Earnings call transcript: Equinox Gold’s Q2 2025 results spark stock rally

Equinox Gold Corp (EQX) reported its Q2 2025 earnings, meeting EPS expectations and significantly surpassing revenue forecasts. The company’s stock surged 14.14% following the announcement, reflecting investor optimism about its operational improvements and strategic initiatives. According to InvestingPro data, the stock is trading near its 52-week high with an impressive year-to-date return of 35.26%, while analysis suggests the stock may still have room for growth based on its Fair Value assessment. Equinox Gold’s revenue reached $478.6 million, outperforming the anticipated $401.29 million, while EPS stood at $0.11, aligning with forecasts.

Key Takeaways

• Equinox Gold’s Q2 revenue exceeded expectations by 19.27%.
• The company’s stock price increased by 14.14% after the earnings announcement.
• Ongoing improvements at key mining sites are contributing to operational efficiency.
• Strategic asset sales and mergers are enhancing Equinox Gold’s market position.
• Future production and cash flow are expected to increase significantly.

Company Performance

Equinox Gold’s Q2 performance highlights its robust operational capabilities and strategic focus on growth. The company produced 219,000 ounces of gold and sold 148,000 ounces at an average price of $3,200 per ounce. With a market capitalization of $5.84 billion and remarkable revenue growth of 74.31% over the last twelve months, the company has demonstrated strong momentum. InvestingPro analysis reveals a GREAT Financial Health score, supported by strong operational metrics and growth potential. These results underscore the company’s effective cost management and operational efficiency, particularly at its Greenstone and Ballantyne mines. The recent merger with Calibre has positioned Equinox Gold as a leading Americas-focused gold producer, aiming for top-quartile valuation among its peers.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: $478.6 million, up from the forecasted $401.29 million.
• Earnings per share: $0.11, meeting the forecast.
• Gold production: 219,000 ounces in Q2 2025.

Earnings vs. Forecast

Equinox Gold’s actual revenue of $478.6 million surpassed the forecast of $401.29 million by 19.27%. However, the EPS of $0.11 was in line with expectations, indicating stable profitability. This revenue surprise reflects the company’s efficient operations and strategic asset management.

Market Reaction

Following the earnings announcement, Equinox Gold’s stock price rose by 14.14%, closing at $7.09. This increase reflects positive investor sentiment, driven by the company’s strong revenue performance and strategic initiatives. The stock’s movement positions it closer to its 52-week high of $7.80, highlighting renewed market confidence.

Outlook & Guidance

Equinox Gold anticipates substantial growth in production and cash flow. The company is targeting a net cash position by 2027, with potential dividends or share buybacks in 2025. InvestingPro subscribers have access to additional exclusive insights, including multiple ProTips and a comprehensive Pro Research Report that provides deep-dive analysis of Equinox Gold’s financial health, valuation metrics, and growth prospects. This is one of 1,400+ US stocks covered by detailed Pro Research Reports, offering investors crucial intelligence for informed decision-making. The exploration budget for 2024 is set between $70 million and $90 million, supporting future growth and expansion.

Executive Commentary

Darren Hall, CEO of Equinox Gold, emphasized the company’s strategic focus on quality over quantity, stating, "We are entering a period where production and cash flow will materially increase." He also highlighted the importance of exploration success across all assets, reinforcing the company’s growth potential.

Risks and Challenges

• Gold price volatility could impact revenue and profitability.
• Operational challenges at new or expanding mines may affect production targets.
• Regulatory changes in key jurisdictions could affect operations.
• Geopolitical tensions could disrupt supply chains or market access.
• Environmental concerns and community relations may pose operational risks.

Q&A

During the earnings call, analysts inquired about the expected improvements in Greenstone grades and the ongoing discussions for the Los Filos restart. The company assured that Brazilian operations are expected to perform within guidance, and the Valentine ramp-up will focus on mill throughput as a key metric.

Full transcript - Equinox Gold Corp (EQX) Q2 2025:

Conference Operator: Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Equinox Gold Second Quarter twenty twenty five Results and Corporate Update. As a reminder, all participants are in listen only mode and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Ryan King, Executive Vice President, Capital Markets for Equinox Gold. Please go ahead.

Ryan King, Executive Vice President, Capital Markets, Equinox Gold: Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to join the call this morning. Before we commence, I’d like to direct everyone to the forward looking statement on Slide two. Our remarks and answers to your questions today may contain forward looking information about the company’s future performance. Although management believes that our forward looking statements are based on fair and reasonable assumptions, actual results may turn out to be different from these forward looking statements.

For a complete discussion of the risks, uncertainties and factors which may lead to actual operating and financial results being different from the estimates contained in our forward looking statements, please refer to our second quarter and year to date MD and A and consolidated financial statements available on our website as well as on SEDAR plus. And finally, all figures are in U. S. Dollars unless otherwise stated. Present today with me on the call are Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer and David Schumer, Chief Operating Officer.

We will be providing comments on our second quarter twenty twenty five production and cost results and an update on the Greenstone and the Valentine gold mines, after which we’ll take questions. The slide deck we will be referencing is available on our website at equinoxgold.com under the Shareholder Events section. You can also click on the webcast to join the live presentation. And with that, I will turn the call over to Darren.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Turning to Slide three and thanks Ryan. Good morning everyone and I appreciate you taking the time to join us on the call today. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of our employees and business partners for their continued focus during the quarter to responsibly deliver over 219,000 ounces during what can be a distracting time as you integrate two businesses together. So well done and thanks to everyone. With the completion of the merger, we have created a significant Americas focused gold producer anchored by two cornerstone Canadian mines, Greenstone and Ballantyne.

It is definitely exciting times as we build one Equinox with the leadership team and the entire organization focused on delivering on its commitments, operational excellence, advancing high quality organic growth, rationalizing the portfolio and importantly disciplined capital allocation. The benefits of bringing the teams together are already paying dividends. One example of which is reflected in improvements at Greenstone, which we’ll talk to later. The company has entered into a pivotal phase with production, cash flow and earnings expected to grow meaningfully in the coming quarters. Turning to Slide four, Q2 financial results predominantly reflect Equinox’s pre merger assets.

On an attributable basis, the company sold just over 148,000 ounces at an average realized price of $3,200 an ounce. Interestingly, had the Caliber transaction been effective January 1, the pro form a consolidated revenue for H1 would have been approximately $1,330,000,000 from 401,000 ounces, which clearly underscores the enhanced scale and earnings power of the new company. Looking forward, Q3 and Q4 will see increasing production as we benefit from a full quarter of contribution from the Caliber assets, continued improved performance at Greenstone and First Gold from Ballantyne. Turning to slide five. Greenstone is a key focus.

The ramp up is progressing and we are seeing tangible improvements. Q2 delivered solid results with mining rates increased 23% and processing rates improved 20% over Q1. Building on that momentum, Q3 is off to a strong start with quarter to date mining rates 10% higher than Q2 with month to date August mining rates averaging 200,000 tons per day. Over the thirty days ending August 10, we processed an average of 24,500 tons per day with more than one third of the days above the nameplate capacity of 27,000 tons per day. There is still work to do as we focus on minimizing dilution and mining losses around historical workings concurrently with targeted programs to improve fleet productivity and operating discipline.

I’m pleased to introduce Dave Schumer as Equinox’s Chief Operating Officer, who brings over thirty five years of mining experience to the business. Dave and I worked together at Newmont and most recently Caliber, and he has been working closely with the Greenstone team since mid May to accelerate the ramp up, improve efficiencies to safely deliver reliable performance. With that, I’ll ask Dave to discuss

Dave Schumer, Chief Operating Officer, Equinox Gold: a little more color on some of the team’s recent progress at Greenstone. Thanks, Darren. We’ve moved quickly to put more horsepower behind Greenstone’s ramp up. This includes bringing in seasoned advisors with decades of load and haul experience, improving shovel loading cycle times through operator training, the addition of auxiliary equipment to maintain pit floors and shovel dig faces and the introduction of double sided loading to essentially eliminate haul truck spotting time. We’ve also recently taken steps to bring in technical specialists to optimize and monitor our blast designs and performance, targeting improved fragmentation, reduced dilution and improved ore presentation to the mill.

On the haulage side of things, improved road designs and construction, tighter dump exchanges and recently added support equipment are all helping us move material much more efficiently through increased average speed across the haulage fleet. These enhancements along with a concerted effort to reduce operating delays, specifically through the implementation of an efficient hot change between shifts are already contributing significantly to stronger daily performance. As Darren mentioned, month to date August mining rates have been around 200,000 tons per day, with best demonstrated performance today of 227,000 tons per day. And the focus remains on driving dilution down and fine tuning the process plant to steadily improve operating time, throughput and recovery. Turning to Slide six and back to you Darren.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Thanks, Dave. Ballantyne is a conventional crush grind CIL plant and will be our second Canadian cornerstone mine and a significant contributor to cash flow. Before providing the Valentine update, it is important to note there are currently active wildfires in Newfoundland and Labrador with a number of communities on evacuation alert. Our thoughts and best wishes go out to those impacted and our operations have not been impacted, but we remain vigilant and supporting those that have been. In Q2 twenty twenty four, we assembled an operating team with significant commissioning experience led by Jason Sear, who’s been working symbiotically with Kyle Kunz and Pierre Ligare who are leading the construction front over the last year.

This investment in talent is paying off as evidenced by our current state of operational readiness, which includes the process plant is fully energized, key circuits have been tested and commissioning crews are working through performance verification. Maintenance systems are live, operating procedures have been developed and crews have trained. We have invested over $25,000,000 in critical spares to support a smooth ramp up. First ore to the plant is scheduled to commence before the August with first gold anticipated approximately a month later, followed by a steady ramp up to nameplate capacity in Q1 twenty twenty six. Turning to slide seven.

With Greenstone ramping towards nameplate capacity and Ballantyne on track to deliver first gold, we are entering a period where production and cash flow will materially increase. These two cornerstone Canadian assets combined with our diversified portfolio give us the scale, stability and leverage to gold price required to drive a step change in margins, earnings and therein shareholder value. Our strategy is clear, quality over quantity, focus on production that moves the needle in terms of free cash flow and valuation, advance high return organic growth, invest where we create the most value per dollar spent, Rationalize and streamline. Continuously assess the portfolio to focus our human and financial capital on our best opportunities. A recent example of which is the sale of our Nevada assets for $115,000,000 deliver tangible returns, share price appreciation through margin expansion, disciplined cost control and production growth, while positioning the company to return capital directly to shareholders through dividends and or share buybacks once our deleveraging objectives are achieved.

We are focused on executing with discipline and I’m confident in our ability to realize our vision to be a top quartile valued gold producer. With that, we’re happy to take questions. And back to you operator.

Conference Operator: Our first question comes from Ovais Habib with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Ovais Habib, Analyst, Scotiabank: Thanks, operator. Hi, Darren and Equinox team. Congrats on our Q2 beat and really great to see Greenstone mill hitting the over nameplate capacity. Darren, couple of questions from me, just starting off with Greenstone. The grade at Greenstone came in at around 0.92, down from around 1.06 grams per ton in Q1.

When should we start seeing grades improve going into the second half? And what measures are you taking to manage and improve grade dilution? Essentially, I’m asking is, are you expecting grade to improve in quarter over quarter kind of going into Q3 or is this more of a Q4 situation?

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. Thanks, Vasu. Appreciate your support and questions. Grade, we are seeing improvements in grade. Month to date August grades are right around a gram a ton, so improving over what was Q2.

We will continue to see improved grades because of face position and face position driven by kind of where we sit in the pit. But obviously the more material we move, it means the more face positions we make, which means the deeper we get, the more material we have. The more material we move, it allows us to be able to operate more effectively along that great tonnage curve. But importantly, in everything we’re doing right now, it’s about ensuring we get the quality as well as the quantity. So, Simon and Dave and the team are absolutely focused on moving as many tons as cheaply as we can, but importantly minimizing dilution, so to be able to segregate out the waste from the ore.

And then secondly is also to minimize the ore losses in around historical working. So it is a work in progress. And as we go forward, I anticipate that we’ll see quarter on quarter improvements in grade. But I would anticipate that Q3 grades probably won’t be too dissimilar to Q2, right? Maybe marginally better, but we are also ensuring that we make face position.

So that additional capacity that we’ve got is ensuring that we end up with nice areas to work in that provide really, really effective mining areas that will positively impact the unit mining costs as well, which will then flow through to margin escalation as well.

Ovais Habib, Analyst, Scotiabank: Got it. And thanks for the color on that. And just in terms of the fleet that you have in place, in terms of improving the mining rates as well, do you have all the equipment and money fleet in place or do you think you need to beat that up?

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: No. I think from what we’ve socialized vis a vis the feasibility study more recently is that all the equipment that we require is in place. It’s really about maximizing the value of our committed capital and what we’ve delivered into. And that’s working with our business partners and our vendors as well to ensure that they have skin in the game and are focused on our performance as well. And we have seen over the last quarter a significantly higher level of engagement from both Komatsu, Caterpillar and SMS as well.

So that’s great to see. So but not short answer is that we have the equipment. The Board have afforded us some additional support equipment, which is positively impacting things as well as we’ve as Dave indicated by increased haul speeds for the truck fleet. So no, we have what we need and it’s really about ensuring that we maximize the value out of that invested capital.

Ovais Habib, Analyst, Scotiabank: Got it. Thanks for that, Darren. And just moving on to Los Filos, obviously, you’ve kind of had the agreements in place now with the two communities. Are you I’m the name of the third community, I apologize. But in terms of are you in discussion with that third community as well right now?

Or are you dealing with just the two communities that basically have signed on to move forward with Los Filos?

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Well, in every jurisdiction that we operate in, we maintain regular and engaged communication and coordination with all of our stakeholders and that’s in whether it be in Mexico, Nicaragua or Ontario. So, we maintain open dialogue with everyone. The third community is that we’re having in discussions with is Carasileo. But what we have done is that we do have fully executed agreements in place with two of the three communities and we’re currently working with those communities to recommence exploration activities and look at a two community plan to be able to exploit loss for loss as well. But we are hopeful that we will work towards a solution.

But as we do everywhere for those that want to work with us, we will work constructively and responsibly with every stakeholder.

Ovais Habib, Analyst, Scotiabank: Got it. And just my last question over here, Darren. I mean, great to see you’ve started selling off non core assets and we saw that with PAN. Are we going to see more of that going into the second half or early twenty twenty six? Any color there would be appreciated.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. Obaisa, we love all of our children. But again, if we find that some of our assets can create you and our other shareholders and us more value in the hands of someone else, then we will actively explore those opportunities. So are we running processes? No.

But have we seen a level of engagement and inbounds as a consequence over the last quarter or two? Yes, And as we demonstrated with the Nevada assets, we will move agilely to be able to surface those values as they present. But that will all be focused on ensuring that they positively impact share price and that’s where our focus be.

Ovais Habib, Analyst, Scotiabank: Perfect. Thanks for taking my questions, Darren. And again congrats on our Q2 beat.

Conference Operator: Thank you, Overt. The next question is from Anita Soni with CIBC World Markets. Please go ahead.

Anita Soni, Analyst, CIBC World Markets: Hi, good morning, Darren. And firstly, congratulations, David, on your appointment. I think we crossed paths when you were at New Gold in 2014, 2016. My first question, just a follow-up on the grades at Greenstone. You did indicate that the grades increased quarter over quarter of what was mined.

Can you give us an idea what those actual numbers were in terms of what the grades that you mined out of the pit this quarter and last quarter? And then secondly, what would the block model have predicted just so that we can get a benchmark of the kind of ore losses that you’re experiencing right now?

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Anita and thanks for the questions. And I don’t have the mined information in front of me right now. And I guess is that there’s two parts I think we want to focus in on here is that is we will see an improving grade quarter on quarter as we get deeper in the pit and as we improve our practices in around mining dilution or minimizing mining dilution and ore losses. And secondly is that the volumes of material will also impact the grade that we see presented to the process plant. If we step back and look at the veracity of the feasibility study over the longer term from memory, think it was around 300,000 ounces a year or thereabouts.

And that what we see is that from a high level, we see the reconciliation of total metal being pretty consistent with that. We are seeing more tons at a lower grade and that’s where our focus on dilution and all loss. And as we work through the balance of the year, I think we’ll be in a better position to be able to talk about what those shorter term grades look like. But I’m comfortable with the ability for the asset in the long term to deliver into the feasibility, which is not specifically answering your question. I just want to provide a little bit more color in around what the long term looks like because I don’t have the mine the actual mined on mine grades.

Because as of end of month July, we had about right around 6,000,000 tonnes on stockpile. So there’s a large stockpile of material as well and how that figures into the as mine versus the as mill. Yes. But I’m happy to

Anita Soni, Analyst, CIBC World Markets: I can appreciate that. But I think that grades were supposed to be in the order of about 1.3 this year. So that’s where we’re the 0.92 is where I’m trying to understand. And then secondly, you also you mined 50% more than you milled. Did you just direct ore feed what you mined?

Or was there like I’m trying to understand like the movement between milled. What’s happening at the mine. Is there any stockpiling happening? And then like and then you also you guys also talked about the grades being the lower availability like lower grade availability within the stockpile that you pulled going to the mill. So I’m trying to get an understanding of the material movement and what’s happening there.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. And again, it’s probably worthwhile sitting down and walking through what that looks like. But absolutely right, there’s a stockpile and there’s a surge capacity in front of the plant. I mean, don’t have the number at hand, maybe Dave does. But I would anticipate that probably less than one fifth of the material that is rec dumped into the primary crusher.

I think the majority of the material is actually re handled from the stockpile to be able to ensure that we get a consistent feed from not only grade, but also arsenic and sulfur. And we get a nice blend of product to get a nice stable feed into the plant that will have a positive impact on recovery. The stockpile is a critical part of the process here because we don’t go direct mine to mill.

Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer, Equinox Gold: And it’s Peter here Anita. We did see an increase of the stockpile from the end of Q1 to the end of Q2, but we can address some of those items perhaps in more detail offline.

Anita Soni, Analyst, CIBC World Markets: Second question in a series of questions and I’ll leave it at three. But the second question, just in terms of the disclosure that you provided on both the tax and the legal front in the MD and A. One on taxation in Nicaragua and a dispute on the tax rebate. And secondly, the Aurizona legal matter. Can you give me some color on firstly, on the tax, do you like on the tax issue there?

I mean, do you expect a resolution in the near term? Or is that something that we should be concerned about? And secondly on Aurizona, a similar question and would that impact your ability to execute on asset sales if you were thinking about asset sales in Brazil?

Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. It’s Peter here. On Nicaragua, without getting into too much of the detail because it is an ongoing discussion with the tax authority, Tax law changed. We are quite confident that the Nicaragua operations are grandfathered under the pre existing regime. And we’re actually reasonably confident we’ll come to a beneficial resolution there.

As to timeline on when that might be settled, I don’t know. But we did not record a provision with regards to it, which indicates our expectation of likelihood of a successful resolution. And then with respect to Aurizona, the wheel the legal wheels in Brazil turned very slowly. So we don’t expect that to be resolved in the near term. We do not expect that to there is no process on Aurizona.

I just want to reiterate that or on any of the Brazil assets or any of the other assets for that matter. But we wouldn’t expect that kind of thing to interfere. If there was one, we wouldn’t expect it to interfere with the process.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Okay. As it didn’t, we’ve given this recent merger between Calibre and Equinox.

Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer, Equinox Gold: Exactly. Yes.

Anita Soni, Analyst, CIBC World Markets: Okay. And then last question, I guess I’ll move to Los Filos. So Los Filos in the last two years, Peter, as you guys had indicated previously has been a bit undercapitalized. You were preserving capital to get their ramp up at Greenstone up and running. So if the loss fuels comes back outside of the CIL, what kind of CapEx should we be expecting in terms recapitalization of that mine?

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. Anita, I mean we’re working through what a potential restart may look like at Los Filos. And as we have visibility into that, we’ll be absolutely transparent with what those requirements are. But our focus right now is working with the two communities on developing a two community plan which would involve the construction of a CIL. And that’s starting with recommencing exploration activities here in the next, we’ll call it weeks and then continuing the studies in the background to be able to look at refreshing some of those longer term economics.

So it’s really about the longer term capital requirements and what that asset looks like as world class gold asset. And if we’re faced with the first world problem of being able to restart, then we’ll start to provide that information because those numbers change on a pretty regular basis. And depending on the commitments we make and the agreements we have in place with the communities that will also impact what that capital start looks like. But we’re comfortable that the provisions that we’ve made and the progress that we’ve made is preserving our ability to recommence when we do have those agreements in place.

Anita Soni, Analyst, CIBC World Markets: All right. Thank you. That’s it Sorry, for my go ahead.

Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer, Equinox Gold: No, I was just going say Anita, it’s Peter again. Yes. And given the longer history perhaps with Los Filos than others in the room, no one will actually be happier than me to have to come forward with that information. So looking forward to the day when we do.

Anita Soni, Analyst, CIBC World Markets: All right. Thank you. That’s it for my questions.

Conference Operator: The next question is from Mohammed Soudaib with National Bank Financial. Please go ahead.

Mohammed Soudaib, Analyst, National Bank Financial: Hi, Darren and team. Thanks for taking my questions. Just maybe on the cost front in the quarter. I just wanted to maybe dive in a little bit deeper into the Brazilian operations cost. You seem to have been doing better than guidance and better than what I was expecting there.

Should we expect those similar unit costs to continue into the back half of the year? How should we be thinking about cost out of the Brazilian operations? Thank you.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Well, maybe I’ll start with a kind of a 30,000 foot view and then see if Pete’s got anything to But on June 13, I think or thereabouts, we’ve reestablished guidance for the full year and we’re very comfortable with our consolidated and piece guidance for all of our assets going into it. And I think with that, we will see variation on a quarter by quarter and a month by month basis as we see different levels of spend and different reaction too. But again holistically for the year we’re very comfortable with the guidance. Mean, Pete anything you’d layer on that?

Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer, Equinox Gold: Just that Brazil as those who are familiar with the company would know is very seasonality driven and we tend to generate most of the production cash flow in the second half of the year, which has obviously an impact on the unit costs overall. But as Darren said, very solidly in range for delivering on our updated guidance.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. And I think that just to layer in is that someone I think well Anita maybe had raised it. But in terms of the capital constraints that we had seen over the last few years in terms of where we deploy capital, as our organization changes and as we generate that capital, it’s allowing us to look at that capital deployment throughout the assets. And I think that we’ll see assets like Brazil be able to better perform as we can deploy more capital that will positively impact their ability to be able to see what’s in front of them and then be able to more reliably produce as well. And whether that be exploration through results of exploration through the drill bit or whether it be investing in capital for equipment to be able to lower unit costs, all those things will positively impact their portfolio.

So I think that with this pivotal change we’re seeing with Greenstone coming on board or sorry ramping up and then we’re imminent with respect to Valentine that very much changes the paradigm which is Equinox and will allow us to then be able to reinvest back into some of these assets that arguably probably haven’t seen the love over the last couple of years. So again very exciting times for our entire portfolio of assets.

Jeremy Hoy, Analyst, Canaccord Genuity: Great. Thanks for that color.

Mohammed Soudaib, Analyst, National Bank Financial: And then if I could shift maybe to Greenstone, maybe just a follow-up on the great question there, but maybe as it relates to the stockpile. You noted an increase in the stockpile that you have at the asset there Would you be would it be possible to know which the 6,000,000 tons, what grades the 6,000,000 tons are at for the stockpile? Thank you.

Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer, Equinox Gold: Sorry, you broke up there right at the end. Do you mind just repeating that question?

Mohammed Soudaib, Analyst, National Bank Financial: Would you be able to tell us what are the grades for the stockpile, the 6,000,000 tons of stockpile that you have at Greenstone?

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: In terms of splits, there’s different grade splits. And from memory, Mohammad, I think we’re looking at about 6,000,000 tons at just over half a gram as a total. And I believe this is about 1,000,000 tons at about a 0.7x, right, in terms of the higher grade portion. So we’ll call it the bin two. So but we can get offline and provide more color that you would like.

But again, we’ve got a significant stockpile that’s very similar to what we have processed year to date and then a larger stockpile of lower grade materials. So we talk about 1,000,000 ton basically the average grade process year to date.

Mohammed Soudaib, Analyst, National Bank Financial: Right. And then just final question on Ballantyne. So in the MD and A, you noted that you have about CAD54 million left on your total CapEx there. How should we think about the capital spend at the asset as you ramp up, specifically as it relates to development CapEx or initial CapEx or non sustaining CapEx for that asset in the second half of the year? Thank you.

Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer, Equinox Gold: So the spend on the project itself that’s in the MD and A takes us through to first gold pour. And so when you’re thinking of and that’s a fairly it’s a tail end of the project and that spend it becomes less lumpy than earlier in the project. So I suppose if you’re trying to understand it is the easiest way to look at it is just a smooth spend through First Gold. And then subsequently it’s your very typical working capital buildup and ramp up and the costs that are typically associated with that. We haven’t guided on Ballantyne costs as of yet and we won’t do that in all likelihood until commercial production.

But you can make I suppose typical assumptions on a 2,500,000 ton per year plant and mining operation.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. And I think that again, if I was sitting in your shoes, Mohamed, I mean, I’d be taking average mining costs and average processing and using them as the basis for. There is no surprise in terms of we deferred $100,000,000 worth of spend and now it’s going to come out in Q4 as opposed There’s none of those shenanigans that have been played out. Mean, we played a pretty straight bat at this providing updates as we’ve gone through. And the EAC estimates that we’ve foreshadowed, we’re tight on, we’re comfortable with.

And as Pete mentioned, it’s really going to be the operating ramp up, which are tied into basically capital demands from an operating cost perspective as opposed to capital injection per se from

Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer, Equinox Gold: a And lumpy I’d just add to that funded, fully funded.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. Absolutely, absolutely funded out of cash and cash flow from. So and part of the reason that we didn’t provide all in sustaining and cash cost guidance for the tail end of the year when we provided guidance just recently is that the production I think we’re pretty comfortable with an estimate of, but you get some really wide swings there in terms of unit costs and then it becomes distractive to the discussion. But we see nothing that’s concerning there from a delivery in the back half of the year or being able to fund it. Our focus is on getting to close to nameplate by hopefully the end of Q1, but definitely in Q2.

So and again, we’ve afforded the Board has afforded us significant investment there in terms of capital spares as we’ve talked about the redundancy. The additional time that we’ve had through the build has allowed the operating team to come in do that redundancy checks and we’ve got $25,000,000 worth of additional spend or spend associated with pumps and redundancies to ensure that when things do go bump in the middle of the night as we ramp up, we can just switch between and minimize those impacts.

Mohammed Soudaib, Analyst, National Bank Financial: Great. Thanks a lot for answering my questions. You’re all

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: the factored initial project capital.

Mohammed Soudaib, Analyst, National Bank Financial: Amazing. Yeah. Thanks for answering my questions and congrats on the quarter.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Appreciate it. Thank you very much for

Mohammed Soudaib, Analyst, National Bank Financial: your support.

Conference Operator: The next question is from Jeremy Hoy with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.

Jeremy Hoy, Analyst, Canaccord Genuity: Thanks for taking my question. Remaining on the topic of Valentine, could you let us know what the key metrics we should be watching are during the ramp up process?

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes, it will be tons milled Jeremy. And as soon as we commence production there, we’ll provide regular updates on throughput. And I think that that’s going to be the measure. This is a long life asset. And there’ll be dips and waves along the road with respect to grade.

I mean, we’re comfortable with respect to grade as we’ve demonstrated through the releases we’ve provided and through recent kind of production results. But no, I’m comfortable with it’s really going to be about showing that steady state or that ramp up in throughput. That’s going to be the key measure. Everything else is a kind of a how do you say, inconsequential related to that. Mining rates are going to be fine.

We’ve got we’ve had good mining performance. We’ve got all the material all the assets ready to turn on. We’ve actually had some delays in providing that as we’ve seen the project being delayed in terms of the build. So, we’re very comfortable from a mining perspective. It’s really going to be about mill throughput.

Jeremy Hoy, Analyst, Canaccord Genuity: Thanks, Aaron. Appreciate it. One last one and just thinking about the future. There’s a lot of exploration potential at some of these assets and appreciate that there’s focus on ramp ups and operations at the moment. But are you able to give some sort of loose priority or ranking in terms of where you see the greatest exploration potential?

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. No, thanks Jeremy. And again and even though there’s a few things happening in the business. We haven’t lost sight on the fact that our routes are very heavy in exploration. We continue to explore in Nicaragua.

We provided a bit of a summary there. We spent about 70,000,000 to $90,000,000 this year. We provided sorry consolidated. We did provide a release here on July 25 in terms of some very encouraging results out of Nicaragua, which arguably some of the best results ever returned from the property. We have had good success in around Valentine as well.

And we would anticipate maybe later this quarter providing an update on some recent exploration results out of Valentine. But I think as we chatted a little bit earlier is that as we’re in the as we generate cash and we’re coming out of the back of two significant builds and capital draws, it’ll allow us to be able to refund, reinitiate some work in some of the areas that have been maybe a little bit under loved from an exploration perspective. Los Filos is a good example with the two community plan going forward. Obviously, maintaining focus in Nicaragua will be key. Valentine because the potential in both of those assets is significant.

And then Mesquite as well. I mean Mesquite has been an enduring asset with a long life. And again, it’s been pretty low on the food chain from a capital deployment perspective over the last few years. So we’d like to see and we will see exploration programs recommence there here within the next few months. So I like to think of this as an exploration company backed by 3,000,000,000 to $4,000,000,000 of revenue.

And again, as you know, us as pedigree, I would anticipate that if I was modeling sitting on your side and modeling this, I would anticipate roughly $100 an ounce of exploration spend as kind of a as an operating cost going forward as well. I mean, we see great talk across all of our assets to exploration success.

Jeremy Hoy, Analyst, Canaccord Genuity: Great. Thanks, Darren. Appreciate the color and looking forward to developments there. I’ll step back in the queue.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Appreciate it. Thanks, Jeremy. Thanks for your support and Canaccord.

Conference Operator: The next question is from John Tumazos with John Tumazos Independent Research. Please go ahead.

John Tumazos, Analyst, John Tumazos Independent Research: Thank you for the good job that’s going on. Looking to next year, assuming Los Filos idle as it is at the moment, what is a reasonable target for cash cost 14 company wide, 100, 1,300, 1,200, 1,100? How much better do you think things will get?

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: I know I’m sitting back here a little bit. Mean, I’ll maybe pass it to Pete to start with and then I’ll pick up the other then I’ll close out as I kind of collect my thoughts. Thanks for the question though, John.

Mohammed Soudaib, Analyst, National Bank Financial: He’s sitting there thinking.

Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer, Equinox Gold: Well, it’s we’re to become blessed with an embarrassment of interest. But and John we haven’t I mean obviously for everyone on the call anything we say today is not guidance for next year. So if you’re just thinking about ballparking. An example is for Q2 if we’re looking at things on a combined basis, we’re about 1,400 a little under $1,400 per ounce cash cost. And that’s with Greenstone not fully ramped up and Valentine not contributing.

And so if you’re trying to model it through John, you could probably knock $100 an ounce off of that $150 an ounce. But I do want to emphasize, we’ll have that guidance in the New Year as we normally do. But we’re just starting to see the benefit of our larger lower cost producers coming online. Getting I know that’s where your question is getting to. And so we’re looking forward to being able to provide that information more confidently next year.

But if you’re trying to look at it now that’s how I’d approach it.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. I think that kind of put Pete on the spot there, so sorry Pete. But as you sit back and you look at the guidance we’ve provided this year, we’ve provided 14 to $1,500 an ounce. If you look at the profile as we move into 2026, right, as Pete foreshadowed, right, we’re going to have Valentine and Greenstone being larger contributors on which will lower our production cost per ounce. So in the current gold type that we see, I mean, the ability for cash flow generation is going to be significant.

When we’re talking about $1,000 to $1,500 an ounce margin, right. I mean we’re going to be blessed in a very great situation, be able to one delever the balance sheet primarily first and then look at by this time next year we’ll be having I’m sure lots of animated discussions in around how additionally to be able to return value to shareholders through dividend or share buybacks as well. So but yes, no, I think that we need to work through the balance of the year, we can create expectations that we can deliver into in 2026. But taking the guidance that existed for this year and even rolling that forward that puts us in a very, very favorable position, John.

John Tumazos, Analyst, John Tumazos Independent Research: Thank you. If I could ask you to stick your necks out a little further. Looking to 2027, is it a reasonable goal to be in assuming the Castle Mountain capital doesn’t start, Los Filos Mill doesn’t start? Is it a reasonable target to be in a net cash position at current gold prices by the 2027?

Peter Harvey, Chief Financial Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. I think that’s reasonable.

John Tumazos, Analyst, John Tumazos Independent Research: Super. Thank you very much.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Thanks, John. Appreciate your support and continued support over the journey. It is much value. Thank you.

Ryan King, Executive Vice President, Capital Markets, Equinox Gold: Thanks, John.

Conference Operator: This concludes the question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Darren Hall for any closing remarks.

Darren Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Equinox Gold: Yes. No, I’d just like to thank everyone for joining the call today and taking the time. It is appreciated. Continued support is acknowledged, valued and respected. And again, as always, myself and the entire team are available to field any questions after the call and anytime during the quarter.

So look forward to continued engagement. And if anyone has any questions, reach out. But other than that, have a wonderful day and back to you operator.

Conference Operator: This brings to a close today’s conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.

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