NexGen Energy Ltd. (NXE) Q2 2026 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Good day, and thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Before we begin today, we encourage anyone joining by telephone to also access the live webcast where NextGen will be showing current site construction photos and video at the Rook I project. Access for the webcast details can be found in today's news release. Welcome to the NextGen Energy Second Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] The conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Leigh Curyer, Founder and Chief Executive Officer and Director with NextGen Energy Limited. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Chris. Good morning, and thank you for joining NextGen's Q2 2026 Financial Results and Investor Call. Joining me today are Travis McPherson, Chief Commercial Officer; Ryan Podrasky, who recently joined in Q2 from Elk Valley Resources as Chief Financial Officer. Ryan brings more than 25 years of project development and operational finance leadership in operating $10 billion revenue business with over 5,000 employees and overseeing capital projects in excess of $5 billion. and Chris Copley, our Director of Engineering. During today's call, I'll provide an update on our construction, exploration and commercial activities during the second quarter of 2026. At the conclusion of this presentation, we'll move to a short slide show and then move into Q&A portion of the call, where you'll have the opportunity to ask myself, Travis, Ryan and Chris, any questions you would like. We'll be making forward-looking statements throughout the call today, so please visit our website for all the relevant disclaimers. The broader environment. I'd like to commence by acknowledging the broader nuclear energy environment in which NextGen is advancing Rook 1. As a Canadian company developing the world's largest and most strategic energy project in Saskatchewan, we are seeing Canada's policy environment turn highly constructive towards the country's future leadership across the nuclear landscape. from small modular reactors and large-scale reactor deployments to reestablishing Canada as the world's leading supplier of uranium through our Rook I project. The confluence of this support global -- the confluence of this supportive global policy and NextGen's timing to production is perfectly aligned. As NextGen brings the Rook 1 project into operation just 4 short years from now, the world's largest current production centers will be nearing the end of their lives, meaning NextGen's output will effectively only replace that declining material. This underscores the importance of our ongoing exploration efforts at Patterson Corridor East, PCE, and the district scale package we hold to support this incredible nuclear future. The world is changing rapidly and governments everywhere have arrived at the same conclusion. Economic and national security now depend on energy sovereignty. Ongoing geopolitical conflict has reinforced supply chain diversification as a key strategic priority, creating an opportunity for Canada to become the leading supplier of critical energy resources. The facts are striking. While 70% of nuclear demand comes from OECD nations, just 25% of fuel supply comes from those same nations. Add to that, the fact that over 90% of OECD uranium production is already contracted and therefore, unavailable for future sale, NextGen's timing with the Rook 1 project is perfectly aligned. We're seeing this translate into policy. The Building Canada Act marks a significant shift in support for major energy infrastructure projects and Canada's newly released nuclear energy strategy sets out clear ambitions, including a doubling of uranium exports by 2035. NextGen is fundamental to Canada in delivering on this vision. In this context, NextGen's offtake sales strategy has been proven correct in optimizing the economic return on every single pound to be produced, providing investors with world-leading leverage to the future price of uranium. Simply, NextGen has orders of magnitude more pounds to sell than any other Western world supplier. And we retain full upside on every single pound, truly untapped leverage to the future uranium market. That market spot consolidated during the quarter in the mid-80s, while the term market continued to trade steadily higher, reaching $97 per pound as reported by Trade Tech. That's above the $95 high of the 2007 cycle. The 5-year forward price now sits at $105 per pound. This trend clearly shows where the market is heading and validates NextGen's strategy of maximizing our leverage and exposure to the future price at the time of delivery. While prices keep moving higher, there has still been no meaningful supply response to date. When we zoom out, this becomes obvious. Uranium prices have increased 500% over the last decade, while supply has only grown 14% over the same period. The past 12 months have only reinforced how little new supply is available to come online and how increasingly challenging it is to keep existing producing sources running. On uranium sales contracts, we continue to advance and in some cases, execute sales agreements with customers. We recently executed during the quarter a term sheet to sell another 1.3 million pounds to a U.S. utility customer at market prices at the time of delivery. This again validates another end user confirming NextGen's offtake strategy, which is beneficial for our utility customers as well as for NextGen. We continue to advance a number of additional sales agreements with global utilities covering in addition to the U.S., Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Our objective remains consistent to secure high-quality long-term partnerships whilst preserving the exposure to future prices that will maximize profitability per pound and ultimately, value for our shareholders. This is also a responsibility by NextGen to ensure royalties to the Saskatchewan government, which are based off realized price for uranium is maximized. Royalty revenue, which funds health, education and social commitments, which reflects our appreciation of the Saskatchewan government's long-standing support for the initiatives NextGen has delivered. With 96% of our reserve base available for future sale, we have the highest leverage in the uranium universe to where uranium prices go from here. When we analyze the potential future sources of uranium, the cost profiles and time lines, it is not hard to see how constructive the backdrop is, given the structural nature of the supply deficit. We are, therefore, concluding and expecting prices to continue to strengthen materially from these current levels. With respect to construction and milestones during the quarter, we have completed all planned key construction milestones to scope and budget and schedule. At conclusion of this commentary, we'll provide a short slide update of construction at the Rook I project during the quarter. You will see a lot has been accomplished in a short space of time. In detail, we've completed our 3,000-foot air strip. Our accommodation complex is fully commissioned, complete and occupied and capable of 700 persons. The team at the Rook 1 site now currently numbers approximately 300 people and is growing weekly as construction activities gain pace. We are well advanced on major earthworks and surface infrastructure. Construction of the laydown facilities, the effluent diffuser road, the in-water works and the site road networks are all on schedule. Earthworks will dominate site activities for the remainder of 2026 in preparation for shaft sinking, which commenced in Q1 2027. Pads for the production exhaust shaft mine terraces will complete in Q3. In Q4, we will begin concrete foundations for the shaft head frames, hoist house and winch house, install the temporary freezing plant and erect the primary batch plant. December 2026, the full 5,840-foot air strip will be complete. The latest construction progress photos will be posted on the homepage of our website. Further, we will host our Investor Day webinar on Tuesday, September 1, where we will provide a comprehensive update on each phase of the Rook 1 construction pathway. During the webinar, you'll hear directly from our highly experienced project team whose expertise spans hard rock mining, engineering and construction with extensive experience in large-scale copper and gold projects complemented by deep uranium milling and processing expertise. We have also recently awarded major contracts during the quarter, the final major engineering procurement contract and the shaft sinking contract structured to fully incentivize and align outcomes with the shaft sink itself. Further, the mine hoist equipment among the most critical components in the shaft operated underground mines commenced back in mid-2005 and is advancing on schedule. We'll be hosting a groundbreaking ceremony next week on August 13 at Rook 1 with global investors, customers, partners, indigenous nations and the government of Saskatchewan. This will be a major moment for Canada, signifying officially the critically important role NextGen will play in delivering Canada's energy commitment. The team we've assembled at NextGen is high caliber, proven and holds itself and others to elite standards. Together, we provide the experience, capability and expertise required to successfully deliver the world's most important uranium project. Combined, this team has delivered over $20 billion of capital projects and brings more than 2,100 years of relevant experience. On the exploration front, Patterson Corridor East is one of the most exciting exploration discoveries in the Athabasca Basin, and we continue to be highly encouraged by results. With approximately 50% of our planned 42,000-meter drilling program now complete, our focus remains on expanding the overall mineralized footprint and the growing high-grade shears within the system. Every meter drilled improves our understanding of the scale and potential of this latest discovery. Importantly, exploration success complements the value being created across NextGen. As construction advances towards production, continued success at PCE, together with opportunities across the company's dominant land position in the Southwestern Athabasca Basin, all will continue to drive growth for decades to come and create unparalleled shareholder value. Results from the drilling at PC will be issued in the coming months. Balance sheet and funding. Our balance sheet is very strong with a liquidity position of over CAD 970 million at the end of Q2. Given the backdrop I've outlined, NextGen's positioning within it and our unique exposure to the future upside in uranium prices, the company has significant accretive options for funding. These include project finance, strategic corporate or asset level financings and prepayments of future uranium deliveries. The liquidity on hand validates we can evaluate optimally all of these options. NextGen remains a one of one in the uranium sector. The facts, we are in construction of what is considered by many analysts to be the world's most important uranium project. We have the largest quantity of uranium in the industry available for sale, and we have the most leverage to a rising uranium price. In addition, we see a future in which supply remains in long-term deficit and demand for reliable baseload nuclear power continues to accelerate higher, just as NextGen commences production at Rook 1. In closing, safety, disciplined execution and community advancement remain at the core of everything we do. On the latter, we recently conducted the groundbreaking ceremony for the La Loche Hotel, which we have financially guaranteed and have brought the CRDN and the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan Northern Region 2 as partners. This is another example of how we at NexGen believe everyone should expect better from the mining industry, and we are proud to be redefining and leading this new era of successful resource development. We look forward to updating you on our continued progress throughout the year as we deliver key construction milestones and advance Rook 1 towards first production. I'll now provide a brief slide show of construction -- pictures of construction during the second quarter and then open the call to questions. Just one moment. [Presentation] On the front slide there, for those who are on the video webcast, that is the air strip that was commissioned last week. It's currently 3,000 feet in length and is up and running. This is a wider view across the site. Confirmation drill holes to a depth of 250 meters ring the production and the exhaust shafts. The freeze plant installation is currently underway. And up the top there is the location of the future mill terrace. The pilot hole, which I'll show you now, has been drilled down to 950 meters. You can see on those pictures just the level of competency that the ground conditions exhibit. We know every single millimeter of the rock that we're about to excavate with the thinking of the production and the exhaust shafts. Moving to the camp. This is the total camp that we have at site, accommodation available for up to 770 people successfully installed, commissioned and operating to schedule. So the project is completely underway in construction as we speak. The next slide is an indication of the level of crushed aggregate stockpiles that we have in place. We've been crushing aggregate for many, many months now with a CRDN Clearwater River Dene Nation partnered business, and we have 575,000 tonnes of gravel successfully crushed to date and ahead of schedule, employing up to 50 local residents, and that's been going around the clock and during the winter months. And so we have a huge stockpile of crushed gravel. We need a lot of crush gravel, but that signifies that we've gotten ahead in order to ensure that the successful construction of the project is occurring. So everything that we do with this construction, on any given day, if the design is finalized, we have ordered the equipment. Even if we need it in 3 to 4 years from now, if we have finalized the design, we have already ordered it. And that is just astute to ensure that we are not subject to any unforeseen delays. This is the apron at the southwestern end of the runway with fully contained air strip with very, very clear lines between the vegetation and the air strip. The next photo is that this 3,000-foot air strip is already underway, being extended to 5,840 feet, which will be completed by December 2026, a little over 5 months from now. Here, the road installation of the diffuser road from the Rook 1 production pad down to the lake. And you can see there the diffuse installation site, which commenced this month in August. Here, we have the turbidity containment with the installation of the diffuser, the underwater diving unit, all equipment and supplies and people in place constructing. Here, we've also excavated, as I mentioned in the call, a lot of the capital works that have been conducted during Q2 and for the balance of this year. Earthworks is a very heavy component of it, preparing the ground for all of the foundations that will be constructed thereafter. Here, we have the drill rigs, a short 3.5 kilometers. You can actually see these drill rigs from the production and resource pads from the Arrow Deposit, 3.5 kilometers away, currently halfway through the 42,000-meter PCE exploration program. As discussed during the call, we'll be having results released continuously over the course of the coming months. And in order to house the additional core and also for 2027 and 2028 drilling, we are extending the core yard storage as we speak in order to house the additional core that we see coming from PCE over the next couple of years at a minimum. Here, we're just about to press play on a video, which gives you more of a panoramic view of the Rook I project. Could you please press play? Thank you. So there, we have the -- we're just going over the exhaust shaft here. And to the left there is another gravel pit that we are accessing aggregate. Also the aggregate coming up from the 2 shafts will be used for surface aggregate. Here is the air strip during the month of early July in the final stages of completing. Here, as I mentioned before, is the diffuse installation. All equipment in place. Construction is happening every day. And you'll see this is the road that heads up towards the production shaft of Arrow. As you can see, very clear lines between what is impacted and what is not and successfully installed. That's a view of one of our gravel crushing operations. As I said, approximately 575,000 tonnes has been pre-crushed and is in stockpile ready for construction. And the camp to the left is the core sheds. That's over 400,000 meters of core. As I said, we're extending that facility to accommodate drilling core from PCE for the balance of this year and then '27, '28 as well, which really does signify our confidence in the PCE drilling. And yes, with respect to the camp, it can accommodate up to 770 people, look, for myself having stepped on the ground back in 2012, and we started exploration with just 2-man tents and to see what has transpired and is in action and ready for this construction phase. It does represent the NextGen team's dedication and commitment to excellence. And everyone who visits the camp from outside the operation is -- everyone walks away saying that is the best they've seen. And for the people coming up to the groundbreaking ceremony this coming Thursday, it's our absolute privilege to host. And whilst it's an incredible milestone, everyone is focused on construction and the -- everything has been conducted incredibly safely as it has always been the case at NextGen. And with that, I'll hand over the call to any questions that the audience may have.

[Operator Instructions] And today's first question comes from George Eadie with UBS.

Can I just ask about the term sheet at the start, the 1.3 million pounds, is that total? And what is the period of delivery? And then secondly, can I ask why so few pounds? I'm guessing there was a lot of interest or there is. Why don't you go more sort of 5 million pounds or higher?

Yes. Look, it's 1.3 million pounds over a very short duration to a U.S. utility, totally leveraged to the spot price at the time of delivery. These contracts that we're doing at the moment are really introductory type contracts to establish a longer-term relationship. We currently have contracts under negotiation for up to GBP 20 million as we speak. And that is coming from not only the U.S. but also Asia and Europe. So I wouldn't take this as our template other than the element that we are seeking shorter duration ones than what has traditionally been done over the last couple of decades. And the key component, which we're identified by is total leverage to the price at the time of delivery. And so I wouldn't look into the volume as any real indicator of what's actually happening. But the indicator is good because there hasn't been a lot of contracts signed over the Northern Hemisphere summer and yet we're extremely busy as a company. And so we are now up to 11.3 million pounds contracted and exposed to -- fully exposed to the spot price at the time of delivery in the future. And you'll see added contracts layered on in the future when they make sense and in line with our whole identity of being the world's most levered company to the future price of uranium.

Yes, sure. That's very helpful. And this sort of news we keep seeing with the U.S. government that's clearly more supportive, like what do you see as sort of the next leg to drop, I guess, in the next 12 to 18 months in the uranium market besides potential price indications, like what do you think is sort of the next thing to spur prices higher and getting that contract price sort of sustainably above $100 a pound?

Yes. Well, it's not only us reporting it, but there's -- I've listened to the other calls and all the market commentary is that the prices are now well into the low hundreds. You can see the 3- and the 5-year price is at -- or the 5-year price is at $105. I would like to explain everyone when contracts are being drafted, there's not one of those prices that stands out all alone. It is a combination if you want to look at more like floors and ceilings. The pricing is really determined by a number of factors, but it's the spot price, the 3-year price and the 5-year price kind of provides the base for a contract which is structured with a floor and a ceiling. As I said before, the one that we've just signed is fully exposed to spot at the time of delivery. But it's very exciting. We're seeing the spot price has stabilized at $85 a pound. I think everyone can consider that like a -- or reasonably consider that as a new floor for pricing. And yet we're seeing that 3-year and 5-year price hit record highs and exceeding past the previous historic high of in 2007. So I think you're going to see particularly coming into the seasonal period of an increase in contracting post the WNA in London in early September, right through the winter months. I think you're going to see a real uptick in contracting being announced. From a U.S. government perspective, well, the demand and the policy setting is matching that of the Canadian government, both Canada and the U.S. heavily supporting nuclear energy on not only the construction of reactors, but also the fuel supply fabrication, but also the U308, the uranium mining. And we've been down to the White House a number of times. it's -- the demand is clearly evident, and you'll see that continue to play out. I think people should take the 1.3 million pounds that we have signed just recently is a very good indication of what is historically or seasonally a very, very quiet period. So it's looking extremely positive going forward.

The next question is from Orest Wowkodaw with UBS.

I'm actually from Scotiabank. Question, just as you're getting the project off the ground in terms of construction, ordering equipment, and I like the fact that you're ordering long lead time items here as soon as the design is finalized. But I'm just curious, your last official capital number for the project is from 2024. Now that you're getting going here, can you give us any sense of what you're seeing with respect to capital cost inflation, just given the industry pressures out there?

Yes. No, absolutely. And look, the pressures are well documented by many other mining projects. We have just signed during the quarter, the shaft sink in underground engineering. Now that component of the project is over 50% of the overall build. And that number has come out right in line with our August 2024 number. Now what did that validate? It validated that we're ultra conservative in that guidance in August 2024. The labor component of the underground engineering is a material percentage of the overall cost. Now wages will go up and there are cost pressures. We're actually not seeing the cost pressures on the same scale as what's been reported in other parts of the world with respect to resources projects. But our project -- or that contract, which makes up a very large component of the CAD 2.2 billion has a very transparent cost structure that we can manage. And the development rate on the shaft sinking is a risk or a reward or a gain or pain type contract where they're rewarded for meeting development rates and not so rewarded when they don't achieve it. Those development rates as well are conservative in nature as we were with our financial estimate in August of 2024. So to answer your question, in addition to that, Orest, we, to date, have not seen anything material in that move in that $2.2 billion guidance that we made in August 2024. And as I said, that validates that we have been a healthy dose of conservatism in our financial estimates.

And our next question is from Ralph Profiti with Stifel Financial.

You gave a little bit of detail on some of the project milestones between now and, say, Q1 '27. I'd like a little bit more detail, if possible, on the ground freeze plan. Is 200 meters still the optimal depth given some of the ongoing geotechnical work? And when will freeze establishment begin?

Yes. So I'll start with the answer and then hand over to Chris Copey, the Director of Engineering and Project Construction. The -- it's the same plan as what we've had -- we've previously guided. I would also encourage everyone to watch the webinar that we will have the week prior to WNA in the first week of September. It goes through a very comprehensive transparent analysis of the total construction process underground but also at surface in the mill, which explains everything, and it will be a reference point for everyone to go back on and track how we are progressing with the construction. So the plan is still the same. Nothing is going to change geotechnically between now and the actual thinking of the shafts, as I showed in that pilot hole. We know every single millimeter for 950 meters. Those holes are being drilled through the center of both the production and exhaust shafts. So we are expecting very little variability once we get into the basement rock, and we hit that basement rock between 100 and 120 meters from surface and then the freezing once the hydrostatic liner is in place will be removed permanently from that process. Chris?

Yes. Thanks, Leigh. Some of the more specific things we'll be doing through the balance of the year as we head up to freeze relate to establishing the foundations at the head frames. So in the photos that you saw earlier through the slide show, the construction facilities pad was shown. And there, we've got a pad being prepared for the batch plant. We've got 2 batch plants that will be coming to site, a dry mix plant, which is already staged in Alberta and a wet mix plant, which is currently being manufactured overseas and will be ready to start shipping in September. So once the dry mix plant is on site, which will happen shortly, we will complete our trial batching and start installation of those foundations. which enable us to then tie in the freeze plants, which as previously reported, are also staged in Alberta and ready for mobilization to site. The freeze comes on in early 2027. There's no change in our plan there. You saw the shaft pads themselves have started development. The earthworks on those will continue to progress into Q3 and into the early parts of Q4 to enable the mobilization of the shaft sinker themselves to establish their temporary facilities and the temporary power that's required to run the freeze plants. So those are some of the key activities that will enable that freeze to come on in early '27. As Leigh mentioned, no change geotechnically. The confirmation holes allowed us to validate the freeze assumptions, but they really haven't changed from previous understanding, but just added more information and more certainty to the exact freezing time lines. So with all that, that will allow us to start the pre-sinking by the middle of 2027 and start taking some meters.

Those that are on the -- thanks, Chris. Those on the webcast, I have a picture there just highlighted that is the core. Those ground conditions are exceptionally competent. that you can see in those core photos. And again, that is the pilot test hole that's gone through the middle of the production shaft, and we also have a corresponding one with the exhaust shaft as well. We can't -- all the testing has been done and dusted, and there's no project that I'm aware of in the world that has had this level of testing prior to the commencement of construction.

Thanks for that great detail. I really appreciate it. Leigh, you had talked about prepayments as a financing alternative. Is the market strong enough that you think you can enter into that type of a transaction and maintain leverage to the price, say, at the time of delivery, some of your comments around floors and ceilings. And I'm just wondering about the trade-off in a prepayments deal between sort of capital and price discovery.

Yes. To answer your question, so prepayments is one of 5 main areas that we are focusing on with respect to the delta of construction financing. Our discussions to date around prepayments are very positive. And let's put it into context here, GBP 10 million is at today's spot price is USD 850 million, which is -- I think it leaves only about USD 300 million to complete construction. 10 million pounds is 1 or 4 months production over the initial 10 years of our reserve life. And now that -- and to qualify that, that the resource is actually significantly larger than that. And we have an initial mining license for 23 years. I -- every discussion we've had has meant that the prepayment would have a floating price to a degree with respect to that prepayment would be absorbed through the delivery of pounds. And if the uranium price was higher, you would deliver less pounds. If the uranium price was lower, you'd deliver more pounds. So whilst we are still in the negotiation of that prepayment, we are having that discussion with multiple parties as we speak. And it's something which ultimately, why are we going after it? Well, it's the ideal financing, no dilution and maintaining leverage to the future price of uranium. As I said, in context, even if it was fixed at $85 a pound, I want to be crystal clear here. That we're not fixing it at $85 a pound, but I'm trying to give you the goalpost here. 10 million pounds is USD 850 million. it's 4 months of the first year's production. It's -- even if it was to be fixed to a degree, it still does not change our world-leading leverage to the future price of uranium for the project. Travis, anything to add?

Yes. I would just also reiterate that, but it also ties back to one of the original questions on the call around the volumes and stuff. And it's what we've been really focused on with respect to our commercial contracts negotiations is kind of funneling that interest into these prepayment structures. And to Leigh's point, there's absolutely no shortage of interest there. So the direct question to your -- or the direct answer to your question, Ralph, is yes, the market is definitely strong enough in NextGen's case anyways to facilitate prepayments.

And our next question is from Alexander Pearce with BMO.

So my question builds a little on the first question around contracting and some of the comments you made. So you flagged that you were looking for shorter-term contracts for now versus perhaps what the utility was asking. Is that -- is it fair to say that that's where the greatest variability or the -- I guess, the spread between what you're looking for versus, say, the average utility? And then the second part of that question is, is that likely to form a key part of your general contracting plan going forward even when you're in production? Is that where you're aiming to get more of the flexibility in terms of your plans? Do you have a greater number of those shorter-term contracts versus perhaps what we've seen by some of your peers in the past?

Yes. Thanks for the question, Alex. Look, I -- the key component is the pricing, which is fully exposed to the future price at the time of delivery, which is heavily tied to the spot price. Even the floor and ceiling contracts are heavily tied to the spot price at the time of delivery or influenced by the spot price or referenced to the spot price at the time of delivery. So spot price is a driver. This volume is 1.3 million pounds. I wouldn't take that as though this is the standard contract that NextGen wants to do for all utilities. Not all utility -- every utility has a very specific preference for a certain type of contract. Some want spot, some want floors and ceilings, some want larger quantities, others want smaller quantities. This is of now 5 contracts that we have in place. And it shouldn't signal a trend in terms of volume and duration, but it should with respect to the pricing mechanism. That we will always be heavily tied to spot price at the time of delivery in order to deliver the world-leading leverage to the future price of uranium. So I want to be very clear, whilst this one seems in volume to be a little smaller, people should take -- should not be assuming that this is the standard contract for all of NextGen's contracts. As I said in the call or one of my earlier answers, we currently have one under negotiation for 20 million pounds. So completely different region, completely different utility to the one that we've just signed it with. So the key driver exposure to spot at the time of delivery.

Okay. That's good color. Maybe I can ask a second question. Is there any update in terms of the level of production that you want to have under contract by the time you get into production versus uncontracted?

No, no change in terms of. . .whatsoever. Yes, we've been very, very clear that our breakeven point is around 3.7 million pounds per annum. We're more than halfway there on that. And even at 3.7 million pounds per annum, we have another 26 3 million pounds available for contracting and exposed to the future price of uranium. So we don't have a fixed percentage as to what we want under contract. We are keeping our production profile completely levered to the future price of uranium.

Yes. And I might just add quickly. The -- given the reactors currently under construction and the reactors that will be online that are currently under construction by the time Rook 1 comes online, add another over 30 million pounds to market demand. So that's just reactors under construction today that will be completed in 2030 that will require another arrow worth of new production to just build those ones, let alone the deficit that we already faced today.

Our next question comes from Andrew Wong with RBC Capital Markets.

I was wondering if can you talk more about the potential for U.S. or Canadian government funding to help on the construction costs. I would appreciate any details you can share on your conversations, which government bodies, the magnitude that you're talking or discussing and maybe any time lines around some news around that?

TravIs?

Yes. I mean the short answer, Andrew, is yes. Interest across both as well as other kind of governments to support this, but certainly and most predominantly those 2 naturally, given the importance. I won't get into the specifics in terms of who, but they are for more than we need to complete the project in terms of quantums and on extremely accretive terms and structures. So yes, lots of interest there. We're very interested in it. Those are 2 of the top priorities of all of the very good options we have at hand and more to come in the very near future on those.

Okay. Appreciate that. And then maybe one for Ryan. Given your extensive experience with other large CapEx projects, I was just curious to hear your thoughts on how Rook I compares with other projects that you've been involved in and maybe just what learnings that you can bring to this project.

Yes. Thank you for the question. I've been here a couple of months now and taken a look and NextGen is set up quite well when you look at their plans that are in place and the team that has been planning for the construction for a while. A lot of companies rush into construction. NextGen is not rushing into construction. And we have set plans and milestones in place, as you can see from the presentation today as well. Commercial terms are being negotiated, and we're creating that flexibility to ensure we're successful for construction and execution from my perspective, we've got the right people at the right time in the right seats. We've got an experienced project team and Chris' team that's in place, well set up with a lot of experience. The culture at NextGen, very nimble, well set up with key points of accountability and ownership that is well aligned and the responsibility to deliver the construction project across the enterprise, very well set up from that perspective as well. And when you look at the characteristics and the team makeup at NextGen, it really is top class, well aligned with exceptional looks like the execution is successful, construction project on time and budget. From my perspective, and what I'm reinforcing and the experience I'm bringing, I'm going to be focusing on disciplined capital allocation, maintaining a strong balance sheet, obviously focusing rigorous cost control, transparent communications with investors and just applying that operational finance experience that I've gained managing large-scale mining business to help deliver Rook I successfully.

And the next question is from Craig Hutchinson with TD Cowen.

Thanks for the update on the construction progress. I was just wondering if you could give us a sense of what the budget is over the next sort of 12 months or so, particularly through the end of this year? And are we now in a period where any spending on [ Aero ] is effectively a deduction to the original estimate of $2.2 billion?

Yes, I'll start with that. So we have CAD 970 million as we speak in terms of working capital. We -- whilst we've got a lot of activity going on leading into December, the heavy spending doesn't really start until February and March of 2027. So we have flexibility to Ryan's earlier point, this has been incredibly well planned from a long way up. That's actually the benefit of a long permitting process. And we know exactly what we're doing on a daily basis over the next 4 years. We are clearly working on the delta of the financing for the construction capital, and we will provide guidance on that in due course. But yes, as from today, well, actually even during Q2, as you can see by that work, that amount is coming off the $2.2 billion, anything that's been spent in the last month or so.

Okay. Great. And just maybe on PCE, you guys mentioned in your opening comments. Can you remind us what the plans are for the balance of this year in terms of exploration meters? And what should we expect in terms of time lines around assay results going forward?

Yes. So we've got about 20,000 meters to go on that program. We will be doing a little bit on SW3 as well because we've done all the geophysical studies on there, and there's a number of targets that we'll also test. But yes, approximately 20,000 meters for the balance of this calendar year. And as I said, we're expanding the core land to house exploration drilling on a similar frame through the end of '28. So that's running in parallel. The geology department runs kind of -- is completely independent of the focus on the construction of Rook 1. So there's no impairment in that sense. And we'll have scintillometer results shortly for the recent round of drilling at PCE, and we'll continue to release the scintillometer results in a batched manner when we can provide ssome critical guidance on what has actually occurred in the drilling because it's a combination of expanding the footprint, but also look, the high-grade subdomains within the area of mineralization can change the whole perception in terms of quantity and grade very quickly. So we've got to be -- we've got to release those results in a way which is informative and so given the nature of it, they will be in batches. Assays come when they are received from the lab accordingly. But you can get a lot of guidance from the scintillometer results, and there's only one independent lab in Saskatchewan that process or does assays for all the cores right throughout the Athabasca Basin. And so we're a little subject to their ability to process the assays. But the scintillometer results are very, very informative for everyone to see.

The next question is from Mohamed Sidibe with National Bank.

Maybe a question for Travis. Could you provide us with any color on what you're seeing in terms of contracting for floor and ceiling? Do you continue to see upward pressure on those 2 metrics there?

Yes. Thanks, Mohamed. I would just reiterate like it's not really the discussions that we're having directly because that's not our approach. But obviously, pricing does come up. And I would say, yes, they continue to move up, notwithstanding the fact, again, we're not -- that's not what we're seeking or signing to the point made earlier on the call about the contract we signed in the quarter. But yes, short answer is yes. Prices across the board, as Leigh mentioned, whether you're talking about the spot price, the 5-year, the long-term price, floors and ceilings, I assume base escalated prices, all going up. And that's really the important metric. I think investors obviously look at the spot price at times and the spot price is extremely relevant. But as you see over time in these charts, sometimes the spot price goes up and then the long-term prices all move up, and we're in that period where they've adjusted up and then you have the spot price move up and then the long-term prices adjust based on that. So it's kind of the step function up. And that's definitely what we're seeing.

[Operator Instructions] And the next question comes from Brian MacArthur with Raymond James.

Sorry, most of my questions have been answered. But just can I -- I mean, it's a bit of a technicality. When you say you're keeping exposure to the spot price, I've heard spot price, I heard uranium price. Are you technically making the reference in these contracts to the spot price or to the long-term price back to the point you're just talking about, Travis?

It is reference to the spot price, and I want to be very, very clear that even a contract with a floor and ceiling references the spot price at the time of delivery. Our contracts, as Travis said earlier, we are very focused on, and we will only do contracts that give us the strong exposure to the spot price at the time of delivery. Now some of these contracts reference a rolling average of 3-month spot price leading into the delivery of a quantity of U308 as well. So there's not sort of one metric for all. These contracts are very individualized. But the takeaway with respect to the contracts that NextGen is signing are that they reference the spot price or effectively the market price for uranium at the time of delivery, which has a very significant weighting to the spot price, either at the time or over, say, a rolling 3-month period leading into that delivery or it could also reference the 3-year price and the 5-year price at the time as well. These contracts are very different. Like I said, no utility has the same contract. No utility buys all their uranium from the one mine and no mine sells all their uranium to the one utility. They are very bespoke depending on the individual needs, and that changes from utility to utility and utilities and between countries and the utilities in countries. So I want to be really clear that spot price exposure is the big driver with the way we're going to -- the way we are structuring and going to structure the contracts going forward.

Great. That's just -- I just heard a lot of different things. So I just wanted to clarify that. And the second thing is just on PCE. There used to be discussion that there might be a resource or something later next year or results. Is that still the plan for PCE? Or has anything changed there?

Yes. Well, I've always been very clear. It's dependent on drilling with respect to the results. So yes, it's just -- I hate saying wait and see, but the drilling to date hasn't provided us a conclusion as to what PCE is. The footprint is expanding and so is the high-grade subdomains within the footprint of mineralization. So as it continues to get bigger or we feel like there's still more work to do to define, to actually provide some guidance as to what it is, that dictates the timing of a resource statement.

And this does conclude our question-and-answer session for today. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Leigh Curyer for any closing remarks.

Yes. Thank you, Chris, and thank you, everyone, for your attendance and excellent questions from those that called in. Again, it's incredible time for the company to see construction get off to such a flying start is an incredible reflection on the dedication and commitment of the NextGen team that's been planning this for over 7 years. We very much look forward to the webinar that we will be releasing in the first week of September leading into the WNA. I encourage you all to watch that where you'll meet the team that is building this magnificent project and the disciplines we have in place and very transparently showcasing all the aspects of construction. So you can determine yourself as to how NextGen is tracking. This is an incredible story in resources worldwide, not just from an economic mineralization perspective, but from a development perspective, which incorporates all stakeholders and providing outcomes for all stakeholders. I really do encourage you to watch this space very, very clearly because we are the most exciting story in the nuclear fuel space and will be for many decades to come. So with that, thank you. Thank you to the team, the NextGen team, and we look forward to hosting our next call in Q3. Thank you.

This brings to a close today's conference call. As a reminder, for those who were unable to join the webcast today, we encourage you to access the presentation and webcast replay on the company's website. Thank you for participating today, and you may now disconnect your lines.