Dundee Precious Metals (TSE:DPM) reported record financial results for 2025 and outlined a growth plan built around its newly acquired Vareš operation, continued high-margin production at Chelopech, and advancing the Čoka Rakita project toward a construction decision, according to management’s fourth-quarter and year-end earnings call.
Record 2025 results and cash returns
President and CEO David Rae said 2025 was “an excellent year” that reflected disciplined capital allocation and operational execution. The company achieved its gold production guidance, extending what Rae described as an 11-year operational track record, while maintaining a strong safety and environmental record that management said has placed the company at the top of its peer group in S&P Global’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment for the past five years.
- Revenue: $950 million
- Adjusted net earnings: $443 million, or $2.39 per share
- Operating cash flow: $492 million
- Free cash flow: $505 million (calculated before changes in working capital)
Dyal attributed the performance to strong operations, a favorable commodity price environment, and an initial contribution from Vareš following the acquisition of Adriatic Metals, which closed last September. He said revenue rose year over year primarily due to higher realized metal prices and post-acquisition revenue from Vareš, partially offset by lower volumes of gold sold at Ada Tepe.
The company returned capital to shareholders during 2025 through both dividends and buybacks. Dyal said Dundee repurchased about 10 million shares and paid $29.4 million of dividends, describing total capital returned as $145.5 million. He added that the company’s normal course issuer bid (NCIB) expired in March and the board has approved a renewal, subject to TSX approval. For calendar 2026, the board authorized repurchases of up to $200 million worth of shares.
Costs, adjusting items, and capital spending
On costs, Rae cited an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1,082 per ounce of gold sold, compared with an average realized gold price of $4,323 per ounce. Dyal, discussing the full-year cost metrics, said AISC was $1,121 per ounce of gold sold, up 29% from the prior year. He attributed the increase primarily to higher mark-to-market adjustments and share-based compensation expense, lower gold sales volumes, and a stronger euro versus the U.S. dollar, partially offset by higher byproduct credits tied to higher realized copper and silver prices.
Dyal said mark-to-market adjustments to share-based compensation increased AISC by $242 per ounce of gold sold in 2025, compared with $28 per ounce in 2024.
He also detailed several adjusting items, net of taxes, that management said were not reflective of underlying operations, including:
- $27 million non-cash fair value adjustment on inventory at Vareš (recognized in cost of sales)
- $22 million Bulgarian levy
- $15 million of acquisition-related costs for Adriatic Metals
- $9 million fair value adjustment on the Vareš copper stream liability
In capital spending, Dyal reported sustaining capital expenditures of $33 million, down from 2024 due mainly to changes in deferred stripping at Ada Tepe and in line with the mine plan. Growth capital expenditures were $56 million, higher year over year as Čoka Rakita costs began to be capitalized from the beginning of 2025.
Vareš ramp-up and transition to gold-equivalent reporting
Rae described Vareš as a key driver of near-term growth and said integration and ramp-up activities were progressing well, with mine production recommencing in January. He said 2026 is expected to be a transitional year, with production increasing quarter by quarter as the operation ramps to 850,000 tonnes per year, a run rate the company expects to reach in the fourth quarter. Rae said roughly two-thirds of Vareš’s 2026 production is expected in the second half of the year.
Rae said the company is “accelerating precious metals production” at Vareš, with gold and silver production higher than previously communicated in the project’s pre-feasibility study, for gold-equivalent production of over 100,000 ounces. He added that cash flow and margins are expected to be higher than the PFS due to increased precious metals production and higher prices, more than offsetting higher operating costs anticipated in 2026. Management said it will evaluate cost-structure optimization opportunities for 2027 and beyond, targeting per-ton cash cost metrics in the Vareš technical report.
With the addition of Vareš, Dyal said Dundee is transitioning its production and AISC reporting to gold-equivalent ounces and will no longer report AISC on a byproduct basis.
Chelopech mine life extension and exploration catalysts
Rae said Dundee’s updated life-of-mine plan extends Chelopech’s mine life to 10 years. He emphasized that the plan does not include potential upside from the Wedge Zone deep discovery or the prospectivity of the Chelopech North and Brevene exploration licenses.
Rae said drilling to date at the Wedge target has demonstrated grades higher than reserve grade, with potential to enhance mill feed grades and gold production beginning in 2029. He said a 10,000-meter drilling program is being completed in the first quarter, with an update expected in the second quarter. Rae also said the company expects the Chelopech North concession to be granted this year, while the Brevene exploration license is progressing through permitting.
Čoka Rakita permitting path and Rakita camp resource update
Management reiterated that a key 2026 priority is advancing permitting at Čoka Rakita to support a construction decision. Rae said the feasibility study completed late last year confirmed economics for a high-margin underground gold operation, with almost 190,000 ounces of gold annually for the first five years and first-quartile life-of-mine AISC of $644 per ounce of gold sold. First concentrate production is anticipated in the first half of 2029, with permitting aimed at supporting construction start in early 2027.
On the call’s Q&A, Rae described remaining steps in Serbia, including the Special Purpose Spatial Plan (which he characterized as a land-use planning process), a Serbian feasibility study using local engineering resources, and completion and approval of an environmental impact assessment. He said the company anticipates responding to SPSP questions early in the second half of the year, completing the Serbian feasibility work around early fourth quarter, and seeking EIA approval late this year or early next year, with a construction permit potentially in early first quarter next year.
Rae also said Dundee published initial inferred mineral resource estimates in December for Dumitru Potok, Frasen, and Rakita North totaling 2.6 million ounces of gold and 1.9 billion pounds of copper. Drilling is paused on the Rakita and Čoka Rakita licenses pending a normal-course permit renewal, with drilling anticipated to restart in the second quarter of 2026. Upon renewal, the company plans 20,000 meters of drilling focused largely on infill and extensions at Dumitru Potok.
On the balance sheet, Dyal said Dundee ended the year with $498 million in cash, no debt, and a new undrawn credit facility with $400 million of capacity and an accordion feature up to $550 million. He described the revolver as a working capital facility, and management said investors should not read it as a signal of near-term acquisition plans. Rae said the company remains opportunistic on M&A but is focused on execution in the Balkans, highlighting ongoing work at Chelopech, Vareš, and exploration success in Serbia and Bulgaria.
About Dundee Precious Metals (TSE:DPM)
DPM Metals engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, mining, and processing of precious metals, primarily focusing on gold, copper, and silver deposits. The company produces approximately 200,000 ounces of gold annually and is among the lowest-cost gold producers globally. DPM Metals maintains a strong financial position with $763 million in net cash as of March 2025 and has returned over $260 million to shareholders since 2020.
