Westwater Resources, Inc.
Q1 2021 Earnings Call Transcript

Published: 13 May 2021

[Operator:]

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Westwater Resources, Inc. First Quarter 2021 Results and Business Update Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. . I would now like to turn the conference over to Christopher Jones, President and CEO. Please go ahead, sir.

[Christopher Jones:]

Thanks, Ariel. And this is Chris Jones; I'm the President and Chief Executive Officer of Westwater Resources and welcome to our call. This is our Q1 results call. And joining me here today are Jeff Vigil, our CFO; and Dain McCoig, our VP, Ops.

[Jeff Vigil:]

Thank you, Chris. Good morning, everyone. First let's take a look at our capital position on Slide 5. Our closing share price on Tuesday, March 11, was $3.88. And with approximately 32.3 million shares outstanding, our market capitalization stands at approximately $125 million. Share price began 2021 at $4.93 and ended the first quarter at $5.37. Average daily trading volume over the 61 trading days of the quarter was 8.9 million shares. During the first three months of 2021, our stock performance was largely influenced by the continued ups and downs in the capital markets due to the country's continued reaction to news about the COVID-19 pandemic and recently about an inflation and supply shortages. Share prices for electric vehicle and battery material equities were boosted in February, by President Biden's executive order reiterating the prior administration's declaration of a national emergency for U.S. domestic production of critical minerals, including graphite and vanadium. During the first quarter of 2021, the company utilized its ATM facility with Cantor Fitzgerald, and its equity line of credit with Lincoln Park Capital to raise approximately $72 million from stock sales. By taking advantage of this opportunity to raise a substantial amount of cash at a low cost of capital, the company is now in a fundamentally strong position to execute its budgeted business plan through 2022, including funding for the construction of Phase 1 of the graphite processing facility.

[Christopher Jones:]

And thanks Jeff. On to Slide 7, just a reminder that our core values are simply the safety of each other, our environment, our assets, the communities where we work and our reputation. Second core value is cost management. Effective and efficient use of our shareholders assets. We focused on first quartile cost performance and integrity. Highest level of performance every day, improving our processes and conservative promises well kept.

[Operator:]

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. . Our first question comes from Debra Fiakas of Crystal Equity Research. Please go ahead.

[Debra Fiakas:]

Thank you. Good morning and thank you for taking my questions. I wanted to ask just sort of a mop-up question to Jeff in regard to the reported arbitration expenses. Of course, there was quite a bit of work that had to be done in the first month of the year to provide a rebuttal to Turkey's response and so forth. Do you anticipate that there will be additional work that has -- of this nature of this level that has to be done, yet in the current quarter or in the next quarter. I'm just trying to get an idea of what your cash usage might continue to be in that regard?

[Jeff Vigil:]

Yes, that's very good question, Debra. The process will accelerate in July for the July and August will be fairly active prep for the September -- mid-September hearing. But the one thing I would note as we do have a cap on fees and so that'll mitigate somewhat of the expense that we're going to incur during the upcoming -- it's really -- it's Q2 and Q3. But yes, we'll see some very much some increased activity as we do the preparation for the hearing.

[Debra Fiakas:]

Okay. Excellent. Thank you very much. And of course, congratulations to your new member of your team, Mr. Cates. Do you plan on doing other or additional position creation and new hires? And if you could maybe give us -- if so, could you give us an idea of what types of positions you would be adding throughout the rest of the year?

[Christopher Jones:]

Debra, if I may, and thanks again for your question. Between now and the end of 2022, we're going to put on 140 people, and that represents everybody from operators through management. So I would encourage you to adopt a wait and see attitude as we bring these people. On our intention is to hire as many local people in Alabama has as possible to do. And to make sure that we have a strong management team going forward, so that we can build and commission this facility with minimal complications.

[Debra Fiakas:]

Okay. Thank you. And also if I could just ask squeeze in one more question in regard to the timeline, the feasibility study is already underway, and you're saying that it's to arrive sometime in Q3. Could you give us a hand as to whether or not you think that might be the beginning or end of Q3?

[Christopher Jones:]

It's consistent with our messaging thus far it -- basically this is a refinement on our mid-year. So remember that the last time we spoke eight weeks ago, we were saying basically the same thing. So that, and as you know, feasibility studies are detailed and intense and we want to get this one right from the start. So sometime in Q3 is our guidance for now.

[Debra Fiakas:]

Okay. And I said that was going to be the last, but I did have one other question. When you, in your press release indicated that 13 metric tonnes of the battery materials had been produced or processed, and that you have now a bank or an inventory of materials that you can send out for testing. Do you anticipate that those will be sufficient to satisfy potential customer interest in your own testing needs? Or will you need to run the pilot process yet again before the processing facility is finally put into place next year?

[Christopher Jones:]

Good question. We anticipate that these 13 tonnes are sufficient. Remember these are 13 product tonnes. And our potential customers are looking for these kilogram at a time. So yes, we anticipate that there's plenty of material there.

[Operator:]

. Our next question comes from David Ball, a Private Investor. Please go ahead.

[David Ball:]

Hello, Chris, good morning. Wondered if briefly you could speak about the Coosa project in terms of the mineral rights there I'm assuming that isn't a lease and if so, what is the duration of that?

[Christopher Jones:]

Thanks for your question, David. The mineral rights encompass approximately 40 some thousand acres on the Coosa site itself. And they are basically with a single entity with whom we pay annual lease payment.

[David Ball:]

And what is the term or duration of that lease?

[Christopher Jones:]

That's perpetual with five-year renewals, as I recollect.

[David Ball:]

Okay. So you feel that this could go on for what 30, 50, 70 years if need was there.

[Christopher Jones:]

Currently, we anticipate mine life of around 30 years. And that is based on the previous estimates of the ore body and resource as it stands. We have a 10,000-foot drilling program going on, literally as we speak, in order to tie in other thinking around the graphite include the vanadium values and to see if they provide a little economic boost. The good news for us is there's no downside on the vanadium, it's all upside.

[Operator:]

. Our next question is a follow-up from Debra Fiakas of Crystal Equity Research. Please go ahead.

[Debra Fiakas:]

Well, thank you for letting me add one more question. There are, of course, any number of estimates on how fast the graphite market is growing and where the demand comes from. I think Benchmark Mineral has an estimate that the demand for graphite is going to quadruple over the next eight or nine years. The investment bankers that UBS have a growth of seven times in that almost just a little bit longer 2030 they see that timeframe. I just wondered if you have views yourself on what you think is the pace of growth in your market -- your addressable market. And does it really matter, for example, if we only see a doubling of growth. Do you still anticipate that there would be demand for your products?

[Christopher Jones:]

So we don't necessarily develop an independent view, though as you well know from doing business with us. Our estimates tend to be on the conservative side, a 23% annual growth rate in the lithium-ion battery market alone means that doubles about every three years. And with that kind of growth, even if it's half, we are simply facing a rapid growth market for which the supply necessarily has not been developed. I'd really encourage you, any listener to attend the National Academies of Sciences presentation that I'm going to give on 17th this coming Monday, where we discuss the graphite market purely, not necessarily with Westwater slant, but I was asked to opine on the graphite market and I'd reserve my comments for that. Differentiators for Westwater's graphite are that simply there aren't very many players here in the United States. And by the time we get the mind running, we expect to be the only fully integrated graphite supplier in the United States at all. Now were standings, a project that may be developed in Alaska. So, for us, the market can grow at the rate we expect, the rate people at Goldman, expected as higher or even lower, and it's still really good for Westwater business.

[Operator:]

Our next question comes from Michael Porter of Porter, LeVay & Rose. Please go ahead.

[Michael Porter:]

Just may be a little redundant, but said but I was wondering if you all have seen any kind of news out of Washington as far as what graphite is going to, and b) there's been some additional information on the industry out about some of the car dealers going more and more into electric cars. And I was just wondering if you're hearing any noise from any of them about asking questions about you testing your graphite or what have you.

[Christopher Jones:]

So, with regard to the customers with whom we are dealing now, they as a matter of business of course ask us to remain, keep them confidential. And of course, we respect that. Every single carmaker on earth is building some version of an electric car now and developing their markets for the future. Electric cars, adoption rates here in the United States, remember, the United States is about 17 million car per year market. Electric car adoption rates were 2% of all vehicles sold in 2019, 4% of 2020. And we expect increasing sales over time. But think of it niche terms perhaps, even if we only get to 10%, or say even 20% of electric vehicle adoption, not the 100% that some people anticipate, but 20% adoption rates being a fivefold increase in the amount of graphite required to power that vehicle, and it's simply not being produced right now. So, Wastewater's positioning in the marketplace from a timing, product and product quality standpoint could not be better.

[Operator:]

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Christopher Jones for any closing remarks.

[Christopher Jones:]

Thanks, Ariel. And thanks, everybody for spending part of your morning with us and listening to our story. We encourage you to visit our website, www.westwater.net for further information, and also encourage you to attend the National Academy of Sciences presentation on the 17th of this month. Thanks once again, and have a great day.

[Operator:]

This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.