NexGen Energy Q4 2025 Earnings Call - Project Ready to Start Construction Pending Final Federal Approval and CAD 1.1B Cash
Summary
NexGen says it is poised to transition Rook One from development to construction once final federal approval arrives, after completing the two-part Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission hearings and receiving a staff recommendation for approval. The company finished 2025 with about CAD 1.1 billion in cash following a CAD 950 million equity raise, has 28 RFP packages out, critical-path equipment staged, and a CAD 2.2 billion capital estimate that management says remains intact despite inflation. First-year construction spend is estimated at roughly CAD 300 million, with a 48-month construction schedule expected to accelerate immediately upon approval.
The call doubled as a market briefing. Management painted a tight, structural uranium market, stronger utility buying on spot, and policy and hyperscaler tailwinds that underpin demand. Exploration momentum continues at Patterson Corridor East, with a 42,000 meter program and multiple rigs, while NexGen retains a deliberate offtake and financing posture designed to preserve upside exposure to uranium prices at delivery. Management says workforce and logistics planning are well advanced, but timing of final financing and the narrow early shaft-sinking window remain the key near-term items to watch.
Key Takeaways
- CNSC process effectively complete, staff have recommended approval after two-part hearings, opening the path to final federal sign-off and construction consent.
- NexGen finished 2025 with approximately CAD 1.1 billion in cash, after a CAD 950 million equity raise, providing runway for the first year of construction.
- Management reiterates a CAD 2.2 billion total CapEx estimate for Rook One, stating no material movement despite inflationary pressure.
- First 12 months of construction estimated at about CAD 300 million, part of a planned 48-month construction period.
- Site is construction-ready, with 28 procurement packages released to RFP, a freeze plant staged in Saskatoon, and temporary camp expansion planned from ~220 to nearly 600 beds.
- Critical near-term procurement focuses on shaft-sinking, temporary water, and temporary power, with shaft-sinking effectively secured and other major contracts in final negotiations.
- NexGen has contracted roughly 2 million pounds per year for the first five years, management says break-even is about 3.5 million pounds per year.
- Marketing and financing strategy prioritizes maintaining leverage to the future uranium price, favoring offtake pricing tied to market prices at delivery.
- Exploration at Patterson Corridor East remains active, with a 42,000 meter program, four rigs, high-grade intercepts reported in 2025, and tests of parallel structures and nearby targets planned.
- Management views PCE as amenable to development via the same shafts and mill used for Rook One, offering optionality for faster second-mine expansion once a maiden resource and permitting path are defined.
- NexGen highlights strong local hiring interest and training initiatives, claiming over 50% of the team are northern Saskatchewan residents and a pipeline of applicants for construction roles.
- Company inclusion in the S&P/ASX 200 after the raise increased Australian institutional ownership, free float, and liquidity.
- Market context: management argues the uranium market is structurally undersupplied to 2050, spot remains price-discovery with ~56 million pounds traded in 2025, utilities are increasingly buying spot, and producers are selling less into spot.
- Financing timeline for the remaining CapEx is flexible, management expects finalization anytime from now to 18 months, with numerous interested parties and a preference for structures that preserve uranium price exposure at delivery.
Full Transcript
Rafa, Conference Operator: Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the NexGen Energy fourth quarter 2025 results conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be a question and answer session at the end. To join the queue, you may press Star then 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference, you may signal an operator by pressing Star then 0. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director with NexGen Energy Ltd.. Please go ahead, sir.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Thank you, Rafa. Good morning, thank you for joining NexGen’s year-end and Q4 2025 financial results and investor conference call. My name is Leigh Curyer, I am the Chief Executive Officer. Today, I am joined by Travis McPherson, Chief Commercial Officer, Ben Salter, Chief Financial Officer, and Stacey Goluch, Manager, Investor Resources Australasia. During the call, I will highlight NexGen’s milestone achievements over the fourth quarter of 2025, provide an update on recent milestones, exploration development activities, and speak to the strategy and future plans for NexGen Energy. At the conclusion of this presentation, we’ll move to the Q&A portion of the call, where you have the opportunity to ask Travis, Ben, and myself any questions you may have. Throughout the course of today’s call, we will be making forward-looking statements, please visit our website for all the relevant disclaimers.
Before we begin, I would like to thank our investors, community partners, and all stakeholders for their long-standing support for NexGen’s unique and fit-for-purpose approach to resource development, which is setting a new standard. 2025 was a defining year for NexGen, marked by significant infrastructure investments at site, regulatory advancements, commercial offtake agreements, exploration success at PCE, approximately CAD 1 billion equity raise, and team expansion, all highlighting NexGen’s unparalleled leverage to the future price of uranium, balance sheet optimization and exploration milestones that further solidify our leadership in the global clean energy landscape. Our progress reflects disciplined execution, continuous improvement, and an unwavering commitment from our team to our core values of honesty, respect, resilience, and accountability. Stepping back for the first time in many decades, we are witnessing a genuine and structural shift in global energy demand that materially benefits the nuclear energy industry.
Previous years were defined by ambitious pledges and isolated demand. However, what we are seeing now is assertive and immediate action and implementation. Public policy and capital are now fully aligned to support nuclear growth for existing baseload requirements, as well as AI and other high-growth technology advancements. In the United States of America, we’re seeing reform to advance nuclear in a manner which hasn’t been seen in the West in all of history. We’re witnessing both the acknowledgment of the fragility of the supply chain as well as the actions to support and encourage activation of allied sources of nuclear fuel. This includes the recently proposed multi-billion dollar Project Vault Reserve, aimed at securing critical minerals and uranium supply. Importantly, these policies are designed to accelerate downstream, midstream, and upstream activities.
This is critical as the down- and midstream build-out, as it relates to nuclear fuel, is a significantly less of a challenge to solve. It takes money and permitting, both of which are in the control of the governments. Upstream activities, though, take regulatory support, but also significant investment over a significant time. Although this is more of a focus of policy in the industry, it is going to take a significant time to solve and trigger a new Western world diversified multi-source of uranium supply. In fact, it is likely that it will take decades for mined uranium supply to meet existing demand, let alone the significant growth anticipated. The U.S. alone is anticipating electrical growth of between 8%-10% through to 2030.
This is partly in response to China over the last 10 years, increasing its electrical production by more than half of the rest of the world combined. China now has double the electrical power capacity at half the kilowatt price of the USA, a fact largely driven through the adoption of nuclear energy. Governments and industry are being tested on their ability to expand and restart facilities, advance fuel cycle initiatives, and increase uranium production to meet accelerating demand. As an example, Canada just delivered the Darlington refurbishment project ahead of schedule and under budget. AI is rapidly becoming a material contributor to the global electricity growth and subsequently a new major structural driver of demand. The clear focus of the hyperscalers in big tech to nuclear is producing meaningful support for the expansion of the nuclear ecosystem.
The U.S. Department of Energy has allocated $2.7 billion to nuclear fuel companies such as Centrus. States like Iowa are forming nuclear power task forces to accelerate development. At the same time, large technology companies are aggressively securing long-term power supply amid intensifying competition in AI. Big Tech is increasingly underwriting new nuclear capacity. Meta, for example, signed a multi-gigawatt deal with Oklo, TerraPower and Vistra to power its AI data centers. We acknowledge the benefits to the sector from increased hyperscale activity, strategic critical mineral initiatives in the U.S. and continued capital flows into the uranium sector, it is important to stress that the prior underlying market fundamentals stand on their own. Even without these very persistent tailwinds, the uranium market remains structurally under-supplied, with the deficit widening every year for the forecast periods out to 2050 and beyond.
Despite uranium prices moving from $17 a pound in 2017 to $90 a pound today, there has been no material supply response. The past 12 months alone have delivered several downgrades in production levels. Legacy operators are facing execution challenges, and key uranium mining jurisdictions remain constrained. Utilities globally are beginning to acknowledge there simply isn’t enough supply available. Demand clearly supports significant contracting. The fragility of supply is even more evident in the spot market, which has had a strong start to the year in 2026. In 2025, approximately 56 million pounds traded on spot, representing approximately 40% of mine supply and 27% of total consumption. Far from a peripheral venue, it is the market’s true price discoverer and is what underpins the pricing in every contract signed or under negotiation. That dynamic is increasingly felt by utilities themselves.
Spot purchases by utilities have surged 85% year-over-year, accounting for 1/4 of all spot volumes. The reality is direct purchases on the spot market were made by utilities in 2025. The majority of the rest of the spot market activity is still ultimately bought and consumed by utilities through traders and other intermediaries in the market. Meanwhile, producers are selling less into spot market. Uranium producers sold just 4.6 million pounds on spot in 2025, down sharply from 10.9 million pounds in 2022. The reason is structural. Producers are at capacity, cautious about future output, and heavily committed on forward sales for the next 7+ years. There is very little buffer in the system in the form of inventories held by utilities and producers or new supply to market.
Consequently, these factors, together with the technical simplicity and low economic cost of future reduction required, have informed and will continue to design our marketing strategy to offtake contracts whereby pricing will be heavily dependent on market prices at the time of delivery. Hence, optimizing NexGen’s status as the world’s most levered company to the future price of uranium. The fundamentals remain increasingly compelling. As the structural supply deficit widens, the window to make meaningful new discoveries is now. NexGen is operating in the most valuable postcode in uranium globally. While the jurisdiction of Saskatchewan, Canada, is world-class, our results are a function of extremely favorable geology, a disciplined strategy, combined with proven technical capability and steadfast persistence. Every drill campaign reinforces the potential for another tier one discovery within our land position in the southwest Athabasca Basin.
Our basement-hosted Patterson Corridor East discovery continued to deliver highly encouraging results throughout 2025. Multiple high-grade assay results, including the company’s highest grade discovery phase intercept to date, inclusive of those discovered during the development of Arrow. The mineralized system continues to expand at PCE with each exploration program driving exciting results that continue to validate PCE and demonstrate the substantial exploration potential beyond the Arrow deposit. On permitting, NexGen has now completed the 2-part Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission hearings on November the 19th, 2025, and February 9 to 12 of 2026, marking the completion of the final stage of the federal approvals process. The depth, capability, and professionalism of our team were evident throughout, with CNSC staff acknowledging the exceptional quality and rigor of our submission. Indigenous community support was both strong and unequivocal, with positive interveners emphasizing the importance of a timely approval.
We’re extremely proud to have the formal and public support of our four indigenous nations within the local priority area who have continuously advocated for the project and NexGen stewardship of the Rook One project. The province of Saskatchewan continues to champion Rook One as a priority project. The CNSC staff have formally recommended approval of the project to the CNSC commission. This alignment across indigenous and community partners, provincial leadership to federal regulators, is a testament to the strength and authenticity of our partnership-driven development model, and reflects more than a decade of disciplined technical work, meaningful indigenous and community engagement, and a rigorous regulatory process. Our world-class team stands ready to seamlessly advance development into construction upon receipt of final federal approval.
I would like to also take the opportunity to commend Denison Mines, led by David Cates, on the recently received approval for the Wheeler River project. NexGen and Denison represent the future of uranium mining in Canada, with both advancing world-class projects. It is time for Canada to take center stage in the supply of critical nuclear fuel and to do it in a way that stewards the industry successfully into the future. We’ve continued to strengthen and scale our organization. NexGen is fortunate to have exceptional talent across every level of the business. With over 50% of the team residents of the North of Saskatchewan. We’re building on that foundation as we prepare for the next phase of growth.
We have had over 4,000 applicants across 65 advertised roles over the last year, and 586 applicants for 13 roles advertised in just the last month. This is an endorsement of the culture we’ve built, the quality of our team, and the magnitude of the opportunity that lies ahead. With regard to our contracting activities, multiple offtake negotiations are progressing with utilities across the world, including the U.S., Europe, and Asia. We expect to announce additional contracts in 2026, optimizing the value of each and every pound we produce. At the same time, we’ve deliberately maintained full strategic optionality with a strong cash position of over $1.1 billion at year-end. We have access to multiple highly accredited financing alternatives. As always, we will optimize these alternatives with discipline and with the current cash on hand, we’ll continue to evaluate.
Our production flexibility profile combined with the technical setting of our project, are designed to maximize the value of every pound we produce. We will always optimize our exposure to the uranium prices at the time of delivery. Any funding structure we pursue will incorporate that optionality. Following our successful CAD 950 million Canadian capital raise, including CAD 600 million from Australian investors, NexGen was officially included on the S&P/ASX 200 index on December 22, 2025. This transaction materially increased our market capitalization, liquidity, Australian institutional ownership, and free float, enabling us to meet the ASX 200 eligibility. This inclusion is reflective of the strength of investor confidence in NexGen, and represents an important step in broadening our capital market presence and increasing liquidity as we advance through construction and into operation. Turning to site activities.
Since 2013, NexGen has safely and successfully advanced Rook One across exploration, engineering, procurement, development, and supporting infrastructure, representing a cumulative investment of approximately CAD 786 million in Saskatchewan. During Q4, site exploration programs progressed on schedule and on budget. We will be significantly expanding on-site capacity to support exploration at scale, increasing camp accommodation from approximately 220 beds to just under 600, while nearing completion of the temporary exploration airstrip and existing site access road improvements. On the project side, detailed engineering is progressing in line with the project schedule, and procurement is advancing, with 28 packages having gone to RFP in 2025. Critical path items have been secured to allow immediate mobilization following final federal approval.
The convergence of government policy, big tech demand, grid reliability challenges, and accelerating global nuclear deployment continues to underpin uranium as one of the most critical pillars of the future energy system, setting the stage for sustained demand growth. In 2026, NexGen is positioned to capture this next phase of value creation, underpinned by a de-risked development pathway, robust market fundamentals, and growing global recognition of nuclear energy’s role in the energy security and decarbonization initiative. We are not positioning to meet short-term market tightness. We are developing a platform capable of addressing structural global supply deficits for decades to come. This is our differentiator. Through the disciplined advancement of the Rook One and continued exploration success, we are building both immediate and material production capacity as well as longer-term growth.
Our immediate focus is to transition efficiently into construction of Rook One following the final federal approval. We will execute with the same discipline integrity that has defined our approach to date, upholding the elite standards NexGen is known for, while creating enduring value for our indigenous partners, governments of Saskatchewan and Canada, shareholders and the global clean energy future. We are prepared with the team, the asset and the timing and the capital to execute our next phase. Thank you, and I look forward to updating you on our progress throughout this transformative year in 2026. I’ll open the call to questions.
Rafa, Conference Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. To join the question, you may press Star then 1 on your telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press Star followed by the number 2. We will pause for a moment as callers join the queue and while we prepare the Q&A roster. Our first question today comes from Ralph Profiti with Stifel Financial. Please go ahead.
Ralph Profiti, Analyst, Stifel Financial: Thank you, operator, and good morning. Lee, I wanted to come back to your comments about the 65 roles and the 13 roles about sort of human resources procurement. Just wondering if I can get your comments on construction readiness of the team in those highly and technically skilled labor and that senior construction management, how you’re feeling about those two aspects, both from an external contractors and internal management. It seems to be an issue that keeps being brought up by your competitors. Just wondering what your thoughts are, please.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Yeah. Thanks, Ralph. Look, I can tell you just what we’re experiencing. You know, I hear labor shortages is bandied around a lot in the industry, for reasons of, you know, production delays and project delays. They are our stats. We have had an enormous amount of interest in joining the company. Those stats are reflective of that. I would say, well, why is that? Well, we’ve been planning this project since 2014. We knew immediately went on discovery that we had a world-class project. Since that time, and particularly since the engineering studies that the first one was released in 2017, we’ve been preparing for this moment.
That has also led to training initiatives in the local project area that we’ve had in place since 2022. We are in a region of northern Saskatchewan where a lot of the labor is actually working in other parts of the province and in Alberta. The desire to come back to the local community is extremely high. I think it’s a combination of not only our planning, our careful planning, from many, many years out, because, you know, I’ll also make the point, you won’t be seeing us making a final investment decision. That decision has already been made many, many years ago, subject to permitting and financing.
We have been preparing for this all along, and we are in the position where we’ve identified all the roles through to the end of construction, and we know exactly what we’re doing, what we’re building, who we’re using, and what is required every single day of the 48-month construction period. The planning around that, as a consequence, started many years ago, and we are not experiencing a shortage of interest in any role. With respect to the senior positions in the project development team, we’ve got a very detailed HR plan around that. We are currently ahead of that, and we’ll continue to expand that in a systematic manner as we approach construction and during construction. I’ll just make the point about the profile of that experience in the team.
We deliberately took operating experience and worked back to inform the design of the project. I just wanna be very clear with everyone. We’ve been in this position for over 10 years knowing that we’re going to be building this mine. We’ve been planning for it for over 10 years, and we are now approaching the conclusion of final approval, and we’ll seamlessly head into to enter construction on receipt of that final approval. Those, those stats, which I mentioned in my call, are very clear evidence that that planning from a long way out has materialized as we had hoped and planned for.
It’s very exciting for the local community, for people who fly and fly out, or have been working in another province for many years at the prospect of coming back to the area where they were born and raised and having fulfilling, sustainable employment.
Ralph Profiti, Analyst, Stifel Financial: Thanks, Leigh. That’s helpful. As a follow-up, I’d like to just ask about your important comments about policy and capital alignment and how that may influence some of the financing alternatives. I’m just wondering if there’s been a change in prioritization while keeping this maximum flexibility on, say, new entrants or versus traditional buckets. Specifically address, do you think there’s still a need for a strategic sell down as an option, right, on the project itself? I wonder if that’s come up in the pecking order or if it’s changed at all.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Yeah, no, it hasn’t changed. I would say the change has been, there’s been added entrants into our environment who are looking to fund the balance of finance that we require in order to construct the project. I would also say the amenability of interested parties have recognized our project and our approach to contracting, and it’s resonated very, very strongly. We’ll be concluding that process following permitting. Now we have $1.1 billion in the bank. The first 12 months of construction is approximately $300 million. We have a decent runway in order to conclude the final financing component of the project.
I would say as a general comment that the number of interest parties has increased and the amenability towards the way we’d like to finance the remaining ask is extremely positive for the project in the sense that it will maintain exposure to the uranium price at the time of delivery of the offtake. I think that’s one of the most important aspects to take away with respect to NexGen, is that our strategy is to be the most levered company in the world to the future price of uranium. We currently are, and we will maintain that in every stage of our development and financing execution.
Ralph Profiti, Analyst, Stifel Financial: Thank you for those helpful answers. Thank you. Ralph?
Rafa, Conference Operator: Thank you. Thank you. Our next question today comes from Andrew Wong at RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Speaker 0: Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. If we’re to fast forward, let’s say 6 months from now, 12 months from now, assuming you’re gonna get the approval for the CNSC and work started at Rook One, what do you expect will have been accomplished within that time period? Like, what should we look for?
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: The first component is earthworks and preparation for the sinking of both the production and exhaust shafts. There’s a lot of surface preparation before the freezing and the drilling and blasting commences. We have the freeze plant in a warehouse in Saskatoon ready to be deployed to site. I would say relative to other construction starts for mining projects, you’re going to see an immediate acceleration of activity at site over the first six months because the site is construction ready. You know, with those RFP packages already in place, we are ready to execute subject to receipt of that final federal approval. It’s gonna be an incredibly exciting time for the company.
The first six months, as I said, earthworks and preparation for the drilling and blasting of the shafts.
Speaker 0: Okay, great. Just the initial CapEx number for Rook One. I think the last update we had was about 2 years ago now. How comfortable are you still with that CAD 2.2-ish billion dollar figure?
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Yeah, it’s CAD 2.2 billion. Obviously it’s been subject to inflation, with the advancement of the engineering, we’ve seen no material movement in that number, with respect to the overall capital requirement. I want to be clear, you know, people ask me, you know, in terms of construction, what’s the most complicated component of the construction? I want to be clear. This, in a mining sense, has very strong technical characteristics. It’s incredibly high-grade project and in competent basement rock. From a mining perspective, it’s one of relatively simpler constructions that we will undertake. The other aspect too is we’ve been planning for over 10 years. We’ve revised and reviewed everything we’re doing. We know exactly what we’re doing day in, day out.
For those who wanna look at the risk within that, the first 100 meters of sinking the shafts is where the ground is most variable. Once we’re in the basement rock, the cost and schedule variability of the overall capital costs goes down pretty close to zero. Having said that, we have over 400,000 meters of drilling. We know every inch of those ground conditions in the first 100 meters and down to 900 meters. I just want to convey or give the opportunity to explain that we have a very strong awareness of the ground conditions. We know exactly what we’re doing every day of that 48-month process, who’s doing it, who’s responsible for it within NexGen.
As I said, once we’re in that basement rock, the highest risk around cost and schedule has been mitigated. That will be happening in the first period of the whole construction of the Rook One Project.
Speaker 0: Great. Thank you. Just quick one, just some of the infrastructure and logistics details for the initial construction. What’s the plan for power availability for construction? I know the final mine plan is LNG. Is that also being used for construction? Just on road access, like with the Highway 955, like are there any upgrades that are required and how about the access road to Rook One? Like what’s the status of that upgrade there? Thank you.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: It will be LNG during construction as well. Highway 955, provincial highway. We work very closely with the Saskatchewan Highways Department in terms of ensuring that road is maintained in terms of servicing the project. Premier Moe has made an absolute undertaking to ensure that road is maintained in a manner which facilitates the increase in traffic as a result of construction activities. Look, we’ve been working in the area since 2013. We know, you know, the logistics of movements in and out of the project and what is scheduled on it on a daily basis throughout that 48-month project. We’ve been working with the Saskatchewan Highways Department all along and it’ll be.
That won’t be an issue when it comes to the construction of the project, given the planning and the commitment from both, NexGen and the Government of Saskatchewan.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you very much.
Rafa, Conference Operator: Thank you. Our next question today comes from Graham Tanaka with Tanaka Capital Management. Please go ahead.
Graham Tanaka, Investor, Tanaka Capital Management: Yeah. Hi. Congratulations on your progress so far. I’m wondering if as you layer on some more offtake contracting agreements, will you be taking on multiyear orders or contracts with hyperscalers, AI hyperscalers, sovereign nations, or other large entities? What percentage of your production anticipated in the first five years would you be willing to sign up before you start production, actually? I have some questions about exploration of PCE, Patterson Corridor East. Thank you.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Sure, Graham. With respect to, we currently have 2 million pounds contracted per year over the first 5 years. We break even at 3.5 million pounds. Yeah, the requirement to offtake substantial quantities between now and during construction leading to production is almost completely mitigated even as I speak today. Look, we saw 2 transactions in the last 2 weeks with India, a large 10-year offtake agreement with Kazakhstan. We saw Cameco do a 10-year agreement with India as well. It’s fair to say the demand coming from the Asian region for offtake is very, very strong and is typically spanning a 10-year period with respect to what they are seeking.
We are right at the cusp of that and very well aware of that demand and navigating it accordingly in line with our offtake strategy, which I mentioned during the call and mentioned consistently when asked about it. To answer your question, we have a number of offtakes under advanced negotiation. You will see additional contracts in 2026. The requirement to have them in place prior to going into construction or prior to into production has been completely mitigated already. With respect to PCE, we have 4 rigs drilling in and around that area as we speak. It’s a 42,000 meter program, and that is a combination aimed at expanding the footprint and also the high-grade heart within the area of mineralization at PCE.
We also will be testing a parallel structure alongside of PCE throughout the course of this year as well, and then also, a target on our SW-3 land package, which is to the east of Rook 1. As mentioned, it’s an embarrassment of exploration riches that we have ahead of us. You know, I like the size of that program as we currently speak, which is occurring in parallel to all of the development activities at NexGen. It to be multifaceted is a great position to be in.
Graham Tanaka, Investor, Tanaka Capital Management: Okay. Given the fact that it’s taken over 10 years to get Rook One in place, and to be receiving approval to proceed, when do you need to start in earnest with negotiations of environmental applications, regulatory applications, et cetera, for a Patterson Corridor East? Would it take as many as 10 years so that the second mine will take 10 years to bring on, or could that come on faster?
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Look, it would all be subject to permitting approval. I think in principle, given that we, you know, the PCE is the same mineralizing event as what is Arrow, obviously, clearly something very significant mineralizing event occurred in the area. It is the same mineralization. Conceptually, you’d run a drift from the underground workings at Arrow to access PCE. You’d be bringing it up through the same production shaft as Rook One and going through the same mill. Conceptually, My view is that, yeah, that is a most likely development path. When? As I said, it would be subject to permitting.
We’ll probably do a study on it, in either, you know, most likely in 2027, 2028 as we’re up and running in construction, to see what it looks like. And after we’ve established a maiden resource for PCE. Look, it provides tremendous optionality and long-term growth for NexGen. We’ll do that once we are in a position to do so and without compromising the construction timeline of Rook One and getting that into production. You know, first things first, we’ll focus on Rook One. As PCE materializes and we’ve defined a resource, we’ll then look at the economics of those type of development scenarios. I don’t, you know...
The infrastructure all being up and running at Arrow and the fact that it’s the same mineralization, et cetera, I think in principle provides maybe a shorter pathway. I don’t think we will have, you know. We’ve got enormous amount of ore to extract out of Arrow before we branch out elsewhere. It’s a we’ll navigate it accordingly in light of the market at the time as well.
Graham Tanaka, Investor, Tanaka Capital Management: Well, my concern is that, a few years down the road, we may see such a very tight market for uranium. Prices could be a lot higher. I’m wondering what would be your flexibility to be able to accelerate a second mine if, say, prices got to, I don’t know, some. You choose a figure, $200? I don’t know. I, $150.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Yeah.
Graham Tanaka, Investor, Tanaka Capital Management: Yes.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Graham, you know, you throw out $200. The previous high for uranium was $136 in the mid-2000s. That’s over $200 a pound US in today’s terms. I think that’s very. The likelihood of that occurring is very real in the coming years. We’ve been very clear on that. We think that pricing scenario is a very likely consequence of the demand and supply worldwide for uranium and the current fragility around mine production. We are on it. You know, we need to define the resource first at PCE. Having, you know, going forward, 4 to 5 years from now, we’re up and running and in production. Yeah, we would look at those scenarios.
I think it, in principle, will be a far more shorter timeframe, a far shorter timeframe than starting from scratch, as what we’ve done since 2014 at Arrow. I, you know, the good news is it’s not a concern. It’s an opportunity for us.
Graham Tanaka, Investor, Tanaka Capital Management: Great.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: One that we are well aware of. I think your scenario that you’re outlying is potentially a very real outcome in the future.
Graham Tanaka, Investor, Tanaka Capital Management: Great. Thank you very much. Appreciate your comments. Good luck.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Thank you, Graham.
Rafa, Conference Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Archie Nesbitt, a retail investor. Please go ahead. Hello, Mr. Nesbitt, your line is open. Are you on mute perhaps? All right. I do apologize. We’ll move on to our next question. It comes from Rod Mackinder, another private investor. Please go ahead. All right. I do apologize. Looks like we’re having some issues with their audio there, so we’ll move on to our next question, which comes from Mohamed Sidibé with National Bank. Please go ahead. Hello, Mohamed. Is your line open?
Mohamed Sidibé, Analyst, National Bank: Hi. Yes. Sorry. Forgot to unmute myself there. Hi, Lee and team. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to ask, on the first 12 months of construction, you noted about, you know, an estimate of $300 million, and I think you’re well cashed up at this point in time. You know, in terms of your financing needs for the remainder of the project, is there a certain timeline that we should be looking for? Is this something that you expect to have, you know, in place prior to start of construction? Given the flexibility that you have, is something that could go into 2027? Thank you.
Rafa, Conference Operator: Uh, so-
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Yeah, good question. I might start with the question then hand over to Travis. Yeah, look, we have CAD 1.1 billion in the bank, that first 12 month construction spend is only, you know, less than a third of it. We do have time on our hands. We have been working on concluding this final financing component of the CapEx for quite some time now. I think the easiest or the best way to explain the timing around us concluding that will be anywhere from now to 18 months from now. That’s about as simple as I can answer that.
What I would say and can say at this point in time, the interest is vast and in line with our expectations around maintaining absolute leverage to the future price of uranium at the time of delivery. We’ve always been, Mohamed, we’ve always been very conservative with our financing and when we do raise money well ahead of time. I think this component will be, you know, will also match that characteristic of ours, which we demonstrated, you know, since 2013. We won’t be running that CAD 1.1 billion down to zero before we make a decision. You know, these are highly complex negotiations, and they do take time.
We have been working on for a substantial period of time now, and I think, you know, just watch this space. Anytime between now and 18 months from now, we’ll have that, package finalized.
Mohamed Sidibé, Analyst, National Bank: Thanks a lot, Lee, for that. Just second question on the, you know, the construction readiness and ahead of the potential start of construction. I think you noted that the freezing equipment and the shaft-sinking materials are, the freeze holes are in place. Are there any other critical path contracts or items that we should be keeping an eye out on over the next 6-12 months in order to get you ready for the shaft-sinking process? Thank you.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Yeah. I’d just like to clarify. It’s the freeze plant that is in a warehouse in Saskatoon ready to be deployed to site. The holes that have been drilled around the circumference, proposed circumference of both the production exhaust shaft were holes to geotechnically inform the sinking of the shafts. We do not have the freeze holes in place that would define it as construction. To your second question, I’ll defer to Travis around those packages and our preparedness for the first 12 months of construction.
Travis McPherson, Chief Commercial Officer, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Yeah. Thanks, Lee. As Lee mentioned, you know, the first 12 months is really defined by site prep and the pre-sinking activities. In terms of major packages, the shaft-sinking package is a big one. On the procurement side, temporary water and temporary power are the two ones this year, that are the major procurement activities, which are obviously, as Lee mentioned, well advanced and kind of in the contract negotiation, final contract negotiation stage on the last two, and the shaft-sinking one is effectively in hand as we speak.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: I’ll just make the point that once we have approval, we’ll be putting out a very clear, detailed, construction timeline which highlights all the milestones along the way. Obviously, we’re very respectful of the CNSC process, and once that’s concluded and we have construction approval, that’s when we’ll announce and be very transparent with all investors with respect to key milestones within that construction schedule over that 48-month period.
Mohamed Sidibé, Analyst, National Bank: Thanks a lot, Leigh and team. That was very helpful. Thank you.
Rafa, Conference Operator: Thank you. That concludes our question and answer session. I’d like to turn the conference back over to Leigh Curyer for any closing remarks.
Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NexGen Energy Ltd.: Yeah. Thanks, Raffi, thank you for everyone who’s listening in today. Look, incredibly exciting time at NexGen. We have an incredible project, an incredible team highlighted, you know, for those who watched the commission hearing. It really did showcase the depth and breadth of experience of the team. We’ve been planning this for many, many years. We’re coming up to an incredible milestone for the company, but one which, you know, it’s, it’s immediate focus is on construction execution. This is what we’ve been working for since 2014, and our preparedness for it is clearly evident. I’d like to thank you all. Look forward to speaking to you again at the Q1 2026 conference call.
Please don’t hesitate to contact any one of the team, if you have any other questions, from today’s call. Thank you.
Rafa, Conference Operator: Thank you. That brings to a close today’s conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.