Uranium explorer NexGen Energy Ltd. seeks to list on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017 amid renewed interest by U.S. funds in the metal owing to dwindling supplies, Bloomberg News reported Dec. 22, citing CEO Leigh Curyer.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's plans to keep aging nuclear reactors operational and his stance on climate change will also help in the resurgence of uranium, Curyer added.
NexGen expects to start production at the Arrow deposit -- part of the Rook 1 property in Saskatchewan -- early in the next decade. The timing will position the company to benefit from higher demand due to older mines closing and new reactors in Asia and the Middle East coming online, according to the report.
"In five years time the landscape changes dramatically," Curyer said, adding that the company has been approached by U.S. nuclear power plants for potential supply contracts after 2020.
Curyer said current spot prices for uranium were "artificial" and "irrelevant," as more than 90% of annual uranium volumes are traded through long-term contracts. Spot trading for uranium was at about US$20.25 per pound, while a recent long-term contract priced the metal at about US$43 per pound.
Highlights from the final 10 drill holes recently completed by the company on the Arrow zone included 30 meters at 15.07% U3O8, including a 6-meter subinterval at 51.97% U3O8.
An initial resource estimate for Arrow was posted in early March, comprising 3.48 million tonnes grading 2.63% U3O8 for 201.9 million pounds of U3O8.
NexGen is preparing a 35,000-meter winter drill program starting January 2017. An updated resource estimate for the Arrow deposit is anticipated in the first half of 2017 with the company also expected to complete a pre-feasibility study by 2017-end.
According to the report, the company could become a potential takeover target as established players such as Cameco Corp. close older mines. Although NexGen has no revenue, its market value has touched C$681 million, growing by 211% in 2016 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Curyer noted that US$60 million raised in June would be enough to advance the project through to production.