Thompson Creek CEO gives lowdown on Mt. Milligan

Denver-based molybdenum miner Thompson Creek Metals (TCM-T, TC-N) is bulling through a major expansion despite falling moly prices, temperamental equity markets and rising costs in a bid to diversify its commodity basket and provide long-term shareholder value.

Thompson Creek’s strategy involves developing its large-scale Mount Milligan copper-gold project northeast of Smithers, B.C., which is expected to produce 81 million lb. copper and 194,000 oz. gold per year over the mine’s life at adjusted cash costs of around US50¢ per lb. copper and US$690 per oz. gold.

“That’s been the upside and downside of our business forever — we’re uniquely sensitive to the price movements of moly,” chairman and CEO Kevin Loughrey comments during an interview with The Northern Miner. “Mount Milligan makes us more diverse in regards to our commodities, adding copper and gold to the mix. I also believe, over the long term, that when base metals like copper and moly are depressed there is a good chance you’ll see gold prices pop.”

Thompson Creek was beset by lower production, falling metals prices and rising operating costs during the first quarter.

Its two flagship moly assets — the Thompson Creek mine in Colorado and the Endako mine in northern B.C. — saw cash costs rise from US$5.37 per lb. over first-quarter 2011 to US$12.95 per lb. to start 2012. At the same time, average realized moly oxide prices have fallen from highs of US$17.37 early last year to a low of US$14.74 per lb. during this year’s first quarter.

“Mid- to long-term we still feel good about the supply-demand fundamentals, and where the metal is headed,” Loughrey explains. “But there is no denying there is a lot of market uncertainty, predominantly due to the global economic situation, which creates caution in the minds and then in the activity of the buyers. That’s sort of the watchword in the industry right now, and as long as Western Europe remains unresolved, I think it will stay that way for a while.”

To compound its problems, Thompson Creek saw a drop in production during the first quarter after commissioning and ramping up a new mill at its Endako mine. Thompson Creek’s quarterly production fell from 10.3 million lb. moly in first-quarter 2011 to 4.4 million lb. moly to start 2012. As a result, year-on-year quarterly net income plummeted from US$128.9 million to US$1.1 million.

The Endako expansion has cost the company US$221 million to date, with US$83 million in capital expenditures (capex) locked-in on the project for 2012. The new mill will increase throughput levels by 77% to 55,000 tonnes per day, and reduce operating costs. Yearly throughput rates are expected to jump to 15 million or 16 million tonnes per year, with full production targeted for the end of the second quarter. Thompson Creek also augmented its mine fleet with eight new haulage trucks, as well as two mining shovels and additional support equipment.

“Our cash-cost increases over the first quarter were primarily because of the Endako mill, and its timing,” Loughrey says. “We actually thought we’d keep the old mill going longer than we did, which would have meant we’d have gotten close to full production until we closed it down. Instead we closed the old mill down early, and started up new operations, which meant the period of reduced production came earlier in the year than we thought it would. With reduced production come those increased unit costs, since our costs are relatively fixed.”

Thompson Creek’s biggest headache was cost inflation during its build-out at Mount Milligan. The company was a casualty of an ongoing worker shortage in the mine development sector, with labour turnover and competition causing costs on the project to leap from US$980 million to a range of US$1.4 billion to US$1.5 billion.

Thompson Creek spent US$409 million on the project in 2011, with an extra US$750 million to US$825 million pegged for development this year. Increasing pressures on labour and consumables forced the company to review its build-out model, and release the higher capex number in February.

“When you have rising costs and labour turnover, you have a hard time finding people, and that causes issues with productivity as well,” Loughrey comments. “We had a lot of hard-working people up there, but we may not have had all the experiences you would expect. All those things together triggered the inflationary pressures.”

Thompson Creek is trying to maintain an experienced workforce through increased scheduling flexibility, upgraded accommodations and improved contract conditions.

According to Loughrey the strategies appear to be working, though the company intends to keep a close eye on inflationary pressures on the labour front.

Mount Milligan’s new capex figure was reportedly put through more stringent stress tests to assure unexpected cost increases do not haunt the project.

Thompson Creek says it can’t guarantee consumable prices will not rise again, but it remains much more confident in the updated cost ranges.

“We took the inflation rates we’d seen so far at Mount Milligan as our assumptions, as opposed to making a ‘best guess,’ or going with any sort of hypothetical. We projected forward based on hard, historic experience,” Loughrey declares. “We’ve broken it down better, we’re doing a better job of managing costs and we’ve hired outside consultants along with our own people to oversee the spending up there. We think we can foresee and handle any cost increases sooner and more effectively.”

Thompson Creek participated in a renewed bout of financings in early May as a result of the capex jump.

The company had avoided share dilution through equity placements, but after funding shortfalls at Mount Milligan, it loosened its share structure.

With costs on the rise, Thompson Creek was facing a capital gap of between US$225 million and US$365 million. In a bid to cover the difference the company settled on a creative financing option that included US$200-million worth of seven-year senior notes at 12.5%, as well as a unique mechanism called tangible equity units (TMEDs) worth US$200 million that are priced at US$25 per unit. TMEDs are convertible bonds minus the bondholder right to be paid out in cash, and return US40¢ per unit quarterly before transitioning to between 4.6 million and 5.4 million shares in 2015, depending on Thompson Creek’s share price.

“We had initially attempted to do the financing without any of the equity aspects, but that became impractical with the scope and size of financing we were trying to complete,” Loughrey comments. “The TMEDs, unlike a straight equity offering, cause less dilution over time assuming the stock price goes up, which we believe it will.”

Thompson Creek is hedging that its shares have reached a bottom. The offering could cause 28% dilution if prices remain in current ranges, but trigger only a 24% share dilution assuming the company’s performance improves over the rest of the year.

Loughrey explains that the size of the financing was tailored to assure Thompson Creek was financially capable of finishing development at Mount Milligan even if costs were in the higher US$1.5-billion capex range, and in the event that moly prices remained depressed through the financing period — but the company’s capital assumptions do not account for cash flows stemming from operations.

The other major inflationary risk at Mount Milligan concerns delays from winter weather. Thompson Creek is under the gun to get certain pieces of infrastructure finished before September so that development can
proceed unhindered during its winter build-out season.

“I have to be honest in attributing this to luck. The way the timing has worked out with the winter work is that we should be able to get our mill building enclosed before the winter hits again, which is the key when working in those types of climates,” Loughrey explains. “Given the schedule now, where we’re heading into long British Columbian summer days . . . we need to get built before we run into that bad weather again.”

Thompson Creek expects an improved production outlook to help bolster confidence through this year’s second half. The mill at Endako is slated to hit full capacity, and the company expects higher-grade ores at its Thompson Creek mine later in the year.

“We’re seeing pretty much the mirror image of what we saw last year at Thompson Creek,” Loughrey says. “At the beginning of 2012 we were in higher grades and moved into lower grades. With the grades down in the first portion of the year, we saw costs go up, and we’d expect the inverse to be true as the year progresses.”

Thompson Creek’s shares have suffered mightily over the past 52 weeks, with prices down 66%, or $6.88 year-on-year, to a $3.55 presstime close.

The company lost 50%, or $3.63 per share, since the beginning of March on rising costs and falling metal prices.

But according to Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce World Markets analyst Ian Parkinson, the company should be on its way back up as it moves to complete Mount Milligan.

Parkinson maintains a $10 target price on the stock with a “sector outperform” rating.

“We believe the large disconnect between Thompson Creek’s valuation versus its peer group should be abated as this cash comes in the door and management is able to put a lid on capex creep,” Parkinson notes in a May research report. “Investors should also consider the market discount rate applied at Mount Milligan. As this project is built, de-risked and ramped up, the required return should lower to a more traditional rate. We see roughly $2 in upside just from this process.”