extend Sandfire's licenses up to 100 kilometers further into the Eastern Kalahari Copper Belt. This again reflects Sandfire's commitment to the region and clearly demonstrates our belief in the untapped prospectivity of the Kalahari Copper Belt.Exploration activity for the quarter in the Kalahari region continued with 8 diamond and reverse circulation drill rigs working. Drilling activity levels will increase in the December quarter with an additional 2 rigs currently being mobilized.The Motheo expansion area remains a high priority with follow-up drilling underway at A4 West targeting high-grade vein mineralization, similar in style to A4 and T3. And drill rigs are also expected to be mobilized to the A1 Dome and the T1, T2 East trend over the next 2 quarters. In addition to this, we have also commenced drilling further to the southwest in the T23, T4, T46 areas and to the north in the T14, T5, T45 areas. Both of these areas lie on major regional structures and contain large mineralized shear zones.Finally, moving on to the Black Butte project in Montana, our key areas of focus have been to continue to deal with the legal challenges associated with regulatory approvals. But more importantly, we've been undertaking additional work to add value on the project. In line with this, the Sandfire America team have now completed the acquisition of 534.9 acres of land that covers the majority of the surface area required for future mine development.We've also completed our continuous work on enhancing the Johnny Lee feasibility study outcomes, and that continued throughout the quarter. Assay results for the exploration program undertaken last year, our last financial year, attesting the potential extensions to copper mineralization at Johnny Lee and Lowry deposits were received during the quarter. And the latest highlights of that exploration and those assays received include hole SC21-262, which targets the Strawberry West Upper Copper Zone. That intersected 6.8 meters of 1.2% copper and 33 grams per tonne silver. And hole SC21-263, targeting the Lowry North extension, intersected 9.8 meters of 1.7% copper and 12.2 grams per tonne silver. And the Lowry Middle Copper Zone and 7.1 meters of 1.4% copper and 6.5 grams per tonne silver in the Lowry Lower Copper Zone. If we also note that the results from hole SC21-256 which targeted extensions to mineralization at Lowry South and was previously reported at 12.45 meters at 3.4% copper and 6.5 grams per tonne silver, the Sandfire America team have recently commenced a 14,000-meter drilling program at Lowry to test both the continuity of copper mineralization in that area and assess further potential extensions.
Thank you, Jason. Thank you, Matt. And just to round out, thanks very much, everyone, for listening. And look, as I said earlier on today, I couldn't be more excited about the hard work at Sandfire and its quality people have done over the last -- executed over the last couple of years to really redefine and focus our strategy on what we want to be as a business going forward, which we've been articulating through the course of 2021, albeit with COVID providing some challenges along the way. But really, we have set a platform now for the resetting for the next chapter in our business.We believe we've put in some very solid building blocks. There've been a couple of key elements that we've been working hard to bring to bear. And I think that is all coming to fruition now. That hard work in terms of having an operating profile that is with us today with the completion of the MATSA transaction, that gives us a very strong platform over and above what we've had from DeGrussa for a long time, and it's very much a cornerstone to the building of that long-term strategic value. And then we can leverage off that essentially with these other wonderful growth opportunities to create and build value platform.So we very much -- we need to go and secure those opportunities. And as a consequence, it's a global strategy. One, because if we sit here and wait for opportunities to come to us, they will not. So we must go and secure them and grab the bull by the horns, which is what we're doing, and we're very excited about this growth platform. I believe we have got the right credentials. We've got the right balance sheet. We've got the right rejuvenated register as well. And we look forward to delivering on that refreshed and focused strategy. We're very excited about the future and the future for Sandfire and executing our strategy as it continues to develop and fundamentally behind the business at the moment. My view on the world is, given the core value components contained within it, it's for us to deliver on that. And the value proposition is at least 2x where the market is trading for our business today.I'll leave you with that. I'm going to open up the floor to questions. So please -- look forward to answering them.
[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Levi Spry of UBS.
Firstly, just in Botswana, can you just sort of run us through the CapEx inflation there and what risk remains, and I guess in the context of having only just started and still do the study on the expansion.
Yes, Levi, thanks. It's Jason here. So look, we might just take a step back there. If we cast our mind back to the completion of the definitive feasibility study for Motheo, that was completed in December 2020. So that means the bulk of our pricing work that supported that feasibility was done in middle to late calendar year 2020.So obviously, since that time, there's been major changes in global economic conditions, particularly around FX or currency FX and also commodity prices. So if we look at that overall increase that we've reported, which is an increase of USD 35.9 million, roughly -- well, 55% of that is due to changes in currency rates. And please keep in mind that given that this is a truly international process -- project, and pricing for services and also materials covered 5 different currencies from U.S. dollars, euro, Botswana pula, Aussie dollar and also South African rand.Commodity prices have also significantly shifted during that time. So steel, copper and also things like diesel have had a major impact, and that's roughly about 20% of the increase. Those diesel costs have also translated to slightly higher mining costs in the pre-strip, so that was about 6% of the total costs.And then the only other major item -- well, there's 2 other major items, the HDPE liner for the tailings dam, that's gone up about 9% or represents about 9% of that variation. And then the only thing that relates to true scope creep for that was the world and particularly our level of controls that we need to include to manage COVID-19 to make sure that our workforce remains safe during this period. We've had to include additional facilities there for isolation, for medical facilities and also services around medical support and being able to do all of that safely during -- in this COVID era. Does that cover what you need?
Yes. I appreciate the extra detail. And just on the exploration in Botswana, so I'm particularly interested in the drilling around the high-grade A4. When can we expect some results around that?
Levi, Julian Hanna here. We've got 3 rigs working on that currently, and it's a big target area. And we're working -- we're pushing pretty hard to get all the results through to the assay lab. It's like a global issue, not just for us here in Botswana and South Africa, but there's a backlog of sampling piling up at assay labs. So we're trying to deal with that as well. We're trying to expand our own sample preparation facility, which we have on site, just again to expedite and sort of control and manage better the assay data flow. So yes, we're drilling there. That's 3 rigs. We've got 5 other rigs that are now pushing beyond that immediate Motheo region, and testing some very large targets that are shown on one of the slides, Slide 19. And some very compelling targets I might add as well. And the target areas, it's all about scale here, if I can expand a little bit on this, but we are looking at target areas that run for 50 to 100 kilometers in length. So if we have success in one part of those structural target zones, then we can sort of extrapolate potential well past where we're currently drilling. So that's part of our priority. Long answer to a short question, Levi, but [Technical Difficulty].
Yes. And last question, a finance one. Just on hedging, please, Matt. So yes, how close are we on both MATSA and Botswana. And can you just remind us of the sort of quantum that we're talking about?
Yes. So Levi, in terms of hedging, do you mean commodity hedging?
Yes, yes. I assume you'll be doing some at Botswana as well for that facility. And I think you've talked about MATSA, yes.
Yes. So at MATSA, we put out a release yesterday covering the intended 30% to 40% of copper and zinc which will build over the next few weeks. At Motheo, there's no -- at this stage, no requirement for it. Of course, as a business, we'll look at it and see what is sort of prudent from Motheo's hedging profile across either copper and/or silver. And we'll look to give some guidance on that over the next couple of months as that develops.
[Operator Instructions] There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Simich.
Thank you, everyone, for listening today. And nice to hear that we had a lot of questions, either everyone is busy or that we've answered all the questions in the presentation. So we're delighted. But once again, just to wrap up, look, we're very excited about where this business is at. We've been working very hard over the last 24 months to get it into a condition that we can now leverage off the wonderful foundation platforms that we're putting in place. Clearly coming off the back of an excellent asset in DeGrussa/Monty has given us a really great running start. And now we're trying to utilize all of those skills we've developed and capabilities internally within our business to repeat that on many, many fronts, both in the skill sets that we've amassed over many, many decades across the exploration portfolio, across the development opportunities and portfolio and the ability to execute in a development sense.And then ultimately, to continue to operate efficient, effective, open pit and underground mining operations, which is our stocking trade and to deliver wealth to all of our stakeholders and particularly our shareholders. And we look forward to doing that. And once again, as we started off, we'll finish off, our business objective is to create value.Once again, thanks very much for listening. We look forward to continuing to update you. The next 3 to 6 months, 12 months for this business is going to be truly very exciting. And it's against the backdrop, I think, fundamentally of a very strong long-term value-accretive commodity market, and we're looking forward to being set in that. Once again, thanks very much for your time and look forward to keeping you up to date. Thank you.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.