NexGen Energy Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

NexGen Energy NYSE: NXE said construction activities at its Rook I uranium project in Saskatchewan advanced on schedule and within budget during the second quarter of 2026, as the company continued to pursue uranium sales agreements and evaluate financing options for the project’s remaining construction needs.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer Leigh Curyer said NexGen had completed its planned construction milestones during the quarter. The company commissioned a 3,000-foot airstrip, completed and occupied its accommodation complex, and continued major earthworks and surface-infrastructure work. NexGen said the site workforce totaled about 300 people and was growing as construction activity accelerated.

The company said the airstrip is expected to be extended to 5,840 feet by December 2026. During the remainder of the year, work is expected to focus heavily on earthworks, including preparation for shaft sinking scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027. NexGen expects to begin concrete foundations for shaft headframes, a hoist house and a winch house in the fourth quarter, along with installation of a temporary freezing plant and construction of a primary batch plant.

Responding to an analyst question on capital-cost inflation, Curyer said the company had not identified any material change to its August 2024 construction-cost estimate of C$2.2 billion. He said NexGen had recently signed its shaft-sinking and underground-engineering contract, which represents more than half of the project build, at levels in line with the prior estimate.

Chris Copley, NexGen’s director of engineering, said confirmation drilling had validated prior assumptions for the shaft-freezing program. He said the company expects freezing to begin in early 2027, followed by pre-sinking by the middle of that year. Copley also said dry-mix and wet-mix batch plants are being prepared for the site to support foundation work and other construction activities.

Curyer said NexGen had C$970 million of liquidity at the end of the second quarter and that the heaviest project spending is not expected to begin until February and March 2027. He said expenditures currently being made on Rook I are being deducted from the C$2.2 billion construction estimate.