How has Equinox Gold evolved over the years, and what are your objectives as CEO?

In 2017, Ross Beaty became chairman and we rebranded as Equinox Gold, with the mission to build a profitable gold company of scale in the Americas.

Five years ago we had development-stage projects in Brazil and California, but no production. Since 2017, Equinox Gold has undergone rapid growth through M&A, the development of our assets, and the spin out of our royalty and copper businesses, as well as a Nevada-based gold business. We acquired the Mesquite gold mine in 2018, Leagold Mining in 2020 and Premier Gold in 2021, and production has grown from zero to 540,000 oz/y, with the ability to add another 600,000 oz/y through organic growth. As a company, we remain focused on getting to scale, and we have a good portfolio of long-life, high-quality assets to help us build the foundation for long-term success. What are the keys to achieving a successful outcome in the development of your Greenstone project in Ontario?

Greenstone is the biggest project Equinox Gold has ever had. When we acquired Premier Gold Mines, Greenstone came with its own high-quality team, which is the main reason why this project is doing so well. Equinox added additional value by bringing in technical resources, finances, and oversight, but the team at Greenstone has done an excellent job getting the project construction ready. We had third-party assistance in updating the budget from the feasibility study, considering inflation, supply chain constraints, and flexibility around the building schedule, and the team has done really well to ensure the project remains within timeline and budget. We are progressing well with construction and the project is on schedule to pour gold in the first half of 2024.

How will Greenstone coming online impact Equinox Gold’s production profile?

The deposit has over 5 million oz in reserves for a 14-year mine life in the main open pit. It has a life of mine grade of 1.27 g/t and is going to produce more than 400,000 oz/y Au for the first five years, making it one of the largest, highest-grade open pit mines in Canada. We currently own 60% of the project, so Greenstone will add close to 250,000 oz/y of low-cost gold production to our portfolio. The mine sits on a Greenstone trend that moves from the mine to the west, and there are a significant number of open pit targets along that trend that could eventually feed into the Greenstone mine. The most interesting upside is another 4.5 plus million oz in all categories of underground potential. Once the mine is constructed and operating, we will look at wrapping some economics around this underground potential, which could mean a substantial increase to the NPV and mine life of the project.

What are your observations on current market dynamics?

We have built this company on M&A and development, and if a compelling opportunity presents itself we would be irresponsible not to look at it. Currently we’re focused on getting Greenstone into production, but our number one M&A target over the next few years would be to consolidate Greenstone. We would love to have 100% ownership of Greenstone in the future, and if our JV partner Orion Mine Finance ever wants to sell their interest, we have a right of first refusal.

We also have the rest of our portfolio to develop, such as a 300-400,000 oz/y business in Brazil, Los Filos in Mexico, that could be expanded to a 300,000 oz/y producer, and our Mesquite mine in California.

Where would you place Equinox Gold on the Lassonde Curve?

Equinox Gold has a large proportion of our net asset value in development assets, which typically trade at a lower multiple than operating assets. We have all these expansion projects that contribute to our overall asset value, but the multiple the market assigns to Equinox Gold is lower than companies with only producing assets. As we advance through some of these expansion projects, we hope to see a re-rating of our share price.