科爾礦業 (CDE) 2026 年第三季法說會：EBITDA 達 4.48 億美元

重點摘要

• 庫爾礦業 (Coeur Mining) 公布黃金產量年增 45%，營收成長 77%，反映了完成收購 New Gold 交易後，來自 New Afton 與 Rainy River 礦區的貢獻。
• 調整後 EBITDA 年增近 70% 至 4.48 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率約為 46%。自由現金流年增 27% 至約 2.4 億美元。
• 營運中斷因素包括 Rainy River 和 Palmarejo 礦區的強降雨，以及 New Afton 礦區地下輸送帶故障。管理層表示，與天氣相關的限制在 10 月前已大致結束，輸送帶也已於 9 月中旬修復。
• 庫爾礦業本季末持有約 12 億美元現金，總流動性超過 21 億美元。該公司回購了 1.11 億美元的股票，相當於單季自由現金流的 46%。
• 管理層預期 2026 年黃金、白銀與銅產量將接近財測區間下限，調整後銷貨適用成本則接近上限。若以目前金屬價格計算，全年調整後 EBITDA 預計將突破 20 億美元，自由現金流將超過 13 億美元。
• 該公司預期 2027 年將再創歷史新高，主要受 New Afton 與 Rainy River 全年貢獻所支撐。管理層表示，目前的首要任務是整合與執行，而非進行重大收購。

核心財務數據

平均實現黃金與白銀價格分別下跌 4% 與 13%，實現銅價則上漲 9%。黃金約占單季營收的 66%，白銀占 27%，銅占 6%。

營收在地理分布上保持平衡，加拿大貢獻 36%、美國貢獻 34%、墨西哥貢獻 30%。

GAAP 獲利包含單季攤銷費用年增 1.9 億美元（相當於每股 0.18 美元），主要與收購加拿大資產之收購價會計處理相關。本季亦包含約 4,000 萬美元的非現金收購會計影響，主要與 Rainy River 礦堆存貨的公允價值調升相關。管理層表示，此項存貨相關的影響目前已大致結束。

業務與營運表現

New Afton：8 月底主要地下輸送帶故障限制了礦石供應，並降低了採礦與處理速度。修復工作於 9 月中旬完成。隨後 C-Zone 達到並維持了每日 16,000 公噸的採礦目標。管理層預期，隨著開採推進至 C-Zone 東部與南部區域，礦石品位將有所提高。

Rainy River：強降雨拖慢了第四期露天開採進度，並增加了對較低品位礦堆的依賴。地下採礦速度提升 50% 至每日約 3,400 公噸。該礦區曾短期達到每日 5,000 公噸的目標，但仍需要進一步的開發與基礎設施，才能在邁向 2027 年下半年時持續穩定維持該產量水準。

Rochester：三級破碎量達到單季創紀錄的 680 萬公噸（或 750 萬短噸）。隨著較高品位的 2A 期礦石開始回收，黃金產量較第二季成長 39%。白銀回收率仍慢於預期，部分原因是受到硫化礦物質影響。該礦區將處理物料中的硫化物含量目標設定在約 0.3%，並將混合比例控制在最高 0.7% 以下。

Palmarejo：大雨導致充填作業所需的建材延遲送達，限制了進入計畫中較高品位採礦區的進度。隨著雨季大致結束，該礦區正在恢復充填能力，並期望較高品位的 Hidalgo 區域能做出更大貢獻。

Las Chispas：選礦廠處理量達到創紀錄水準，抵消了白銀品位低於預期的影響。較高的黃金品位與結轉存貨亦支撐了整體表現。第四季的重點是完成向單一地下採礦承包商的過渡，並提高地下生產力。

Kensington 與 Wharf：在採場礦石噸數改善的支撐下，Kensington 於 9 月創下 2026 年最強勁的營運月份。Wharf 的破碎機迴路經重建與擴建後，黃金產量較上一季成長 28%。管理層預期 Wharf 的第四季將是全年表現最強勁的一季。

管理層財測指引

管理層維持全年產量指引，但預期黃金、白銀與銅產量將落在各自區間的下限附近。由於產量偏低，調整後銷貨適用成本預計將接近指引上限。

現金稅、資本支出、攤銷、探勘支出以及一般及行政費用 (G&A) 均趨向各自 2026 年財測指引區間的下限。

若以當前金屬價格計算，管理層預期全年調整後 EBITDA 將創歷史新高並突破 20 億美元，自由現金流將超過 13 億美元，約為前一年水準的兩倍。在 New Afton、Rochester、Palmarejo、Kensington 和 Wharf 的支撐下，第四季產量與現金流預計將顯著增長。

庫爾礦業亦預計於第四季收到與前一年 Wharf 火災相關的 7,000 萬美元保險理賠款。管理層表示，相關稅務影響已納入其現金稅指引中。該公司計劃在本季支付第二次半年配息。

風險與觀察重點

• 庫爾礦業第四季產量必須大幅增長，才能達到全年產量指引的下限。
• Rochester 的白銀回收進度慢於預期，全年表現部分取決於回收時機以及對硫化物混合比例的管理。
• Rainy River 必須重建礦堆彈性，同時穩定提高地下採礦速度。
• Palmarejo 預期的品位提升取決於恢復充填能力，並重新進入品位較高的 Hidalgo 區域。
• 勞工、耗材與承包商的成本壓力依然存在。柴油價格比原定計畫高出 32%，導致直接成本增加約 3,000 萬美元，不過管理層預期全年影響仍將低於年度直接成本的 2%。
• 營業現金流受到金屬價格下跌，以及與利息支出和年度保險費支付時程相關的 5,000 萬美元營運資金調整所影響。

分析師問答重點

分析師關注庫爾礦業是否能在第四季繳出強勁表現，以達成年度指引目標。管理層指出 New Afton、Rochester、Palmarejo、Kensington 和 Wharf 為主要貢獻來源，同時強調預期的增長取決於旗下七座礦場組合的整體表現，而非單一資產。

在 New Afton 方面，管理層證實在輸送帶修復後，開採量已回升至每日 16,000 公噸的目標。目前出礦點的品位與預期相當吻合，隨著崩落採礦向東與向南推進，預期品位將進一步提升。

在 Rochester 方面，管理層表示硫化礦物質已納入礦場規劃中，儘管過渡情況比預期更為明顯。該公司具備調配多個礦坑區域礦石的彈性，但白銀回收的時程仍是關鍵變數。

在資本配置方面，庫爾礦業表示將繼續採取機會性且計畫性的回購，但不會承諾固定比例的自由現金流。自 5 月中旬以來，在董事會授權的 7.5 億美元計畫下，該公司已回購超過 2.3 億美元的股票。

管理層將當前的併購策略重點描述為「埋頭苦幹、消化吸收、達成目標、專注執行」。雖然庫爾礦業將繼續關注潛在機會，但目前重心在於整合最近新增的三個營運項目，並維持加拿大、美國與墨西哥現有的業務平衡。

完整法說會逐字稿

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完整財報電話會議逐字稿

管理層陳述

Operator

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Coeur Mining Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please also note, today's event is being recorded.

At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Mitchell Krebs, Chairman, President and CEO. Please go ahead.

Mitchell J. Krebs

Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining our call to discuss our third quarter results. Before we start, please note our cautionary language regarding forward-looking statements and refer to our SEC filings on our website.

Starting off on Slide 3 with some highlights from the quarter. The company delivered sharp year-over-year increases in gold production and cash flow with the addition of the New Afton and Rainy River operations beginning in late March. The quarter was lighter than expected given lower metals prices and a handful of operational challenges, which were partially offset by strong performance at some of our other operations.

Mick will provide more details in a few minutes, but a few quick highlights were Wharf's continued progress toward returning to steady state levels, Rochester's record crushing rates and the great advances made at both New Afton and Rainy River with their respective ramp-ups.

On the challenges front, wet weather during the quarter slowed down open pit operations at Rainy River and also contributed to a delay in mining of higher grade areas at Palmarejo, while unplanned downtime at New Afton due to a conveyor belt failure late in the quarter temporarily slowed down their progress.

All that said, we ended the quarter with $1.2 billion of cash after returning nearly half of our quarterly free cash flow back to stockholders through $111 million of share repurchases, bringing the total amount to over $230 million since mid-May. We remain on track to deliver significant increases in production and cash flow in the fourth quarter to end the year around the low end of our production guidance ranges with expected record full year adjusted EBITDA exceeding $2 billion and free cash flow topping $1.3 billion, assuming current prices, roughly double last year's levels. And looking ahead to 2027, we anticipate delivering another record year, mostly driven by full year contributions from Rainy River and New Afton.

Mick, over to you.

Michael Routledge

Thanks, Mitch. As Mitch noted, the quarter included a mixture of solid progress and some short-term operational challenges. However, I'm pleased with how we've managed the integration of our 2 new Canadian operations while safely and efficiently addressing these challenges to enable the company to hit the fourth quarter with positive momentum to deliver a strong finish to the year.

Referencing Slide 4, let's talk about the sites and begin with the Canadian assets. New Afton was impacted by the failure of the main underground conveyor belt in late August, which reduced crush conveyor availability and constrained ore supply to the mill, requiring the team to temporarily mine and process at reduced rates. The conveyor was safely repaired by mid-September with surface stockpiles and lower rate mining production providing ore during the repair period.

The interruption occurred as the C-Zone ramp-up was gaining momentum, but ramp-up following the outage has resumed with mining rates achieving and sustaining the 16,000 tonne per day target. The near-term priority is to consistently maintain those mining rates while remaining disciplined with cave draw management as we progress towards higher-grade portions of the C-Zone in the East and South.

Turning to Rainy River. Unusually heavy rainfall slowed Phase 4 open pit mining, causing the operation to process more low-grade stockpiles, which affected third quarter production and correspondingly costs. Underground performance at Rainy River continued to improve during the quarter, with mining rates increasing by 50% to approximately 3,400 tonnes per day. The underground operation was targeting 5,000 tonnes per day by year-end, and the team are already hitting those levels for short periods with additional development and infrastructure work planned to provide more work fronts to consistently sustain those levels towards the second half of 2027.

The team at Rainy River continues to progress open pit mining, advance Phase 5 and stabilize underground performance at the higher targeted rates while rebuilding stockpile flexibility to maintain strong mill throughput levels during quarter 4 and into 2027.

Moving to our 5 other operations and beginning with Las Chispas. The operation continued to perform consistently. Mill throughput in the quarter recorded record levels, offsetting lower-than-planned silver grades, while higher gold grades and carryover inventory supported its solid overall performance. The fourth quarter priority is to complete the transition to a single underground mining contractor, safely improve underground productivity and deliver a strong finish to another solid year.

At Palmarejo, heavy rains disrupted the delivery of critical construction materials needed for backfilling. Reduced backfill capacity limited access to planned higher-grade areas, resulting in lower production despite maintaining some of the highest mill throughput rates they have had in years. With the rainy season behind us, the team is restoring backfill capacity with a target of increasing the contribution from the higher-grade Hidalgo area while maintaining the stronger throughput levels we achieved during the third quarter.

Turning to Rochester. The crusher circuit delivered record performance during the quarter with ore processed through all 3 stages of crushing reaching 6.8 million tonnes or 7.5 million short tonnes. Mining rates also exceeded expectations even as the team successfully completed the Phase 2a and Phase 2b expansions of Leach Pad 6, which required the operation to generate substantial amounts of overliner material during the quarter.

Rochester's gold production jumped 39% quarter-over-quarter as higher grade ore from Phase 2A begins to recover. Silver is coming off the pads more slowly than expected, which we are closely monitoring as faster recovery rates are key to achieving Rochester's full year silver production guidance. We continue to manage the blending of higher-grade sulfide ore to achieve our respective grade and recovery targets.

Moving to Kensington. Mining and milling performance improvements partially offset lower-than-planned grade. Stope ore tonnes increased steadily throughout the quarter, with September delivering Kensington's strongest operating month of the year. We expect the fourth quarter to continue this trend, supported by higher grades.

Finishing with Wharf, the mine delivered a strong bounce-back quarter with gold production increasing 28% versus the second quarter. With the completion of the ramp-up of the rebuild and expanded crusher circuit, we expect the fourth quarter to be Wharf's strongest quarter of the year.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Tom.

Thomas Whelan

Turning to Slide 7. I'll briefly run through our third quarter consolidated results and provide a few details on Coeur's financial performance and strengthening balance sheet position as we head into year-end. On a year-over-year basis, gold production jumped 45%, revenue was up 77%. Adjusted EBITDA increased nearly 70% and free cash flow was 27% higher.

On a quarter-over-quarter basis, we delivered similar financial results despite the operational headwinds detailed by Mick, persistent cost pressures, key working capital adjustments and lower realized metals prices.

Digging further into the details from the quarter, as noted on Slide 7, average realized gold and silver prices decreased by 4% and 13%, respectively, while realized copper prices increased by 9%. Gold, silver and copper represented approximately 66%, 27% and 6% of quarterly revenues, respectively.

Our revenue mix from the U.S., Canada and Mexico was a very balanced 34%, 36% and 30%, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $448 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 46%, which was 2% higher than Q2. GAAP net income was approximately $109 million or $0.11 per share despite a $190 million increase in quarterly amortization year-over-year, representing $0.18 per share, driven by the purchase price accounting for our new Canadian assets.

The quarter included a noncash purchase price accounting impact of approximately $40 million, primarily associated with the fair value uplift of Rainy River's acquired stockpile inventory. This brings the total year-to-date impact of this noncash accounting adjustment to $265 million.

In addition to the direct and significant impact on our P&L and EBITDA, this accounting treatment has led to a material increase in reported CAS to the tune of approximately $580 per ounce to our year-to-date consolidated adjusted gold costs of $2,191 per ounce on a year-to-date basis.

The impact is even more acute when looking at Rainy River's year-to-date adjusted gold costs of $3,497 per ounce for the year, of which approximately $1,650 per ounce relates to this accounting treatment. We are pleased to report that the impact from this inventory-related noncash accounting item is now substantially complete.

Our third quarter adjusted cost applicable to sales for gold and silver decreased approximately 16% and 1%, respectively. Gold and silver costs improved quarter-over-quarter, primarily reflecting the production mix and the decreasing impacts related to the aforementioned fair value uplift of the acquired inventory related to Rainy River and New Afton.

Copper adjusted cost applicable to sales increased in tandem with the lower quarterly copper production related to the conveyor belt failure.

As highlighted on Slide 8, underlying inflationary pressures remain present across labor, consumables and contractor costs. One easy-to-understand inflationary impact are diesel costs, which represent about 10% of our total operating costs. While diesel prices are 32% higher than we planned, adding approximately $30 million to our direct costs, the overall expected impact for the year is less than a 2% increase in our annual total direct costs.

Quarterly cash flow from operating activities totaled approximately $386 million, a 25% decrease from the previous quarter, driven by lower prices and $50 million of working capital adjustments relating to timing of interest expense and annual insurance premiums, which we elected to fully fund during the quarter.

Capital expenditures peaked during the quarter at $145 million, resulting in quarterly free cash flow of approximately $240 million. It was great to once again see all 7 mines continue to contribute meaningful free cash flow despite some of the short-term operational headwinds Mick covered.

As shown on Slide 7, the balance sheet has become a strength of the company. We continue to execute aggressively on our return of capital strategy with 46% of quarterly free cash flow used for stock repurchases. Cash increased to approximately $1.2 billion, and we have total liquidity of over $2.1 billion, providing us with the flexibility to continue evaluating repurchases alongside organic investment and other capital allocation priorities.

Two important final notes on the balance sheet. We were pleased to come to a swift resolution of the insurance claim at Wharf related to last year's fire incident, which is set to provide an additional $70 million of cash during the fourth quarter. And we also look forward to paying our second semiannual dividend during the fourth quarter.

Turning to guidance, as shown on Slide 21. Mitch mentioned our expectation of landing near the low end of the full year guidance ranges for gold, silver and copper production. And as a result, we anticipate full year adjusted cost applicable to sales to be near the upper end of guidance. We also want to highlight that cash taxes, capital expenditures, amortization, exploration and G&A are all trending toward the low end of their respective guidance ranges.

One final comment relates to our integration efforts. We are extremely pleased with the significant progress made through the first 6 months since we closed the New Gold transaction with many key functions already fully integrated and working well.

With that, I'll now turn the call back to Mitch.

Mitchell J. Krebs

Thanks, Tom. As we approach the end of the year, we're focused on safely delivering the key drivers of our strong expected fourth quarter as highlighted on Slides 11 and 12, to deliver record full year results and to leave us well positioned for an even stronger 2027.

With that, let's go ahead and open it up for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question today comes from Wayne Lam from TD Cowen.

分析師問答

Wayne Lam

Maybe at New Afton, a bit of an inflection this quarter with the conveyor. Just on the commentary regarding the mining rates to the 16,000 tonne per day level since the conveyor repair, does that imply that you've reached the run rate level ahead of the prior guidance by year-end? And is that being realized on the processing side? Or are there still bottlenecks at the mill that have to be optimized?

Mitchell J. Krebs

Yes. I think last quarter -- Hi Wayne, it's Mitch. Last quarter, we said the target was to get up to that 16,000 tonne a day daily mining rate by the end of October, which is basically what we accomplished despite the the short-term disruption of that conveyor belt failure. But Mick, do you want to provide any other color?

Michael Routledge

Yes. It was a great effort by the team. They did some work during that down to make sure that it was a smooth ramp-up after the shutdown, and we got back up to that 16,000 run rate pretty quickly and steadied out at that level.

Operator

And our next question comes from Cosmos Chiu from CIBC.

Cosmos Chiu

As you mentioned, Mitch, Q3 was a bit of a transitional quarter. There's a few headwinds that happened. But as you mentioned, you've kept your annual guidance intact. But that would imply a 29% increase to gold in Q4 and 36% increase in silver quarter-over-quarter in Q4.

I know on Slide 11, you list out the different drivers, but essentially, you've listed out all the different assets and how things will get better in Q4. But is there 1 or 2 key drivers that would allow you to increase production by a fairly large margin in Q4, again, 29% for gold and 36% for silver. Are there 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 key drivers in terms of the assets?

Mitchell J. Krebs

Yes. Thanks for the question. The right question to ask, we totally agree about the fourth quarter, expected to be a big step up from the first 3 quarters of the year and should be in record territory for the fourth quarter and drive those record full year record results. And you mentioned Slide 11, which I agree does a good job of highlighting where we were through the 9 months versus our full year targets.

And again, pointing to the low end of those guidance ranges. I'd say the ones that stand out most, Cosmos, in terms of a big step-up in the fourth quarter, we already talked briefly about New Afton, just where they were in the first 2 quarters since the transaction closed versus the fourth quarter. That's a big step up. But I think through the combination of the higher sustained mining and milling rates, a slight step-up in the grade profile, that combination makes us feel good about the trajectory there for New Afton.

And then you pointed, I guess, at Rochester, clearly, they need a big step up, and we have the ingredients in place there to deliver a very strong fourth quarter in terms of strong crusher performance, better grade, closer to liner. Mick did flag the sulfide material that we're encountering at the bottom of the pit there, and that's something we're managing and keeping a close watch on.

But Rochester clearly needs a strong fourth quarter, but that's the plan, and we've seen that happen there before when those ingredients are all in place. Palmarejo, I'd point to as well. That's a big step up. But given the grade challenges they've had, especially in the third quarter with the some of the headwinds that Mick mentioned and those now largely being behind them, that offers an opportunity for Palmarejo to show a step up here in the fourth quarter.

And I'll just put a plug in for Kensington as well, just driven by grade. That will be a big fourth quarter for them up into the 30,000 ounce range territory, but they've got a good plan that they're executing on to deliver that. So those are the 3 or 4 that stand out mostly to me in terms of the big step up here to deliver the kind of fourth quarter that we're expecting. Any others that you...

Thomas Whelan

I wouldn't forget about Wharf as well.

Mitchell J. Krebs

Yes. Yes. Good one. Just with Wharf, obviously, been building up each quarter here on the back of the crusher upgrades and repairs that they did earlier in the year and between those higher crushing rates and placed ounces already on the pad out there. Fourth quarter will by far be the best quarter of the year at Wharf, and that will give us another boost here in an overall -- or it should be an overall strong fourth quarter.

And it's a portfolio approach, right? It's not like any one mine is delivering this big step-up when you have 7 operations, you can kind of use the power of the portfolio to -- from across the sites to deliver on those big expected step-ups.

Cosmos Chiu

Great. Maybe focusing a little bit on Rochester. As you mentioned, the proportion of sulfide versus oxide ore, I guess, has had a bit of an impact in terms of the length of leaching at least for the silver production. Could you remind me what's the sort of optimal mix in terms of oxides versus sulfides?

And I guess the other key highlight is that the sulfidic ore might be slightly higher grade. So there is that trade-off as well. So how do you manage it? What's kind of like the best mix in terms of oxide versus sulfide ore? And are we going to see that in Q4?

Mitchell J. Krebs

Yes. It really depends on where we're mining and when in terms of encountering some of that sulfide material at the bottom of our pushbacks. Third quarter, I don't know the exact percentage, Mick, maybe you do. But as from time to time, we will encounter some of that sulfide material, which you're right, Cosmos, contains higher grade material.

Best thing to do is to blend that in and manage the overall grade profile that's going out onto the leach pad without compromising recovery rates. So Mick, anything you want to add more detail?

Michael Routledge

Yes. So the team try and limit the percentage of sulfides to 0.7 is a maximum. We're actually targeting 0.3% at the moment. And the material that's on that pad is at about 0.3%. So we're just watching that closely, managing pH levels and other things to make sure that, that blend is the right blend for recovery of the silver. The silver is there. It's just a matter of timing, Cosmos, that you mentioned. It's about the recovery curve and how flat that is depending on the level of sulfide that we have.

Cosmos Chiu

So really not a lot of sulfidic ore within the ore mix at this point in time?

Michael Routledge

Generally at 10%.

Cosmos Chiu

Perfect. Maybe turning -- switching gears to Palmarejo. As you mentioned, Mitch, lower grades in Q3. If I were to just take a look at your Palmarejo guidance for the year, grades will really have to jump in Q4 to hit guidance for the year. Could you maybe talk about -- is that a possibility in terms of that increase in grade in Q4 versus Q3?

Or Mitch, as you mentioned, this is a portfolio approach. So you're not really looking at just Palmarejo, you're looking at maybe other assets outperforming to offset some underperforming assets. Is that how we should look at 2026 guidance?

Mitchell J. Krebs

Yes. Dare I say, both are true. Definitely, the benefit of having multiple assets allows you to have some some positives and some negatives. But as we think about Palmarejo and we were just down there, the challenges that they had in the third quarter with the wet weather and some of those construction materials that allow them to do the backfill to get in and mine some of these higher-grade areas, that just got deferred into later here in the fourth quarter.

And so the team is executing the plan to get in there and start mining in those areas to give us that grade kick along with what's been great mill performance running really at record levels down there to give them a strong boost here heading into the end of the year. Mick, anything you want to add to that?

Michael Routledge

I think it's just getting on top of the geotechnical aspects now that we've got good supply of our consumables and then getting back into that central area of Hidalgo that gives that grade run.

Cosmos Chiu

Great. And then maybe one last question, geezy one. Great to see -- not great, but it's good to see that the insurance money is coming in, in Q4 for Wharf, the $70 million. I don't think there's any tax implications. Am I correct? Should I just put $70 million into my Q4 cash flow, and that's all good?

Thomas Whelan

There would be tax implications, but our guidance stands, right, in terms of cash taxes. We paid about $290 million through the first 3 quarters. And again, I tried to reference that expect overall cash taxes to be at the low end of the guidance for 2026. So -- and that was all reflected in our updated numbers.

Cosmos Chiu

So that's inclusive of that insurance money that's coming in.

Thomas Whelan

Yes.

Cosmos Chiu

So we need to tax effect that insurance money.

Thomas Whelan

Again, doing that on a one-off basis, you got to remember the whole portfolio. And in the U.S., you file one big consolidated tax returnrency. So again, it's probably a little -- I wouldn't worry about tax affecting that. I would just make sure you've got the right cash tax number for the year and again, trying to tie that into the low end of the guidance that we provided for cash taxes.

Cosmos Chiu

It's always fun to talk about taxes.

Operator

Our next question comes from Joseph Reagor from ROTH Capital Partners.

Joseph Reagor

I guess following on where Cosmos started on the guide and the implication of this very strong Q4. Was there any consideration given to potentially lowering the guidance? Or maybe can you talk to why you guys decided not to other than to just guide to kind of the low end given that now you need the strong quarter to kind of get there? And maybe that might have given the market a better barometer of what the downside risk is?

Mitchell J. Krebs

Yes. I guess a fair question. You go back to September and the Colorado Springs Conference, we took that as an opportunity to give a good operational update, and that was on the heels of adjusting guidance in Q2 coming out of the gates with the first quarter at New Afton and Rainy River. We modified the guidance at both of those locations.

And so then we took a look going into the Mining Forum of Americas and said, look, are we still good on the updated guidance at New Afton and Rainy River? Yes. The legacy operations are we still on track to at least land at the low end of the guidance ranges, and we felt like we were confident in the ability to do that. So we've just maintained the guidance ranges and have appointed people to target the low end. So that was the kind of the thought process there, Joe.

Joseph Reagor

Okay. That's fair enough. And then the other question I had was just on the buybacks. Can you give any color on how much of that was done after you kind of knew about the operational challenges? And then how much was autopilot buyback that you guys didn't discretionarily spend versus active decisions to buy back? Just because given the amount that was spent and what the quarter looked like, it feels to be a mismatch?

Mitchell J. Krebs

Yes. We don't really talk about buybacks by month or anything like that.

Thomas Whelan

It's actually in the Q. There is that detail. But again, and sorry, it catch me cold on the exact number, but we do disclose what it was by the [ Q ]. But again, I wouldn't say we upped the buyback activity per se. What we tried to do when it comes to the discretionary portion is really take advantage of down days. And so that's primarily when we executed on the down days during the quarter.

Joseph Reagor

Okay. Okay. It sounds like the rest of it was not very discretionary. So that answers the question.

Operator

Our next question comes from Harrison Reynolds from RBC.

Harrison Reynolds

I appreciate the detail provided so far. Wondering if there's any incremental commentary on mining rates and grade reconciliation, specifically as you look at the October results you've had, looking at New Afton and Rainy River, how they've progressed? And separately, are there any other residual weather impacts to note that have drifted into 4Q?

Mitchell J. Krebs

Yes. I'd say we started the fourth quarter on plan. So that's an encouraging sign that we're trending toward where we think we will by the end of the year. As far as weather, when we were just down in Palmarejo, the rains seem to have just started to fairly subside. So that was trailing a little bit into mid-October. And now that seems to be the rainy season as usual, be behind them by mid-October or so.

Up at Rainy River, that wet weather that slowed them down in the open pit also is behind them and has been really for most of October and now the same is true heading into November. So I'd say the wet weather that we experienced is behind us now at both of those places where it hit us a little bit in the third quarter.

Harrison Reynolds

Got it. And then just a follow-up on the buyback question. Looking at $111 million in Q3 at the current share price, do you expect to accelerate the buyback pace? And what's the latest thinking on the right split between buybacks and other uses of capital here?

Mitchell J. Krebs

Yes. We'll take the same approach that we've taken since mid-May of, as Tom mentioned earlier, being opportunistic when we think the stock represents great value and still have that programmatic -- that aspect of the program continue to chip away even during blackout periods. As far as -- I can't predict the future, but we're not in the business of announcing a big buyback program and then not doing anything about it.

And I think what we've done in the first 2 quarters since the Board authorized that $750 million program demonstrates that. And I think this quarter, we talked about 46% of our free cash flow being returned. I think that was a similar amount in the second quarter. Not that we want to tie ourselves to a specific percentage for the fourth quarter and beyond. But I think you can see that we're serious about trying to return capital back to shareholders while maintaining a balance of bolstering our liquidity and reinvesting back in the business at the same time.

Operator

Our next question comes from Alex Terentiew from National Bank.

Alexander Terentiew

Just got a few follow-ups. I know a bunch of the stuff has already been touched on. But at New Afton, it's great to see mining rates picking up there hitting your target. Mitch, I think you kind of mentioned gold grades are increasing as well, but like implying here, grades have been lagging a bit so far. Are those where you want them to be now? Or are you kind of seeing the grades you want heading into 2027? Is dilution from the new block zone in line with plan?

Mitchell J. Krebs

Yes. I think, Mick, I'll let you talk about that in a second here. But as far as what the grades are for where we are in that C-Zone, we're right on track. I think we've indicated that there's an expectation that as we get into the south and east portions of the cave, we expect to see a bit of a grade kick even as early as this quarter to kind of help us get to where we want to get by year-end and seeing that continue on into 2027, which should be a much more kind of steady-state year there at New Afton. But Mick, any comments on kind of overall cave health and grade profile as we go forward?

Michael Routledge

Yes. We continue to manage that carefully, of course, at the start of the grade profile aspects of the cave. It's developing well. We're at the right run rates. And the grades that we're getting from specific draw points are reconciling fairly well to what we expected. It's really just a matter of time around that ramp-up and timing to get across to those higher-grade areas.

Alexander Terentiew

Okay. No, that's good to hear. All right. And then just another question on Rochester. We chatted on sulfides already. But I just want to clarify. So like are these -- the amount of sulfides you're encountering, this is in line with plan. And I understand it's probably a little bit variable quarter-to-quarter and you get a few surprises and a few surprises on the negative and the positive side here and there.

But generally, in line with plan and also the impact on recoveries now that this is a bigger operation, you're mining at higher rates. Just wanted to kind of again get a sense of how the recoveries are factoring into your outlook.

Mitchell J. Krebs

Yes, Mick, do you want to cover that?

Michael Routledge

Yes. So we certainly saw in mine plans that we're going to encounter some of that sulfide material. It was really expected to be more of a transition zone rather than a bright line. So once we got to that area, we saw that the sulfides were really clearly higher, and it was a clear boundary. So that's why we're managing the blending to less than 10% and managing that maximum limit of 0.7% sulfides and really targeting a lower level than that.

So that's the key aspect of Rochester. We've got the tonnes available from various areas in the pit, where we've just got to manage that blend to try and high grade as far as we can because those sulfide materials are the highest grade that we have.

Alexander Terentiew

Okay. Well, it sounds good. It sounds like you have the flexibility to manage that, which is what we want to hear. Last question, Tom, is just more of a reiteration. You mentioned some numbers earlier in the presentation about guidance for the year. You recently also said cash income taxes expected to be at the lower end of your guidance. Can you just remind me what you said about capital and a bunch of other items there? Sorry, I just missed your comments.

Thomas Whelan

Yes. So cash taxes at the lower end, capital expenditures at the lower end, exploration at the lower end, G&A at the lower end. So again, all of that factored into the culmination of -- after adjusting for a more mark-to-market on the metals prices, a free cash flow number of $1.3 billion, which isn't too shabby.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from John Tumazos from John Tumazos Independent.

John Tumazos

Is it fair to say that Coeur is not looking for too many acquisitions or large acquisitions as we digest the 2 transactions over the last couple of years? And are you looking to simplify the organization in any way or make things easier to manage after having a few bumps in the road?

Mitchell J. Krebs

Well, I think it's fair to say that on the M&A front, we are in a phase right now of heads down, digest, deliver, focus on execution. As you mentioned, between SilverCrest and then New Gold, we've added 3 new operations. And the 2 new Canadian operations are large operations. And so we want to make sure that we're delivering and executing on this bigger and better platform that we've created over the last few years. So that's definitely the focus.

That said, you always have to keep an eye out of what's available that fits with the strategy and continue to make us a better company. But that's not the priority right now. And I think with the portfolio constructed the way it is with 2 Canadian assets, 3 U.S. assets, 2 Mexican assets, we're happy with what we have. We're mindful of the balance across jurisdictions, across by asset and by metal. And so we want to make sure that we're maintaining a nice balance across those 3 aspects of our strategy. And so we're not looking to change or reduce or modify that structure or the composition of the portfolio right now.

Operator

And with that, we'll be concluding today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Mitchell Krebs for any closing comments.

Mitchell J. Krebs

Okay. Well, thanks. We appreciate everybody's time today on a busy reporting day. Just to close out, the company has never been in a stronger position than it is. We're on track for a record year, really the first year with this new expanded North American platform. Liquidity levels are building. We're returning capital to shareholders and really well positioned for an even stronger 2027.

And so we look forward to speaking with you again early next year to give you an update on our fourth quarter and full year 2026 results. With that, thanks, and have a great day.

Operator

And with that, we'll conclude today's conference call and presentation. We thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.