SSR Mining Reports Third Quarter 2024 Results

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 06, 2024-- 

SSR Mining Inc. (Nasdaq/TSX: SSRM, ASX: SSR) ("SSR Mining" or the "Company") reports consolidated financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024, as well as an update on the February 13, 2024 incident at the Çöpler mine (the "Çöpler Incident" or the "Incident").

Çöpler Update

Following the Çöpler Incident, the Company focused on four key priorities: (1) the recovery of our missing colleagues; (2) containment of the Incident and remediation of the site; (3) the investigation into the root cause of the Incident; and (4) preparing for the restart of the Çöpler mine.

With respect to our missing colleagues, all nine individuals have been recovered and returned to their families and we continue to support the families and the community members impacted by the Çöpler Incident.

All the planned containment infrastructure, including a grout curtain, coffer dam, and buttress, as well as pumping systems and the Sabırlı creek diversion, has been successfully installed and is proving to be effective. Public statements from Turkish government officials continue to reiterate that there has been no recordable contamination to local soil, water or air in the sampling locations.

In partnership with the Turkish authorities, the Company has continued to progress the remediation at the site. To date, over 16 million tonnes (approximately 86%) of the displaced heap leach material has been moved to temporary storage locations, including substantially all the displaced material from the Sabırlı Valley. As part of the remediation work, the heap leach pad will be permanently closed, and heap leach processing will no longer take place at Çöpler. We are continuing discussions with Turkish government officials around the final remediation plan, including the approval and construction of the east storage facility, which will permanently store the displaced material.

The Çöpler remediation and containment work is estimated to cost between $250.0 to $300.0 million and take a total of 24 to 36 months to complete. In the third quarter of 2024, $48.3 million was spent on remediation activities at Çöpler, bringing total remediation spend since April 1, 2024 to $103.3 million.

The initial design of the heap leach facility prepared prior to commencing production in 2010, and each subsequent expansion thereafter, was engineered, reviewed, and approved by independent, third-party engineering firms. Throughout the various stages of construction across the life of the heap leach facility, third-party reviews were also conducted to ensure conformance with the underlying engineering design parameters.

The investigations into the cause of the Çöpler Incident began shortly after the event. The Company has commissioned independent experts to review the design, construction, and operation of the heap leach facility. To date, this review has not identified any material non-conformance with the construction or operation of the heap leach facility relative to the third-party engineered design parameters.

SSR Mining continues to work closely with the relevant authorities to advance the required permits for the restart of the Çöpler mine. Once all necessary regulatory approvals, including the operating permits, are reinstated, it is anticipated that initial operations at Çöpler could restart within 20 days and would consist of processing a combination of stockpiled ore and ore mined from Çakmaktepe, while the remediation work continues.

As previously disclosed, in November 2023, prior to the Çöpler Incident, a legal challenge was filed in a local court against the Çöpler mine's environmental impact assessment, which was approved in 2021 (the "2021 EIA"). On August 20, 2024, the local court issued a decision cancelling the 2021 EIA due to insufficiencies in the 2021 EIA approval process. The Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, who had originally approved the 2021 EIA, has filed an appeal of the decision, and the Company has filed a simultaneous intervener appeal as well. As previously disclosed, with the cancellation of the 2021 EIA, the operating guidelines at Çöpler revert to those outlined in the Company's prior Environmental Impact Assessment, which was issued in 2014 (the "2014 EIA"). Among other operating considerations, the 2014 EIA prescribes a lower throughput rate for the sulfide plant operations of 6,000 tonnes per day, as compared to 9,000 tonnes per day under the 2021 EIA.

At this time, we are not able to estimate or predict when and under what conditions we will resume operations at Çöpler. Additionally, SSR Mining cannot, at this time, assess the entire scope of the impact of operating under the 2014 EIA. SSR Mining held $334.3 million in total cash at the end of the third quarter, with total available liquidity of $834.0 million and expected strong free cash flow generation from Marigold, Seabee and Puna in the fourth quarter of 2024. SSR Mining remains well positioned to continue remediation efforts ahead of a potential restart of operations at Çöpler.

For additional information on the Çöpler Incident, including a discussion of the associated risks, see the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed on February 27, 2024, as well as the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024 filed on May 8, 2024, for the quarter ended June 30, 2024 filed on July 31, 2024, and for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 filed on November 6, 2024. Further updates on the Çöpler Incident, as and when available, will continue to be provided through press releases and posts to the Company's website.

Third Quarter 2024 Summary: (1) (All figures are in US dollars unless otherwise noted)

   -- Operating results: Third quarter 2024 production was 97,429 gold 
      equivalent ounces. In the third quarter of 2024, operations at 
      Çöpler remained suspended following the February 13, 2024 
      incident. Additionally, operations at Seabee were suspended on August 21, 
      2024 due to forest fires in the vicinity of the mine. Seabee successfully 
      restarted operations on October 11, 2024. Year-to-date, the Company 
      produced 275,113 gold equivalent ounces at a consolidated cost of sales 
      of $1,312 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs ("AISC") of $1,886 per 
      ounce. The Company's year-to-date AISC includes $49.2 million in cash 
      care and maintenance costs, or approximately $179 per gold equivalent 
      ounce, of which $41.5 million was incurred at Çöpler and $7.7 
      million was incurred at Seabee. 
   -- Financial results: Net income attributable to SSR Mining shareholders in 
      the third quarter of 2024 was $10.6 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, 
      including $29.8 million in care and maintenance costs incurred at 
      Çöpler and $9.6 million at Seabee. Adjusted net income 
      attributable to SSR Mining shareholders in the third quarter of 2024 was 
      $6.4 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, after adjusting for items 
      related to the Çöpler Incident and other tax impacts. In the 
      third quarter of 2024, operating cash flow was $(1.3) million, and free 
      cash flow was $(34.1) million. 
   -- Cash and liquidity position: As of September 30, 2024, the Company had a 
      cash and cash equivalent balance of $334.3 million and total liquidity of 
      $834.0 million inclusive of its revolving credit facility and 
      accompanying accordion feature. At the end of the third quarter, the 
      Company had no borrowings outstanding under the revolving credit facility, 
      exclusive of de minimus letters of credit, and was in compliance with its 
      covenants. 
   -- Çöpler remediation: As of September 30, 2024, substantially all 
      of the heap leach material displaced during the February 13th incident 
      had been removed from the Sabırlı Valley. Remediation spend in 
      the third quarter totaled $48.3 million, bringing total remediation spend 
      since April 1, 2024 to $103.3 million. 
   -- Marigold operations: Gold production was 48,189 ounces in the third 
      quarter of 2024 at cost of sales of $1,573 per payable ounce and AISC of 
      $1,828 per payable ounce. Year-to-date, Marigold produced 108,560 ounces 
      of gold at cost of sales of $1,484 per payable ounce and AISC of $1,749 
      per payable ounce. Marigold remains on track for full-year 2024 
      production guidance of 155,000 to 175,000 ounces of gold. Reflecting 
      increased royalty and maintenance components costs the Company now 
      expects full-year mine site cost of sales of $1,450 to $1,480 per payable 
      ounce and AISC of $1,650 to $1,680 per payable ounce at Marigold in 2024. 
   -- Seabee operations: Gold production was 10,252 ounces in the third quarter 
      of 2024, reflecting the temporary suspension of operations at Seabee due 
      to forest fires. Employees were cleared to return to the site on 
      September 23, 2024 and production restarted on October 11, 2024. Third 
      quarter cost of sales of $1,280 per payable ounce and AISC of $2,301 per 
      payable ounce reflected fewer ounces sold and the inclusion of $7.7 
      million in cash care and maintenance costs from the temporary suspension. 
      Full-year 2024 production guidance for Seabee is now 65,000 to 70,000 
      ounces of gold at mine site cost of sales of $1,135 to $1,165 per payable 
      ounce and AISC of $1,725 to $1,755 per payable ounce. 
   -- Puna operations: Silver production was 2.9 million ounces in the third 
      quarter of 2024 at cost of sales of $16.06 per payable ounce of silver 

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November 06, 2024 16:10 ET (21:10 GMT)