His own company: Rook I / Arrow in construction since 13-Aug-2026 (CNSC permit 5-Mar), every day of the next four years planned, production in ~4 years; C$2.2B capex with ~C$1B in treasury and the funding delta to be settled by March 2027, prepayment preferred over equity; contracting kept spot-exposed to stay “the world’s most levered company to the future price of uranium”, and a top-10 global miner by after-tax cash flow at today’s price.
Spot has refused to break $85 — a level he reads as the current producers’ cost profile and therefore “a new floor” — with prices creeping up, no supply on offer, scarce mine supply and rising sovereign risk; expects the usual northern-hemisphere winter pick-up in utility spot buying and says “uranium price is going higher”.
In one line: NexGen's founder-CEO on a company that has crossed from permitting into building: final CNSC permit 5-Mar-2026, construction started 13-Aug-2026, shaft sinking from mid-2027 and production in about four years, with every day of those four years planned. C$2.2B capex against ~C$1B in treasury (funded into late 2027), the gap to be settled by March 2027 with prepayment preferred over dilution. The deliberate choice underneath it all is to stay unhedged: contracts are signed for volume but left spot-exposed, keeping NexGen "the world's most levered company to the future price uranium" — and he thinks that price is going higher, with $85 now a floor set by producers' cost profiles. Read everything here as a CEO's view of his own company.
Permitted, funded for now, and physically under way. The final CNSC permit came on 5 March after "the world's best permitting process"; the 13 August groundbreaking drew Premier Scott Moe, Stephen Harper, secretary of state Buckley Belanger and Métis Nation–Saskatchewan president Glen McCallum. On site: a new airstrip, a 700-bed camp with ~240 people in it, the water diffuser installed by divers on 30 August, and civil works for the rest of the year (2026-SEP-10).
The de-risking ladder is the story, not the resource. Freeze plant shipping and top-layer freezing this winter, shaft sinking from mid-2027, production four years out — and "we've got every day planned for the next four years. What's happening, who's doing it, who's responsible for it." Winter adds complexity but "no abatement in the level of activity"; headcount rises.
Funding the delta without diluting. C$2.2B capex, ~C$1B in treasury, funded well into late 2027, with the balance answered between now and March 2027. Preference order: prepayment ("the ideal financial structuring"), then bank debt, a project equity partner, corporate equity, plus "the amount of government options that are available." His framing: "raising the money is not the challenge. It's getting that ideal structure in place."
Maximum leverage, on purpose. Over 10M lb contracted earlier in 2026 plus 1.3M lb recently, "all with very strong exposure to spot price," with more deals at early, mid and late stages. NexGen is "the world's most levered company to the future price uranium and our contracting strategy will maintain that status" — volume sold, price left floating.
$85 is a floor, not a level. Spot hasn't broken below it because that is "representative of the current producers cost profile," and "there seems to be no supply out there at $85," with prices creeping up. Add the usual northern-hemisphere winter pick-up in utility spot buying: "uranium price is going higher."
Scarcity plus sovereign risk is the investor takeaway. London feedback centred on "the scarcity of mine supply" and rising "sovereign risk around the current world's mine supply," giving Canadian, Australian and US projects "a natural advantage" — "there's not a lot of homes that can answer that requirement." Roughly 45% of the register sits in Australia.
Still exploring while building. Patterson Corridor East is now on a fifth rig — "that might be the largest program in the Athabasca basin on a given prospect" — so Rook I's long-term life "is already in the bank, so to speak" and should lengthen.
Economics wide enough to absorb inflation. "We're not immune to it," but the project's economics make the impact "immaterial" — paired with a chartered-accountant CEO's cost-conscious culture and an unchanged C$2.2B capex. At today's uranium price, in production, NexGen would be "a top 10 world mining company based on after tax cash flow."
Transcripts
One dated page per appearance — each has its stock table, talking points, and the saved transcript. Newest first.