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Matthew Gordon – Family Office Investor: Keith, good to have you with us. A fairly transformational year for New Found Gold, and you’ve just finished the AGM. Can you give us an update on what happened?
- Matthew Gordon - Family Office Investor: Keith, good to have you with us. A fairly transformational year for New Found Gold, and you've just finished the AGM. Can you give us an update on what happened?
- Keith Boyle - Director & CEO of New Found Gold
- Matthew Gordon - Family Office Investor: Right. Okay. And, obviously, it's time for you to execute. I think that's what the market's looking forward to seeing, and I know you've been quite busy recently. There was a site visit, I think, as well. What was that about?
- Keith Boyle - Director & CEO of New Found Gold
- Matthew Gordon - Family Office Investor: I'm sure it does, but first of all, I see executing and de-risking absolutely critical, and the next big milestone that people are very eager to understand is what's happening with the EA. So, is there an update?
- Keith Boyle - Director & CEO of New Found Gold
- Matthew Gordon - Family Office Investor: Okay. Fine. So, as expected, we'll hear something from you on that as it comes through. Okay.
- Keith Boyle - Director & CEO of New Found Gold
- Matthew Gordon - Family Office Investor: Okay. And then I think it's probably worth to reinforcing, right? Obviously, Hammerdown, Pine Cove, a big kind of strategic change for you guys. It dramatically changes the dilution profile going forward for the company. What else does the permitted mill and operating experience of the team kind of do for you in terms of the executional risk?
- Keith Boyle - Director & CEO of New Found Gold
- Matthew Gordon - Family Office Investor: Okay. Like, I think, we both used the word transformational at the beginning of this conversation because it has been exactly that. But, between now and the next AGM, what are the kind of delivery points that people should be looking to and perhaps valuing differently?
- Keith Boyle - Director & CEO of New Found Gold
- Matthew Gordon - Family Office Investor: How do you view the company? You obviously come in to change the dynamic, change the model of the company, and moving from discovery through to production. You must do that quite quickly compared to some of the other newer gold producers or near-term gold producers out there. Why do you think that's more valuable?
- Keith Boyle - Director & CEO of New Found Gold
- Matthew Gordon - Family Office Investor: Keith, I know you're busy. Appreciate you making time for us today. See you soon.
- Keith Boyle - Director & CEO of New Found Gold
Keith Boyle – Director & CEO of New Found Gold
Well, it’s business as usual, Matt. All the resolutions were passed. and Paul Huet was re-elected as Chair; and Tamara Brown continues as our lead Independent Director. So, everything is setting up for a really exciting and I’ll say a transformational year ahead.
Matthew Gordon – Family Office Investor: Right. Okay. And, obviously, it’s time for you to execute. I think that’s what the market’s looking forward to seeing, and I know you’ve been quite busy recently. There was a site visit, I think, as well. What was that about?
Keith Boyle – Director & CEO of New Found Gold
Yeah. Well, we had a very successful site visit. We had some analysts, we had some investors. Really, when I spoke to them, right at the very start, I said, look, I want you to come away with one, we have the team that can execute, that things are unfolding and being done according to schedule, on budget, that you’ve got that confidence that things are unfolding the way they should. And, three, and I think this is for me, this is really the value driver is. There’s something more to be discovered; wow, this place has lots of potential.
And after a really successful—after I would say a good visit of one Hammerdown, they saw how the open-pit was being mined, how it looked like an open-pit mine. We went out to Pine Cove, where they saw the mill that was, of course, processing Hammerdown, but also saw the early works of the expansion. Well, first the retooling of Pine Cove and then subsequent expansion of Pine Cove to be able to then accept Queensway late next year. We also went to the Queensway site, and looked at some core, and they really saw the potential of the high-grade material and how we’ll be able to deliver on that. Melissa Render, our President, gave a great overview of the exciting exploration targets we’ve got. So, you know, all systems go, and they all came back with that same, basically verifying or acknowledging that, yep, we’ve got the team in place. Things are unfolding the way they should, so we’re executing on our plan and continue to execute on our plan. And, third, wow. This property has lots of upside potential.
Matthew Gordon – Family Office Investor: I’m sure it does, but first of all, I see executing and de-risking absolutely critical, and the next big milestone that people are very eager to understand is what’s happening with the EA. So, is there an update?
Keith Boyle – Director & CEO of New Found Gold
Yeah. So, the EA, as people will have known, that once you submit, the government actually legislatively have 45 days, but they can ask for a two-week extension. And so, they have done that. They’ve asked for the two-week extension. So, nothing that’s a surprise, really. They’ve had a lot of applications to deal with more recently, and so it wasn’t a surprise to us. However, we do expect a decision by early July. So, again, everything’s unfolding the way we would expect.
Matthew Gordon – Family Office Investor: Okay. Fine. So, as expected, we’ll hear something from you on that as it comes through. Okay.
If I may also just talk about some of the things that you’re working on when it comes to visible achievements, it’s very hard, I think, for shareholders to actually sort of understand and fully appreciate, potentially, what happens between discovery and production. What are the things that you think are perhaps less visible than people, but important?
Keith Boyle – Director & CEO of New Found Gold
Well, I mean, for Queensway in particular, the amount of baseline work that was done on the environmental side to be able to submit that application, the amount of engineering around the design of the mine and design of the mill expansion in order to bring Queensway into production was significant, and the third piece is, we went and raised $220 million to be able to put it into production. And so, we’re now fully funded, and we’re advancing the early works of the mill expansion and just waiting on the environmental assessment, and then subsequent early work permit to get going at Queensway.
Matthew Gordon – Family Office Investor: Okay. And then I think it’s probably worth to reinforcing, right? Obviously, Hammerdown, Pine Cove, a big kind of strategic change for you guys. It dramatically changes the dilution profile going forward for the company. What else does the permitted mill and operating experience of the team kind of do for you in terms of the executional risk?
Keith Boyle – Director & CEO of New Found Gold
Well, in terms of executional risk. I mean, you look at Hammerdown, we’re looking at declaring commercial production in the second half of this year, early in the second half of this year. And so, what the team is learning to do is, how to bring a mine into production. And in a new company, that’s always a challenge because you’re building everything from zero, and you don’t have systems, and they’re building those systems now, which are then transportable, so the leadership that brought Hammerdown into production, a 700-tonne-a-day mine, is now going to go over and bring that experience and knowledge to Queensway to do what? Build a 700-tonne-a-day mine, so a lot of de-risking in terms of executing on bringing Queensway into production. As far as the mill goes, we’ve got a mill, we’re operating it, and all we’re really doing is, retooling and expanding it. So, same operating team as they’ll know what to do once it’s up and running.
Matthew Gordon – Family Office Investor: Okay. Like, I think, we both used the word transformational at the beginning of this conversation because it has been exactly that. But, between now and the next AGM, what are the kind of delivery points that people should be looking to and perhaps valuing differently?
Keith Boyle – Director & CEO of New Found Gold
At Hammerdown, we’ll be declaring commercial production. It’ll be a steady-state production profile, somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 ounces a year at all-in sustaining of 2,500 bucks or thereabouts, which we’ve published in our PEA.
At Queensway, what we’ll be getting is the EA, will be getting our early works permit. We’ll also be starting the expansion project at the Pine Cove Mill, and so we’ll see progress of that as it goes. Right now, they’ve been doing early works, and ordering long-lead items. And so, we’ll see all of that progress as it advances through the year. As well, we’ve just announced an expanded drill program, up to 90,000 meters this year, where 45% of it is focused on new discoveries and resource growth. So, it’s all going to be done through the drill bit, and that’s the value add.
Matthew Gordon – Family Office Investor: How do you view the company? You obviously come in to change the dynamic, change the model of the company, and moving from discovery through to production. You must do that quite quickly compared to some of the other newer gold producers or near-term gold producers out there. Why do you think that’s more valuable?
Keith Boyle – Director & CEO of New Found Gold
Well, to bring cash flow in three years ahead of time, somewhere in the neighborhood of three years ahead of time by, one, acquiring the assets at Hammerdown, but Pine Cove, the mill. That allowed us to bring Queensway forward by three years, and get that production and cash flow, and limit the dilution to shareholders and use that cash flow for the new discoveries. So, we just see that and expanded production profile. So, in a sequential form, we’re looking at targeting 100,000 ounces a year plus, and then looking at later, towards 2031, when Queensway will be expanded. Looking at targeting that 200,000-ounce-a-year target. So, that’s the kind of growth profile in production. As well, we still have the drill bit turning on a camp-scale property.
Matthew Gordon – Family Office Investor: Keith, I know you’re busy. Appreciate you making time for us today. See you soon.
Keith Boyle – Director & CEO of New Found Gold
Thanks.
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