Filed by Newmont Mining Corporation
Pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933
and deemed filed pursuant to Rule 14a-12
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Subject Company: Normandy Mining Limited
Commission File No. 132-00965
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION
REFORM ACT OF 1995
The following contains forward-looking information and statements
about Newmont Mining Corporation, Franco-Nevada Mining Corporation Limited,
Normandy Mining Limited and the combined company after completion of the
transactions that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for
"forward-looking statements" provided by the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not
historical facts. These statements include financial projections and estimates
and their underlying assumptions; statements regarding plans, objectives and
expectations with respect to future operations, products and services; and
statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are
generally identified by the words "expect," "anticipates," "believes,"
"intends," "estimates" and similar expressions. The forward-looking information
and statements in this press release are subject to various risks and
uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the
control of Newmont, Franco-Nevada and Normandy Mining, that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected
by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and
uncertainties include those discussed or identified in the public filings with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made by Newmont and Normandy, and
Franco-Nevada's filings with the Ontario Securities Commission; risks and
uncertainties with respect to the parties' expectations regarding the timing,
completion and accounting and tax treatment of the transactions, the value of
the transaction consideration, production and development opportunities,
conducting worldwide operations, earnings accretion, cost savings, revenue
enhancements, synergies and other benefits anticipated from the transactions;
and the effect of gold price and foreign exchange rate fluctuations, and general
economic conditions such as changes in interest rates and the performance of the
financial markets, changes in domestic and foreign laws, regulations and taxes,
changes in competition and pricing environments, the occurrence of significant
natural disasters, civil unrest and general market and industry conditions.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT
In connection with the proposed transactions, Newmont Mining
Corporation will file a proxy statement and a registration statement with a
prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. INVESTORS AND
SECURITY HOLDERS ARE ADVISED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND THE PROSPECTUS WHEN
THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
Investors and security holders may obtain free copies the proxy statement and
the prospectus (when available) and other documents filed by Newmont with the
Commission at the Commission's web site at http://www.sec.gov. Free copies of
the proxy statement and the prospectus, once available, and other filings made
by Newmont or Normandy with the Commission, may also be obtained from Newmont.
Free copies of Newmont's and Normandy's filings may be obtained by directing a
request to Newmont Mining Corporation, Attn: Investor Relations, 1700 Lincoln
Street, Denver, Colorado 80203, Telephone: (303) 863-7414. Copies of
Franco-Nevada's filings may be obtained at http://www.sedar.com.
PARTICIPANTS IN SOLICITATION
Newmont Mining Corporation and its directors, executive officers and
other members of its management and employees may be soliciting proxies from its
stockholders in connection with the transactions. Information concerning
Newmont's participants in the solicitation is set forth in Newmont's Current
Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on November 14, 2001, as amended.
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
Moderator: Wendy Yang
11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
Confirmation # 607670
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NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
Moderator: Wendy Yang
November 14, 2001
9:00 a.m. CT
Operator: Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Newmont, Normandy, and
Franco-Nevada conference call. Just a reminder, today's call is being
recorded.
At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like
to turn the call over to Ms. Wendy Yang, Director of Investor Relations
for Newmont Mining Corporation. Please go ahead, ma'am.
Wendy Yang: Thank you very much, and thank you for joining us on a very exciting
day in gold history, I think. We will be hearing much more about the new
gold standard in bringing together three exciting companies.
We will be having a conference call that's recorded and
simultaneously Webcast on our Web site. So I do remind you that we will be
discussing some forward-looking statements here, and we are covered by the
Safe Harbor Act.
Also I would like to say that we - in talking about the risk
factors, to draw your attention to the SEC filings of all three companies.
And with that today, with no further ado, I'll turn it over to
Wayne Murdy, CEO and President of Newmont Mining - Wayne.
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
Moderator: Wendy Yang
11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
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Wayne Murdy: Thank you, Wendy, and good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank
you for joining us to hear about this combination, which creates the
gold standard of the 21st century. We're extremely excited to be
here.
I'm joined in New York today by Seymour Schulich and Pierre
Lassonde, the co-CEOs of Franco-Nevada. On the line in Australia is Mr.
Robert Champion de Crespigny, Chairman and CEO of Normandy. And here
beside me is my partner, Ron Cambre, the Chairman of Newmont Mining.
I'd like to say -- to begin by discussing the news we announced
here this morning and explain some of its positive implication. I do want
to draw your attention to the fact that, if you have access to the Web
site, the presentation material that we're going to be using in our road
show is on that Web site, and it's a very powerful story. So if you want
to page through that as we go through this presentation, while we're not
directly tied to it, I think it reinforces the points that we're excited
to make today.
Our proposed acquisition of both the largest gold company in
Australia, Normandy, and the industry's leading royalty company,
Franco-Nevada, will create a new company with a market capitalization of
about $8.8 billion. We will be the gold industry's leader in reserves,
production, and very importantly, leveraged (the) gold price. We'll have
huge trading liquidity and a substantial cash flow of operations in excess
of $700 million, even at today's gold price, which we feel has tremendous
upside potential.
This combination immediately makes Newmont one of the strongest,
best-capitalized companies in the industry, with net depth to
capitalization ratio of about 17 percent. This increased financial
strength and flexibility will allow us increased flexibility and
continuing exploration and developing new projects, pursuing opportunistic
acquisitions or investments in a disciplined manner when the market
warrants.
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
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11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
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Consolidation is not just about growing larger, it's about discipline and
it's about rationalization. The gold market is low. We'll be extremely
disciplined. We don't need to add production. When the market turns - and
we feel it is going to turn. There's a lot of dynamics in this market that
Pierre will talk about later that tell us that over the next two to three
years we think we can see a substantial gold price rise, and we want our
shareholders to participate in that gold price rise.
We expect that the new Newmont will be the clear choice for investors
seeking that upside exposure to gold. This is about portfolio
diversification, and having some gold in people's investment portfolio in
times like this is extremely important.
After the close of these acquisitions, Newmont intends to discontinue
Normandy's hedging program. We plan to deliver the existing production
into Normandy's hedge contracts, and will seek to opportunistically unwind
these positions.
Moreover, the combination will be both accretive and synergistic.
(Specifically), it will immediately be accretive to Newmont's net asset
value, earnings, and free cash flow. Further, the company we are creating
expects to realize initially between $70 million and $80 million in
after-tax synergy, and we expect that number to grow over the next several
years.
Our offer for Normandy will value that company's shares at Australian
$1.70, far higher than the current value as of the close of business
yesterday of $1.37 per share Australian being offered by (Angor Gold).
Further, we're making this acquisition -- we'll make this exchange into
Newmont common stock as opposed to the South African equity that (Angor)
was offering.
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
Moderator: Wendy Yang
11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
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You should also note that we have taken important steps towards completing
these transactions. First, we have the approval of all three boards of
directors as to their favorable recommendations to shareholders. This is
extremely important. Second, we have secured the commitment of
Franco-Nevada's 19.99 percent interest in Normandy to the Newmont
acquisition. We are off and running in this (contest).
Let me briefly summarize these two international transactions and what
each acquisition brings to all shareholders of the new Newmont. The new
Newmont, as I said, will have a market capitalization of well in excess of
$8 billion. In the case of Normandy, the controlling interest will be
acquired under Australian Securities Laws through a recommended off-market
takeover bid.
Here in the United States we would call it an exchange offer. We are
offering a full and fair price of 0.0385 shares of Newmont for all of
Normandy's outstanding share. Our offer is subject to the condition that a
minimum of 50.1 percent of the Normandy shares are tendered, which will
already incorporate the 19.9 percent block that Franco have committed to
the transaction.
We're also offering a bonus at the end. And I'm not sure legally what I'm
supposed to call this, but I will tell you that there's an extra five
cents per share for all Normandy shareholders when this offer passes a 90
percent threshold on a fully-diluted basis.
Normandy's leading production position in Australia and its promising
development portfolio are tremendous additions to the Newmont asset base,
and the potential for seeing these assets re-rated on a North American
basis is exciting for all shareholders.
As for Franco-Nevada, we've agreed to combine in a court-approved plan of
arrangement under Canadian Securities Laws, which we in the U.S. consider
as a stock-for-stock merger transaction. The terms of that transaction
call for Franco-Nevada shareholders to receive 0.8 of a share of Newmont
for each of their shares.
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
Moderator: Wendy Yang
11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
Confirmation # 607670
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Franco-Nevada brings a stable, high-margin income stream from its
industry-leading royalty business that will augment Newmont's mining
revenues. We're committed to growing that royalty revenue, as we (seed) in
Newmont superior land position in the United States and Normandy's
superior land position in Australia to the (playbox) here that this
royalty business has to operate from. To do so, we will rely on the
outstanding investing capabilities of the Franco-Nevada management to
(alleve) this new business unit of the combined company.
The new Newmont will be a little over 50 percent owned by current Newmont
shareholders, about 30 percent owned by Franco's shareholders, and just
under 20 percent owned by Normandy shareholders. Neither the Normandy
offer nor the merger agreement of Franco-Nevada has a collar.
Let me conclude by giving you a snapshot look at the new organization's
global scale. We have a reserve base of some 97 million ounces. With 22
mines on five continents, the important thing consistent with our strategy
in the past was we have large mines in discreet regions. We have (interest
or) participation in another eight gold operations. Annual production will
be in excess of eight million ounces at a very competitive cash cost of
about $174 an ounce. Approximately 75 -- 70 percent of our combined
production and reserves will be from North America and Australia.
The combined company will employ about 12,500 people, but importantly will
have the largest global land position, with mines in the world's best gold
districts, including Nevada, Western Australia, and Peru.
Somebody was adding up the acreage the other day, and they indicated that
our mineral land position, globally, equates to the land mass of the U.K.
All of this is backed by a greatly enhanced financial strength - high
leverage to the gold price, a balanced political risk profile, a new
source of stable, high-margin income, and a broadened, strengthened
management base.
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
Moderator: Wendy Yang
11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
Confirmation # 607670
Page 6
I'd like to take a minute now to introduce you to a man whose company will
be a critical part of our winning combination, Mr. Robert Champion de
Crespigny, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Normandy, to make
a few comments - Robert.
Robert Champion de Crespigny: Thank you, Wayne. The Normandy board and my
management colleagues and I are very excited about this great
opportunity for our shareholders to participate in what we know will be
the best gold company in the world.
The other members of our board of directors and I unanimously endorse the
Newmont offer, and we have determined it to be superior to the (Angor
Gold) offer for Normandy, and also to be very much in the best interest of
our shareholders.
This is what my colleagues and I have spent 16 years building Normandy
for. We wanted to give our shareholders a hold in the world's dominant
gold company with a North American market rating.
I (earn to accept) my own shares, but also I've been advised by the other
two founders of Normandy that they'll do so also. The transactions also
are very logical for our management team. It's a very good fit, as Newmont
did not have a presence here management-wise, and therefore you'll see a
continuity of a team that's very much focused on building a gold company
in this region.
I'll be pleased to answer any questions concerning Normandy and its
contribution to the new company. So, back to you, Wayne.
Wayne Murdy: Thank you, Robert. I had the pleasure of having dinner, I guess it
was about a week and a half ago, in (Adelaide) with Robert and his wife,
and Robert expressed his excitement about the
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
Moderator: Wendy Yang
11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
Confirmation # 607670
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vision that we see for this company. By the same token, clearly it's
emotional for a founder to be involved in a transaction like this, and he
has been nothing but a gentleman, and we have enjoyed talking about the
future of this enterprise.
I would now like to ask Seymour Schulich, the Chairman and co-CEO of
Franco-Nevada, to share with you his thoughts on the benefits of this
combination, and what it provides to Franco-Nevada shareholders - Seymour.
Seymour Schulich: Thank you very much, Wayne. First and foremost, let me say
that all three companies strongly believe in gold. This transaction will
give the new company significant leverage to the gold price and a very
strong balance sheet as well.
Since Pierre Lassonde and I founded Franco-Nevada in 1982, consistently
shared the goal of maximizing shareholder value. Pierre and I will both be
actively involved as officers and directors of the new Newmont, and as
part of our commitment, we are escrowing 70 percent of our shareholdings.
We can tell you that this combination creates enormous value for the
shareholders of Newmont, Franco-Nevada, and Normandy alike.
Wayne Murdy: Thank you, Seymour. I'd like now to introduce Mr. Pierre
Lassonde, the Franco-Nevada President and co-CEO, who will work with me
as he becomes President of the combined Newmont - Pierre.
Pierre Lassonde: Thank you, Wayne, and good morning, everybody. The new Newmont
portfolio will include some of the most coveted high-quality gold assets
in the world today. And as the executive in charge of royalty and merchant
banking activity for this company, I look forward to taking advantage of
Newmont's technical and development skills, and the Normandy growing
exploration portfolio to expand this business unit. Its success will help
us to substantially increase the high margin income stream from our
royalty portfolio and create new wealth out of
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
Moderator: Wendy Yang
11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
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Page 8
the merchant banking activity. And we're confident that we can continue to
maximize the shareholder value of the new Newmont by using our skills.
Wayne Murdy: And finally, in this round robin that we're going through this
morning here, I would - I would like to call on Ron Cambre, who is
Chairman of Newmont Mining, and has been so instrumental in building our
international asset base over the last eight years - Ron.
Ron Cambre: Thanks, Wayne. And I'll be brief. First I'd like to just say
congratulations to all the principles. I know you've worked hard and
diligently to put this together. If our announcement today is nothing less
than the revitalization of the gold industry with consolidation creating
fewer, stronger, and more disciplined producers that support the long
range fundamentals for gold. This three-way win, win, win plan creates a
company with a superior and balanced asset base, stable new income stream,
and the financial strength to do whatever is needed to deliver on building
the wealth of its shareholders as the world's best gold company.
I know you now have questions for the team, and I'll turn it over to Wayne
to address those.
Wayne Murdy: Thank you, Ron. I just want to summarize with a couple of points
reemphasizing the benefits of the new gold standard. But again, you've
heard us talk a lot about the fact that we will be a non-hedged company.
That is the philosophy that's a principle that we all share. And in that
regard, that makes sense for our shareholders because we do, as we've said
earlier, believe in gold.
I'd like to just ask Pierre to talk for a few minutes about how we see the
gold market, and then I'll wrap up with a couple of points, and we'll open
it up for questioning.
Pierre Lassonde: Thanks, Wayne. I guess you all know that, you know, Seymour and
I have shared the philosophy of non-hedging for 18 years, and we're
absolutely delighted to, you know, merge with
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
Moderator: Wendy Yang
11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
Confirmation # 607670
Page 9
a company like Newmont who has the same philosophy. And we believe that,
over the next three years, our non-hedging philosophy is going to produce
tremendous benefits for our shareholders, because we see a gold market
that on (Economic 101), the supply's falling, and demand is increasing.
Mined supply is coming off over the next three years at a rate of we
believe approximately five percent. Producer hedging, which has been one
of the bane of the industry for the past 10 years, is now coming to an
end, thankfully because the ((inaudible)) is now down to one percent, or
$3 (at the end) of the year. And the ((inaudible)) (salacity) of gold
being somewhere around $5 per hundred tons for every three, 400 tons that
is not hitting the market, you going to see a $20 increase in gold price.
We're very confident that we going to see that in the next few years.
And from a financial standpoint, and we believe that gold at the end of
the day is money, we believe that in this current environment of high
uncertainty in the financial market, it makes enormous sense and prudence
to have part of one's portfolio hedged with a gold producer that is
totally unhedged, like the new Newmont will be. And the fact that the new
Newmont will have the highest leverage to our price move in gold makes it
even more attractive. We think that we have put together an absolutely
winning company for the next few years and for the long run, but certainly
for the next few years, where we're so confident that we going to see a
rise in gold price.
Wayne Murdy: Thank you, Pierre. I'd just like to finish up, as I said, by making
a - reemphasizing several points. Newmont Mining Corporation, the new gold
standard, will be number one in reserves, in gold production, number one
in leverage to the gold price. Let me just put a number around what that
means. A $25 increase in our gold price increases are cash earnings $162
million. It is a significant number, and (an absolute cent), and it's
almost twice the leverage of the - of the next most leveraged company
amongst the major players, which is (Goldfield) in South Africa.
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
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11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
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We'll be number one in trading liquidity and number one in our EBITDA
level, which will be well in excess of $800 million, even at today's
relatively low gold price. This company has balance sheet strength, low
costs, balanced political risks, management strength, a no-hedging
philosophy, and a U.S. domicile. If our enthusiasm hasn't shown through on
this phone call, then we have failed this morning, because we are excited.
We see this as a stock that the investing public needs to own. People need
asset diversification in their portfolio, and asset diversification is not
about having Dow Jones stocks with a few dot-coms
mixed in.
We are counter-cyclical to the market. We've had good performance this
year. If you look at a chart of our performance this year, we're up over
30 percent, and it's been consistent throughout the year as the world has
faced uncertainty since the beginning of the year as to the financial
markets.
With that, I'd like to open the meeting up to questions from the - from
the audience. Thank you all very much for your attention.
Operator: Thank you. And at this time, our question and answer session will be
conducted electronically. If you would like to ask a question today,
please press star one on your touch-tone telephone keypad. Again, that is
star one on your touch-tone telephone keypad.
And we'll pause for just a moment.
And we'll hear first from Michael Dudas with Bear Stearns.
Michael Dudas: Good morning, gentlemen, and congratulations.
Wayne Murdy: Thank you, Michael.
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Page 11
Michael Dudas: A couple of things. First, these deals mutually exclusive? And
secondly, you mentioned discipline, Wayne, in the early part of your
discussion. How important is that going to be with, of course, all the new
assets and management talent and opportunities that you've now acquired in
this three-way transaction so it goes through given that balance of
discipline versus, you know, somewhat fragile gold market that we see over
the past many years.
Wayne Murdy: Michael, let me answer that - the second part first. And when I
talked about discipline, and I talked about industry consolidation, I also
talked about rationalization. This industry, as we all know, was extremely
harsh on its capital base in the - during the early '90s especially. It's
very common in this industry to see two mills next to each other on the -
effectively the same deposit because of separate ownerships.
We have been for some time, and we'll be very committed to rationalization
as we look at the combined asset mix here. There are opportunities out
there that don't go to just growth. If the gold price stays low, the
world's telling us at that moment in time, we don't need to increase
production. And that's a key component of our - of our thinking as we - as
we go through the strategic - developing the strategic direction of this
company.
And we've talked about the similarity of our philosophies. We can do an
awful lot for this industry by rationalizing it. Consolidation is
important, but it isn't important if you just get big. The name of the
game is to be more profitable, and that means be more efficient with your
workforce, and be more efficient in how you deploy capital. Five, six,
seven, eight, nine percent return on investment projects don't make the
cut. And we've got to preach that throughout our industry.
With respect to your first question, the transaction, as I've said, we
have a lock going forward, and I'm probably not using the right legal
term, so I'll get kicked here someplace. But basically we have a firm
commitment on the 19.99 percent share block that Franco owned in Normandy.
That's in our pocket. That minute that we hit 50.1 percent, that triggers
the merger between
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
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Franco and Newmont. So, while yes, there are contingencies, we have tried
to button this up as much as we could from - you know, as long as we're
doing this legally, we're extremely excited. We're putting full value on
the table, but we can do that because of the synergies and because the
upside of the combined company.
Michael Dudas: Thank you, Wayne. One final follow-up, quickly. If the gold price
were to be $50 higher, and the ((inaudible)) were to widen from, say,
current one percent to nine, 10 percent, would that change the view point
visibility of this company relative to its hedge book and marketing
((inaudible))?
Wayne Murdy: No.
Michael Dudas: Thank you.
Operator: And we'll hear next from Richard Hedstrom with JB Were.
Richard Hedstrom: Wayne, two quick questions, if I could. Wondering if you could
give us a bit of a breakdown on the $70 million to $80 million cost
savings that you're talking about, where you expect to see them going
forward over the next year. And secondly, what your intentions are on the
Australian Magnesium offer of ((inaudible)), its holding there given the
substantial commitments, given buying Normandy to the equity holding.
Wayne Murdy: OK. If you - if you have access to the Web site, I'd draw your
attention to page 12 of the presentation, where we - where we estimate our
annualized after-tax savings. We see about $20 million kind of out of the
box the first full year of operation in G&A, and that's just the - you
know, the benefits of replacing three public companies with one. A lot of
those are external costs, and they're not very difficult to achieve. We'll
go slow in this price environment on exploration and development, bring
that in a little closer to home to the extent that there's (greenfields),
which
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there has not been much for any of the companies involved. But there's
probably another $10 million there.
Operations and procurement at this point, because the attorneys want me to
be conservative we're saying $10 million to $15 million. This is an area
that I really think that with our gold medal program, Newmont has excelled
that. Our past record speaks for itself, and the - at the time we did the
(Santa Fe) acquisition in 1997, and we're seeing the benefits this year of
the (Battle Mountain) acquisition that we acquired earlier in the year.
Interest savings are kind of a slam-dunk. We'll have - we have a large
cash position, and to the extent that we can pay down some debts, that
generates synergies that far outweigh the interest you can earn in today's
world on a cash portfolio. And then we see significant net tax synergy.
The tax guys have been working on this transaction for a long time. It's
got a - for people that into that, it's a got a plethora of challenges,
but we've got some great solutions, and we see some net tax synergies of
about $20 million. So we're talking about after tax annualized of $70
million, $80 million. Again, our experience is, once we really get into
the operation, procurement activities, the rationalization things we
talked about earlier, we think there's more to be had.
Richard Hedstrom: Right. And just following up on that ((inaudible))
Magnesium intentions there, given the Normandy commitments to the
equity offering.
Wayne Murdy: Well, I think Normandy has made significant commitments to that
equity offering. Robert, you might just talk about where that equity
offering lies, and your view of it as that draws down to a close.
Robert Champion de Crespigny: Wayne, I'll make a comment that we should ask
((inaudible)) they're the (late underwriter). And so I think - I think
he'd be the best one to ask, and if he spent less time asking the
question, he'd finish off the ((inaudible)), we could shut it off tonight.
I hear the - I
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hear our thing with the chairman, chief executive, and managing directors
and I, and ((inaudible)) going extremely well. It's looking to close at
the end of the week. And I'm sure ((inaudible)) are going to make sure
they deliver for us on it.
Richard Hedstrom: Right. Thanks, guys.
Operator: And moving on today, we'll next hear from Mike Jalonen with
Merrill Lynch.
Mike Jalonen: ((inaudible)) questions, boring variety. Wayne, you mentioned
cash earnings for the leveraged at gold, and in your press release you
mentioned Newmont's earnings are accretive. Is there going to be some sort
of goodwill taking off the earnings, or they'll be focusing in cash
earnings going forward? And my second question is, with - is the nice
capital gains on the Normandy holding on Franco, will that be taxed under
Canadian authorities?
Wayne Murdy: Good morning, Michael. With respect to - with respect to
goodwill - I'm sorry. It's been a long few nights. With respect to your
first question, yes, there will be goodwill recorded on the acquisition.
The accounting rules, as you're all aware, have changed in the United
States. Poolings of interest are no longer allowed. So we will do a
valuation on - a revaluation of both the Franco assets and the Normandy
assets, based on a discounted cash flow model. We'll use basically the
same kinds of parameters that we use in a - what I call a ceiling test
review at the end of each year - the carrying value review, to determine
whether or not you've had any diminution of value. That then will be new
carrying costs on the books of the combined companies for those - for the
- for both Franco and Normandy.
The balance, then, will end up in goodwill, and under the new accounting
rules, that is not amortized. It will sit on the balance sheet. It's the
difference between, if you will, the net asset values and market values
that we're acquiring it.
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On an annual basis - and I may get corrected, this is on a quarterly basis
- but on an annual basis, you go through and make a determination of
whether there's been a permanent impairment in that goodwill number.
And so the accounting will change from what the industry is seeing, but
it's, like many other aspects of this transaction, will be on the leading
edge.
Mike Jalonen: How much would that goodwill - or not goodwill, sorry. How
much will the amortization be of just the acquisition, excluding
goodwill, every year? You haven't figured that yet.
Wayne Murdy: Well, we've got some pro forma numbers and, you know, I'd
sooner wait until we fine-tune that and you get the materials that come
out of the SEC, which will be shortly.
Mike Jalonen: OK. And I guess the ...
Wayne Murdy: But as we look at our - you know, as we look at our pro
formas here, this is an income-producing company out of a box, and with
the upside I talked about earlier, even with that amortization.
Mike Jalonen: On the second question, capitals gains put possible tax on the
Normandy holding?
Wayne Murdy: Yeah. The transaction, with respect to Franco, is a tax-free
transaction to support shareholders. Both Canadian and U.S. will have
the option of exchangeable shares in Canada or U. S. shares here,
depending on their holdings. We're structuring the transaction in a
way that we think we can shelter the capital gains that Franco would
see on Normandy, since they're all three coming together.
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We're also structuring the transaction, assuming we get to, and that's why
we're putting some incentive in the transaction, additional cash incentive
in the transaction for the Normandy shareholders to get a full-tax
consolidation there.
Michael: OK. Thank you.
Operator: And our next question today will come from Victor Flores with HSBC.
Victor Flores: Good morning. I'd like to get a bit more in to the issue of the
value creation aspect. You know, some of the recent transactions that
we've seen in the sector have aimed to create value by achieving a
re-rating. The company is larger, the company's more liquid. Obviously
you're improving the Newmont balance sheet, you're adding production in
other areas, you're getting a lot of interesting exploration potential,
but you talked about, really, a situation where there's meant to be more
consolidation with this new company going forward.
Aside from the $80 million a year, which is really quite small, given the
size of this total transaction, what other areas per value creation do you
see going forward?
Wayne Murdy: Thanks, Victor. As the market sees us bringing this transaction
together - and when I say that, I don't mean closing. I mean the
activities, the blocking and tackling that'll take place over the next
year. As we see the discipline, the assets that we keep and we work on
and the assets that we decide don't fit into this company's future,
that's where real value creation comes from.
I think, as we see that, you'll see how we're currently valued against
some other people in this industry, and we see multibillion dollar
potential for appreciation as our valuation start to equate to some
others.
Victor Flores: Great. Thank you.
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Wayne Murdy: And maybe I could ask Pierre to comment on that, because he clearly
- he and Seymour spent a lot of time looking at all the companies within
the industry and how they're valued.
Pierre Lassonde: Victor, one of our view is that this transaction will
probably be one of the last equity consolidation in the industry.
There might be (a large scale one). The next wave of consolidation is
likely to be at the property level, vis-a-vis the equity level. And
when you look at the new Newmont, with six million acres of land ...
Male: Sixty.
Pierre Lassonde: With 60 million - I'm sorry - 60 million acres of land, the
size of the UK - for the U.S., the size of Wyoming - the company has such
a dominant land position that will be in a position to extract, I think,
significant benefits from the - this new wave of consolidation.
And as we do the assessment of these properties, whether they fit or how
they fit in the Newmont portfolio, we will, through our merchant banking
activity, try to extract the maximum benefit for the company. And by
putting all three together, we believe that we're going to be able to
create far more wealth for the new shareholders than for any one of them
if we were separate.
Wayne Murdy: I think, Victor, as you begin to run your models, you'll see that
this transaction is substantially accretive to the net asset value of
Newmont on a per-share basis. And over time, net asset value translates to
share price.
Victor Flores: Gentlemen, thank you very much.
Operator: And our next question today comes from James Vail with ING Pilgrim.
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James Vail: Good morning. In Pierre's comments, he mentioned that the
(Newco) will be unhedged. Does that suggest that the Normandy hedge
book, once the deal is closed, is going to be eliminated?
Wayne Murdy: Go ahead.
Pierre Lassonde: This company has a no-hedge philosophy. I think - if we can't
make that more clear, you know, I don't know what we have to do. So the
intent is to deliver the hedge - into the hedge book of Normandy, and if
appropriate, (expediously) close that hedge book. That is the intent.
James Vail: Thank you very much.
Operator: Thank you, gentlemen. And our next question today will come from
Michael Herzog with MH Davidson.
Michael Herzog: Good morning, gentlemen. Just a few questions on the
transactions, if I may. Firstly, the formal commitment from Franco-Nevada.
Is this a commitment to tender in to the offer, or - and does it remain
binding in the event of a higher competing offer for Normandy, or does it
fall in a way - or does it fall away?
Secondly, the level of (interconditionality) between the two deals. Is it
just the 50.1 percent condition in the offer for Franco-Nevada that we get
50.1 percent in Normandy? And then, just lastly, have there been any
discussions with the regulators - and I'm thinking here, in particular,
the (Aussie firms) and the anti-trust regulators as to their potential
view on this transaction?
Wayne Murdy: OK, I think to address your questions - first of all, the - we have
a firm call, I'm talking about the current Newmont, on the Franco
shareholding in Normandy. That does not go away because there's a superior
bid. And in fact, that call survives - if we did not reach 50.1, it
survives that
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point and time for an extended period. So that's firmly brought in. Once
we hit the 50.1, then that triggers the merger between Newmont and Franco.
Again, the power of this transaction is its three-way nature. Each one of
these companies has unique characteristics that, when we add them up, is
what generates the value.
And I guess to your last question, we have not had discussions yet with
regulators in Australia, but we have been advised in all three of our - of
the boards have been advised that there are no regulatory hurdles that
should be an impediment to this transaction.
Michael Herzog: OK. Thank you very much.
Operator: And moving on today to Geoff Stanley with BMO Nesbitt Burns.
Geoff Stanley: Good morning, gentlemen. A very exciting transaction. The
question I have relates really, I suppose, to the level of diversification
the new company is prepared to adopt and your philosophy going forward.
The new merged company will have a ((inaudible)) in a number of different
commodities - diamonds, (BGMs), base metals, and I'm wondering the extent
to which you will be prepared to diversify the, you know, dominantly gold
revenue (strength).
Wayne Murdy: We intend to remain a gold company. You'll see the - what I refer
to as the royalty business or our merchant banking business, really, is
the way I characterize many of the activities of Franco-Nevada through the
years, is a precious minerals business. So we're not - we won't
necessarily be restricted to gold within that business.
There are platinum and palladium royalties. There's - I guess from my old
oil and gas days, I'll say there's even a royalty in some Arctic gas that
kind of excites me long term. But the core
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business here is to be a gold company. It's to provide investors a unique
liquid gold security that they should own.
Geoff Stanley: OK, good. And perhaps, ((inaudible)), if you would take just a
moment to flesh out some thoughts on what the management team - the new
management team will look like in little more detail going forward, and
whether the board will - in the extent of reconstitution of the board, I
suppose.
Wayne Murdy: I think as disclosed, first addressing the board, there will be
three additions to the Newmont board from the Franco-Nevada board. Seymour
and Pierre will clearly come on board, and then there'll be a third
nominee. That's a future number one draft choice.
Secondly, from Normandy, there will be two directors from - nominees from
their current board. Clearly, Robert will be one of those directors, and
we'll have a number draft choice there. So that'll be the newly
constituted board.
With respect to management, as you can appreciate in putting together a
company like this - and I will tell you in doing a three-way transaction
is always an interesting exercise - Pierre will join Newmont. He will be
the president of the company, he will move to Denver, and we're looking
forward to working together.
Seymour has chose not to move to Denver, even though he likes to come down
and hike in the Rocky Mountains, but he will be a chairman and a - have a
consulting agreement with the new company, the service chairman of the
merchant banking operation.
We have not put together the balance of the management team at this point.
I will tell you that I personally have spent time in Australia and met
Robert's management team. There were
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individuals that I felt were excited about this transaction, and I have to
tell you that I've been excited about the individuals I met there.
The - our due diligence team, and I should stress that. We did substantial
due diligence on both companies. We had a large due diligence team in
Australia. We had exceptional - and that message came back to me a number
of times - exceptional professionalism displayed on all sides. I think all
our employees of all three companies are very excited.
I've had a chance to meet a number of the - I think I've met all of the
management team of Franco. I've been jealous to how small their shop is in
some regards. But these are outstanding individuals throughout all three
enterprises. Again, we have unique qualities in each house that makes the
combination very powerful, and I think when we combine that with our gold
medal performance program, we'll emerge with an incredibly strong
management team and workforce.
Geoff Stanley: OK. Good. And perhaps just one quick last question. Do you
have an estimate of the charge that will go through the P&L as a result
of, you know, fees, et cetera for the transaction?
Wayne Murdy: Well, interesting - you know, under the old pooling rules, it all
hit P&L under the purchase accounting rules, the substantial fees are
actually capitalized and part of the cost of the transaction. So I don't -
there will be some that hit the P&L but at this point in time we don't
have a number that I'd be comfortable giving you, but it's not a material
amount.
Geoff Stanley: All right. Good. Thank you very much, and good luck.
Male: Thank you.
Operator: And moving on today to Kevin Scarlebois with Queensway Investments.
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Kevin Scarlebois: Thank you. Just a couple of questions on the cost to produce
((inaudible)) you showed a 175 on the slide. What are your expectations on
a go-forward basis with that, given that you're putting three companies
together, two operating companies? Do you see some dispositions in the
works? And finally, where do you see the most value creation being taking
place over the next five years?
Wayne Murdy: OK. I guess to address that, I think we do show in our charts a
combined cash cost number of about $174. If (Dave Francisco) and my other
- and the operating people - I know they're on the line, and they are -
they're shuddering right now because they know what I'm going to say, is
we will push to bring those numbers down.
I think Newmont has been very successful in doing - in keeping its costs
low, not just with new low-cost operations, but with a more mature
operations in Nevada. And we continue - that's the mantra within the
company. That's what our gold medal performance program is all about. So
we'll continue to lower those costs.
Are we going to lower them $10 or $20 an ounce? No. But we will keep them
low and we'll keep picking at them. That's always a commitment of our
workforce, and everybody understands that.
I think with respect to the value creation, it is that we will be
streamlined, focused on large asset plays, good regions of gold
exploration. Again, as I pointed out earlier, it's accretive on a net
asset basis and a significant way out of the box, and we'll make very
rational decisions. We will have the discipline that we don't have to
continually increase production in a down market. So the name of the game,
the way we incentivize our people long term, is more and more (ties) to
return on invested capital.
Kevin Scarlebois: And divestments?
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Wayne Murdy: You know, again, I talked earlier about rationalization. We're
in the business of making money here. We look at - continually look at each
asset and whether it fits our criteria. As we go into the transaction, we
know that there are a number of small properties in both Normandy and in
Newmont that probably don't fit long-term, but we'll take a look at those
one by one as we move - as we move forward.
Kevin Scarlebois: Thank you.
Operator: And next we'll hear from Tom Yankou with Morgan Stanley.
Tom Yankou: Yes. Can you be any more specific on the timing of the
transaction and what regulatory approvals would be on the critical path
to closing?
Wayne Murdy: I might ask for a little bit of help here from the attorneys, but
basically, as we've laid out a timetable, obviously we have to do filings
in all three jurisdictions. We'll attempt to get those filings completed
over the next two to three weeks. I've just choked a bunch of people in
the room, but we're - no, we're very confident we can do that. All three
companies are extremely professional, and their filings are all up to
date. So we can move forward quickly on that.
You know, I'm - as we look at an optimistic timetable, I think that, you
know, early - late January, early February we could be at a shareholder
vote with respect to both Franco and Newmont. Obviously we're dependent
upon things like SEC reviews and security reviews in Canada. But those
should not be significant issues for us.
Tom Yankou: OK.
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Wayne Murdy: We'll make, you know, filings here late November, early
December. We hope to - by late December to be mailing Franco shareholder
meeting materials, and we'll be moving forward on the completion of the
Normandy bid as expeditiously as we can.
Tom Yankou: Will the Normandy bid begin after you get the Newmont
shareholder vote?
Wayne Murdy: No, no. We'll - that will go forward much sooner than that
once we're comfortable that we have no significant issues at the Securities
and Exchange Commission, we will be in a position - and that Franco has no
significant issues with the Ontario Securities Commission, then we would -
then - that offer will become (wide).
Tom Yankou: So the Normandy transaction could be completed before the
Newmont and Franco votes?
Male: No. It's conditional.
Male: No. It is conditional . . .
Tom Yankou: OK. OK. OK. Will Franco-Nevada be declaring, or can they
declare their annual dividend, which they would normally declare in
March?
Pierre Lassonde: No. We would intend to defer that until either the
transaction closes or much later in the calendar year. We will declare
dividend if the company is still in existence, but it would be not until
probably November or December of 2002. It will be deferred in the March
period.
Tom Yankou: OK. And finally, in the description of the Normandy transaction
and the conditions, is a condition that there's no material adverse change
at Normandy including their trading position and prospects and
profitability? Many times in a transaction like this, the price of gold
will be excluded for the purposes of determining whether there's a
material adverse change. And I'm
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just wondering, in this transaction, what - you know, whether the price is
considered - the price of gold is considered in that material adverse
change condition?
Male: I think we have made the point several times that we aren't hedgers. So
gold, in fact, is excluded from that the material adverse change. We
understand the industry and we're comfortable with that exclusion.
Tom Yankou: OK. Thank you.
Operator: And our next question today will come from Tom Sands with CS First
Boston.
Tom Sands: Hi, guys. I just have a couple of - I have quick clarifications,
and they're actually pointed to various different people. I guess, first
of all, just clarifying the Franco-Nevada call. If over 50.1 percent of
the company were to tender into a competing offer, then Newmont still has
the right, you're saying, to exercise the call and, at that point, benefit
from any profit above the value of the Newmont offer. Is that correct?
Wayne Murdy: We have - we have provisions in our agreement that give us a
certain aspect of that upside a minimum amount, and we have an agreement
basically that locks up those shares between us. And that - this is not
about making a few extra bucks on tendering into somebody else's bid.
Tom Sands: No. I appreciate that, certainly, and clearly it seems that, at
the same time, though, you're basically - in order to incentivize, you
guys to enter into this agreement Franco-Nevada has, in essence,
stopped themselves out in terms of additional profits. Is that correct?
Male: No.
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Male: No. We really agreed essentially to share additional profits, but
essentially Newmont has the right to take the block of stock on and...
Tom Sands: ...circumstances...
Male: ...do with it what it will.
Tom Sands: Is there a circumstances or a condition whereby that call on the
Franco-Nevada holding in Normandy would become null?
Male: No.
Male: No.
Male: No.
Male: No.
Male: No.
Tom Sands: No? OK. So it's irrevocable? On the Normandy side, on - this
is more for Robert. Robert, obviously you have a part B that would be
issued on the (Angor Gold) deal in any event in the coming weeks, I
suppose, now that the ((inaudible)) on the (Angor Gold) deal.
Obviously, number one, I assume that the value of this deal falls into
the realm of fairness that that part B is going to show. Is that
correct?
Wayne Murdy: Robert, if you could address that.
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Robert Champion de Crespigny: ((inaudible)) technically we call it a target
statement in Australia, and we're required to issue that on Monday (week).
And I'll be announcing tomorrow at the end of ((inaudible)) Normandy's
annual general meeting which ((inaudible)) I'll be announcing then that
the Normandy board will be rejecting that offer because ((inaudible))
regard as a superior offer.
Tom Sands: Right. Now, separately from that, you've said that you and other
management are going to support the - this deal obviously, not only
through the recommendation of the offer, but also in tendering your
shares. Is that tender irrevocable, or would you guys be free to - or even
be required to accept the higher offer?
Robert Champion de Crespigny: You ((inaudible))?
Male: Yes, Robert.
Robert Champion de Crespigny: Our situation is different, and I won't go into
the complexities of the Australian ((inaudible)) which I know is not
necessarily at the forefront of ((inaudible)) conversation ((inaudible))
but we have ((inaudible)) thresholds, and therefore all I'm doing - and
it's really not so much management, but between me and then all of our
directors have equity interests. None of those have been able to, by law,
give commitments.
What we have done and may the largest of the shareholders is express an
intention that what we aim to do. I think it's quite powerful, though,
today mentioning that the other two founders with me at Normandy that
((inaudible)) that's still out there have also asked me to express their
intentions to support this transaction.
Tom Sands: What percentage do the three of you currently hold?
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Robert Champion de Crespigny: I've never made it my business to talk about
anyone else's money or investments. So I hold just under three percent.
But I won't mention theirs, because it's really for them to answer, but
they've got good holdings.
Tom Sands: OK. And the last question is back for Newmont. Obviously the Franco
transaction is conditional upon gaining over 50.1 percent of Normandy. Is
that to say that your sole interest in acquiring Franco is as part of this
three-way deal, or just that the pricing of the Franco deal may change if
Normandy were not part of the equation?
Wayne Murdy: No. This is a package deal and - but it was not just the holding in
Newmont - pardon me, the holding in Normandy that attracted us to Franco.
We've - we see great power in that merchant banking and royalty income
streams. It becomes our hedge. It's a base level of earnings that allows
us to be so strong in our statements as to our philosophy going forward.
And I guess the other aspect of this is the absolute parallel views of the
boards of the two companies and the senior management of the two companies
towards the gold market itself.
Tom Sands: OK. Well, great. Thanks a lot, guys.
Operator: And our next question today will come from Greg Hunter with
Deutsche Securities.
Greg Hunter: Good morning. To an extent my question has been answered, you
know, with Franco-Nevada stating that they've done a fairly substantial
due diligence on both companies. Are you able to comment on whether
Newmont has actually had a period of due diligence on both the (efforts)
and the company's structures, et cetera, of Normandy?
Wayne Murdy: Yes. I think we've disclosed that. We signed a confidentiality
agreement. We had a team in Australia for an extended period of time.
Normandy, also consistent with, you know, bid of this nature, did due
diligence to a lesser extent on Newmont. There was extensive due
diligence
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between ourselves and Franco both sides. So no, this is a - again, it's a
recommended bid, and it's a bid that's based on knowledge of all parties.
Greg Hunter: Thank you very much.
Operator: And our next question today will come from Rusty Raykov and
Tiedemann Investment Group.
Rusty Raykov: Yes. Hi. Congratulations on the transaction. Clearly your
value proposal, it's more superior than what (Angor) is proposing to
both sets of shareholders. One thing, though, that if Newmont stock
continues to decline from now until when we try to close the deal in
February and March next year, would you be prepared to offer a slightly
higher ratio so that you can ensure you getting the 50 percent?
Wayne Murdy: We think that this story is so convincing - I mean, you just
start going down the list of things that we've talked about today. I've got
to tell you, we've all - we all do a lot of conference calls and, you know,
if you're in business very long, there's always some that you do that you
wish you didn't have to do, you know? You have a down quarter, or something
happens and your - in your business, and it's always important to
continually communicate to the market.
But then there's stories that you get to tell like this. And it doesn't
take much scripting. This is a very convincing story. We think the
shareholders of all three companies are going to like this. Certainly,
when you do a large share offering, the out-of-the-box reaction, you know,
typically the (arbs) get in place. And we all understand that, and that
serves a purpose in the overall transaction.
The important thing is Pierre and I and Robert are going to be on the
road, we're going to tell this story. And, you know, my wife doesn't get
to see me very much for a fair amount of time. The depth of our management
allows us to do that. But we will be on the road telling this story. It's
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an easy story to tell, and we think the share price will more than fully
recover what the initial blip is this morning.
Male: I think, if I may add to this, if you look at the new Newmont on the
metrics that this industry uses, it will be still, you know, undervalued,
compared to our nearest competitor, who is hedged to a great deal. And I'm
talking about enterprise value to production, for example, enterprise
value to reserve, enterprise value or price to cash flow. On all these
metrics, we can see a re-rating of this company in the order of $1.7
billion to $3 billion. But we think that there is tremendous upside in
this new company, and our job will be to be on the road for the next three
weeks to tell that to the shareholders and the investors. And we think
they're going to see the same thing that we see in putting these three
companies together.
Male: Once our bid is effective, we'll be on the road again. We've - you know,
we're experienced at this kind of situation, and all of the shareholders
of all of the companies will have every opportunity to talk to management
to answer their questions. We're going to - we're very excited about this
opportunity to go out and see the people on the other side of the table
that actually buy these shares and are real investors in this story.
Male: If I might add something. Franco-Nevada has been an extremely successful
in dealing with European investors. They are underrepresented in Newmont
as it sits today. Jerry's going to be going over with Wayne to Europe, and
we think we're going to generate a lot of interest in this company from
general portfolio managers who don't currently own it.
Male: With that, I think we're - I apologize, but we're getting close on time.
Maybe we could take one more question, Wendy, and then we'll have to
conclude this part. But again, I would emphasize for those that we weren't
able to answer questions today, we will be very accessible. We'll be there
to answer your questions. Clearly, you can call all three companies'
investor relations departments for additional information.
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Maybe the last question.
Operator: And our final question today comes from Fred Ehrman with Brean
Murray & Company.
Fred Ehrman: All right. Good morning, gentlemen. If we look at this
transaction, this three-way transaction, is it two...
Male: You cut out. I'm sorry.
Female: Operator?
Operator: Yes.
Wayne Murdy: Got so excited, and he cut...
Fred Ehrman:... transaction as a two-way transaction, with Newmont owning
about half the company, Franco-Nevada Normandy the other half. Could
you give us the contributions of each segment to reserves, cash flow,
and other metrics?
Wayne Murdy: OK. I think a lot of that material will come out in the
various models that are built by the analyst community. I guess, simply
stated, from a Newmont standpoint, the shares of Newmont is accretive on a
net income basis. It's accretive - and these are in significant ways - on a
- on a free cash flow basis, and it's extremely accretive on a - on a net
asset value basis. You know, those are important metrics. Again, I think
that, when you look at the premiums that the other shareholders are
getting, you know, they can make those decisions based on how those - how
their shares (vest). But we'll be going through that over time, but that's
clearly - this is an accretive transaction and there's, we think,
significant upside in it for all - for all the shareholders.
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Moderator: Wendy Yang
11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
Confirmation # 607670
Page 32
There's additional material on this on the Web site too.
Fred Ehrman: OK. Was the (Angor) bid for Normandy the catalyst to get this
transaction done?
Wayne Murdy: Yes, I'd have to say it is, in a way. Actually, going back to last
May, we'd had some discussions - myself and Pierre have talked for an
extended period of time, and also with Seymour, just about this industry,
that, you know, we share some common philosophies. We talked about maybe
some other things that we could do that - you know, not necessarily
acquisitions, but opportunities that would be attractive to both
enterprises. And literally, we were in some of those kinds of very general
kinds of discussions when the (Angor) attraction - the Angor) offer was
made for Normandy. Clearly, the (Franco's) investment in Normandy, and the
strategic direction that they had discussed with Robert, they felt there
was a lot of unlocked value in that asset. And I guess by today's actions,
you can see that they didn't feel that that unlocked value was adequately
recognized by the offer that (Angor) made.
Fred Ehrman: OK. My last question. As you focus on gold and divest
yourself of some of your other assets, will you be using the proceeds
of those divestitures for reducing debt, increasing production,
acquisitions, or could you tell us what - you know, what you have in
mind?
Wayne Murdy: You know, we want to maintain the upside to the gold price. We want
to have a very strong balance sheet. Again, we want to be constructive in
the gold market. With the gold prices low, you'll see that any free cash
flow go to debt reduction. It's - again, we won't be developing big plays
at that point time - at that point in time. When the gold price increases,
we've got a nice backlog, a nice inventory of projects that we'll bring on
so our shareholders can benefit by that higher gold price.
NEWMONT, NORMANDY, AND FRANCO-NEVADA
Moderator: Wendy Yang
11-14-01/9:00 a.m. CT
Confirmation # 607670
Page 33
The size, the scale of this operation gives us a luxury that Newmont did
not have in the - over the last few years, as we've been in a low gold
price environment. The leverage that the Franco shareholders will get to
the gold price out of this transaction offers them substantially more
upside in an (up) gold market than they had previously enjoyed. And the
backlog of projects, the exciting projects that Robert and his team have
been able to put together, give us this - I'll almost call it the throttle
that we can - that we can have as we look at the business going forward.
With that, I think we're going to have to conclude the phone call today,
Wendy.
Wendy Yang: Thank you, Wayne, and thank you very much for joining us on this
call. I want to draw your attention that we do have this on the Web site
of the three companies as well. So please feel free, if you dialed in
late, to have a replay there. Also the replay number, for those that don't
have a good Internet connection, is 719-457-0820 for our international
friends, and in North America, it's 888-203-1112. The pass code is the
same as today's call. That's 607670.
And once again, thank you all for joining us, and please feel free to call
myself or my counterpart at our various companies. Thanks a lot. Bye-bye.
Operator: And that does conclude today's conference. Thank you for your
participation.
END