Boss Energy Limited

Thank you Darcy. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining the BOSS Energy September quarterly results call. Joining me on the call this morning is Justin Laird, our CFO. I'll take you through our first quarter performance, the transition underway at Honeymoon and the work progressing across our regional growth projects and we'll take questions at the end of the call. Turning to slide two. The September quarter was pivotal for BOSS. We delivered the new feasibility study and updated the honeymoon mineral resource and established the foundation for the operation's future. We also set out our ambition to build a larger, low-cost, longer-life uranium business through a regional production hub. Delivered ahead of schedule, the new feasibility study confirms the viability of the wide-space wellfield design. Thank you very much. At our September market day, we outloaned our aspiration to bring Honeymoon, Jason's Deposit and Gould's Dam together through one processing plant, making greater use of the infrastructure we've already built. Our aspiration is to produce 2.5 million pounds annually at an all-in sustaining cost of around $65 per pound by early 2030s. Achieving this will materially increase production, reduce unit cost and extend operating life. We also began the transition to wide space wellfield design. Flushing commenced on EKT1, our first wide space wellfield and early performance has supported confidence in the design. The first leaking results were expected in the December quarter and will provide the next operating evidence against our study assumptions. Alongside these strategic milestones, Honeymoon delivered 359,000 pounds of drum uranium supported by a record flow despite rainfall contributing to 19 days of lost production. Production and costs were consistent with expectations and FY27 guidance remains unchanged. We finished the September quarter with approximately $195 million in cash Investments and Uranium Inventory and No Debt, supporting our capacity to fund the transition. The quarter established a clear direction for BOSS. Our task now is to turn that technical foundation into consistent operating performance, round-up our production and advance the regional opportunities that can build the long-term shareholder value. Turning to slide three and honeymoon production. Drummed production was £359,000, broadly consistent with the June quarter. On-exchange production was £337,000. Record flow helped offset the expected decline in average tenner as existing wellfields mature. Heavy rain in August contributed to 19 days of lost production across the quarter. We brought forward some planned shutdown activities during this period. We have several programs of work to build our operational resilience. B6 completed its first full quarter of production. This is the first well field at East Kalkaroo and its performance has been encouraging. It has achieved recovery of approximately half of the resource after 12 poor volumes exchanges with an average leaching solution tenor of 102 ppm. Flushing required only 0.6 pore volumes with low calcium levels and acid consumption. For the December quarter we expect production to be broadly consistent with September with higher flows offsetting declining tenor. Full year production guidance remains at 1.25 to 1.3 million pounds. Turning to slide four, we're now implementing the wide space well-filled design as set out in the new feasibility study. Honeymoon's high permeability, hydraulic connectivity, effective confinement, and low acid consumption provides the technical basis for this approach. Wider spacing allows the leaching solution more time to interact with the mineralization and assess a larger Thank you for joining us. The NFS assumes a 49-metre injector to extractor spacing. EKT1 is testing 58-metre injector to extractor spacing, while HMT1 will test 70-metre injector to extractor spacing, allowing us to assess the performance of these wider space wellfields against the study assumptions. Construction continues at HMT1, EKT2 and EKT3. The encouraging leaching performance at B6 together with initial flushing response at EKT1 reinforces our confidence in the technical work underpinning the new feasibility study. Turning to slide 5. The water treatment plant upgrades are a key enabler of the production ramp-up outlined in the new feasibility study. Both stages remain on track. Before a new wellfield starts leaching, we use treated water to condition and flush the wellfield. This manages calcium and chlorides. The water treatment plant supplies the RO permeate water required for wellfield flushing while also meeting ongoing plant requirements. Water treatment capacity therefore governs how quickly we can bring a new wellfield into production. The NFS assumes approximately 8 new wellfields each year and each preconditioning and flushing takes approximately about 45 days. The staged water treatment upgrades are built into the development schedule and the resulting production profile as outlined in the new feasibility study. Stage 1 improves the capacity and availability of the existing plant and we expect to complete this work in June quarter of FY27. The work addresses known deep bottlenecks, improves our cleaning requirements, softening settling performance and hydraulic constraints. Stage 2 provides major capital expansion required for the lifelong mine schedule, with completion expected in March quarter of FY28. This is targeting approximately 300 cubic metres per hour of RO feed. We also see opportunities to improve the ramp-up by reducing the water requirements for first flushing and well-filled conditioning. The NFS assumes one pore volume of flushing compared with historic operating averages around about 0.7. We have also commenced studies to better understand calcium distribution and behaviour and to assess alternative approaches to acidification and preconditioning. The aim is to reduce our permeate demand and potentially decouple water wellfield conditioning from water treatment plant circuit, providing greater flexibility in bringing on new wellfields online. Turning to slide six and cost. C1 cost for the quarter was $47 per pound compared with $45 in June. All in sustaining costs was $79 per pound compared with $70 in June. Both measures are below the four-year guidance range. We expect unit cost to increase as average tenant declines through the year. We are on track to remain within our FY27 guidance range for cost. Total capital expenditure was $13 million. This comprised $9 million of sustaining expenditure, primarily EKT1 first field costs and construction activities across the new wellfields, and $4 million on processing facilities. Sustaining expenditure was slightly below expectation because rain temporarily interrupted drilling and construction. Process facility expenditure was in line with expectations and remains weighted towards the second half of FY27. Four-year capital guidance remains at $58 to $65 million, comprising $33 to $37 million of sustaining capital and $25 to $28 million for process facilities. As outlined in August, FY27 is a transactional year. Turning to slide seven. Our balance sheet supports the transition while retaining exposure to uranium price. We sold 301,000 pounds of uranium during the quarter, generating sale revenues around about $35.2 million. The average realized price was 117 Australian dollars per pound or 81.8 US dollars per pound, up approximately 9% from the June quarter. We expect stronger realized pricing in the December quarter at approximately 87 to 89 US dollars per pound. At the end of September, We held $39.2 million in cash, $31.4 million in investments and other liquid assets, and uranium inventory carried at $124 million. Together, these totaled $194.9 million with no debt. Cash decreased by $10.5 million during the quarter as we continued the fund operations and capital investment. At the same time, uranium inventory increased by approximately 60,000 pounds to 1.641 million pounds. The chart illustrates the potential market value of the uranium inventory. At a uranium price of US $90 per pound and exchange rate of 70 US cents, the inventory would be valued at approximately Australian $211 million dollars. The accounting carry value remains the lower of the cost and net realised value. Our un-contracted position and uranium inventory provides commercial flexibility and exposure to stronger uranium prices. Our balance sheet supports funding the transition to wide space well-filled spacing from existing resources and ongoing sales. Turning to slide eight. As we outlined at our market day, our regional hub strategy aims to build a longer life, low cost operation by bringing three deposits together through the existing processing plant at Honeymoon. The NFS provides the foundation for this strategy, which just covers the Honeymoon deposit. Jason's deposit and Gould's Dam contains a further £45.1 million of reported mining mineral resources, bringing the total combined resources across three deposits to £65.9 million. We are assessing how Jason's and Gould's Dam could utilise the infrastructure and processing capacity already established at Honeymoon, reducing the capital investment required to develop these deposits. The studies include a trunk line connecting Jason's to Honeymoon and a satellite loaded resident facility at Goulds Dam for transport to the existing plant. This would allow uranium recovery at both deposits to be processed through Honeymoon's downstream facility. The potential benefits include lower capital requirements through the use of existing infrastructure, staged investment at each of the deposits as they advance, and greater operational flexibility. Increasing production through a shared plant would also spread our fixed cost over more pounds, supporting lower unit cost. Our aspiration is to increase production to 2.5 million pounds per annum at an all-in sustaining cost of approximately Australian $65 per pound by the early 2030s, while extending the operation life into the 2040s. Turning to slide 9, we progress the approvals and technical work required to define the development pathways for each deposit. For the Honeymoon Mine Extension, we have submitted the EPBC referral and expect a referral decision in the December quarter. Preparation of the mining lease application continues. At Jason's deposit, technical work required for the referral stage is complete. Environmental studies are nearing completion and the EPBC referral documentation is well advanced. Diamond core drilling has commenced with 15 holes planned for approximately 1,900 metres to improve our understanding of hydrogeology, mineralogy and mineralisation. A resource delineation program comprising of about 137 drill holes for approximately 15,600 metres is scheduled to commence in the December quarter. The program aims to improve confidence in the existing resource and increase the resource through testing known mineralisation extensions. At Goulds Dam, studies are underway to access the preferred processing configuration, including the opportunity to load uranium onto resin on site and transport it back to Honeymoon for processing. Turning to slide 10. At Altamisa, where BOSS holds a 30% interest with Encore Energy being the operator. Altamisa produced 10,000 pounds during the quarter on a 100% basis, compared with 45,000 pounds in the June quarter. BOSS received no product during the quarter. State permitting delays prevented new wellfields from coming online in time to replace declining production from existing wellfields. Plant production has now stopped pending the availability of new wellfields. PAA3 is expected to commence production in December quarter followed by PAA in the March quarter, both subject to permitting. Securing these approvals and bringing the new wellfields online remains the immediate priorities for Encore. Turning to slide 11. This was a significant quarter for BOSS. We delivered production and cost consistent with our expectations and completed the new feasibility study for honeymoon. Drawing on historic operating data and detailed technical analysis, the new feasibility study established the foundation for the next phase of development. At our market day, we also outlined our ambition to build a longer life, lower cost operation through a regional processing hub. We're now putting that work into practice through the transition to wide space wellfield spacing. Flushing commenced at EKT1, construction progressed across the new wellfields and both stages of water treatment upgrades remain on track. These activities advance the production ramp up as outlined in the new feasibility study. FY27 production guidance remains unchanged at 1.25 to 1.3 million pounds with C1 costs of $51 to $56 per pound and all in sustaining cost of $83 to $92 per pound. Our debt-free balance sheet supports this work while our uncontracted position retains exposure to stronger uranium pricing. In parallel, we are advancing studies to improve and approvals for the regional hub, taking a distant approach to capital as each opportunity develops. I would also like to welcome Peter Botton, who commenced as chair on the 30th of September, and thank Wyatt Buck for his contribution as chair and his continued service to the board. This quarter established a clear pathway forward. We recognise that confidence we will build through consistent delivery, operating safely, delivering the transition reliably and progressively improving our cost structure and production profile. This is our focus for the quarters ahead. Thank you. And with that, I'll hand you back to Darcy for questions.

Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from Hugo Nicolacci with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Morning Matt and team. Thanks for the update this morning. Maybe just firstly on Honeymoon, your production in the quarter for 1Q is sort of well above your implied guidance range for the full year just by bringing some of that maintenance forward and you're guiding to a consistent IX production next quarter which would then imply obviously a step down in the second half. Can you just walk us through how much of that conservatism versus uncertainty around the grade into that second half outlook?