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Dan Rollins, CFA (Analyst) Sam Crittenden, P.Eng. (Analyst) April 8, 2013
(416) 842-7886; sam.crittenden@rbccm.com
On average, the North American gold producers have an all-in cash operating cost of $1,200/oz (Exhibit 1). However, after accounting for cash taxes (~$200/oz) and current levels of new mine capital (~$250/oz), there is a modest amount of cash left for dividends or debt repayment for companies in a new mine development cycle. We would note that exploration and sustaining capital are discretionary items and can be cut or curtained without a significant negative impact over 12 to 24 month period, however, over the long-run, cutting exploration would reduce the mine life, and starving a mine of sustaining capital is likely to lead to eventual production-related challenges and higher operating costs. Exhibit 1: Average All-in Costs Including Taxes and New Mine Capital for the North American Gold Producers All-in Costs Average $1,200 before Taxes, New Mine Capital, Debt Repayment and Dividends.
$1,800 $1,600 $1,400
Taxes (~30%) New mine capital
$1,200
US$/oz
RBC CMs all-in operating costs defined as total cash costs plus the companys entire budget for G&A, exploration and sustaining capital.
The silver price is assumed to move in tandem with the gold price at ~1:54 gold to silver price ratio.
depletion. We also expect all remaining producers to cut discretionary capital sharply and/or seek new capital to complete their existing capital development programs (Appendix I, Exhibits 10 and 11). At $1,200/oz gold, we estimate the most significant liquidity impacts for Allied Nevada, Barrick, Claude Resources, Lake Shore Gold, Osisko and SEMAFO, with all remaining producers scaling back operations and curtailing budgets as well. The $1,200/oz gold price scenario is discussed separately below.
2014
LSG ABX Q1/13 Q2/13 Q3/13 Q4/13 Q1/14 SMF ANV Q2/14 CRJ Q3/14 OSK Q4/14 DGC Q1/15
2015
KGC Q2/15 CG Q3/15 IAG Q4/15
AUQ AR AGI
No Issues OK OK1
At a $1,200/oz gold price, the companies with the greatest risks have a combination of significant near-term capital commitments, debt obligations, and/or above average operating costs. As an example, we assume Barrick and Allied Nevada are committed at this point to completing development of the Pascua-Lama project and the Hycroft mine expansion project respectively. As a result of a combination of above-average all-in operating costs, new project development, and/or debt obligations, we estimate that Lake Shore Gold, SEMAFO, Claude Resources, Osisko, Detour Gold, Kinross Gold, Centerra and IAMGOLD would see cash reserves drawn down. We would expect many of the remaining producers in our coverage universe to defer proposed mine development as many of the projects would become uneconomical at a $1,200/oz gold price. For example, we believe IAMGOLD would likely have to defer development of Cote Lake, while Osisko would likely need to defer the Upper Beaver project or extend its debt facilities beyond 2014, in our view.
RGLD FNV SLW LSG ANV KGC GG CRJ Q1/13 Q2/13 Q3/13 DGC Q4/13 ABX Q1/14 SMF NEM Q2/14 EGO Q3/14 OSK IAG Q4/14 CG Q1/15 Q2/15 Q3/15 Q4/15 TMM PPP DPM AUQ AR AGI AUY RRS NGD CEY ASR AEM
No Issues OK OK1
Ultimately, the best protection in a sharply declining gold price environment would be the royalty and streaming companies, including Silver Wheaton, Franco-Nevada, Royal Gold, Premier Royalty and Sandstorm, all of which have minimal operating costs and no significant 3 capital cost exposure . The principal risk for streaming and royalty companies would be premature closure of mines where these companies receive revenues.
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RBC CM research report: Precious Metals Royalty and Streaming Primer. Dan Rollins et al, April 5th, 2013. High grading is where a company decides to mine above the current forecast cut off grade to process higher grade ore to reduce their costs per ounce. In many cases the remaining reserve material that is not mined may be uneconomic and may need to be written off.
Tick. Tier I Gold Producers Barrick Gold Goldcorp Inc. Kinross Gold Newmont Tier I Average Tier II Gold Producers Agnico-Eagle Alacer Gold Allied Nevada Centerra Gold Detour Gold Eldorado Gold IAMGOLD New Gold Osisko Mining Randgold Resources SEMAFO Yamana Gold Tier II Average Tier III Gold Producers Alamos Gold Argonaut Gold AuRico Gold Claude Resources Dundee Precious Metals Lake Shore Gold Primero Mining Timmins Gold Tier III Average
AEM ASR ANV CG DGC EGO IAG NGD OSK RRS SMF AUY
$38.05 C$3.74 C$12.71 C$5.88 C$16.60 $8.16 $6.54 $8.63 C$5.44 52.07 C$2.34 $14.28
$26.65 C$2.10 C$27.07 C$5.73 C$13.02 $7.13 $3.56 $5.09 C$3.91 16.29 C$2.64 $8.15
$35.98 C$3.47 C$36.68 C$9.44 C$20.71 $9.90 $7.89 $7.30 C$5.86 27.68 C$3.95 $10.91
$45.30 C$4.85 C$46.28 C$13.14 C$28.41 $12.68 $12.21 $9.50 C$7.80 39.08 C$5.27 $13.67
RBC CM gold price forecast is $1,700 in 2013, $1,700 in 2014, $1,600 in 2015, $1,500 in 2016 and $1,400/oz long term. The silver price forecast is $35.00 in 2013, $35.00 in 2014, $32.00 in 2015, $28.50 in 2016 and $25.00/oz long term. The copper price forecast is $3.75 in 2013, $3.75 in 2014, $3.25 in 2015, $4.00 in 2016, $4.25 in 2017 and $2.75/lb long term.
Tier I and II Producers Trading at Historic Lows on P/E and P/CF Multiples Basis
Many of the gold producers within our coverage universe have recently struggled to generate sustainable positive earnings. However, with a higher sustained gold price and a greater critical mass (+200koz of production), the gold producers have once again started to generate positive earnings and more favorable return metrics. While the market traditionally has not used earnings for gold company valuation, it is useful to look at where the gold sector has traded versus the broader market. In 2001, the larger North American Tier I and II gold producers were trading below the market multiples and gold stocks were clearly out of favor with investors. Currently the Tier I and II producers are once again trading at an estimated 300 to 500 bps discount to the North American market multiples (Exhibit 5). In addition, both the Tier I and II shares are currently trading not far from the recent trough valuations observed during the 2008 global financial crisis. In our view, the Tier I and II gold names offer investors an attractive entry point from an absolute valuation perspective with respect to the broader market. Exhibit 5: NA Gold Equities Tier I & II Average Historical P/E, Based on Forward Estimates
50x 45x 40x
Forward P/E (x)
The contraction in the earnings multiples for the gold sector began in 2004, coincidental with the creation of a number of gold ETF products, and has continued to the present for the Tier I and II companies. A similar contraction of the average annual forward cash flow multiples for the Tier I gold producers is shown in Exhibit 6. We believe much of the lower P/E and P/CF valuations are due to missed production guidance, significant operating/capital cost escalation and generation of little or no free cash flow, and not necessarily a result of higher earnings and cash flow per share for some miners.
Exhibit 6: North American Gold Equities Tier I Historical Average Annual Forward Cash Flow Multiples
60x 56x 52x 48x 44x $1,400
HIGH AVERAGE LOW
Forward CF Multiple
$1,200
16x 12x 8x 4x 0x
Jan-00
Jan-01
Jan-02
Jan-03
Jan-04
Jan-05
Jan-06
Jan-07
Jan-08
Jan-09
Jan-10
Jan-11
Jan-12
Jan-13
15%
TMM CG
10% NEM 5% AEM Ti er I NGD 0% 5% -5% IAG -10% CRJ ASR AUY DPM OSK Ti er II GG
RRS
Favourable Quadrant
AR
(5%)
0%
10%
30%
35%
10
NGD GG
8x AUQ
3-year P/CF (2013E-2015E)
EGO
Favourable Domain
RRS OSK TMM SMF
ASR
11
AUQ
AEM
AR
LSG
(10%)
0%
50%
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No Issues OK OK1
Exhibit 11: Cash Burn Rates at $1,300 Gold for North American Gold Producers, Without Access to Credit Facilities
RGLD FNV SLW TMM PPP LSG KGC CRJ DGC Q1/13 Q2/13 Q3/13 Q4/13 ANV Q1/14 GG ABX Q2/14 EGO Q3/14 OSK NEM Q4/14 IAG Q1/15 Q2/15 Q3/15 Q4/15 DPM AUQ AR AGI AUY SMF RRS NGD CG CEY ASR AEM
No Issues OK OK1
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Exhibit 12: Cash Burn Rates at $1,400 Gold for North American Gold Producers, With Access to Credit Facilities
RGLD FNV SLW TMM PPP DPM CRJ ABX Q1/13 Q2/13 Q3/13 Q4/13 Q1/14 Q2/14 Q3/14 Q4/14 LSG Q1/15 Q2/15 Q3/15 KGC Q4/15 AUQ AR OK AGI AUY SMF RRS OSK NGD IAG EGO No Issues OK1 DGC CG CEY ANV ASR AEM NEM GG OK2
Exhibit 13: Cash Burn Rates at $1,400 Gold for North American Gold Producers, Without Access to Credit Facilities
RGLD FNV SLW TMM PPP KGC CRJ Q1/13 Q2/13 Q3/13 Q4/13 Q1/14 Q2/14 ABX Q3/14 ANV Q4/14 LSG EGO Q1/15 Q2/15 IAG Q3/15 Q4/15 DPM AUQ OK AR AGI AUY SMF RRS OSK NGD DGC CG CEY ASR AEM NEM GG
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Companies Mentioned
Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM; $38.05; Outperform) Alacer Gold Corp. (TSX: ASR.TO; C$3.74; Outperform) Alamos Gold Inc. (TSX: AGI.TO; C$12.68; Outperform) Allied Nevada Gold Corp. (TSX: ANV.TO; C$12.71; Outperform) Argonaut Gold Inc. (TSX: AR.TO; C$7.87; Outperform) AuRico Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUQ; $6.10; Sector Perform) Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX; $26.69; Sector Perform) Centerra Gold Inc. (TSX: CG.TO; C$5.88; Sector Perform; Speculative Risk) Claude Resources Inc. (TSX: CRJ.TO; C$0.42; Sector Perform) Detour Gold Corporation (TSX: DGC.TO; C$16.60; Outperform) Dundee Precious Metals Inc. (TSX: DPM.TO; C$7.57; Outperform) Eldorado Gold Corporation (NYSE: EGO; $8.16; Outperform) Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG; $31.79; Outperform) IAMGOLD Corporation (NYSE: IAG; $6.54; Sector Perform) Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC; $7.07; Outperform) Lake Shore Gold (TSX: LSG.TO; C$0.60; Sector Perform) New Gold Inc. (AMEX: NGD; $8.63; Outperform) Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM; $39.37; Sector Perform) Osisko Mining Corporation (TSX: OSK.TO; C$5.44; Outperform) Primero Mining (NYSE: PPP; $6.19; Sector Perform) Randgold Resources Ltd. (LSE: RRS.L; GBp5,290; Outperform) Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD; $67.71; Sector Perform) Semafo Inc. (TSX: SMF.TO; C$2.34; Outperform) Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW; $29.07; Outperform) Timmins Gold Corp. (TSX: TMM.TO; C$2.90; Outperform) Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY; $14.28; Outperform)
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