Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Lithium Royalty Corp.'s Third Quarter 2023 results conference call. At this time, all lines are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Wednesday, November 15, 2023. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jonida Zaganjori, Vice President of Investor Relations of Lithium Royalty Corp. Please go ahead. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Lithium Royalty Corp's Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Please note that our complete financial results are available on our website, lithiumroyaltycorp.com, under the Investors tab, and also accessible on SEDAR+. This event is being webcast live. A replay of this call and transcript will be available on our website. Joining us today are Ernie Ortiz, President and CEO of Lithium Royalty Corp, and Dominique Barker, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Sustainability at LRC. Ernie will begin with introductory remarks, followed by Dominique, who will provide an overview of our financial results. After the presentations, we will transition to a Q&A session, where our executive team will respond to your questions. We would like to remind participants that today's commentaries may contain forward-looking information. For more details and other important notices, please refer to our press release dated November 14, 2023, available on our website and on SEDAR+. Please note that all figures referred to on today's call are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted. I will now turn the call over to Ernie Ortiz. Thank you, Jonida, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for our Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. LRC is pleased to announce that we grew revenue by 561% year- over- year to nearly $3 million in the quarter. This occurred even though spot lithium prices declined by approximately 45% throughout the quarter. Despite this volatility, LRC still managed to grow revenue sequentially. This is on the back of impressive volume growth, with Sigma Lithium starting shipments in July and LRC receiving its first royalty payment from Sigma. Together with Core Lithium's Finniss project and Allkem's Mount Cattlin project, we are proud to now have three world-class lithium mines at the cash flow generation stage for LRC. It is important to remember that Lithium Royalty Corp has an attractive cadence of asset ramp-ups that are insulating us from the large variability in spot prices, and it should continue to enhance shareholder value via revenue growth and cash flow. LRC now stands at 34 royalties diversified globally, with three assets in production, three in construction, and several at advanced stages of development. On pricing, pricing volatility is not new to lithium, nor to Lithium Royalty Corp, and we are using the volatility to our advantage. We view this as an opportune time to acquire royalties on high-grade, low-cost assets with low levels of technical complexity to continue to position LRC for long-term success. The LRC management team and the LRC portfolio continue to deliver. The portfolio is de-risking rapidly, with demonstrable progress since our initial public offering in March. I will now provide an update on our portfolio across the various stages of development. At the cash flow stage, we've seen steady improvement with mines entering commercial production, and more importantly, shipping product into the global market. At the time of our IPO, we had one producing project with Allkem's Mount Cattlin mine, which is one of Australia's longest-producing lithium operators. Since then, we have added two more revenue-generating projects with Core Lithium's ramp-up of the Finniss property and Sigma Lithium in Brazil, that recorded shipments for the first time in the third quarter. Our asset positions are industry-leading, given that Core Lithium is the only spodumene producer in the Northern Territory of Australia, and Sigma Lithium is on track to be the largest spodumene producer in Brazil, with a path to be the largest spodumene producer in the Americas. At the construction stage, LRC holds three assets. We expect Zijin Mining's Tres Quebradas project in Argentina, Sinova Global's Horse Creek mine in British Columbia, and Ganfeng Lithium's Mariana project to enter into production in the near term. With regards to Zijin, LRC acquired a further 0.5% gross revenue royalty on the Tres Quebradas project in Catamarca, Argentina. The 3Q asset is one of the largest salars in the world, with a mineral resource of 7.6 million tons. Zijin has plans to enter production in the near term with its phase one nameplate capacity of 20,000 tons per year of lithium carbonate equivalent. Zijin estimates CapEx of approximately $400 million for phase I, and under a potential phase two of the project, nameplate capacity could rise to between 40,000-60,000 tons per year, with further investment of $600 million. At our development and advanced exploration properties, we believe there will be important and exciting catalysts for our portfolio in the coming quarters. On Winsome Resources' Adina property, for which we own a 4% GOR and an additional 2% NSR in certain claims, the company expects to announce a globally significant mineral resource in the next couple of months. Recall, this property is in Quebec, which would be fully Inflation Reduction Act compliant and led by industry veteran Chris Evans, who helped bring a prior mine into operation. Earlier this year, LRC acquired a 3% gross revenue royalty on Atlas Lithium's Neves project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. As of September 30th, the company had drilled approximately 58,000 meters, drilling at a pace of roughly 7,500 meters per month, and it expects to complete its maiden resource report in the first quarter of 2024. Livent and Allkem announced its planned merger early this year, and the transaction is expected to complete around year-end 2023. The new combined entity, Arcadium Lithium, is expected to move into the top three lithium producers and shall improve the counterparty risk for our Mount Cattlin and James Bay royalties. At James Bay, the environmental and social impact approval draft was completed and submitted to COMEX and the provincial authorities for final review and evaluation. The company announced a 40,000-meter drill campaign to define the ore body, but also to target possible extensions in the east, northwest, and at depth. Our royalty area covers the east and northwest extensions, providing us with excellent optionality. At Delta Lithium's Yinnetharra project, leading lithium producer, Mineral Resources, has come on the register with an approximate 17% shareholding, highlighting the strategic nature of the deposit base. The company has disclosed that it expects to release its maiden mineral resource this quarter. Furthermore, it has outlined a drill program of 250,000-300,000 meters at Yinnetharra, which we believe could be one of the largest drill programs on lithium in lithium company history. LRC holds a 1% revenue royalty at Yinnetharra. We expect additional news flow regarding an updated definitive feasibility study for Sayona Mining's Moblan resource in the near future, and LRC holds a 2.5% GOR on Moblan. Also in the quarter, Grid Metals announced its maiden mineral resource at its Donner Lake project, for which we hold a 2% royalty. The resource stand at 6.8 million tons at 1.39% lithium oxide. The company is exploring toll milling production opportunities with Tanco, one of two lithium producers in Canada, and also the potential to retrofit a gold mill in Manitoba that could enable production as early as 2025. This is the second maiden mineral resource announced within the LRC portfolio in 2023. Since the quarter ended, two additional royalty transactions have occurred. First, Pinnacle Minerals announced a transaction for the Adina East property in Quebec, for which LRC holds a 2% gross overriding revenue royalty. This royalty was encapsulated within the other section of our royalty interest in our perspective and was considered immaterial at the time. Pinnacle is led by Bill Witham, who helped discover Mount Cattlin and was the founding director of Electrostate, who helped de-risk the Yinnetharra project in Western Australia. Second, LRC announced they had acquired an existing 1% net smelter return on the Mia Lithium Project that is 100% owned and operated by Q2 Metals. LRC acquired the royalty for 76,000 shares of LRC at a premium. The Mia Lithium Project hosts one of the longest exploration trends in the world, standing at 9.7 km. The company is actively drilling the property now as part of its 10,000 meter drill campaign, and we look forward to additional news flow in the coming months. In 2023, we have announced eight distinct royalties, with six royalties announced following the initial public offering. We continue to see a robust pipeline of royalty opportunities across producing, construction, development, and exploration stage assets. The current challenging equity market conditions for lithium juniors has increased the amount of opportunities for LRC. We remain focused on transacting on assets that are accretive from both a financial and qualitative standpoint to increase shareholder value. We remain committed to prioritizing capital deployment towards high grade, low cost assets with low levels of technical complexity to complement our industry-leading portfolio. Further acquisitions we facilitated by our enhanced financial position and growing cash flow. I will now pass to Dominique, who will discuss our financial results. Thank you, Ernie. Our royalty revenue this quarter was $3 million, compared to $838,000 in the last quarter, ended June 30 of 2023, and up from $448,000 in the same period last year. There are two reasons for the significant increase: number one, Core Finniss Project ramped production significantly in the quarter, and Sigma Grota do Cirilo project in Brazil began producing in the quarter and providing revenue to us for the first time. Our gross margin was 91% in the quarter, compared to 82% last quarter and 43% in the same period last year. General and Administrative Expenses, or G&A, was $2.3 million in the quarter, and that includes the management services expense of $169,000. That compares to last quarter at $2.1 million. Excluding non-cash, stock-based comp, cash G&A was $1.4 million in the quarter, compared to $1.3 million last quarter. So we're tracking to spend cash G&A of approximately $5 million to $6 million on a run rate basis. In our press release, we've included our calculation of adjusted EBITDA for the first time. The adjustments we include are non-recurring and/or non-cash items, and those include foreign exchange gains and losses, exploration expenses that predate the IPO and are not expected to occur again, and other one-time gains and losses. In addition, we've adjusted for the IPO costs, including adjusting for the non-cash, one-time stock-based compensation awarded at the time of the IPO, and those particular expenses are amortized over three years, which is the vesting period for those shares. Pleased to report that LRC's adjusted EBITDA increased to $1.3 million in the quarter, compared to $159,000 in the same period last year, and compared to a loss of approximately $700,000 last quarter. The reason I'm so pleased to report this is because you'll recall that last quarter, we said we were transitioning from a portfolio of royalties to a portfolio of cash flow, and despite some weakness in lithium prices this past quarter, compared to earlier this year, we are proving this statement out. Adjusted EBITDA margin is 44% this quarter, compared to a loss last quarter. Our adjusted EBITDA margin is already comparable to leading lithium producers with only three mines in operation. This highlights the scalability of our business and the capital-light business model that we have at LRC. On taxes, we paid cash taxes of approximately $1 million year to date, or about $300,000 this past quarter. Similar to last call, I'd like to review the producing royalties with references to their public disclosure in order to enhance your understanding of LRC's value. We now have three producing royalties. Number one, Mount Cattlin, based in Australia, which is owned and operated by Allkem, a $4 billion market cap chemicals company. It's one of the longest producing lithium mines globally. Mount Cattlin is a low-cost spodumene project using conventional techniques to extract and process the resource. This royalty generates payments based on the volume of ore mined and not on revenue like the rest of our royalties, so it's a bit unique. Still, it's been a consistent producer for us, producing revenue of approximately $300,000 to $400,000 per quarter. Second, we have the Finniss project, also in Australia, that is owned and operated by Core Lithium, a $520 million market cap company. We began recognizing revenue from Core in Q1 this past year. Our royalty on this asset is 2.5%. Core continues to ramp up its mining operations at Finniss, according to their own disclosure. Based on that public disclosure, Core had two shipments in the quarter, one in July for 13,100 tons, and one in September for 10,000 tons. Core released guidance in August, this past August, and said it expects to have sales of 90,000 to 100,000 tons of concentrate for their Fiscal 2024. Remember that their fiscal- year ended June 30th versus ours at December 31. On October eleventh, Core Lithium announced the preparation for the fourth shipment, comprising 10,155 tons of spodumene concentrate from their Finniss project, set to depart from Darwin Port. Finally, our third producing royalty is Sigma, which is a $2.7 billion market cap company based in Brazil. I note that they just reported earnings last night and were in the midst of their conference call as we were beginning ours. In the quarter, it publicly disclosed shipments. When I speak about the quarter, I'm speaking of last quarter, because they've just reported this quarter. But in the quarter related to our revenue, they disclosed shipments of 22,500 tons to be shipped to Glencore. That follows their first shipment of 15,000 tons in the summer. So a quick reminder that production is a great indicator of commercial volumes, but it does not equal shipments. And just to note that LRC recognizes revenue on shipments, so that's when the producer, in effect, transfers control of the product to the buyer. This last royalty is a milestone to celebrate, as generally speaking, once a mine is in production, it increases our confidence in cash flows, which we know is very important to our shareholders. And now moving on to the royalties that are in construction. For Tres Quebradas, after our acquisition of an additional 0.5% made this past July, we now hold a net 1.4% interest. This acquisition is important as it is near-term cash flow generating. Zijin, a $42 billion market cap mining company based in China, is the operator. As a result, we expect to begin receiving revenue in the first half of 2024 for that asset. We expect two additional assets to start producing in 2024. Mariana, which is operated by $12 billion market cap company, Ganfeng Lithium, is a brine project in Argentina. We expect about 17,000 tons per annum of production on a lithium carbonate equivalent basis at steady state. We expect production to begin in mid-2024. Horse Creek, based in B.C. and operated by Sinova, is a fully permitted project. Sinova expects to start production of high-grade silica quartz in 2024. This is a private company operator, and therefore, our access to information is more limited. In other finance-related events, in the quarter, we were active on our NCIB, or normal course issuer bid, to the tune of just under $1 million. We purchased shares at an average price of CAD 12.11. In the quarter, we signed a three-year credit agreement with National Bank for $25 million. The interest rate is dependent on our leverage level. Our current liquidity position is strong. We have $13.5 million of cash, access to a $25 million credit facility. We currently have zero debt on our balance sheet and have not yet drawn on the credit facility. The combination of our current cash position, our ability to draw on the credit facility, and a strong outlook for cash generation, gives us continued confidence in our ability to internally fund our growth ambitions. In this environment, we want to remain disciplined in the opportunities we see to deploy capital, such that they prove sound in the fullness of time. In summary, we are EBITDA positive for the first time this quarter. We've transitioned to commercial production, and now it's about growth. We want to see steady growth from our individual producing royalties, and then we wanna see a step function increase in cash as new projects come on. That is our expectation for you, for our shareholders. On the sustainability front, we, you will have seen a white paper published by us in mid-October entitled, "Unlocking Quebec's Lithium Potential." Over the course of writing the paper, we saw several news announcements in Quebec to support our investment thesis, namely GM POSCO Future M in Bécancour in May 2023, EcoPro BM and SK On, and Ford to form a battery consortium, also in Bécancour. That was announced in August 2023, others. This particular white paper focused on Quebec, where we now hold 10 royalties, with the most recent additions being Pinnacle Minerals, Adina East, and Q2 Metals, Mia Lithium projects. As I was saying, this paper was focused on Quebec, but we're seeing exciting development also in Manitoba and in Ontario, where we have strong positions in high-grade, low-cost mines. Mining of non-precious metals is critical to the energy transition, and Canada has the potential to play a leading role, given our history of employment, geology, and capital formation. We will be presenting the white paper at a World Climate Foundation event at COP28 in Dubai, and our panel will include Pierre Fitzgibbon, the Minister of Economy, Innovation, and Energy, Investissement Québec, and Winsome Resources, and of course, ourselves. If you are planning on attending COP28 and would like an invitation to this particular event, please feel free to reach out to us or Jonida, and we'd be glad to send you an invitation. We estimate investment in our mines has resulted in the equivalent of 2,054 EVs. As we grow our revenue, we expect to continue to provide you with the carbon abatement impact our direct investment is having, and that's really exciting to me personally. This is an exciting time to be a facilitator and global leader in the energy transition. Lithium is at the nexus of that transition. I'll now pass it back to Ernie for closing remarks. Thank you, Dominique. Lithium Royalty Corp is at a pivotal inflection point in which several of our mines have recently started production, and several or more are to forecast our production in the near term. This backdrop of robust volume growth should continue to support LRC to grow revenue, EBITDA, and cash flow in the years ahead. I want to touch briefly on market dynamics before moving on to Q&A. With regards to lithium demand, we view demand in 2023 as still quite robust, with the market on track to grow in excess of 25%, driven by the continued adoption of electric vehicles and energy storage, as outlined in our press release. While some recent commentary has proved cautious on electric vehicle thematic, there continues to be solid momentum underway. There remains positive news flow, and more importantly, EV investment that is supportive of continued long-term growth. A few hallmarks. Stellantis, one of the leading global OEMs, mentioned that there's no shift in its investment and that electric vehicles remain one of the biggest priorities, and one should expect Stellantis to proceed at full speed. Stellantis recently increased its EV investments with a EUR 1.5 billion commitment to acquire approximately 20% of Leapmotor, a fast-growing pure-play Chinese EV producer. BYD, the number one seller of EVs in China, has reported sale growth of approximately 71% year to date through October. Impressively, it exported a similar amount of electric vehicles in the third quarter of this year as compared to the entire first half. In addition, with 2.4 million units sold year- to- date, it is on track to exceed its initial guidance of more than 3 million EVs in 2023, which was viewed as aspirational by some at the beginning of the year. Lastly, Toyota recently announced a new investment of nearly $8 billion that will add eight additional battery production lines to the two previously announced in North Carolina. Toyota plans for annual production to reach more than 30 GW hours once fully ramped, which is equivalent to roughly 25,000 tons of battery-quality lithium chemicals. In a once-in-a-100-year change thematic, like the electrification of transportation, there will undoubtedly be short-term cycles within a longer-term trend. For us, it is clear that the long-term lithium trend remains positive, with supply needing to triple by 2030 to meet demand. There may be market share shifts amongst producers at any point within the EV supply chain. There may be inventory corrections or other unknown factors. To us, we see tremendous opportunity and potential for LRC as we remain convicted that lithium is the key enabling material to the electrification of transportation. As such, having a diversified portfolio of cash flowing royalties for a material that is required to meet these goals, puts us in a fantastic position to continue to both grow our business for the long term and grow shareholder value. I will now pass back to Jonida to open the question and answer portion of the call. Thank you, Ernie. Thank you, Ernie. Operator, we are now ready to answer questions. Can you please open up the lines for Q&A? Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Should you have a question, please press the star followed by the one on your touchtone phone. You will hear a three-tone pop prompt acknowledging your request. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press the star followed by the two. Our first question comes from the line of Patrick Cunningham from Citi. Please go ahead, your line is open. Hi, good morning, everyone, and congratulations on the quarter. On the M&A pipelining, I appreciate that equity markets are challenging for some of these juniors, but there also seems to be quite a bit of appetite from the larger players to get engaged at an earlier stage. Do you see this as validation of your strategy, or might there start to be some increased competition for these investments? Thanks, Patrick. That's a great question. So we see it more as a validation of our strategy, especially in the quarter. I mentioned it on the Yinnetharra project. I mean, Mineral Resources came into that asset and now owns 17% of the project. So it's a great validation of us moving in early, given that we were able to transact with that particular royalty when the company was still in a private status, so before the broader market even was aware of it. So that's a further validation of just how our business model is developing. The other key thing to keep in mind with, especially as these larger strategic players come into the picture, they're securing additional footprints and exploration properties. There are some royalties that they are leaving with the vendors, so it is presenting, actually, they're creating royalties in and of themselves that we could potentially go after at the right and opportune times, if we see it as attractive. So for us, we see it really as a validation of our strategy, and we remain pretty nimble and fast-moving. And like I alluded to in our prepared remarks, we're still seeing a plethora of opportunities out there, and it's continuing to grow. Got it. That's very helpful. And then, just a related question, you know, given the upward pressure on, you know, CapEx intensity and the weak pricing environment we're seeing right now, how are you thinking about counterparty risk across the portfolio? Are there any regions or assets where you're maybe less confident in some of these projects achieving first production? Yeah, good question. So I'm not sure it's really changed our view that much over the last few years. I think we've always had the view that to get the tons out of the ground, it was going to cost more, take longer, and ultimately get less. So we think that our thesis is ultimately proving correct. We feel very comfortable with the regions where we sit, and more importantly, we sit very comfortable with our counterparties. As Dominique alluded to, many of our counterparties have very large market caps, and on top of that, are sitting on attractive levels of cash. Most recently, Delta Lithium, Winsome Resources, and Atlas Lithium all have raised capital and are sitting on fairly attractive cash balances so that they continue to explore and develop the overall property. So, I think for us, the fact that we're focusing on high-grade, low-cost projects that are very attractive in the global sphere, that's allowing for more capital to flow to these projects after we've already have the royalties in place. And that's, incredibly exciting for us because since they're putting capital to work on our behalf. So for right now, I think we feel very comfortable, and, we don't see any major changes as far as our geographic footprint in the near future. Got it, and then just last one for me. You put out the acquisition for TNR Gold in the quarter, and it was withdrawn. You know, should we expect maybe similar small investments, the tool of acquiring portfolio companies? And, you know, will you maybe continue doing opportunistic purchases or large equity investments? Should we expect that to become a meaningful part of the M&A pipeline strategy? I think when it comes to TNR Gold and other potential corporate acquisitions, I think we'll be opportunistic. We're not ruling anything out, but at this point in time, we're probably seeing more opportunities with regards to individual royalties. So I think that's where we'll see the major elements of growth in the near term. But we don't rule out evaluating broader portfolios and broader companies to the extent that we can extract more value. We felt that was a fairly substantial offer that provided liquidity, but we didn't receive any kind of messaging in response, so we moved on. But like I said, we do have a plethora of opportunities on the individual royalty side, so we're going to continue to focus on that front. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question comes from David Deckelbaum from TD Cowen. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Hi, Ernie and Dominique. This is actually Aaron Pzena on for David Deckelbaum. So with the lithium prices so low, have you guys seen any impacts in terms of, like, project delays or new entrants getting delayed to the market? I think we are seeing delays across the broader industry. As far as our particular portfolio, we're probably seeing relatively minor delays. We could call it a few months. A good example would be, I think, Winsome resources was previously indicating a resource at some point in the second half of 2023, and now they're aiming for in kind of the first quarter of 2024. So I think our portfolio is seeing probably quite modest and minor delays. But across the industry, where we're potentially not really playing in some of the more higher-cost projects with low grade, we are seeing substantial delays. And in fact, there was a project in Utah that has now been essentially canceled. So we are seeing other projects across the industry seeing more elongated timelines, and that will ultimately benefit the tight market conditions down the line. But ultimately, we're of the view that the market needs to triple, and the market needs as much as lithium as it can get. But by us focusing on high-grade, low-cost assets, our assets will continue to be advantaged over others. Okay, thank you. And also, so you guys are very focused on spodumene. I was just wondering, we've been hearing some mixed things on what's going on with volumes from Zimbabwe and domestic China. What are you guys seeing there, and how do you think that will change in the coming years versus 2023? Sure, good question. So we're seeing the ramp-up of three large spodumene projects in Zimbabwe, all through Chinese ownership, and we are seeing that continue to ramp into 2024. Our intelligence seems to suggest that similar to other projects, like in Australia, we are seeing the grade profile of the concentrate shift downwards. So as before, we used to see 6% norm. I think we're seeing some of the concentrate grades out of Zimbabwe be sub-5%. So that is a factor for grade. Another important element with some of the projects in Africa is transportation. It does have substantially higher transportation costs than the rest of the industry. So, it does have. It is at the margin a higher cost spodumene ton. So, relative to our portfolio, we feel very advantaged on where our cost position lies. But that is right. That is kind of the incremental tonnage that's coming out into the market, but so far, the market is absorbing it. All right. Thanks so much, guys. Thank you. As a reminder to register for a question, please press the star followed by the one on your touchtone phone. The next question comes from MacMurray Whale from Cormark Securities. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Good morning, Ernie. We've seen a lot from major oil companies talking about their plans to produce lithium from these low-grade brines in the U.S. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on these developments, and what do you think in terms of timing and volumes you'd expect anytime soon or call it maybe this decade? What are your thoughts? Sure. So these are projects that we have evaluated and we are evaluating. We're not opposed to potentially investing in these projects in the future, but as we mentioned, with potentially new and novel technologies, we want to see their commercial ability and proven at scale before we're willing to risk capital on regards to these projects. But no question that these can be very large reservoirs and could be scalable. They tend to be, from the numbers that we've seen published from other producers, kind of in the basin, CapEx intensity does seem to be dramatically larger than brine and spodumene operations. So a well-funded company, like the one you mentioned, likely makes sense to undertake this project. So we're not opposed to it. It's something that we'll evaluate, but at the right time, once we see an approved success at scale. But we're of the view that it could come into the picture, but likely not until the end of the decade, if not the next. Okay. Thanks for that. I think my other question's around, you know, some, we'll call it noise. Like, investors sort of seem to be a bit spooked by the U.S. OEMs, in particular, automakers talking about the difficulty in selling EVs and, and inventories. But as you guys rightly point out, like, the actual production and registrations globally are really still quite high, still quite positive. So I'm wondering if the sort of U.S. has to go more, let's say, hybrid, rather than full battery electrics, if that's the trend for that particular market, do you think that would have any impact on lithium demand? Like, what how do you sort of look at shifting mix over the longer term? Sure. So, good question. So on shifting mix, yes, so a plug-in hybrid uses around a quarter of the lithium content as a pure battery electric vehicle. But a quick anecdote, in Europe, we're actually seeing the opposite. So plug-in hybrid sales, led by Germany, declined by over 50% in the first half of the year. So by default, you're seeing an actually greater mix towards battery electrics in Europe. And, with regards to the U.S., and just generally globally, we haven't really seen the slowdown on an aggregate level. U.S. and kind of North American sales growth is still 60% plus, year to date. I think it's really a factor of specific individual models and specific OEMs that are perhaps have elevated inventory. But if you look at North America's largest EV producer, their days of supply and inventory has been remarkably stable and roughly two weeks for all of 2023. So I think for us, what the beauty of LRC is that we're exposed to the aggregate demand for both EVs and for lithium, and the aggregate picture so far is still looking quite robust. But for us, I think that's where we see the beauty of our business model, that we're diversified to across projects for lithium, but also across the EV cycle. Okay. And my last question is just about consolidation. I mean, is there any consolidation among players that you think could negatively impact, or I guess really even positively impact, the timing of projects that you have royalties on o r is this a net positive or negative? I would imagine if two companies merging with projects close to each other, they might not necessarily be, you know, they might be staged in a different way than you originally thought. Or any thoughts on that? Yeah, I think it ultimately depends on the, the footprint of a potential acquirer. But so far, what we've seen is that consolidation, and a larger producer getting involved has been a net positive. A great example would be Zijin's acquisition with Neo Lithium in early 2022, where, they fast-tracked the project and essentially are about to put into production in the near term. So it took about a year and a half for them to really get that project going, which is world-class speed, where other lithium projects haven't seen that level of acceleration. So I think for us, it's largely been, a net positive, and we think with their new Arcadium project, or Arcadium business entity, there could be a lot more capital resources to unlock further value at James Bay and Mount Cattlin. I think for us, so far it's been a net positive. Okay, great. That's all my questions. Thanks. Thank you. As a reminder to register for a question, please press the star followed by the one. The next question comes from Chris Kapsch from Loop Capital. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Hey, good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. So Ernie, the first is, sort of a little more nuanced focus on the industry, then I have one about Lithium Royalty Corp in particular. But you did mention some, had some comment on, some of the perceptions of, you know, what the, the, supply and sentiment. Just curious what your view is towards, the tranche of lepidolite supply there in terms of both magnitude and cost, and, and some of that is purportedly come offline. So comments on that. And then on demand, if there's an area of opaqueness, it seems like it's around both the quantity and magnitude of destocking that's taking place downstream. So wondering if your partners have any, you know, good insights into the dynamics around that. Great. Hi, Chris. Yes, as far as industry and more particular in lepidolite, so our view is that lepidolite represents a little over 10% of global production, largely focused in China. And then based on kind of industry channel checks and several third-party cost curves, they seem to suggest that lepidolite cost of production is circa $20,000 to $25,000 per ton. And we are seeing and hearing evidence that lepidolite production is being rationalized because prices in China are getting into the those certain levels. I believe certain third-party reports have commented that lepidolite production has declined by more than 45% since the peak. So you are seeing a relatively efficient market with, now that prices have declined, these higher-cost producers are essentially rationalizing and exiting, to some degree. So, I think for us, that leaves us in a very strong position, because it does suggest that the cost curve has materially steepened over the last five years, and the fact that we have low-cost, high-grade projects, it'll allow our companies to continue to enjoy enhanced margins over the long term. And I think with regards to your second question, on demand, I think, you're exactly right. And, as far as, w e probably second the comments from the large lithium producers that reported earnings before us, that we do feel that lithium inventories are at our subdued levels. Our channel check suggests less than a month of inventories across the lithium supply chain with regards to chemicals. So it is quite low. So to the extent that we see an acceleration in restocking, it could allow for prices to recover. But for us, we're really playing the long game and focused on adding value, and we're using conservative assumptions anyways with regards to price. So for us, we're really focused on volumes and getting these assets into production. Got it. Thanks for that. And then the one question on Lithium Royalty Corp, more specifically. You mentioned that, you know, this, this equity capital markets mood, less appetite right now, for this theme opens up more opportunities. Curious if one of those opportunities would be sort of upsizing the check size that you might normally consider, or would that be something that is more like considered, you know, style drift or not, you know, sticking to your focus strategy? Any thoughts on that? Thank you. Sure. Maybe I'll start, and I'll also would be great to get Dominique's input. But so as far as check size, we have increased the check sizes since our initial public offering. So our two largest transactions have occurred this year, one with the Tres Quebradas asset, where it was $25 million in cash and shares, and then also the Atlas Lithium transaction, which was $20 million. So we are increasing the check sizes, but for us, it's really about the returns and the asset being accretive from both a qualitative and quantitative standpoint. We're not opposed to large check sizes, but I think we want to have a pristine balance sheet, and we're mindful of just the cash flow coming in. But, as the cash has continued to grow, it does allow us more opportunities, but I'll have Dominique comment as well. Yeah. Thanks for your question, Chris. I think my job is really to provide as many options as possible from a financial perspective. So we do have a line of credit, we do have cash, and we do, we are very focused on collecting cash flow and keeping our G&A expenses low, to take advantage of the scalable business model that we have. So, depending on the opportunities at hand and depending on the internal rates of return that we would calculate internally, we would absolutely want to have as many options as possible. And to Ernie's point, if there's an opportunity that makes sense and that we're able to use the options that I've just laid out, we would do so. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. There appear to be no further questions. I'll return the conference back to you, thank you. Thank you. Thank you to everyone who joined us today. This concludes our Third Quarter 2023 results conference call and webcast. We expect to release our Q4 2023 results after market close on March 27, 2024, with the conference call held on March 28, 2024, at 9:00 AM. Thank you for your interest in Lithium Royalty Corp. Goodbye. Thank you. This does conclude today's conference call. Thank you all for attending. You may now disconnect your line.