VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Imperial Metals Corporation (the “Company”) (TSX:III) reports financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2025.
QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
“Imperial delivered solid operating and financial results for the first quarter of 2025”, said Brian Kynoch, President. “Consolidated production totalled 15,842,336 pounds copper and 17,120 ounces gold which was higher by 28% and 33% respectively, compared to the first quarter of 2024. Financially, we achieved strong operating cash flows of $68.3 million along with revenues of $176.6 million and adjusted EBITDA of $97.7 million.”
FINANCIAL
Total revenue was $176.6 million in the March 2025 quarter compared to $84.6 million in the 2024 comparative quarter.
In the March 2025 quarter, Mount Polley mine had 1.9 concentrate shipments (2024-1.3 concentrate shipments). The Red Chris mine (100% basis) had 5.0 concentrate shipments (2024-4.0 concentrate shipments).
Variations in revenue are impacted by the timing and quantity of concentrate shipments, metal prices and exchange rates, and period end revaluations of revenue attributed to concentrate shipments where copper and gold prices will settle at a future date.
The London Metals Exchange cash settlement copper price per pound averaged US$4.24 in the March 2025 quarter compared to US$3.83 in the 2024 comparative quarter. The LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) Final and Initial gold price per troy ounce averaged US$2,862 in the March 2025 quarter compared to US$2,072 in the 2024 comparative quarter. The average US/CDN Dollar exchange rate was 1.435 in the March 2025 quarter, 6.4% higher than the exchange rate of 1.349 in the March 2024 quarter. In CDN Dollar terms the average copper price in the March 2025 quarter was CDN$6.08 per pound compared to CDN$5.17 per pound in the 2024 comparative quarter, and the average gold price in the March 2025 quarter was CDN$4,108 per ounce compared to CDN$2,795 per ounce in the 2024 comparative quarter.
A positive revenue revaluation in the March 2025 quarter was $10.0 million as compared to a negative revenue revaluation of $0.2 million the 2024 comparative quarter. Revenue revaluations are the result of the metal price on the settlement date and/or the current period balance sheet date being higher or lower than when the revenue was initially recorded or the metal price at the last balance sheet date and finalization of contained metal as a result of final assays.
Net income for the March 2025 quarter was $41.3 million ($0.26 income per share) compared to net loss of $9.2 million ($0.06 loss per share) in the 2024 comparative quarter. The increase in net income of $50.5 million was primarily due to the following factors:
Income from mine operations increased to $78.3 million in the March 2025 quarter from a loss of $1.5 million in March 2024, an increase of $79.8 million;
Idle mine cost increased to $2.2 million in March 2025 from $1.9 million in the March 2024 quarter;
Net interest expense of $8.1 million in March 2025 down from $10.1 million in March 2024, increasing net income by $2.0 million;
Tax recovery went from $6.6 million in March 2024 to tax expense of $23.3 million in March 2025, decreasing net income by $29.9 million.
The average US/CDN Dollar exchange rate was higher by 6.4% in the March 2025 quarter of 1.435 compared to an average of 1.349 in the 2024 quarter.
Capital expenditures including leases were $47.0 million in the March 2025 quarter, an increase of $10.8 million from $36.2 million in the 2024 comparative quarter. The March 2025 quarter expenditures included $15.4 million in exploration, $14.5 million on stripping costs, $9.7 million for tailings dam construction and $7.4 million of other capital.
At March 31, 2025, the Company had not hedged any copper, gold or US/CDN Dollar exchange. Quarterly revenues will fluctuate depending on copper and gold prices, the US/CDN Dollar exchange rate, and the timing of concentrate sales, which is dependent on concentrate production and the availability and scheduling of transportation.
OPERATIONS
During the quarter ended March 31, 2025, Imperial’s consolidated metal production was 15.84 million pounds copper (Q1 2024-12.35 million pounds copper) and 17,120 ounces gold (Q1 2024-12,861 ounces gold).
Mount Polley Mine
Mount Polley metal production for the first quarter of 2025 was 8,904,389 pounds copper and 10,621 ounces gold, compared to 7,355,191 pounds copper and 10,009 ounces gold produced during the first quarter of 2024. Mill throughput was up 3.0%, with 1.72 million tonnes being treated compared with 1.67 million tonnes treated in the first quarter of 2024. Copper production in the first quarter 2025 was up by 21.1% because of the increase in throughput and higher grade and recovery compared to first quarter of 2024. Gold production in the first quarter 2025 was up 6.1% with increased recovery and throughput offsetting lower gold grades compared to the first quarter 2024.
Three Months Ended
March 31
Three Months Ended
March 31
2025
2024
Ore milled – tonnes
1,721,769
1,671,505
Ore milled per calendar day – tonnes
19,131
18,368
Grade % – copper
0.28
0.25
Grade g/t – gold
0.28
0.28
Recovery % – copper
83.3
79.4
Recovery % – gold
69.8
66.0
Copper – 000’s pounds
8,904
7,355
Gold – ounces
10,621
10,009
Most of the mill feed for the first quarter of 2025 came from the material mined from near the bottom of the Phase 4 pit. Stripping for the Phase 5 pushback of the Springer pit continued with approximately 3,584,917 million tonnes of rock stripped from this pushback in the first quarter of 2025. Approximately 1,806,705 tonnes of non-acid generating rock from the Phase 5 stripping was hauled to the tailing facility to buttress the tailings storage embankment.
In April 2025, the Xatśūll First Nation (Xatśūll) commenced a petition for judicial review seeking to set aside two decisions granted by the Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals and the Minister of Environment and Parks pertaining to the Mount Polley Mine. Shortly afterward, Xatśūll filed an application seeking to stop work under those decisions until the judicial review is heard.
No monetary relief is sought against Mount Polley Mining Corporation, but if successful, both the application and petition could result in increased costs to MPMC and could adversely affect mining operations.
Exploration, development, and capital expenditures in the first quarter of 2025 were $27.2 million compared to $15.8 million in the 2024 comparative quarter.
Red Chris Mine
Red Chris production (100%) for the first quarter of 2025 was 23,126,491 pounds copper and 21,663 ounces gold compared to 16,660,225 pounds copper and 9,507 ounces gold during the same quarter of 2024.
The 2025 first quarter Red Chris copper production was up 38.8% and gold production was up 127.9% compared to the first quarter of 2024. The increase in copper production was a result of a 43.6% increase in copper grade (0.62% vs 0.43%) offset by slightly lower recovery and throughput. Gold production in the first quarter of 2025 at Red Chris was up as result of higher gold grade in the mill feed (0.54 g/t gold versus 0.26 g/t gold) and better gold recovery (60.5% versus 53.6%) compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Imperial’s 30% portion of Red Chris mine for the first quarter of 2025 was 6,937,947 pounds copper and 6,499 ounces gold.
100% Red Chris mine production
Three Months Ended
March 31
Three Months Ended
March 31
2025
2024
Ore milled – tonnes
2,049,475