NexGen Energy Ltd.

Good morning, my name is Konstantin, and I will be your conference operator for today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the NextGen's Energy Year-End and Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Results Conference Call. 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, and if you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press stars and the number one on your telephone keypad. If you'd like to withdraw your question, please press stars and the number two. Mr. Lee Currier, CEO and Director for NextGen Energy, you may begin your conference.

Thank you, Constantine. Thank you all for joining us today for NextGen's year-end and Q4 2024 Financial Results Conference Call. I'm Lee Currier, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NextGen Energy, and I'm joined today by Travis McPherson, Chief Commercial Officer, and Benjamin Salter, Chief Financial Officer. Over the course of this call, I will provide NextGen's insights into the global uranium markets and also highlight the significant progress and recent key accomplishments at NextGen, including the completion of the final federal technical review for RUC1 and CNSC's acceptance of our federal environmental impact statement as final, as well as our first uranium sales contract with leading US utilities, and the commencement of the largest exploration program in the Athabasca Basin focused on our new 2024 discovery at Paterson Corridor East, PCE. At the conclusion of the presentation, we'll move to the Q&A portion of the call, which will provide you the opportunity to ask any questions. We will make forward-looking statements throughout today's call, and I invite you to visit our website for all the relevant disclosures. Before we begin, it's worth noting the exceptional scarcity of successful greenfield projects in our industry. Only 1% of exploration projects progress past the permitting stage. We are nearing that stage, and a mere 0.01% ultimately become profitable mines. Our steady advancements and multiple milestones emphasise that NextGen is firmly on the path to joining that elite category. The barriers to entry are high, and considering the necessity of new supply for the uranium market to fuel strongly the growing nuclear demand, our Paterson Corridor East project is that much more important than it was yesterday, as are all the current uranium developers. The uranium market remains dynamic, changed by growing new demand for nuclear energy on top of robust existing global nuclear fleets, with geopolitical uncertainties and supply chain constraints, all underscoring the critical importance of security of uranium supply. Legislative actions have amplified concerns over supply and emphasised the need for stable Western-based uranium sources to diversify what has become a highly concentrated uranium industry. Short-term market fluctuations based on market liquidity constraints have not changed the fundamental market reality. There simply isn't enough supply to meet demand, and that is forecast to persist well past the 2040s. The only solution is a substantially higher and sustained price to incentivise greater investment in uranium exploration and mining, leading to new discoveries and project development. Without materially higher sustained prices, the deficits will only grow wider. To put the demand for uranium, particularly Western supply, into perspective, let's focus on the US market for a moment. The US consumes nearly 50 million pounds of uranium annually, but produces less than 1 million pounds domestically. Canada currently accounts for 25% of its supply, with the rest of primary supply coming from Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan. This available supply is also shrinking. Russia will be legislatively banned from the US market in totality by 2027. and the majority of Kazatomprom's future production is already committed to the east. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan's uranium is increasingly being diverted to China and Russia. The west is unleashing unprecedented support for nuclear, yet is falling behind on securing the uranium supply it critically needs. All other components of the nuclear fuel cycle are at or near all-time highs, Yet the necessary input for the whole cycle, uranium, has yet to perform the same way. But attention towards new sources of primary mine supply has commenced, evidenced by our initial US utility contracts being executed in December of last year. 2024 was a transformative year for NextGen, marked by significant milestones. We secured our first utility contracts, which are entirely in line with our strategy of maximising the exposure to future uranium prices and optimising the return on every pound produced. This has coincided with completing the federal technical review and finalisation of our federal EIS, materially advanced the project execution, surpassed regional procurement and training objectives, all while advancing the Athabasca Basin's largest targeted exploration drill program that yielded a brand new material discovery named PCE, just 3.5 kilometres from our mighty Arrow deposit. Our progress has been driven by an incredibly dedicated team and our steadfast mission to establish NextGen as a world leader in clean energy fuel solutions. As we continue advancing our discipline development of our 100% owned Rook One project, we are now nearing completion of the most material phase, permitting. The site, our team and our balance sheet are ready to commence construction immediately following conclusion of the Commission hearing, which we, the Province of Saskatchewan and our Indigenous community partners are all eagerly awaiting. With the full support via fully executed and legally binding benefit agreements and strong advocacy from all four Indigenous communities in our project area, Clearwater River Dene Nation, Métis Nation Saskatchewan Northern Region 2, Birch Narrows Dene Nation, Buffalo River Dene Nation, the project is optimally positioned for completion of the final approval process. NextGen has made significant advancements in construction readiness. Procurement of critical items is well advanced. Vendors are secured for key critical path activities and the team, which has been strategically compiled for optimal performance, is in place and ready to execute. This disciplined planning and execution today positions us to mobilise on day one of approval once final permits are secured, with existing cash on hand supporting a minimum of 18 months of post-approval construction activity. In parallel, we continue to attract top-tier talent and expand our local training programs to ensure industry-leading percentages of the onsite labour and commerce is domiciled directly from nearby local communities. our focus on sustainable development remains at the core of our operations, while delivering lasting value to our shareholders, partners and the communities in which we operate. Additionally, our updated capital estimate reaffirmed Rook One's industry-leading economics, featuring rapid payback of approximately 12 months based on UXC's long-term price, and an exceptionally low operating cost of under $10 a pound US at $9.98. These low operating costs, combined with the ideal geological setting, provide NextGen with significant production flexibility and strategic leverage on contracting, enabling us to maximise the value of every pound produced. NextGen's strategic uranium inventory, which was purchased in early 2024, has played a key role in our contracting position, enabling us to secure customers aligned with us in terms of future market dynamics and ensuring we maintain maximum exposure to future uranium prices. As evidenced in December, this proactive approach led to the award of our first uranium sales agreements with multiple leading US utilities, securing £5 million of deliveries over the first five years. Building on these first few contracts, interest from global utilities continues to increase for NextGen to bring a new material source of uranium supply to the market and, in order to assist nuclear operators, diversify their current supply concentration. Discussions are advancing across the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. As market fundamentals tighten, we anticipate further contract signings in the near term as utilities move to secure long-term supply and NextGen prepares for production. NextGen remains well positioned to capitalise on this growing demand and while maintaining a disciplined approach to our contracting strategy, ensuring we optimise value of every pound committed and produced. So as we navigate this evolving landscape, NextGen remains focused on delivering long-term value, leveraging our strategic position in the market with unprecedented and undeniable growth potential combined with the structural supply constraints. Sustainability is a cornerstone of NextGen's culture and business practices. In 2024, local Indigenous communities continued their vocal support for the immediate approval of the Rook One project given their deep participation and understanding of the environmental assessment process, as well as the trust, which is clearly evident between NextGen and the communities. Our benefit agreements continue to deliver tangible community programs, workforce training and economic partnerships, reinforcing our long-term commitment to responsible resource development. Programs such as our Pathways to Your Future for careers in mining at the Rook One project, coupled with our unique sports partnerships that deliver impactful mentorship for youth through leadership development, are creating long-lasting growth opportunities for the next generation of leaders across our region. We are also proud to announce that in line with NextGen's commitment to support and advance local Indigenous communities and businesses, 96% of the procurement for the Rook One site was made through our community partners during 2024. That is industry leading, the number one position in the industry, and reflects the genuine nature of our commitment to local communities, which will expand exponentially once the project clears the commission hearing process. Beyond Rook One, our 2024 exploration program was NextGen's most successful since the discovery of Arrow in 2024, a major uranium discovery at Patterson Corridor East, just 3.5 kilometres from Arrow. It has all the same characteristics of Arrow, and in terms of size and the existence of the ultra-high-grade mineralisation, it exceeds that of Arrow at the same stage of drilling. The discovery at PCE represents a transformational development, unlocking new resource potential and refining the truly district scale of NextGen's lands position. We just commenced our 2025 exploration program, one of the largest and boldest drill programs in the Athabasca Basin. with a 43,000-metre drill program focused on two key objectives, define the scale of mineralisation at PCE and unlock the full potential of this high-grade system. Financially, NextGen maintains a strong position with approximately $477 million Canadian in cash at year-end, which covers the construction spend for the first 18 months of the post-approval activities. Further, the expressions of interest from lenders has increased to approximately 1.7 billion US, which is more capacity than is required and highlights just the incredible financeable nature of this world-class project. We continue to advance discussions across multiple financing streams, rigorously evaluating options amid strong interest from around the world and from various industries. We will continue to advance all financing alternatives throughout the remainder of this year, leveraging our ability to optimise the capital stack with patience, given our strong balance sheet. As we look ahead to 2025, we do so with tremendous confidence, momentum and focus on our strategic objectives. Our focus is on securing full federal approvals including the upcoming Commission hearing, and while doing so, advancing engineering, procurement and training to further enhance the execution phase. NextGen is incredibly proud to be at the forefront of one of the most significant times in the global energy markets, where a confluence of factors, including energy security, the energy transition and geopolitics, continue to play favourably into our zone. As demand for clean, reliable and secure energy intensifies, we're ready to meet this challenge head on. We have the right strategy in place with a highly talented and dedicated team supported by values and a commitment to all stakeholders. Thank you and I look forward to updating you on our progress for our promises to be a transformative year. I now like to open the floor for questions.

Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Should you have a question, please press star followed by the number one on your touchstone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by the number two. If you are using a speakerphone, please make sure to lift the handset before pressing any keys. One moment while we prepare the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Katie LaChapelle from Canaccord Genuity. Your line is open.