KNT has always reported key memos twice per quarter- production results first and then earnings.
* Not including resource updates like we are expecting soon or other periodic updates.
In 2023, this was as follows:
Production: 1st thru 4th Q 2023: Jan 10, April 6, Jul 10, Oct12... ie very shortly after end of quarter
Earnings report: 1st thru 4th Q 2023: May 15, Aug 10, Nov 14, March 30 2024 (based on 2023)
The above is obvious to most. I point it out because the eps report & q&a on Nov 14 is the only opportunity for Q&A for 4- 1/2 months since 4th q earnings always takes 3 months to report.
So what are some important questions:
I go back to the last q&a on Aug 10. At that point we were 40 days into the 3rd quarter.
KNT already knew that they had a 9 day production loss from accident but also 4.5 days down in
mid-July for maintenance. KNT guidance still maintained production of 120-140k oz for 2023.
Had someone simply asked the following question on Aug 10
1.) " is there any update on AU eq production guidance for 2023?", then I believe Lewins would have updated the situation and some of us could have avoided the October surprise when this was revised to 111-116k oz. A similar thing happened during Covid when they had clear info on a negative production impact due to personnel quarantine but did not provide at q&a half way thru the next q.
As a followup question, given the record production processing and higher grade ore,
when will KNT be able to report 2024 AU eq guidance? Given the record ore processing and
higher grades mined that they no report, I expect this should exceed 150k eq oz as a minimum
but what does KNT say.
There was an ongoing investigation regarding the tragic accident in 2023. Frankly, I thought
at the time that this accident might have caused more down time disruption then it did.
I hope all will be ok but the investigation was still not final with production restart. So, 2.) Does KNT anticipate any future production impacts from either government or company policies as a result of the final accident report?
Since the completion of stage 2a, KNT continues to report record ore processing numbers
well beyond their initial design parameters... that's great!
However, one obvious question might be,
3.) Are you concerned about unscheduled production downtime given the record
production numbers beyond initial design? Can you say a little about KNT parts
preparedness in the event of major/minor part failure?
4.) Do you foresee AISC costs remaining above $1000/oz thru 1st half 2024?
I usually call into conference and state my company as Private Investor. My residence is
in Ohio and conference call is normally 8:30 am EST. However, on this day I will be in
Australia which is plus 15 hours... so not certain if I will make the call to ask some of these.
if not, I hope there are focused questions from analysts.