I'm Charlotte Mloud with investingnews.com and here today with me is Gerard Bond, president and CEO at Oceanana Gold. Thank you so much for being here. Great to have you. >> Nice to be on the show. Thank you. >> Really good to be speaking with you. I'm excited for the conversation and I'm sure many people in our audience will be familiar with you and certainly with the company. But I thought since it's our first time speaking if we could begin with a brief overview of yourself and


your background in the mining industry. >> Well um yeah well I'm the president and CEO of Oshana Gold and have been for coming up to 4 years. Uh prior to that I was the finance director and CFO of Newrest Mining uh for a decade and prior to that I was at BHP Billetin for 15 years. So I'm coming up to my 29th year uh in the resources industry and that spanned u a number of commodities, gold obviously, copper, aluminium um and everything that was in the BHP building and portfolio. Uh I'm Australian but I


live in Vancouver and um yeah so the mining industry is global. It's been it's been a great journey so far. >> Well, thank you for that. I always love to hear how people came into the sector and we're going to be speaking about what's happening at the company. But to set the stage a little bit, I thought we could look at the overall gold market right now. It's of course been quite an an exciting year for the metal. We've gone up to all-time highs. I know we're a little bit lower than that at the


moment, but I wanted to ask where you see gold in the cycle right now. >> Yeah. Well, I think the gold has certainly broken to levels um that is outside of a cycle as it were. It's quite has been quite the step change. um it's at levels uh in real terms not seen since the uh late 70s early 80s and I think there are a number of factors that are driving that uh and I don't think those factors uh are going to change anytime soon. So you'll see dolorization as uh people institutions central banks


investors around the world are looking to gain an exposure to something of value other than US treasuries or US bonds. Um there is concern about stagflation risk and as that other time that gold prices have been so high it was in that stagflationary environment of the late '7s early '90s and there's been an enormous amount of central bank by ever since around 2022 uh and that's at a scale and of a buy and hold nature um that is um you know very different to the norm and and I think those three and then there's just


general geopolitical uncertainty and I think the combination of all those four things have powered the gold price to where it is today. It's up 60% year to date and uh you know it it does move around uh but the journey has been relentlessly up and and I think those factors that I spoke of that has powered it to this point um I'm not a personal view that I don't think they're going to change uh to to any great degree anytime soon. >> I think that's a a great overview of the


situation with gold right now. Certainly there are a lot of factors working in its favor and let's take a look at how the company is is fairing in this environment. I know about a month ago at this point there were the Q3 results coming out it looks like on track to meet guidance for the year. What would you pull out for investors from those Q3 results? Well, the the key takeaway for us is that as a quarter um we flagged and it proved to be uh the softest production quarter of the year for us because uh we


were by design uh just completing a number of uh open pit stripping campaigns and and that meant that we had lower than uh average grade for the year going through the mill in the third quarter. And so not saying it was our lowest production quarter uh for the year, we still generated $94 million of free cash flow and generated, you know, uh substantial profits. So even in a soft quarter um uh we were able to exceed market expectations by quite some degree in terms of the cash generating ability of of this company. And that was


at an average gold price of just shy of $3,500 an ounce. So I think what people were looking to um ahead and then and the results call very quickly move to um a look forward um lens uh in the fourth quarter. We expect it to be a strong production quarter um and gold is sitting around the $4,200 an ounce. So say and then again there's a bit to run in the quarter of course but you know $700 an ounce higher gold price at a much uh stronger gold production rate and and the nature of the industry is


such that when you are producing more ounces you absorb some more of your fixed cost. So in the fourth quarter we expect to have much stronger gold production at a better u all-in sustaining cost enjoying a higher gold price and so the the prospects for strong free cash flow strong profitability in the fourth quarter is really high and then that everything that's driving the fourth quarter is what's also driving uh 2026 um we have been at our two largest mine sites hail in the USA mccra in New Zealand We have


been actively removing waste from the two large open pits there. That's been the investment of this year. We got to the um the ore in both of those pits towards the end of the third quarter. That's what powers the fourth quarter and that's what also powers our production growth in 2026. So 2026 is shaping up to be a really attractive year. >> Yeah, it sounds like it. And and good takeaways from Q3. You know, you mentioned it was a softer quarter, but still with the strong results. And I


think that, you know, investors had to wait some time to see the higher gold price reflected in miners results. Now, I'm hearing a little bit more about how generalist investors are also starting to take notice of the strong results from gold companies. So, I wanted to ask what you're seeing from an Oceanana Gold perspective. Are you seeing the generalist crowd start to take an interest in what's going on at the company either at the the retail or the institutional level? >> Um the short answer is yes. I mean both


retail and institutional we're getting a lot more interest and and rightly so. The the cash generating capacity of an operating gold company uh is at this point in time particularly strong. And we're as a as an example we have um uh free cash flow yields on our market value of you know 17 18% over the last 12 months and that's and the return on capital around you know 15 16% as well that's and that when I spoke about free cash flow yields that's free cash flow after tax after all investing dollars.


So there are many businesses uh that are giving people you know strong mid- teens and above free cash flow yields on the share price and that certainly attracts um retail investors and that certainly attracts the generalists. I think we're early days into a rotation by generalist into gold equities. Uh but at Do Ocean Do we certainly seen a big uptick in in retail interest and we've seen you know early signs of of generalist investors coming back into the space which is really good. >> It's nice to hear that you're seeing


that generalist investor interest. I think that's very encouraging. For those who are already in the gold space are a little bit more familiar. I think a concern that they might have right now is that even though the margins are strong at the moment, eventually we might start seeing miners costs start to rise and then these very strong margins begin to get eroded. So, I'm wondering what you're doing to perhaps mitigate that possibility. >> Yeah. Well, I mean, we have um we're


lucky as a gold company. Every one of our four assets are producing. So, you know, the biggest investment we had in our asset basically she was the those two open pet stripping campaigns that I just spoke of and that's now largely behind us. And so, if you're producing ounces at scale and again we're growing production Q4, we're growing production 2026. Our unit costs are expected to fall. um most of our costs are uh we have really good line of sight on and from an inflationary perspective we're not we're


not chasing we're not doing different activity than we would have been doing otherwise just because of the high gold price and I think that's important we're not chasing marginal ounces here um uh the physical nature of what we're going to do is driven by the oil bodies our old bodies have a a very clearly um uh or they define the the mining plan for us and so we're not um chasing and expanding just to get a gold um uh that we don't make profit on. Uh the investment that we've made is giving us


a an an uplift in average grade uh to existing mills. So we're not doing plant expansions. Uh we're not not chasing marginal ounces. And then as it relates to input costs, uh we've got really good line of sight on those. I mean 40% of our cost base is is labor. Uh there are inflationary pressures on labor but you know low singledigit uh energy costs. Ours are you know variously fixed um uh contracts for electricity and so forth. And then there are consumable costs and there are some variations around there


but generally uh in in low singledigit nature. So taken together uh we aren't seeing uh any great cost expansion. Now, what the opportunity does do when the gold prices are strong is to invest more in your business. And so, you know, we have plenty of those opportunities as it relates to improving the integrity of of your fixed plant, improving the integrity of your rolling equipment just to make sure that you operate more days per year because uh the production loss and the cost of that production loss if


you have an unplanned breakdown in the plant and so forth is now higher than it's ever been before. So there's really good investment opportunities for Oceanana Gold and and our shareholders uh to inoculate from those variations. >> Yeah. So it sounds like you've got that well under control. And I also wanted to touch on the exploration aspect with you because of course you've got all of this production going on, but I know that recently the company had some drill results come out. there was a draft


decision on fasttrack approval for one of the projects and I wanted to check in on that because I know that a lot of the time when we hear about gold producers there's a maybe a little bit of a lack of exploration investment going on but it seems like you're you're balancing that with everything else you have. >> Well 2025 we're investing more in exploration than we have done ever uh as a company and I expect we will invest more in exploration next year. Uh we do that because we have a tremendous track


record. Uh I think over the last 12 years uh we've added something like 5 million ounces of reserve at a um addition cost of $50 per ounce. And so when you see gold selling today for $4,200 an ounce and we've been able to add to reserves at at a cost of $50 per ounce, that's um profound value generation, which is why we keep investing in it. uh which is why we have you know deeply experienced um uh and committed exploration teams you know through the cycle. So we will continue to invest uh in exploration. We've got


uh you know really prospective ground at and around our uh existing mine sites which is really you know fertile and and attractive places to add reserve houses to because you already have an existing mill and existing workforce existing power and infrastructure. Um so we'll we'll invest uh more there. uh the the announcement that you spoke of is that is the Wahhee North project and we got um a provisional approval of our permit in New Zealand to develop the Wahhee North project. That's a super exciting


um development uh for us and New Zealand. It's a a very highgrade uh 1.2 million ounce reserve um um or body presently, but we believe with more exploration that will grow. Uh it's our plan to develop that, you know, um safely, responsibly. It's going to be completely underground mine, uh near and visible at surface, you know, with no surface expression or impacts. Uh that that makes us really excited about doing something well uh and and through exploration grow that all body. Um this


year we've got only been able to have uh three drill rigs on it, but as part of our um permit, which we expect to be approved on around the 18th of December this year, that permit allows us to double the amount of drilling um um with 10 uh sorry, six drill rigs um and doubling the number of drill pads from the current 10 to 20 uh in 2026. So you can expect over a number of years we will continue to actively drill that really exciting all body paracurop. >> That does sound exciting. And I wanted


to ask a little bit more about gold in New Zealand because I believe if I'm remembering correctly it's a critical mineral in New Zealand which from a a North American perspective might be a little bit unusual. I don't think it's on any of our critical minerals lists over here. So, wanted to ask you about that and and learn what it's meant for the company, if that's helped to speed things along at all. Any thoughts you would share on that note? Yeah, the government uh released it


critical mineral strategy in the last 12 months and yes, gold gold went on it. Uh it doesn't alter what we do. I mean, we uh it's we we're grateful for the fact that it's regarded as critical by uh the country. Um I think the investment in regulatory regime that that has now been introduced into New Zealand is is worldleading. I think that they are looking to make um resource development in fact any development done expeditiously. That doesn't mean it's done um uh quickly or in any way cutting


corners, but we all in our um investment applications and the same for the Hawaii North project have to meet really stringent tests. What the process allows us to do and maybe the critical minerals badge has helped uh is allow it to be done in a timely way where all requirements are considered simultaneously such that the process of getting the approvals is done uh you know promptly and timelessly because these opportunities at these two invest uh you you want to take them when they present and not be dragged out um you


know for for um a a long period of time that that erodess the ability and confidence of investors that this is a place to invest in. So I think New Zealand has made itself a very attractive place to invest in both the combination of the new legislation as it relates to permitting but also the critical minerals legislation. But when you have an oil body of the type of barrack that underpins the Wing North project um critical mineral or not that that is an attractive investment for us and the country to have developed.


>> Well and we have been focusing a little bit on what the company is doing in New Zealand. I know you've also got operations in the Philippines, in the US. Anything you would add looking forward to 2026 that we haven't covered for for those assets? Well, I mean, hail's our largest producer presently and will become an even larger producer next year and that's as a result of uh this um uh open pit investment that we made this year to to uh do a very large cut back that gives us excellent access to much higher


average grade law for the remainder uh of of this quarter and into 2026 and beyond. And so that's a big investment that shareholders are going to get the benefit of in in coming periods. Um we also have the underground mine there that's that's operating well and continues to ramp up. So h H h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h is entering a really uh interesting period of much higher gold production like materially higher gold production that's achieved in the past that will help lower its


unit costs and and ensure that it becomes and remains you know the most meaningful contributor to our success. I mean um McCrae likewise uh it will have a um a big fourth quarter and a big 2026 as a result of the investment in the open waste removal there. Um at the uh and in the dipio in the Philippines uh they will have a slightly better year next year as a result of overcoming some of the challenges that they have successfully addressed this year. Uh and then why has had a a fabulous year. we


said at the at the third quarter results that it is going to produce we expect at around the top end of its guidance range. So, uh it's great to be in the gold industry and have a a company that has four assets that are all operating um well and and all the sales are up and catching this wind of of strong gold prices. Um the one thing that we we haven't spoken of is that in April 2026 we are going to list on the New York Stock Exchange and we're really excited about that because we think um you know


with a predominantly uh US asset base at the Hale Gold Mine that'll be you know somewhere around 50% of our gold production next year. We believe that's a great thing for us investors to get more exposure to uh directly by being on the New York Stock Exchange and we're super excited about um you know getting the benefit of a wider access to investors, a broader investor base in what is the deepest and most liquid capital market um on the planet. So we're super excited about um um that


April listing. Well, that was that was certainly on my list to hear about and I think we've got all the details now on that as well. So, that will definitely be something to look forward to into 2026. I will let you go unless you had any final thoughts or or words of advice for investors as we're heading into 2026. I think it's been an interesting year for precious metals investors and looking forward it certainly seems like 2026 will be the same. Well, look, I mean, if gold prices stay


at around these levels, even at the level that we had in in the third quarter, which was $700 an ounce lower than we had today, um companies such as Oceanana Gold are able to generate meaningful profits um substantial free cash flow, provide a tremendous return on the capital invested in the business and and you know, it's it's um you know, it's it's it's a great time to be in the gold industry as an operator. And I think it's a fantastic time for investors to gain exposure to operating


gold companies that are performing well such as they shown in gold. >> Well, thank you so much for coming on to share about the company and the market. Great to have you and hope to do it again soon. >> Thanks. Appreciate it. >> Of course. And once again, I'm Charlotte Mloud with investingnews.com and this is Jar Bond with Oceanana Gold. Thank you for watching. If you like this video, make sure you hit the like button and subscribe to our channel. We'd also love to hear your thoughts, so leave us a


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