Coeur Mining Inc.

The stable outlook anticipates that the currently favorable environment for gold will moderate over the next 12 months as concerns over the coronavirus subside, the global economy begins to recover, and financial markets stabilize. If prices recede to our forecast level of $1,500 an ounce, this would still be 12% higher than the previous year and support higher EBITDA margins and EBITDA. Under these conditions, we expect adjusted leverage to improve to about 3.5x EBITDA. While unlikely over the next year given the protective cushion under current credit measures, we would lower our rating on Coeur Mining if debt to EBITDA climbed above 5x and if the company was not generating positive free cash flow to repay borrowings. Scenarios under

...Coeur Mining's credit measures currently have ample cushion to absorb temporary mine disruptions related to the coronavirus, as well as some of the inherent volatility in gold prices. Operations at the company's top performing Palmarejo mine in Mexico were temporarily suspended in second-quarter 2020 amid government efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. We understand the mine has resumed operations and we don't see the disruption as having a big impact on the company's long-term credit profile. That said, the closure illustrates the potential for volatility in a relatively concentrated portfolio of five mines. For this reason, and because of the inherent volatility and capital intensity of precious metals mining, it is important for the company to maintain a more conservative financial profile during favorable spans of commodity cycles than might otherwise be indicated by the 'B' issuer credit rating. To that point, Coeur Mining ended fiscal 2019 with S&P Global Ratings-adjusted debt...

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