NexGen Energy Ltd.

Morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the NextGen Energy year-end and Q4 2023 conference call. Note that all lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session at the end. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star then number one on your telephone keypad. And if you would like to withdraw from the question queue, simply press star then the number two. Also note that this call is being recorded. Mr. Lee Currier, CEO and Director for NextGen Energy, you may begin your conference.

Thank you, Sylvie, and thank you, everyone, for joining NextGen Year End and Q4 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. I'm Lee Currier, Chief Executive Officer of NextGen Energy, with Travis McPherson, Chief Commercial Officer, and Benjamin Salter, Chief Financial Officer, who are joining me on today's call. I'll provide an update on the exciting progress made this quarter, And we reiterate the key accomplishments from the past year regarding the uranium market, permitting, project development, financing, and for those who have seen the news release this morning, a very exciting discovery of new intense mineralisation in a greenfield discovery only 3.5 kilometres from Arrow. After that, we'll move into the Q&A portion of the call. We will make forward-looking statements throughout the call, so please visit our website for the relevant disclaimers. As we collectively navigate the global energy transition, nuclear power has emerged as a pivotal force. It presently accounts for approximately 10% of the global electricity mix, with targets set to elevate to 20% to 25% in the coming decades to meet three generational goals. The provision of power for an increasingly energy-intensive world, two, deparbonisation, and three, providing access to power to those who currently do not have it. The commitment to expanding global nuclear capacity was prevalent at COP28, where NextGen presented on the panel with the Premier of Saskatchewan regarding the province's commitment to sustainably producing uranium to meet the global nuclear requirement. This was further reflected at COP28, where a country is pledging to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, acknowledging its essential role in achieving carbon neutrality, ensuring energy reliability and enhancing national security. India recently announced it will be constructing an additional 18 civil nuclear reactors by 2032, aiming to boost its nuclear generation to 2.42 gigawatts, a triplet of its current capacity. Canada supports these efforts, evidenced as recently as two weeks ago with the issuance of its second green bond for nuclear development, raising $4 billion US, ensuring cost-effective financing to nuclear projects in Canada and reflecting widespread federal government support for nuclear energy in Canada and globally. Further, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced the Government of Canada would expedite the approval processes of new nuclear projects domestically. Similarly, the EU has officially labelled nuclear power as strategic for its de-carbonisation agenda, acknowledging its cost competitiveness and potential to draw investment. In November 2023, EDF successfully raised €1 billion for nuclear energy through a green bond issuance. representing the first of its kind in Europe. Japan has also demonstrated the impact of its strategy with the restart of 12 nuclear reactors, and as a consequence, have reduced their dependence on fossil fuels by 15%, demonstrating nuclear energy's immediate positive impact. With the rise of technologies and the imperativeness for cleaner energy, The demand for uranium is projected to increase by 127% by 2030 and 200% by 2040. Yet, the supply side presents a stark contrast with its fragility due to the confluence of factors, primarily underinvestment in exploration development for over a decade, geopolitical tensions and supply chain challenges, challenging mine restart and overall resource depletion have all affected the current supply levels and the long-term forecasted ability of supply to come online. The potential ban on Russian uranium imports by the US Senate adds to this precarious situation, leaving many market participants reassessing future strategies and looking for sustainable use of their supplied primary uranium sources in sound jurisdictions. Given these infantry's scarcity, and the trend towards increased contracting, we anticipate continuous upward pressure on the spot and term prices for uranium for a long period of time. This underscores a critical juncture for the nuclear sector. While nuclear power is embraced as a strategic component in the global decarbonisation effort, ensuring a stable and sufficient uranium supply chain is paramount for fulfilling the growing energy need. We are facing a probable long-term supply deficit with an anticipated QE shortfall of over £1.5 billion expected through 2040, underscoring this significant role and the value that NextGen has in the global energy markets. There is an urgent need for more uranium, from technically, environmentally and jurisdictionally downed sources of supply, and that is the profile of NextGen's Look 1 project. We just passed the 10-year anniversary of Discovering Arrow, and the significance of the deposit and project cannot be overstated. Once operational, it will dramatically reshape the Western supply landscape. As per its NI43101 feasibility study of February 2021, it is forecasted to deliver up to 30 million pounds of uranium to the market annually. This represents over 20% of current uranium fuel production. and over 50% of late-term supply. This will not only re-establish Canada as a pre-eminent uranium producer in the globally recognised province of Saskatchewan, but will also emphasise NextGen's unique position to meet the world's increasing uranium requirements. Over the past 12 months, NextGen has successfully and safely executed the Strategy to Advance the Rookland Project. Our commitment to the company's values and dedication to excellence in everything we do has resulted in a world-class organisation leading positive, necessary change in the sector and new standards for sustainable, responsible resource development. This is highlighted through our industry ESG standards approach, historic benefits agreements and optimal permitting progress. From the outside set, we have been focused on innovation and peak performance to bring ROOC 1 into production this decade. As our actions and track record demonstrate, we are committed to playing our role successfully in delivering the fast benefits of nuclear to improve the quality of living globally. We are well on our way. In November, we secured the provincial environmental assessment approval for the ROOC 1 project. the first Iranian project in Canada to obtain this approval in over 20 years, and the first ever in Canada from a non-government organisation. In this approval, we have submitted the initial application for approvals of site earthworks, shaft sinking infrastructure, site water, mine waste management facilities, and associated ancillary infrastructure and services. The continuing communication with the applicable Saskatchewan ministry regarding these phases of development so we can continue the progress looked on site and be ready for full construction once all federal permits are in hand. Recently, on February 12th, we received the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission results of their thorough review of next-gen responses to the federal technical comments which read on the environmental impact statement. The team are developing responses few remaining technical review comments as a matter of priority, and once complete we'll be submitting these to the CNSC along with an updated Federal EIS. In collaboration with our Indigenous community partners, we look forward to securing a Commission hearing date with the CNSC in the near term to ensure the benefits of this generational project are realised as a priority for the region and its community. As mentioned earlier, we applaud the Federal Government of Canada's commitment to nuclear energy, evidenced by the Resource Minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, announcing the focus to expedite the approval processes of new nuclear projects domestically. In 2023, NextGen made considerable progress on its site confirmation work, expecting completion by the end of this quarter. The site confirmation program has been highly successful in providing the data to validate and inform future design of the production shaft and exhaust shaft for the RIP1 project. This is on the critical path. In the meantime, we are finalising detailed engineering and are well underway in procuring long-lead items. And the awarding of the shaft sinking contract is imminent, signifying subject to federal approval the construction readiness of the project. While the company is focused on advancing the Roof 1 project, NextGen has also embarked on a bold exploration program on its highly prospective land package in the southwestern Athabasca Basin. Our 2024 30,000 metre exploration program follows up on last year's successful program, which identified highly anomalous areas to follow up as well as generate new target areas based on our previous drilling and geophysical surveys. All of this is focused on making new material discoveries over and above the Tier 1 Arrow deposit, adding value through the drill bit. And we are pleased to announce this morning the discovery of new Intense Uranium Mineralisation on our 100% owned SW2 property, Hook 1. approximately 3.5 kilometres east of NextGen's WorldFast Arrow deposit. These are one, as per the news release. The new mineralised account in RK24183 is located on a previously untested conductor segment of the Paterson Corridor East. Localised uranium mineralisation was intersected for 19.8 metres between 347 metres and 367.5 metres below surface, with peaks up to and greater than 61,000 counts per second. To put this intersect into context, the intersects are three metres or greater than 61,000 counts per second, which is significantly higher on all metrics than RK1421, the Arrow Discovery Loss. which only intersected less than 0.5 of a metre of greater than 9,999 cps. Exploration is predominantly open in all directions, including over 1.5 kilometres of strike in a setting incorporating members of the geological features standing in and around Arrow. This is two and three of today's news release. I'd like to take the opportunity to reiterate and acknowledge the fine, dedicated work of the NextGen Geological Team. Our understanding of the markers of mineralisation in the region improved with every drill hole and geophysical survey, and the NextGen exploration programs of the past years have been extremely valuable in contributing to today's results. A highly prospective land position in the southwestern section of the Athabasca Basin is still in its infancy and a significant amount of exploration is in front of us to fully define the extent of mineralisation at this location and on the balance of the Rook 1 SW2 property. Consequently, dwelling will continue to focus on this area and later this year, in parallel at SW1. As development progresses, community initiatives are at the forefront of our approach. and planning for the long-term success of the project. I'm proud to share that last year, in 2023, over 300 community members of the local priority area participated in our education, training and certification programs, of which 39% were Indigenous women, and we expect that number to grow to approximately 400 in 2024. We are contributing to building a strong and thriving local workforce which has always been an important aspect of our development and success. We will continue to expand these initiatives to contribute to the local economy while creating a highly qualified talent pool located within the local project area, and that will build onto our existing world-class team. Over the last year, we have been and continue to be highly engaged with investors, industry members and those who play a key role in the nuclear fuel cycle. Throughout those conversations, several things have emerged. First and foremost, there's a lot of interest in NextGen and the company has been elevated to a key supplier for global utilities as they seek to find fish and material sources of sustainable uranium. It is well understood and accepted that the project is vital to support the growing demand Our spot-contracting strategy is being well recognised as it provides transparency, price discovery and promotes the resiliency of uranium mining and the nuclear industry. To be clear, we will only produce uranium that is needed and that will optimise the market dynamics. We are taking a leadership role in this sector given the unparalleled flexibility scale and cost structure of the project. Due to the technical nature of the project and the natural hedge through the low all-in sustaining cost, approximately $10 US per pound as per the 43-101 feasibility study, our contract will be predominantly volume-based over the life of the project and linked directly to the stock prices at the time of delivery, fully re-engaging to the future uranium prices and capturing the economics. We acknowledge this approach will signify a transition from traditional practices, but one that has been seen in other value commodities worldwide, and one that is in the beneficial interest of all stakeholders in the industry, ensuring a sustainable and successful energy transition.

Further, growing interest

from global lenders reinforces that we have a sound strategy, with expressions of interest now totalling over US$1.25 billion. We are starting the final confirmatory technical due diligence and are aiming to be in a decision point with respect to the total funding mix for the project in the second half of this year. it is clear that our focus and discipline approach is setting new standards in every aspect of responsible mine development. The training phase is focused on optimally bringing the Rookman project into production, continuously delivering industry-leading economic, social and environmental performance. Now for an overview of our financial position ending on December 31, 2023. NextGen had a working capital balance of $279 million at that end of the year. Post-December 31, an additional $100 million was raised through the ATM with a single Australian domiciled investor who has increased their shareholding. Consequently, as I speak, NextGen has approximately $410 million in its treasury to fund all programs, permitting and running expenses. To the end of 2023, NextGen's income corporation has deployed approximately $451 million in the successful development of the Look 1 project and other exploration properties against the current market capitalisation of $5.4 billion Canadian, all whilst maintaining an industry-leading low ratio of general and administrative expenses relative to development and market capitalisation in any given year. Further, we are pleased to announce that NextGen has been included in the FTSE Global Index as well as the ASX 300 Index effective in mid-March 2024. This reflects the continued growth and strength of our company in the global market and especially in the Australian context. Our ASX listing continues to grow in terms of CBI market capitalisation as well as daily And this index includes all thinking to build on that. Given the large captive capital market dynamic combined with strong resource market focus in Australia, the growth of ASX ownership of NextGen is expected to increase. For 2024, our focus is advancing the work on projects through the final phase of permitting process, detailed engineering and procurement, all while aggressively pursuing new material discoveries. With that, our priorities for the year include safely completing the site confirmation program, establishing a Federal Commission hearing date and approval, continuing critical parts of detailed engineering and procurement, formalising our finance package and marketing our product. It's shaping up to be a historic year for the company as we continue to see strong and vocal support from local and Indigenous communities to see NextGen steward this opportunity through to tuition. The continued collaboration from government partners, growing shareholder and investor interest, especially large generalists globally, and the searching requirement for uranium and nuclear energy. I'm incredibly proud of the focus and discipline the entire NextGen team exhibits. We are ready. Now let's transition into Q&A and we encourage questions from all of you. I finalize it for the moderator's comments.

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, as stated earlier, if you would like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your touch-tone phone. You will hear a three-tone prompt acknowledging your request. And if you would like to withdraw from the question queue, you will need to press star two on your keypad. And if you're using a speakerphone, please lift the handset first before pressing any keys. Please go ahead and press star one now if you have any questions. And your first question will be from Katie at Ken Accord. Please go ahead.

Hey, good morning, guys, and thanks for taking my question. Also, congrats on the new discovery notes this morning. I was just wondering if you could – sorry, Lee. Go ahead.

No, I was just saying thank you. Yeah, we're very excited about it.

That was awesome to see that, especially now that you guys have pivoted back to the regional exploration to show the prospectivity of the land package that you have outside of Arrow. But on AIR specifically, I was just wondering if you're able to provide any more granularity on the progress that you're going through right now with the federal regulators with respect to the nature of some of the remaining technical questions. As well, when are you expecting to provide a response to those questions?

Yeah, thanks, Katie. We're really pleased with the report card that we got back on February the 12th from the CNSC. It was effectively an A+. We're down to about 48 remaining items that require a response to this NSD. And we're in the process of triaging those 48 remaining items. And we expect to hand back our responses to those questions in a black line of the EAS. in the coming weeks. So given the speed of reply, it really does signify the materiality of those questions overall. Whilst every question is very, very important, we assess the materiality of them to be low and will be easily clarified and concluded. So when you consider when you start this process, You've got thousands and thousands of questions, if not easily probably about 20,000 aspects to address. We are in the final stages of the process. We also have full community support with respect to our EIS as currently presented and we expect a pretty efficient process here on out with respect to the the federal approval.

Awesome. And maybe just one follow-up. You've obviously made pretty considerable progress with advanced engineering as well as procurement now underway. When, if at all, are you expecting to update the market with revised capital costs as well as operating cost figures? And in your view, are those a requirement to trigger the debt or the potential signing of a long-term contract this year?

Yeah, sure. So we're in that process at the moment. Look, we are subject to inflation like everyone else in this industry and the feasibility study of February 2021, we have been impacted by inflation and we are finalising the exact design scope of the project Costs have gone up, but as we speak, I don't believe that they will have affected the overall after-tax economics of the project. In fact, given the commodity price movement, I'll dare say that the payback period has even been shortened from what was presented back in February 2021. We will be updating the market with respect to those aspects. in the second half of this year once that process is concluded.

Awesome. Thank you, guys. That's all my questions.

Thank you. Next question will be from Alexander Pierce at the Bank of Montreal. Please go ahead.

Great. Thank you. Morning, Lee. My question is just around obviously permitting and you're now talking about targeting a decision point maybe in H2 this year. I just wondered, in terms of the climate up in Saskatchewan, how much of an impact, if it is a little bit later in the year, how much of an impact it could have on your critical timing for first production, given it obviously gets very cold up there?

Yeah, sure. And look, we're very eagerly awaiting the conclusion of this federal But it is ideal to commence activities during the dry months, but it's not an absolute requirement. We can commence the full-scale construction at any time during the year. So, yeah, seasonally it won't be terribly determinant or impactful. with respect to when we start, but ultimately, yeah, we would love to be starting the full-scale construction at the earliest point in time. We're ready. We know exactly what we're building. It's well understood by ourselves and also the local community, and we just look forward to the conclusion of this federal affinity process.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you. Next question will be from Craig Hutchinson at TD. Please go ahead.

Yeah, good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Just with regard to setting up the hearing for the federal government, do they require all the responses to be complete from the information request, or can that be set up in advance of that? And then just give us some sort of sense of what the timing is once they set up that hearing to make a final decision.

Yeah, look, we see that it's fair enough for us to receive a Commission hearing date. We believe the nature of the remaining 48 questions, well, not that we believe, we know that the nature of the remaining questions, whilst every question is important in an overall context, they're determined as fairly immaterial. Whether the CNSC choose to provide a submission hearing date in advance of concluding those 48 or not, time will tell. But we're not seeking a shortcut or a favour or anything. We respect the process and respect the CNSC have their protocols and procedures in place. I guess what we're expressing is that we feel that we're in the final stages of then completing the EIS review and are in a position to see that Commission hearing date as soon as possible. Based on previous companies in this position, the Commission hearing date has a notice period of three to six months. But, you know, every case is different. And, look, we have met all requirements with respect to the EIS approval process. And so the document's been well understood and out in the public forum since November of 2023... Sorry, November of 2022, when it concluded the 120-day public comment period. Look, it's incredibly transparent. All the information is out there for everyone to assess, and so we would expect to be on the shorter end of that notice period once the Commission hearing date has been announced.

Okay, great. Thanks for that.

And just, can you give us a sense of what you're planning in terms of budget for exploration some of the earlier works that you guys had planned for this year?

Yeah, the 30,000 metres had a budget of $12 million. Obviously, with this new discovery this morning that we announced, look, we're going to be really focusing on that area. So it's safe to expect that the drilling budget will increase over and above that $12 million in 2024. And obviously... dependent on results, but given the sound and intercept which shows on all fronts is far more exciting than the Arrow Discovery Hole, we suspect we're going to be there for a decent period of time. So expect that budget to increase, Craig, from $12 million up.

So, no pre-works, plus on that as well. Sorry, you just dropped out there, Craig. Sorry, just wondering, early works, pre-construction works that you guys had planned, you just filled a bit of a balance left on that, any plans you're spending here in 2024?

Yeah, so all the early confirmation works are on budget. We'll have those concluded imminently. near the end of the first quarter here or early in the second. But overall, everything is on budget as we currently speak. And we expect it to be on budget for 2024. A lot of the long lead time items have been ordered. And yeah, we've got it well in hand. As I said, everything's ready to to really go up as this and not once the federal approvals are received.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Next question will be from Graham Tanaka at Tanaka Capital Management. Please go ahead.

Congratulations, guys, to you and your team. I'd like to focus on Patterson East Corridor discovery. Could you tell us a little bit more about the geologic structure and maybe what it implies for the ease of replicating an Arrow Look 1 development in terms of timing, cost, and then somewhat separately, how would you plan to dovetail a development of the Patterson Quarter East with the Arrow mine development production Do you anticipate overlapping so that you'll have a rise in production sometime in the next six to eight years? Thanks.

Yeah, thanks, Graham. They're all absolutely key focuses once we understand what we have at this new occurrence, 3.5 kilometres, almost due east of Arrow, but also at a similar depth. to the Arrow mineralisation. Look, I think it's still very early days. I've just referenced everyone to figure three in the news release. This hole is, like I said, a lot better than the discovery hole at Arrow. What we do know today is that we have 1.5 kilometre strike target for us to investigate. We're seeing a lot of the similarities of the holes in and around Arrow in the holes that were drilled to date. Now, it's obviously subject to further drilling as to what we have here. What we can tell you, though, is that today's results have confirmed that the Paterson Corridor East is a mineralised corridor similar to the Paterson Corridor, which hosts Arrow, Cannon, Bow, Harpoon, and also Triple R, earned by Fission, So we know we're in a heavily mineralised area and to give some context to Arrow, as I said, we've got three metres of greater than 61,000 counts per second. So that is incredibly intense mineralisation. That's significantly higher than the Arrow discovery hole. We know we're in the right setting, we've hit some very intense mineralisation and what have learnt from arrows when you get that type of intense mineralisation, you know you're near a source. And normally, you know, subject to further drilling, a very, very significant source of uranium mineralisation. So, you know, any discovery of this nature is obviously going to be incredibly creative to the long-term mine plan of arrows. In terms of TAPEX and OPEX, etc., again, way too early to determine that until we've done a number of programs that you've seen us do in the past, since 2014 at Arrow. But the Arrow Rook 1 feasibility study was always designed on the basis to facilitate additional uranium deposits in the area. We've also incorporated that into the final design scope of the project, all within the federal permitting parameters, of course. And any newer current, such as that Patterson Corridor, as we've found today, if proven to be economic, would also be subject to permitting. But, look, I think the takeaway from everyone today is that we expect to be producing at Rook One for considerably longer than what the current feasibility studies suggest. We've always known that. We've also got mineralisation below Arrow at depth. And while that mineralisation is yet to be fully defined and assessed economically, it's clearly a reasonable expectation that you'll see that go through the mill as well at Look 1. So it's incredibly exciting. In fact, potentially a major game-changer over and above what we already have at Arrow, which is World Class. So, Graham, give it some time, and we look forward to responding with respect to all of those points that you've made.

Yeah, I would just, if I could, sorry, there's so much here to try to digest. I'm sure even for you. But could you just give us a hint as to the geologic structure and whether the potential mine on PCE, Port Patterson, Port East, would be similar to Arrow, and therefore also given your application for approvals for the Arrow Look 1 project, Can you accelerate the timeline for the development of a second major corridor? Or would it take 10 to 12 years?

What I can tell you based on what we know, I can only tell you what we know at the moment, Graham, and it's exhibiting the holes in and around this new intersect are exhibiting similar metrics similar style to the setting that is at Arrow. I can't yet quantify exactly what's there and the potential economics. It's 3.5km away and it's on land. So any economically assessed deposition within the vicinity of Arrow will be able to be accommodated but subject to obviously, you know, permitting of those subsequent deposits. That is to be determined. I think what you can take away based on what we know today is that any economic mineralisation within the vicinity of Arrow, practically and environmentally, would be would obviously go through the mine. I think it's way too early to talk about accelerating the development of any new occurrence after those few holes though.

Thank you very much. Good luck. Thank you.

Next question will be from Brian MacArthur at Raymond James. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Thank you for testing my question. If I can just follow up on the last question, you mentioned material at depth as well. If that turned out to be more economic, which it obviously has to be potentially pretty good, than the new Patterson East, could you do that under the current permit? I guess what I'm trying to get at here is what's actually being permitted now for flexibility, i.e. what else could you bring in in the later years without having to go through a whole process again?

Yeah, well, so, thank you, Brian.

Directly under Arrow is obviously within the area of influence of the approvals that we're currently pursuing. You know, the practicality of the matter, though, is that any mine extension goes through a certain process, but anything under Arrow, I think, and in and around Arrow that is subsequently discovered, I think can you can safely assume will come under the current approval. New occurrence is at 3.5 kilometres on the Paterson Corridor East. Potentially. We don't know yet. We need to do many, many assessments around the environmental aspects of it and to ensure that what we're suggesting is consistent with what we've been approved for. If it's not, we would start that work very early on the basis that it does prove to be economic with further drilling. So, in summary, based on what we know today, or even before discovery today, anything within an economic distance of Arrow, we would look to augment into the the wolf wine mill as proposed under the federal approval process we're undergoing.

Great, thanks. And following up with another question, I think you mentioned minor scope change when you were answering Katie's question about the new half-backs and off-backs. Is that correct, or is there anything major changing there, like throughput rates 1,300 to 1,400 tons a day? Is there anything like that in there, or is it just minor adjustments to the construction and things like that?

Yeah, Brian, it's a good question. The mining and milling method has been identical from the very first preliminary economic assessment through the pre-feasibility study and the feasibility study. We are talking exactly the same mining and milling method with some slight improvements in the design to enhance environmental performance over the life of the mine. So nothing material, nothing dramatic, just some improvements around the edges in the long-term interest of the project. That's all.

Great, thanks. Let me just ask one more quick. It's great you now got $1.25 billion versus $1.1 billion in commitments. Can you just talk a little bit again about what you need to do, I know you need documentation, but how much you might have to contract, if any, to get that done. You said you get it done by the back half of the year, and maybe whether there's been any new people coming in. Are they still saying what I would call international institutions or actually utilities and customers coming in in that last 150 minutes?

I'll start with the first part of that answer and then hand over to Travis. The amount of interest that we are receiving every day is increasing. The project's profile from an economic, ESG and green perspective is increasing the number of avenues or sources of potential debt and equity funding for the project. With respect to the percentage required in terms of contracting and offtake, I'll hand over to Travis in a moment, but what we do know from the process to date is that the lenders are very comfortable with us signing volume-based contracts that are tied to the spot at the time of delivery in order to service that debt. Is that it?

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That's the key point, Lee. And in terms of the quantum and the amount, it will obviously be relatively immaterial to the overall production volumes given, you know, the economics and how quickly it pays back. Obviously, the exact percentage will be determined by the, you know, agreed upon forecasted long-term uranium price predominantly. But, again, you know, you're talking about a very immaterial amount of production being volume-based contracted. Or, sorry, I should say a requirement to do that anyways by the lenders will be a very small percentage of a few years of the first part of production, and then everything else is as we want to optimize and determine best for ourselves in the market.

Great. Thank you both for answering all my questions.

Thank you, Brian.

Next question will be from Andrew Wong at RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Just some questions on contract discussions. I guess first is, could you kind of talk about what kind of customers you're talking to? Is it mostly utilities? Are there intermediaries? What kind of countries or regions are these customers from? And my second question is more around, like, how would you, how do you plan to incorporate some flexibility around timing of the mind startup? I assume there'd be some volume flex, pull forward, push out, you know, obviously there's always uncertainty around mind startup and timing. Can you just talk about that?

Yeah, I'll start with that and then also hand over to Travis. Of course.

With the second thing,

The timing of deliveries is very dependent on when we receive the federal permit and we've been very transparent with the utilities in our negotiations that once we have that timing confirmed we'll be able to get very specific with respect to quantities by certain dates. What's the important part of the whole process is, is that we are transitioning this towards a more transparent pricing market, as we've seen in iron ore back in the 2000s. And that's been in the interest of both producers and the purchasers of the commodity. And our area of focus or utilities that we are in advanced discussions with, they're located in the US, Europe, and Japan, as we currently speak. We've also got other discussions underway in other parts of the world, but the US, Europe, and Japan are the more advanced negotiations as we speak. Is that it?

Yeah, and I might just add, yeah, exactly. And we're only speaking with the largest consumers of nuclear fuel in the world in those regions And what we can tell you is that the approach and philosophy of the company with respect to these volume-based contracts is very much understood and accepted by these counterparties that we're in discussions with. Again, given the fact that not only does it benefit us as producers and future producers, but the utilities themselves in the changing dynamic as we look forward in the uranium markets.

Okay, so I guess, so let's assume you get the permit, maybe as early as this year, and you could get into construction and everything goes smoothly. It goes into production in 2028, so you're planning contracts and deliveries starting in 2028. But, you know, we never know what happens and anything can come up. Like, let's say it gets pushed up to 2029, 2033. You have to make sure you understand on next in five lease contracts, is there flexibility for how that works? Like, what would you do in that? put in a situation where you have to deliver by 2028, for example, just trying to get around that.

Yeah, well, we're not going to put ourselves in a position that unnecessarily inhibits the optimisation or the maximising the returns on each pound produced. We'll do this in a very conservative nature and as we've done with everything since we're something incorporated like our use of capital is extremely efficient and we always have a very healthy dose of conservatism in the expectations we set, and we deliver against those. With respect to the contracting, that approach will incorporate all of those disciplines and approaches. So whilst I can't tell you today specifically what the terms and conditions of those contracts are, you can take away that we're going to do it in our traditional conservative, very careful and disciplined manner. That's great.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next question will be from Chris Thompson at PI Financial. Please go ahead.

Good morning, Lee and team. Congratulations on this morning's news. Just on the discovery there, I'm just going to read through the descriptions. It seems to be largely basement houses. Is that correct, the mineralizations?

Fully based and hosted, yeah.

Great, thanks. And then, and apologies, I might have missed this in an earlier response to a question, but could you give us a sense of the remaining budget for this year? What is the budget for this year outside of exploration?

So, including exploration, the budget this year is about $170 million.

which is, you know, subject to, obviously, the timing of federal approvals.

Yeah, wonderful. OK, that's it. Thank you very much, guys. Congratulations again. Thank you. Thank you.

And at this time, Mr Currier, we have no other questions. Please proceed.

Well, thank you, everyone. Very much appreciate everyone's interest in NextGen and it's an incredibly exciting time. Focus on the remaining aspects of the federal approval. As discussed on this call, we're eagerly awaiting conclusion of that process, respectfully, with it goes into account total stakeholder engagement. We have a fantastic project. on the task of going to construction to meet the world's energy needs, and one which will, at the current spot price, will take us into the top nine or top ten mining companies worldwide on an architectural flow basis. So today, to add a new discovery into the story is just incredibly exciting for everyone involved. And it really does signify the prospectivity of that dominant land package that we have in the mighty southwestern section of the basin. And so, you know, we have a lot of work ahead of us to fully define the true extent of uranium minimisation on our properties. But, yeah, the feasibility study on NextGen, I think it's safe for everyone to view that as a base case that this is going to be an incredibly large, generational mine which will impact the local communities, Saskatchewan, Canada and the whole world when you consider the impact of the fuel that it will produce. And so with that we look forward to heading into Q2 and the balance of this year and really delivering on a number of the issues we have been working on for over 10 years now. And with that, I thank you all for listening and your continued support.

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this does indeed conclude your conference call for today. Once again, thank you for attending. And at this time, we do ask that you please disconnect your lines.