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Note 8 - Derivative Instruments
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
Disclosure Text Block [Abstract]  
Derivative Instruments

Note 8. Derivative Instruments

 

General

 

Our current risk management policy provides that up to 75% of five years of our foreign currency, and 100% of our metals price exposure may be covered under a derivatives program, with certain other limitations. Our program also utilizes derivatives to manage price risk exposure created from when revenue is recognized from a shipment of concentrate until final settlement.

 

These instruments expose us to (i) credit risk in the form of non-performance by counterparties for contracts in which the contract price exceeds the spot price of the hedged commodity or foreign currency and (ii) price risk to the extent that the spot price or currency exchange rate exceeds the contract price for quantities of our production and/or forecasted costs covered under contract positions.

 

Foreign Currency

 

Our wholly-owned subsidiaries owning the Casa Berardi operation and Keno Hill operation are USD-functional entities which routinely incur expenses denominated in CAD. Such expenses expose us to exchange rate fluctuations between the USD and CAD. We have a program to manage our exposure to fluctuations in the USD exchange rate for these subsidiaries' future operating and capital costs denominated in CAD. The program related to forecasted cash operating costs at Casa Berardi and Keno Hill utilizes forward contracts to buy CAD, some of which are designated as cash flow hedges. As of March 31, 2025, we have a total of 328 forward contracts outstanding to buy a total of CAD $285.6 million having a notional amount of USD $208.3 million to hedge the following exposures for 2025 through 2026:

 

Forecasted cash operating costs at Casa Berardi and Keno Hill of CAD $166.4 million at an average CAD-to-USD exchange rate of 1.346.
Forecasted capital expenditures at Casa Berardi of CAD $12.6 million at an average CAD-to-USD exchange rate of 1.3432.
Forecasted capital expenditures at Keno Hill of CAD $53.4 million at an average CAD-to-USD exchange rate of 1.3985.
Forecasted exploration expenditures at Casa Berardi and Keno Hill of CAD $5.4 million at an average CAD-to-USD exchange rate of 1.4054.
Forecasted Corporate costs of CAD $7.8 million at an average CAD-to-USD exchange rate of 1.3732.

 

As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, we recorded the following balances for the fair value of the foreign currency forward contracts (in millions):

 

 

 

March 31,

 

 

December 31,

 

Balance sheet line item:

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Other current assets

 

$

0.3

 

 

$

 

Other non-current assets

 

$

0.1

 

 

$

 

Other current liabilities

 

$

(6.4

)

 

$

(8.2

)

Other non-current liabilities

 

$

(1.4

)

 

$

(2.0

)

Net unrealized losses of $6.5 million related to the effective portion of the foreign currency forward contracts designated as hedges are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as of March 31, 2025. Unrealized gains and losses will be transferred from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) to current earnings as the underlying operating expenses are recognized. We estimate $5.0 million in net unrealized losses included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as of March 31, 2025 will be reclassified to current earnings in the next twelve months.

 

Net realized losses of $1.8 million and $0.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, on contracts related to underlying expenses which have been recognized were transferred from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and included in cost of sales and other direct production costs.

 

A net gain of $0.1 million and a net loss of $1.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, were related to contracts not designated as hedges.

 

No net unrealized gains or losses related to ineffectiveness of the hedges are included in fair value adjustments, net on our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

 

Metals Prices

 

We are currently using financially-settled forward contracts to manage our exposure to:

changes in prices of silver, gold, zinc and lead contained in our concentrate shipments between the time of shipment and final settlement; and
changes in prices of zinc and lead (but not silver and gold) contained in our forecasted future concentrate shipments.

 

The following tables summarize the quantities of metals committed under forward metals contracts at March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024:

March 31, 2025

 

Ounces/pounds under contract (in 000's except gold)

 

 

Average price per ounce/pound

 

 

 

Silver

 

 

Gold

 

 

Zinc

 

 

Lead

 

 

Silver

 

 

Gold

 

 

Zinc

 

 

Lead

 

 

 

(ounces)

 

 

(ounces)

 

 

(pounds)

 

 

(pounds)

 

 

(ounces)

 

 

(ounces)

 

 

(pounds)

 

 

(pounds)

 

Contracts on provisional sales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2025 settlements

 

 

1,848

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

15,487

 

 

 

13,889

 

 

$

32.74

 

 

 

2,937

 

 

$

1.39

 

 

$

0.98

 

Contracts on forecasted sales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2025 settlements

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

41,061

 

 

 

33,069

 

 

N/A

 

 

N/A

 

 

$

1.40

 

 

$

0.99

 

2026 settlements

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16,755

 

 

 

52,911

 

 

N/A

 

 

N/A

 

 

$

1.36

 

 

$

1.03

 

 

December 31, 2024

 

Ounces/pounds under contract (in 000's except gold)

 

 

Average price per ounce/pound

 

 

 

Silver

 

 

Gold

 

 

Zinc

 

 

Lead

 

 

Silver

 

 

Gold

 

 

Zinc

 

 

Lead

 

 

 

(ounces)

 

 

(ounces)

 

 

(pounds)

 

 

(pounds)

 

 

(ounces)

 

 

(ounces)

 

 

(pounds)

 

 

(pounds)

 

Contracts on provisional sales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2025 settlements

 

 

1,535

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

20,834

 

 

 

14,661

 

 

$

31.46

 

 

$

2,673

 

 

$

1.40

 

 

$

0.97

 

Contracts on forecasted sales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2025 settlements

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

59,194

 

 

 

47,840

 

 

N/A

 

 

N/A

 

 

$

1.39

 

 

$

0.99

 

2026 settlements

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6,283

 

 

 

52,911

 

 

N/A

 

 

N/A

 

 

$

1.41

 

 

$

1.03

 

 

We recorded the following balances for the fair value of the forward metals contracts as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024 (in millions):

 

 

March 31,

 

 

December 31,

 

Balance sheet line item:

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Other current assets

 

$

7.7

 

 

$

11.5

 

Other non-current assets

 

$

4.7

 

 

$

6.6

 

Other current liabilities

 

$

 

 

$

 

Other non-current liabilities

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

Net realized and unrealized gains of $15.2 million related to the effective portion of the forward metals contracts designated as hedges were included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as of March 31, 2025. Unrealized gains and losses will be transferred from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) to current earnings as the underlying forecasted sales are recognized. We estimate $12.1 million in net realized and unrealized gains included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as of March 31, 2025 would be reclassified to current earnings in the next twelve months. The realized gains arose due to cash settlement of zinc contracts prior to maturity in 2022 and zinc and lead contracts during 2023 for net proceeds of $17.4 million and $8.5 million, respectively.

 

We recognized a net loss of $5.3 million, including a $2.2 million gain transferred from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), and a net gain of $3.1 million, including a $1.9 million gain transferred from accumulated other comprehensive income

(loss) during the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. These gains and losses were recognized on the contracts utilized to manage exposure to prices of metals in our concentrate shipments, which are included in sales. The net losses and gains recognized on the contracts offset gains and losses related to price adjustments on our provisional concentrate sales due to changes to silver, gold, lead and zinc prices between the time of sale and final settlement.

 

In the first quarter of 2025, we established price protection for 590,000 ounces of silver from our Lucky Friday mine that will be settled during the second quarter of 2025. We used financial instruments called "collars" that set both a minimum price of $31.40 and a maximum price of $33.97 per ounce. These collars provide us a contractual right to receive at least $31.40 per ounce even if market prices fall below this level, while limiting our potential gains to $33.97 per ounce even if market prices rise higher. This strategy helps protect us from significant price drops while still allowing for some upside potential within this range. As of March 31, 2025, these collars had a fair value of $0.6 million. For accounting purposes, they are not designated as hedges.

 

Credit-risk-related Contingent Features

 

Certain of our derivative contracts contain cross default provisions which provide that a default under our Credit Agreement would cause a default under the derivative contract. As of March 31, 2025, we have not posted any collateral related to these contracts. The fair value of derivatives in a net liability position related to these agreements was $10.5 million as of March 31, 2025, which includes accrued interest but excludes any adjustment for nonperformance risk. If we were in breach of any of these provisions at March 31, 2025, we could have been required to settle our obligations under the agreements at their termination value of $10.5 million.