Bannerman Energy Ltd

Hello everyone and welcome to our quarterly webinar for the period into 30 June 2026. Thank you all for joining us today. For those of you that don't know me, I'm Emma Culver, Investor Relations and Communications Manager at Bannerman. We're joined today by our Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Gavin Chamberlain, who will shortly provide an update on Bannerman and the Otango project. Following this, we will jump into some Q&A. At the bottom of your screen, you will see a Q&A tab. Please open that up, write your questions in, and we will run through them at the end of the highlights. For now, I will hand over to Gavin, who is joining us from Namibia. Good morning, Gavin. How is everyone looking on site at Otango? And I will share my screen so we can run through these updates for the quarter.

Morning, Em, and morning to all investors and stakeholders of the Corp. Yeah, and it's really exciting times, as you know. Every time we come to site, we see more progress. So I'm looking forward to taking everyone through the quarterly results and fielding some questions and answers. I think the highlight for the quarter was really our strategic financing progress in terms of the conditions precedent where we've made significant progress. and we still have confidence now that the final CPEs and transaction completion should be expected during Q3 of 2026. So that's really positive for us that allows us to move forward along the schedule that we've already planned and we're feeling confident that we'll actually achieve this. Over and above that as well is we had a strong quarter in terms of cash control as usual. As you know, we have strong discipline related to managing our cash flow. We ended the quarter with $53 million of cash assets and liquid assets of an additional $11.5 million. Keeping in mind as well, we've already committed an additional $36 million to ongoing contracts on site at the moment and our total spend on the project today is sitting at $69 million. and I think one of the really pleasing things is to be seeing the actual increase in the long-term uranium price over the quarter, now sitting at $97 per pound, which is obviously very supportive of where we want to go in this business. On the actual Tango early works progress, we will share a couple of photographs now as well, but on the early works, the construction activities continue to track against budget and schedule. and with over 560 personnel currently working on site, we're extremely pleased to say that we achieved 1.1 million LTI free man hours on the project alone. So we've previously reported in terms of the safety record for the entire company, but for the project alone we've already achieved 1.1 million, which is really a good indication of the value that the team on site and the contractors on site are placing on safety and safe construction practices. and so as I said 560 personnel on site 1.1 million and I really wanted to share this photograph because it gives you an idea of the camaraderie that's developed on this site and that's the normal early morning safety talk before people start work and I really just love the photograph that's why I wanted to share it but also to once again highlight the focus on being LTI free as we move into the further construction Our bulk earthworks has progressed extremely well during the quarter. We now have 92% complete and this contract should be finished during the next quarter. What you see in the photograph is the near completion earthworks for the heap leach pad. The other bit of work is on the concrete on site. We've had significant progress during the quarter. The primary crusher is sitting above ground level at this point in time and that's the photograph you see in front of you. And you would have been tracking this over the last year or so because we started off with photographs of the excavation and now finally we're actually getting towards the end of the actual concrete work. I reckon that by the end of the quarter we'll be able to show you the completed crusher building. This photograph really gives you an idea of the bulk of the dry plant area. So in the foreground, you've got this stockpile area moving through to the silo at the end in the background in the picture. And it gives you an idea of where the concentrated work is happening on the project. And effectively, this is predominantly focused on concrete work at this point. The earthworks were finished here in the previous quarter. and that is the final silo which basically is the end of the dry circuit which is also now progressing significantly above ground level very good progress here and once again probably the most complex pour on the site which is going relatively well well it's going very well i should say not relatively well and that's the completed concrete works for the secondary and tertiary screening building And then outside of the site, we've progressed significantly on the permanent water supply line. That contract is phase one of that contract sitting at 87% complete. And just to remind people, phase one of the contract is the connection to the NAM water reservoir, crossing over the river and under the road, and then stopping on the other side of the road, waiting for the pipe delivery. So the plimps are all installed up to the first pump station. And really, that's the end of the summary of the quarter. As I said, a very positive quarter, both from a deal perspective and an ongoing progress against the current schedule. And I think at this time, are there any questions that I can field at this point?

Yes, we'll jump in, Gavin. Thanks so much for the update. And for those that would like to look further at the photos, they are on the website in the latest presentation. But Gavin, can you just talk us through the CPs? What is still to be satisfied? How are they tracking and what gives us confidence that that's going to close the Q3?

Yes, thanks, Ben. Good question. So on the CP satisfaction, people who've read our previous announcement around the deal would have realized that there were a number of CPs. And in the last quarter, we've made significant progress. So starting off with the CMAT shareholders needed to approve the deal, which was achieved and closed out. We also needed the Namibian Competition Commission approval, which has also been approved and closed out. And over and above that is there were some infrastructure contracts that we needed to conclude, and people would have noticed that we signed the NAM water agreement during the quarter. And then over and above that, we've also achieved the acid storage facility lease, and our power contract was already signed. So from the infrastructure contract requirement, we've also met all the CPs. The only outstanding CP at the moment, which has been submitted and is in progress, is the NDRC and the Ministry of Commerce approval in China itself. So it's effectively the two remaining approvals from the Chinese government and regulators in terms of the deal moving forward.

Thanks Gavin, and just on the NACC, so the Namibian Competition Commission, CP, any insight into that? I mean that was one that we thought could take longer, obviously very happy to have that one away. Can you just talk through that one?

Yes, and that was actually a significant achievement for us. So we worked on that along with CNOL as partners. The approval that we got had a couple of provisions required in terms of moving forward. And it was extremely fair in that a lot of the provisions are actually less stringent than the actual mining license approvals. But the good thing about it as well, and I think the message that people should be taking out of this, is that CNEL and ourselves have agreed to achieve a 90% Namibian employee ratio within five years. So a lot of fear has been around, is this going to be another Chinese-operated mine, etc. And I've been saying for a number of years now that this is a Namibian mine for Namibians. And the fact that Sino was party to this agreement and has signed off on the requirements for both employment and procurement going forward, I think is a significant step in terms of showing people that we really mean this to be a Namibian mine for Namibians. And I think that the targets that we set, we're actually achieving all of those targets in terms of ratios at the moment. Some of them are challenging, but with a little bit of work, we are 100% confident we will achieve them. And when I say they're a little bit challenging, we need to put systems in place. But we've got five years to do it, and it's really around achieving the procurement targets. And they are reasonable, but we need to put a plan in place to make sure we achieve.

Perfect. And staying on the topic of CEPs, we've got a question here from Lynn. Is there a timeline that the NDRC needs to respond by or is it the case of how long is the piece of string? And have we seen any of these foreign investment approvals into uranium outside of China lately?

Exceptionally good question and from our perspective we have confidence and the reason being is there's been a lot of interaction between the senior executive management and MOFCOM which is really the main which is the Ministry of Commerce approval. They've already had a number of meetings at a senior level with them. They've responded to questions and answers post the submission of the original document and As far as we're aware, there are no outstanding questions from MOFCON. So effectively, they're processing and following the normal regulated procedure to get to the completion of the approval. But the good news is that all of the questions and answers have now been answered and submissions have been submitted to MOFCON.

Great. Thanks, Gavin. and we've got a few questions, a couple questions coming around CapEx, budget. So we'll start off on the CapEx into FY27. Can the market expect the expenditure to be similar over the next couple quarters as we have seen and what's that ramp up in terms of expenditure?

Yeah, so certainly for the next quarter it will be very similar to what we achieved in this quarter. The reasons being is the earthworks contractor is coming to an end so his expenditure will reduce but we've also placed the five long lead items for the mechanical equipment in the dry plant which will then obviously supplement the reduction in spending on the earthworks. So for the next quarter at least it's going to be very similar expenditure. Post-deal completion, we were moving to significantly accelerated expenditure with the placement of the structural steel contracts, which have currently been adjudicated and will be ready for placement on completion. And that will see a significant increase in expenditure. We are 100% aligned with our September 28 commissioning date based on the late start of the deal being the end of September. Any deal completion before that will probably have a positive impact on the schedule moving forward.

Great. Thank you so much for that one. And on the reimbursement, CNO up to US$27 million from 1st July up until completion, how's that tracking at this point?

Yeah, so our expenditure has been tracking our original plan. So the $27 million is directly linked to the cap of $60 million in terms of capital expenditure, and that capital expenditure was based on getting to the end of September. As we get closer to deal completion, we may choose to accelerate some of the expenditure just to ensure that we get the $60 million cap and that we get the full $27 million reimbursement. We won't be overspending the $60 million, so we certainly will not be giving away any money to anybody.

Great. And just another question on the CapEx. Are we thinking about the pressures on the $353 US million, the estimate? What percentage impacts are you seeing at this point, and when can the market expect an update? Obviously, I think, to this point, we've been saying that at the end of 2020, end of close if there's anything outside that plus minus 10% but if you can just update everyone on that Gavin.

Yeah so we're tracking well against the budget at the moment and I think one of the most pleasing things for the quarter was the five orders that we placed for the mechanical equipment in the dry plant area came in on budget and in fact a little bit under our original budget so Our strategy of placing contracts with escalation formulas pre-agreed actually meant that even though we have a crisis in the Middle East in terms of the war that's going on there, it never affected the actual pricing for those pieces of equipment. So at the moment we're tracking well. When we talk to the 353 plus or minus 10%, I do need to stress that the plus or minus 10% is for unknown unknowns, such as the war. For the known unknowns, we have a contingency within the 353 and we're tracking well against that. So I believe the 353 plus or minus 10% is secure and we're confident that we can achieve that number.

And just to clarify, a question here from Andrew Hines on the critical path to construction or for construction. Those five contracts in the dry plant area, they're placed because that is determined like that's going to keep that critical path or is there anything else that we need to be mindful of to ensure that critical path of 2028?

Yeah, so we placed... Yeah, good question from Andrew there because we've placed those contracts... for a reason and the reason is actually to try and make sure from a schedule perspective that we actually have a little bit of float within the schedule so they're not on the critical path but we wanted to place them now so that we can build a bit of float in for back end unknowns so right now we've placed them they'll be delivered well within the critical path but they will also create some additional float for us on the overall construction Great, thank you

And heading away from CapEx here, there is one question here. Does a 53 million cash balance include or exclude commitments? Obviously, we can answer that one quite easily. It's exclusive of the commitments going forward and those commitments will come off in the next quarter. Is that correct, Gavin?

We have committed an additional $36 million to project construction, but that's for contracts that run well into next year. So it's not like the $36 million is going to be spent in the next couple of months. To give you an idea, the concrete contractor is on site at least until March next year. The crushing contract until almost mid-year next year. And then the pipeline contract as well. All this only due to complete by the end of the year. So the $36 million covers existing contracts plus those five dry plant mechanical equipment orders as well, which will only be delivered during next year as well. So that $36 million is spread over a number of months.

Fantastic. Thank you for that clarity. Now, jumping a bit more into the project, is there any visibility at the moment whether Bannerman's going to go for the XP or XP strategy? Can you talk through how you're thinking about post the Tango 8?

Yeah, so I don't think our strategy's changed terribly much, except that it's more heading towards the expansion as opposed to the extension case. and the thinking around the strategy there is that five years after we commence production in the Tango 8, we would have the Tango 16 in production. That makes the most sense from a financial and from a practical construction perspective, but obviously we would be building the Tango 16 while we still operate in the Tango 8, and then from five years after the stock commencing with production, we would be running both plants simultaneously.

And are there any contingency plans for water supply if Nanwater has issues?

Yeah, so I think on the Nanwater side, so our contract that we signed is actually really good for us in that it covers supply both from the existing desalination plant as well as the new desalination plant that's been announced. And the new desalination plant is due to be commissioned before the mine is completed. so that effectively means there will be a dual supply and the contract we signed allows for supply from both sources but I must stress the existing desalination plant has sufficient water for our project and you know that was why we did start that the permanent water supply to get is it the last at the feeder station Gavin to get the last Yeah, correct. There were existing connections on the reservoirs at the feeder station, and by managing to get this contract signed and pay the deposit, we've now done two things. We've secured our capacity in the supply line. In other words, the amount of water that comes from the desalination plant to Swakopmund, we secured our portion of the capacity, and over and above that, we also secured the last supply existing fitting in the reservoir at Sockham Point.

Yeah, fantastic. And another question here from Lynn. Conscious that we don't need to write off-take contracts anytime soon, but wondering if you could share any thoughts on the contracting environment and what terms can be achieved for if in fact you are having discussions and I think this is probably that broader. Where are we seeing the market at the moment, Gavin? It seems quiet in the spot market and I think the equities obviously track that but as you said that long-term price has increased this quarter for US dollars. What are we seeing in the market for contracts at this stage?

Yeah, I think It's very difficult for me. Most of this is second-hand knowledge. So we've been very quiet in our negotiations on contracts. We believe that by securing the 60% offtake with CNOR, we have the luxury of a bit of time on our hands, and we would only really start actively and aggressively looking for contracts probably six months before we go into production, which will allow us to achieve, I think, significantly higher pricing than we would be able to achieve now. but based on what I've heard in the market and obviously Elvis keeping an ear to the ground, it sounds like you're getting floors in the mid-70s and ceilings between 130 and 155 at the moment in terms of market related. And we are seeing from the utilities themselves a preference for fixed price escalated, which I believe people are now managing to negotiate just north of 100.

Fantastic. Well, let's say we're heading into W&A season, which, you know, they always say is the season for contracting. So let's see what happens. That is all the questions that we have from this side, Gavin. Any last thoughts from you? Have you been outside this last week since being there?

Yeah, so I've actually got the whole Australian board here with me at the moment. So we've got a big site visit planned for tomorrow, which will be quite exciting for the local team as well. and we did have a site visit last week just to make sure that we're not going to have any surprises when we're on site and I must admit the only surprise I have is how well they're actually managing to construct is these Namibian contractors are world class and they are doing a fantastic job and just once again I always want to end with thanks to the entire Namibian team, the entire Perth team that are allowing us to actually move this project forward in the plan along the lines of what we've always tried to do so a big thank you to everyone involved.

Thanks, Gavin, and thank you, everyone, for joining us. If you do have any questions, please reach out to me at any stage. I'm always contactable, always happy to speak with our investors. So please reach out, and we look forward to speaking with you in the next quarter. Thanks, Gavin.

Thanks, Emma, and thanks to everyone who joined the call. Thank you.