Aura Minerals (TSE:ORA) executives used the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call to highlight record production and EBITDA, ongoing project development and expansion plans, and a continued focus on dividends alongside growth investments.
Record quarterly and annual production, with higher prices lifting results
President and CEO Rodrigo Barbosa said the company delivered record gold equivalent ounce (GEO) production for both the quarter and the full year. Aura reported quarterly production of 82,000 GEOs, up 11% from Q3 2025 and 23% from the year-ago quarter. Full-year production totaled 280,000 GEOs, which management said was 9% higher year over year and in line with guidance (excluding the MSG acquisition, which was not included in the original budget or guidance).
Costs, guidance delivery, and 2026 outlook
Barbosa said Aura finished 2025 slightly below the low end of its cost guidance. He reported 2025 cash costs of $1,070 per GEO versus a low-end guidance of $1,078, and all-in sustaining cash costs (AISC) of $1,368 per GEO versus a low-end guidance of $1,374.
He also discussed how reporting at Aranzazu can be influenced by metal prices. Because Aura converts copper revenue into gold equivalent ounces using the gold price, a higher gold price can lower reported GEOs and mechanically increase AISC per GEO, even if underlying operations are stable.
Looking to 2026, management guided to higher consolidated costs and higher capital spending, largely due to the inclusion of the recently acquired MSG mine, expansion work at Almas, and project advancement at Era Dorada. Cardozo said 2026 AISC is expected to rise by $262 to $407 versus 2025, with 70% to 80% of the increase attributed to MSG. He also cited a “metal price effect” from gold-equivalent conversion (about 5% of the increase), and higher costs at Almas due to mine sequencing, a pushback and higher strip ratio, lower grades, and tailings dam expansion (which he said is not expected to repeat in 2027).
Net loss driven by hedging mark-to-market; cash generation and leverage remained low
Aura reported a net loss of $20 million for the quarter. Cardozo said this was primarily driven by non-cash losses on outstanding gold derivatives related to the sharp rise in gold prices. He quantified $82 million of non-cash losses related to those hedges in the quarter, plus $22 million of realized losses on derivatives that expired during the period. Excluding those and other non-cash items, management reported adjusted net income of $73 million for Q4.
Cardozo said the company ended the year with a “very low” net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio, reporting it at below 0.3x on the last 12 months. He also detailed cash generation and uses in the quarter, stating Aura generated $94 million of recurring free cash flow in Q4 (after realized hedge losses). The company invested $103 million in growth during the quarter—primarily the MSG acquisition and expansion capex at Almas—and paid $40 million in dividends.
For the full year, Cardozo said operating mines generated over $250 million in cash, which funded growth investments including construction spending, acquisitions (MSG and Era Dorada), exploration, and other investments. Aura returned $116 million to shareholders via dividends and received $200 million in net proceeds from an IPO-related financing, ending 2025 with about $290 million in cash, according to Cardozo.
Project updates: Borborema, Almas, MSG turnaround, and Era Dorada
Borborema: Barbosa said Aura obtained a license to relocate a road, which he said unlocks 670,000 ounces of reserves and increases the project’s reserves to 1.5 million ounces. Management framed this as a major value driver, while also emphasizing a preference to increase processing capacity rather than simply extend mine life. Cardozo said the plant’s current bottleneck is filtration, and Aura has approved and contracted work to expand filters, with completion expected in the first half of the year. Executives also discussed ongoing engineering work and water assessments for a potential larger plant expansion, noting additional circuits would be required (including milling, crushing, and CIL).
On operations, management said recoveries are at design and the mill and CIL circuits are running well. They attributed production variability primarily to feed grades and cutoff assumptions rather than plant performance.
Almas: Management said Almas is being expanded from a 1.3 million tonne-per-year plant (as originally built) to higher throughput, with Aura aiming to reach 3 million tonnes per year by the end of the year or early next year. Barbosa said the expansion and tailings dam raise are included in the budget and capex guidance. Executives noted sequencing-related grade and cost variability during the expansion period and said underground development is part of the longer-term plan to support higher grades.
MSG: Aura closed its acquisition of MSG in December for $76 million (Barbosa also referenced $73 million in another portion of the call). Management acknowledged MSG had AISC above $3,000 at acquisition and higher sustaining capex due to its underground nature. Barbosa emphasized 2026 is a turnaround year focused on underground development and operational changes intended to reduce dilution and improve productivity, with a longer-term goal of producing over 80,000 ounces per year at below $2,000 AISC. Cardozo said MSG contributed $10 million of adjusted EBITDA in the quarter, despite being included for only one month and prior to any turnaround benefits.
Era Dorada: Barbosa said Aura has started early works after obtaining the relevant license and is completing studies before bringing full construction to the board. In response to analyst questions, he said a board decision is expected between the first and second quarter of the year, noting the project is expected to take 22 months to build and that timing would affect the production start.
Dividends, trading liquidity, and potential index inclusion
Barbosa reiterated Aura’s quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, which he said represented a 6.2% yield over the last 12 months. He told analysts the company expects to continue paying dividends at the policy level or above, unless a “major acquisition” warranted reverting to the policy level.
Management also highlighted a sharp increase in trading liquidity following a Nasdaq listing and a $200 million issuance, saying average daily trading volume rose from roughly $1 million–$2 million per day to about $100 million per day in February (combined Nasdaq and B3 activity, according to Barbosa).
On index inclusion, Barbosa said Aura believes it could become eligible for inclusion in the GDX in the second half of the year, potentially between the third and fourth quarter, while noting eligibility depends on meeting volume thresholds for consecutive quarters and index provider review. He also said the company is monitoring opportunities for inclusion in other major indices and noted Aura is already included in about 30 indices.
About Aura Minerals (TSE:ORA)
Aura Minerals Inc is a mid-tier gold and copper production company focused on the development and operation of gold and base metal projects in the Americas. The company’s producing assets include the San Andres gold mine in Honduras, the Ernesto/Paua -Pique gold mine in Brazil, the Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine in Mexico and the Gold Road mine in the United States. In addition, the company has two additional gold projects in Brazil, Almas and Matupa, and one gold project in Colombia, Tolda Fria.
