Trevali accelerates T90 programme as its bolsters liquidity

The Vancouver-headquartered company, which owns mines in Namibia, Burkina Faso, Peru and Canada, entered into a second amendment and restarted credit agreement with lenders for an up to $150-million first lien secured revolving credit facility. The miner also entered into an up to $20-million second lien secured facility with Glencore Canada.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the price of zinc – which hit a four-year low of $0.82/lb on the London Metals Exchange in March – and placed Trevali under pressure.

“With these facilities, and a covenant waiver until the end of the year in place, our immediate liquidity concerns are behind us. We can now focus our efforts on our other two main priorities; safely delivering on the T90 programme to sustainably reduce our cost structure and permanently de-levering the balance sheet,” said president and CEO Ricus Grimbreek.

Trevali is accelerating its T90 business improvement programme, which originally targeted a reduction in all-in sustaining costs (AISC) to $0.90/lb of zinc by the beginning of 2020 through achieving sustainable efficiencies of $50-million.

The company announced on Thursday that it would expand the programme and target additional one-time cost reduction initiatives. The T90 programme is now aiming to reach its AISC target at the beginning of 2020 – a year earlier than originally planned.

The programme should deliver $43-million of recurring yearly efficiencies in 2020, of which $30-million has already been delivered.

Trevali reported that improvements delivered by the T90 programme during the second quarter reduced AISC by about $0.05/lb and increased revenues by about $1.3-million.

The company also undertook immediate one-time cost reductions to achieve an additional $37-million of savings in 2020 across sustaining and expansionary capital, exploration and operating expenditures.

During the second quarter, payable zinc production of 66-million pounds at a C1 cash cost of $0.93/lb and an AISC of $1.05/lb were reported. Cash costs and AISC improved from the first quarter, despite lower production volumes as a result of cost savings implemented under the T90 business improvement programme, by-product credits, and Caribou being placed on care and maintenance.