Nexgen Energy Ltd

TSX:NXE

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q1

[Operator]

Good morning. My name is Yannis, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the NexGen Q1 Quarterly Conference Call. All lines have been placed in mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Thank you.

Mr. Leigh Curyer, you may begin your conference.

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Leigh Curyer, the Chief Executive Officer of NexGen Energy. Thank you for joining NexGen Energy's first quarter 2023 company results and update call. I'll speak for approximately 15 minutes and then open the line for any questions. We will be making forward-looking statements, so please visit our website for forward disclaimers on such statements.

Joining me on the call today are Travis McPherson, Chief Commercial Officer; and Benjamin Salter, Vice President of Finance, whilst our Chief Financial Officer, Harpreet Dhaliwal, is on maternity leave. In the exciting stage of NexGen's development and the changing uranium market dynamics, we are pleased to be with you today. We will conduct these calls quarterly going forward, given the advanced stage of completing the permitting process, the stage of pre-construction activities at the Rook I Project and all the elements associated with the uranium fuel market, entering into what I believe is the most fundamentally exciting in my plus 20 years in the sector, if not in the history of nuclear energy.

For those of you on the call that are newer to covering NexGen, this company was founded on the principle that sustainable and responsible natural resource development has the potential to create prosperity and opportunity for generations. Mission is driven by our value to make the Company a leading producer of clean energy fuel that the world requires to address three main components: one, the basic provision of a reliable electricity; two, the need for energy that is generated from a decarbonized source in the interest of a healthy planet for the current and future generations; and thirdly, energy security. Given recent geopolitical developments, the requirement for sensibly sourced fuel from countries that demonstrate peaceful respect for others is essential.

Leading governments and companies have set an ambitious path to net zero with many setting 2030 as the target date for the first phase of this essential global objective. To meet those goals, we must bring more zero emission nuclear power online. In the U.S. alone, the power sector's greenhouse gas emissions still amount to the second largest source of climate dilution. And 60% of U.S. electricity was generated last year by burning coal, natural gas, and petroleum. When you look globally, that number climbs to 80%. As the cleanest form of power generation that provides utility companies with reliable, cost-effective, and carbon-free power, nuclear is just not a piece of the energy transition, it is the linchpin.

As essential as nuclear is to accelerating the energy transition, so is the need to diversify global uranium supply chains. Today, more than 71% of uranium production is from state-owned or quasi-controlled companies. This is not a recipe for energy security, and global allied nations are taking important action. Recent weeks have seen the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Natural Resources of Canada issued a joint statement for increased collaboration on nuclear energy. And we've also seen G7 nations establish a civil nuclear fuel cooperation to reduce reliance on Russia, which is crucial for maintaining growth in the sector.

While the growth opportunity for the sector, demand, is expanding rapidly, the supply is not. Of the state -- of the non-state-owned producing mines in other parts of the Western world, the last decade has seen a rapid decrease in producible uranium reserves due to the natural mine depletion and increasing production costs relative to the realizable market price for uranium. With the exception of a few companies, uranium exploration and development investment has been extremely low for over a decade, contributing to this current demand and supply fundamentals that will take decades to balance, meaning the pressure on uranium prices increasing substantially over the coming period is exceptionally high.

An exponential increase in demand, which is great news for all uranium developers who have demonstrated a commitment to the sector over this past decade. In the Athabasca Basin alone, alongside NexGen, Denison, Fission, and Iso have all been advancing our respective advanced development projects, diligently and incorporating innovation into extractive techniques to meet this expanding mutual demand. But even with all of our projects coming online, it simply won't be enough to meet the increase in demand.

NexGen attended the recent World Nuclear Fuel Conference in The Hague last month. It was the most well-attended nuclear industry event in many years, perhaps over the last decade, with attendees from industry and investment sectors. Key takeaways from industry experts were that the shifting realities and prospects for nuclear power has been like change from night to day and from how can we build it to can we build it fast enough. As a keynote, UxC's Jonathan Hinze, the world-renowned and typically conservative uranium market analyst, stated 33 million to 44 million pounds is -- has been swung and needed, given the drop in Russian supplies and the conversion to overfeeding. And NexGen stand ready to realize this opportunity.

As per the 2021 Feasibility Study, NexGen's Rook I Project is capable of delivering up to 30 million pounds of uranium annually for decades. Once in production, Rook I will generate enough energy to power 46 million homes. That's all of the top five populous U.S. states: California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania. And the equivalent of emissions taking 17 million vehicles off the road nearly based on the current U.S. grid mix. The demand opportunity is clear. The market is enormous in our eyes. And the supply challenge is equally clear. Customers require supplies who can meet environmental, social, and security standards and act as reliable partners to advance their businesses.

NexGen's operations and supply chain are uniquely based and exclusively in Canada and its allied countries, which minimizes geopolitical risk for our customers, end users, and investors. It also makes NexGen as a supplier of choice for customers, as they seek to expand their nuclear energy operations for investors who previously overlooked nuclear or uranium, and for consumers who demand consistent, ethical behavior across the Company's operations. New market demand, new stakeholders, and new expectations surrounding not just nuclear energy, but mining operations, indigenous equality, human rights, environmental protection, and geopolitics, expect more from the industry than in the past, and I expect NexGen has embraced and led with new ways of working.

And NexGen initiated and demonstrated that change. This change brings opportunity. Our approach to contracting is another way we will bring innovative leadership to the market and our customers. While other companies have substantially increased their activity in the term contracting market, our market relationship show there is significant unfulfilled uranium demand from today onwards and it's only exponentially increasing year-on-year for decades. It's clear this approaching market presents greater demand-supply fundamentals than what I experienced in 2004 to '08 when the price went from $7 to $140 a pound.

At the recent WNFC in The Hague, the update on NexGen's Rook I Project was warmly received accompanied by a heavy schedule of industry meetings, signifying that the demand for new supplies sourced from conventional, well-understood mining methods in the top-rated random locations of Saskatchewan is what the industry has been seeking for decades. As a consequence, in meeting that market, NexGen is approaching contracting in a manner that reflects Rook I's technical and cost characteristics of low-risk conventional mining, which provides customers with high levels of predictability and certainty of delivery whilst being flexible from one year to the next, tailored to the market conditions at that time.

NexGen is fully levered to meeting future demand and fully levered to future uranium prices with no legacies. This has not existed in the nuclear space to date, and as an aspect, fewer customers are expressing significant interest in with respect to the current committed uncommitted demand, and in the knowledge of sourcing uranium from an elite ESG company. While this will be a shift in the historical uranium market dynamics, it's not new to commodity markets. We've seen similar markets transformations in the iron ore industry in the last 15 years. As a consequence of new entrant in Fortescue Metals, which led to a stabilized commodity environment and delivered better financial results for producers and customers alike. This dynamic is a welcome improvement.

NexGen's Rook I Project with its economic power, reliability, and full leverage to future uranium prices isn't the only thing that sets NexGen apart. NexGen is in the closing stages of finalizing the Rook I Project EIS for submission to the Ministry of Environment in the province of Saskatchewan. Concurrently, we are working with the CNSC to finalize the submission for their technical and public review, which will follow shortly after the provincial EIS. Additionally, we are nearing completion of the front-end engineering design and have already transitioned resources in the critical path detailed engineering and procurement activities in the execution phase.

Our recently released 2022 Sustainability Report showcases our industry-leading commitment to sustainable development and transparency. The report completely incorporates all aspects of Global Reporting Initiatives, GRI compliance. We're incredibly proud of our investment and innovative approach, the social and environmental performance of our operations. For example, our engagement with local communities, this started with us approaching the local indigenous communities at the outset of this project prior to the first exploration hole and this resulted in meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships.

To have the indigenous leaders advocating for us in the Saskatchewan Parliament in early March and the public support by the province's government is a testament to the collaboration, trust, and shared belief in the transformation of economic, social, and community enhancement opportunities in front of us. We're proud of our relationship with local communities and government. This year has seen an expansion in our community programs, including trades training and the Youth Mentorship Program with the Vancouver Canucks.

Another recent effort is a clear example of our philosophy of developing sustainable opportunities that are beyond mine development, ensuring a stable legacy prevails for local communities. In partnership with the Clearwater River Dene Nation, we created a gravel crushing operation that is 100% community-owned and operated. This will provide gravels at site infrastructure valued at $36 million in the first three years of construction alone. As we [indiscernible] approval and move into construction, these opportunities will exponentially increase in size and positive impact. Training programs are already underway in local project communities, which has resulted in the added benefit of ensuring jobs stay local, and we go even further with enticing population inflows back into those local communities. I encourage you all to visit our website to view the short videos on all these community programs.

Finally, before we get into the financials, to deliver the full potential of Rook I to our stakeholders, local communities and energy markets, we are building an industry-leading team. Most recently, at the Board level, we are excited to welcome Ivan Mullany to our Board. As a member of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, his 35 years in mining project execution, including shaft sinking for major Canadian mining entities, will provide valuable expertise. At the technical team level, just this past month, six new appointments to team NexGen that all reflect exceptional skill, diversity, and commitment to NexGen's objectives.

Now, for an overview of our financial position. The Company currently has a treasury to fund its committed development and operating costs. NexGen had a working capital of $132.9 million as of March 31, 2023. Analysis wise, we are an industry-leading and outperforming in the effective use of capital across all key metrics to the end of Q1 2023. NexGen has deployed approximately $340 million in the successful exploration and development of the Rook I Project against the current market capitalization of approximately $2.5 billion. To our knowledge, no uranium project of this significance has been discovered and developed as cost effectively in history.

Our exploration drilling program is strong. We've got enormous number of targets still to drill. And look, we found this deposit with our very first drill hole back in 2014. We're obviously very good technically, but I doubt not that lucky or that good to have found the best deposit on the property first up. It's the site we're on. It's an incredible geological uranium-bearing setting and has much more to offer. Also regionally, in the western side of the basin where NexGen has a dominant land position along with the other discoveries at Fission, and more recently, F3, it's clearly just the beginning.

On the financing front, only this last Monday, we announced an update on the debt financing progress. We have received expressions of interest for over USD1 billion. It's a real vote of favor for the Rook I Project on the economics front and these institutions view of the unfolding uranium demand and supply fundamentals and how NexGen exist in it.

As we move forward in 2023, we're eagerly approaching key milestones, the submission of the provincial and federal final Environmental Impact Statements, advanced detailed engineering and procurement activities, initiation of approved site works in preparation for construction, completion of our licensing, with a concluding commission hearing held by the CNSC.

Thank you for joining our quarterly call today. We appreciate your support as we continue to develop the Rook I uranium project. We are poised to significantly contribute to this century's most important global initiative. We remain laser-focused on delivering a generational project for the benefit of shareholders and stakeholders, incorporating world-class environmental, social, and economic outcomes. And I'm proud about what has been achieved to date and how the Company is positioned for the future. We encourage questions from all of you. Our team is here and available to address all questions. Now, I'll turn it over to the moderator to begin the Q&A portion of the call.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Winston Miles with Eight Capital.

[Winston Miles, Eight Capital]

Just a quick question on a couple of things. One, historically, waiting to contract has been part of the strategy, and it sounds like in the coming months, as you move towards construction, that might change. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about offtakes and the chatter you're hearing? And then just given moving so quickly towards final permitting and then construction, are there any updates you can provide on the team, when I had the opportunity to visit Rook I last fall, I left quite impressed by the culture and the amount of folks, frankly, on site, it's like a bustling little city. But surely, procurement of many more folks is going to be required as you head towards construction in the next kind of 12 to 24 months here. Wondering if you could just comment on those two things.

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Yes. Thanks, Winston. Yes, look, there has been a lot of commentary on what NexGen and also some of the other uranium developers in the basin, Denison, and so forth, are going to do with their contracting. Our contracting simply going to reflect the technical low-risk nature of our project and low-cost nature. And we're basically going to lever that into this impending market. And everything that we have experienced with, we've got a very long relationship with the utilities have been in the industry for over 20 years and had a lot of experience with them.

And I'm not just the only one in the team on that front. But we're hearing it loud and clear to deliver a new source of supply, not just for NexGen, but also the other developers out there, not just in the basin but also in Australia and the U.S. as well. It's going to be very, very welcome. When we're dealing with such a key fuel in delivering that energy transition, which is the number one global initiative, utilities want diversity of supply, the diversity of supply from preferably low-risk technical settings in solid jurisdictions.

And with large or very high confidence in production for a given year, but that's what you get with the Rook I Project. So it should be no surprise to anyone that we're getting a lot of interest, always had a lot of interest. And now that we're approaching the current development phase of the project concluding or in the final stages of permitting, obviously, subject to the regulators' review, et cetera, but also so advanced in the engineering and we're ready to build it. That interest has gone up, and there's very much a sentiment to support new producers in order to get a more global diversified supply chain within the allied nations.

On the second question with respect to how the teams evolving, look, we're building that team out very, very succinctly and strategically, we have every position forecasted right through to operation. And we're really pleased with the caliber of applicants. And those applicants are showing incredibly strong commitment to the Company. Kevin Small, for example, who joined over a year ago, [indiscernible] when he saw the core and ground conditions at NexGen, he couldn't wait to get into it. And he's got an extremely strong improving track record with respect to the construction of these mines. So we are attracting very high caliber mining professionals, both within uranium, but also in the mining sector who have had very good experience with gold and compromise the more conventional type hard-rock mining operations.

[Winston Miles, Eight Capital]

Awesome. And maybe just a quick follow-up on the offtake front. We saw the new proposal in the Kazatomprom AGM about a major transaction. Could you share any insights on that of what you're hearing from industry?

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Yes. I think it's still -- the full repercussions of that is still to be determined. But I saw some market analysts suggesting that it was going to be 50 million pounds of Kazakh production going to China. So that would be an incredibly significant development on the supply side, even further putting pressure on the Western World demand for this key fuel.

[Winston Miles, Eight Capital]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from Craig Hutchison with TD Securities.

[Craig Hutchison, TD Securities]

I was wondering if you could give us a sense of the commitment -- pre-commitment early works in terms of your budget for this year, looking at your MD&A, there was sort of a regional commitment for around $95 million that you haven't spent any to date. Can you give us a sense of what the plans are for this year, both with respect to those pre-commitment early works? And also, maybe a sense in terms of what you guys are looking at for an exploration budget.

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Sure. So on the engineering front, we have completed all the engineering around the FEED. And so to put that into context, we have overall engineering at about 48% of the total project. But of that 48%, all of the items in the early stages of construction are fully engineered. So on gaming permitting approval, we will initially commit to over $0.5 billion of construction that we have fully engineered and ready to go. The timing of that is dependent on permitting. But we are in the final stages of that process with the respective regulatory bodies. And we're very, very confident in it. At the same time, local communities are showing very, very strong advocacy for NexGen and the permitting of the project. So that will play out. We do have the budget in place. But as I said, it is dependent on the permitting and the timing of such.

On the exploration front, we are going to be expanding that budget, but not to the point of distracting or us of the permitting and engineering and the pre-construction. So very exciting, always very, very exciting when we're drilling. Going back into 2014 right through 2019, it's always very exciting when the drill rigs are turning, especially at the Rook I Project. And we've seen regionally as well F3 have made a very interesting discovery on the southwestern side of the basin as well. It's just clearly evident that area is proficient with uranium mineralization, and yet we're still only scratching the surface. So yes, the exploration budget deserves to be increased and the results that we're seeing with the exploration we did in 2022 and 2023 certainly justify that, Craig. So there will be more information on that in the second quarter once we finalize the -- that -- the exploration program for the balance of 2023.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from George Ross with Argonaut Securities.

[George Ross, Argonaut Securities]

George here. I've had my question [indiscernible], I was going to ask you about the exploration, but perhaps you could just expand out a little bit further on, I guess, a bit of the changes we're seeing with government sort of policy in both North America and Europe and what that sort of means for supply, particularly with you guys in mind?

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Yes, absolutely, it's a very good question. And I've got to say, in my 20-plus years in the industry, it's never been so -- such a strong political tailwind for the nuclear sector. We saw in the European Union where they designated nuclear as clean, green and safe. relative to any other carbon-emitting baseload power source. The U.K., very exponentially a very large nuclear commitment to meet their aggressive targets by 2035 and 2040. The U.S., the Inflation Reduction Act. The list goes on. Canada as well, every time the environment administered federally or provincially, the Prime Minister collaborating with the U.S. President and then the G7 countries.

As I said in my time, it's never been more positive. And even in Australia, where I'm originally from, the sentiment towards nuclear is the strongest it's ever been. And I think that really does reflect that the general populace out there are really recognizing nuclear for the science as opposed to some of the false ideologies that have been portrayed. And there's no doubt about it relative to any carbon-emitting source, it's the cleanest, safest, and most cost-efficient source of power over time. And with the advent of these small modular reactors that, amongst other companies, Rolls-Royce, Bill Gates' company developing these small modular reactors, where the technology is proven. It's just being applied to domestic use. That's a whole new layer of cream on top of the nuclear cake, and it's incredibly exciting.

And it's -- my own experience going to dinner parties, the conversation about nuclear is very, very present. And in fact, some people, why aren't we already doing it? And it's -- as I said, I think it's the right thing, and it's such an important global initiative. So it's very exciting.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from Katie Lachapelle with Canaccord Genuity.

[Katie Lachapelle, Canaccord Genuity]

[For all done] on a global scale, obviously, a lot has changed since you released the bankable feasibility study back in early 2021. As you're advancing through the detail and starting to think about procurement of some of the materials, can you maybe broadly speak to some of the cost inflation that you're seeing? And I guess, what implications that would have for the direction of pricing going forward?

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Sure. I might hand over to Travis for this one, Katie.

[Travis McPherson, Chief Commercial Officer]

Yes. Thanks, Katie, and thanks, Leigh. Yes. Look, I think the long and short of it is, from our perspective and what we're seeing, it's actually coming back into line in terms of peak inflation with respect to some of these inputs for the project. The focus of everyone, the teams involved are all coming back into line and in favor of NexGen. So we're not seeing any -- we haven't seen anything material. Again, this is a tiny little footprint mine, a physical mine of very small scale, high efficiency, obviously, in terms of the amount of revenue and profit it will generate, but very physically small. So we haven't seen anything material with respect to inflationary impacts and the supply chain delays and kind of issues around that seem to be calming down and aren't affecting the critical path schedule for the project whatsoever.

[Katie Lachapelle, Canaccord Genuity]

Awesome. And maybe just one follow-up to that. It was great to see that you announced the significant interest from financial institutions just earlier this week. In general, can you provide any more color there with respect to maybe like where the interest is coming from a geographic perspective? Just any more information there would be really helpful.

[Travis McPherson, Chief Commercial Officer]

Yes. Sure, Katy. Happy to address that as well. Yes. So look, I mean, we are very pleased with the level of response that we got. These are what would be considered by anyone's metrics, kind of Tier 1 global lenders, primarily in Canada, North America, and Western Europe, and represented by financial institutions, including commercial banks and export credit agencies that really put a very strong emphasis on NextGen's approach to not only its development of the Rook I Project with respect to the community engagement and the environmental designs like the underground tailings management, some of the other aspects that we're innovating on. But also, as Leigh previously mentioned in his intro, our approach to marketing and optimizing for the uranium market dynamics.

[Katie Lachapelle, Canaccord Genuity]

Awesome. That's all for me.

[Operator]

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

[Andrew Wong, RBC Capital Markets]

So my first question is on your strategy around contracting. And I guess, first, like how many pounds do you feel should be contracted to an offtake before you start construction and then ahead of starting production? And is there any price where you would consider signing these base-escalated kind of fixed price contracts?

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Yes. Thanks for the question, Andrew. And look, I want to make a couple of things very, very clear. We are -- we offer something which is new to the sector, but it's not going to be disruptive. Obviously, as you start production, the contracts will be -- in terms of quantity will be smaller in those earlier years and then build over time. Obviously, given our very low cost structure of $10 a pound as per the feasibility study, the pressure on NextGen to seek floors in quantity-based contracts is not as significant as what may be in other operations.

So all we are really doing is leveraging that technical and low-cost aspect of NextGen. And it's existed in the industry previously. We will tailor production in line with market conditions at the time. We won't be locking in decades in advance, but we will still be providing utilities very high levels of certainty around production volumes in line with market conditions at the time. So I know there's been some commentary out there about it and a lot of it's been incorrect. And you can take it from me that is the approach, and it's an approach which will be very welcome news for all new uranium producers out there.

And I'm very excited about a lot of the work that's been done by some of the other uranium producers, really the developers, I should say. It's been 10 years of a very different market. And I think the resilience that's been demonstrated by all of us is really worthwhile in this approaching market. And as I said, it's not new what we're doing, and it's not disruptive. It's going to be very complementary and generate better returns for producers and customers alike by having higher certainty around production volumes from one year to the next and producing in a manner that's tied to market additions at that time. But I can tell you, 30 million pounds per annum, it's not going to be enough when you consider the market data, which is coming out.

[Andrew Wong, RBC Capital Markets]

Okay. And have you considered partnering up with any of the downstream field providers like the conversion or enrichment or field services part of the cycle to that be part of the offering? And would that help with your approach to the market?

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Yes. Look, it's always possible. Our focus will be on -- primarily on uranium production, but we're well aware of those opportunities and where it makes sense, we will do that. But our focus, very transparently, is on the permitting, construction, and subsequent operation of the Rook I mine as our priority for the foreseeable future. Thank you, Andrew.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from Puneet Singh with Eight Capital.

[Puneet Singh, Eight Capital]

Most of my questions have been answered. Two quick ones. If it's possible to talk about, at this point, given your discussion with the debt parties, maybe how the green angle could possibly result in better terms than other mining projects? And then on exploration, I heard you speak about expanding the budget. That's always positive to hear. When do you think we'll see some results coming out of that program?

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

I'll let Travis answer the first one, and then I'll conclude with the exploration one.

[Travis McPherson, Chief Commercial Officer]

Yes. Perfect. Thanks, Leigh, and thanks, Puneet, for the question. Yes, we are definitely seeing that. As I said, I mean, I think it's already a component of it in terms of that. The formality of like a green bond or sustainability-linked note is still on the table and something that we are exploring. For sure, as mentioned on this call many times, I mean, uranium and nuclear are very much viewed in the right spot in terms of being green and being a massive part of the energy transition.

So that's definitely understood, particularly by the lenders, obviously, that provided their expressions of interest to us as outlined, but also the others that we're still working with, and very similarly, again, with respect to NextGen's approach to ESG and the environment absolutely ticks all the boxes for those types of green bonds or sustainability-linked bonds, which we are still exploring. And absolutely concur with your view that those represent a big potential for us and something that we'll continue to explore.

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Yes. Thanks, Travis. So on the exploration front, look, we are -- our exploration results are obviously compared to a very, very high yardstick in the Arrow Deposit. Last year, we released that we intersected mineralization at depth below the Arrow Deposit. But when you look at the intersect, it looks very, very material relative to what we're experiencing during the discovery and development of Arrow itself.

But the materiality of that, we have proven that there's mineralization at depth below Arrow. It's going to take more holes to actually fully understand the size and extent of that system, but it's conceivable that, with Arrow, it's just the top of the much broader system at depth. It makes economic sense to start drilling that once we have some of the underground infrastructure.

So that balance of materiality and when to report it is always something that's under consideration. But we're always in that materiality context and we're always up against a very high hurdle in Arrow. But we -- look, if we were to hit an intersection similar to like we've got at Arrow in the early days. Yes, it would be immediately reported. So yes, I guess just keep your eyes on the news when those drill rigs are turning.

[Puneet Singh, Eight Capital]

Okay. [indiscernible]. Thanks, guys.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from Colin Healey with Haywood Securities.

[Puneet Singh, Eight Capital]

Thanks a lot for hosting this call here this morning. I'm just wondering, with multiple projects initiating permitting and licensing in the Western Basin, I just want to get your take on the potential for regional consolidation or joint development synergies around centralized infrastructure. Obviously, Rook I represents extremely compelling stand-alone economics. I'm just wondering if you see any potential opportunity to enhance economics or efficiency through cooperation with your neighbors or if you're seeing this being encouraged by the regulators at all?

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Yes. Good question, Colin. And yes, the region in the southwestern side of the Athabasca Basin has, obviously, very uranium rich. We've got Fission, RRR deposits seven kilometers along strike, probably the same mineralization at the end of the day. And the F3 discovery, you've also got Shea Creek as well, not that far away. So I think we've always been really good neighbors. We help each other out where required.

And I think down the track, you probably will see synergies of those operations in certain districts. Conversely, on the eastern side as well, where the Denison's developing the ISL extracted methods on their deposit, which is a fantastic innovation. And that could be applicable at Iso with the Hurricane deposit in which we own 50% as NextGen.

So there is really good collaboration amongst the uranium developers, and I think you will see that eventually where it makes sense from economies of scale. With respect to permitting, we permit on the basis of being very aware of potential operations in the area as well. That's been the basis of our EIS. And it will be also the basis of Fission and F3 when they're at that stage, no doubt. So it's all complementary. It all works well. And there's a very strong harmony amongst the developers in -- at Athabasca Basin.

[Puneet Singh, Eight Capital]

I appreciate those comments. And congrats on the debt interest. I look forward to hearing more about that. Appreciate it.

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Thank you, Colin.

[Operator]

There are no further questions at this time. Mr. Curyer, back over to you.

[Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer]

Thank you, Yannis. And yes, and again, thank you, everyone, for joining us on this first quarterly company update call. As I said, we -- given the stage of the Company's development with all the exciting things ahead of us, we wanted to give the opportunity for regular feedback and question-and-answer time with respect to our activities.

And please don't hesitate to contact myself, Travis, Monica or Harp in the interim or anyone really at the NexGen organization. We're all very happy to take your questions, and we sincerely appreciate the interest. This is an opportunity for everyone to really be part of an exceptional opportunity that is going to positively impact so many people. And it's something which I have to privilege every day to be associated with and work alongside my team NexGen members.

So thank you.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating, and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a great day.