Uranium Energy - Earnings Call - Q1 2026

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good day and welcome to Uranium Energy Corp's Fiscal 2026 First Quarter Results Conference Call. Today's call will be hosted by Amir Adnani, President and CEO. Also joining for the Q&A session of today's call are Josephine Man, Chief Financial Officer, Scott Melbye, Executive Vice President, and Brent Berg, Senior Vice President of U.S. Operations. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. Today's call will run approximately 15 minutes for prepared remarks followed by Q&A.

Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up so we can get to as many as possible. I would now like to turn the conference over to Amir Adnani, President and CEO. Please go ahead.

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Thank you, Operator, and good morning, everyone. Please note that a presentation accompanying this conference call is available on the presentations page of our website. Some of the commentary on today's call will include forward-looking statements, and I would direct everyone to review slide two of the presentation, which includes important cautionary notes. All right, let's get started. This quarter was an exciting step change for UEC with major production expansion initiatives and the introduction of a strategic new business line. The launch of United States Uranium Refining and Conversion Corp positions the company to become the only U.S. supplier with both uranium and UF6 production capabilities. In parallel, we maintained low-cost in-situ recovery production and advanced our growth projects in Wyoming and South Texas, supporting higher output through the balance of fiscal 2026. These developments strengthen our platform as America's largest integrated nuclear fuel supplier, aligned with U.S. policy.

We continue to enjoy the backdrop of increasingly favorable macroeconomic and policy tailwinds and, as such, have continued to increase our uranium inventory ahead of the Section 232 decision. A year ago at this time, we had just resumed operations at Christensen Ranch. In only 12 months, we have delivered low-cost production at our first mine, our position for near-term production at our second mine, Burke Hollow, and are excited to have commenced development at our third mine, Ludeman. In the first quarter, we maintained low-cost production as we achieved a cash cost per pound of $29.90 based on 68,612 pounds of precipitated uranium and dried and drummed U3O8 produced. At our Irigaray Central Processing Plant, upgrades were completed to support a transition to 24/7 operations, including a full refurbishment of the yellowcake thickener and calciner.

After quarter-end, drying and packaging operations resumed on November 13th, 2025, producing approximately 49,000 lbs of dried and drummed U3O8 subsequent to that date during the month of November. At Christensen Ranch, the focus has been on expanding ISR production capacity through the construction of six additional header houses in new wellfields 11 and 12 and 10 extension. Further, we have commenced development at our Ludeman ISR project, the company's second satellite project in the Powder River Basin, to our Irigaray hub and spoke operations. At Burke Hollow, we are nearing operational status. Major construction milestones, including the ion exchange plant in wellfield, are substantially complete, setting the stage for initial operations at South Texas' newest ISR production facility and for Burke Hollow to become America's next producing uranium mine. These advancements position the company for higher production rates through the remainder of the fiscal year as new capacity comes online.

Switching gears to our development assets. At Sweetwater, work is progressing under the FAST-41 permitting designation for the project. Planning of initial delineation drilling in the first wellfield area and assessment of the mill refurbishment plans were advanced. At Roughrider, a 34,000 meters core drilling program commenced in October 2025 to target the conversion of inferred to indicated uranium resources to support the announced pre-feasibility study for the world-class high-grade Roughrider project in Saskatchewan, Canada, and the prolific Athabasca Basin, and finally, the launch of United States Uranium Refining and Conversion Corp positions UEC to provide end-to-end capabilities of a secure, geopolitically reliable source of uranium hexafluoride supporting U.S. enrichment. Moving to our financial highlights on slide five. Our balance sheet remains strong with $698 million in cash, inventory, and equities at market prices and no debt.

We completed a $234 million public offering to accelerate the growth of our new business line while bolstering our balance sheet. Our uranium inventory stands at 1,356,000 lbs U3O8 held at October 31, 2025, which excludes the additional 199,000 lbs of precipitated uranium and dried and drummed uranium concentrate at the Irigaray CPP produced since we restarted production. We also expect to purchase an additional 300,000 lbs through the end of this month from purchase contracts at below market rates of $37.05 per lb, in addition to growing inventory from operations. By remaining 100% unhedged, we maintain full exposure ahead of the results of the U.S. government's Section 232 investigation while in a tightening global market with a structural supply deficit, positioning UEC to benefit from expected higher uranium prices.

Our financial strength, coupled with the efficiency of our low-cost ISR operations, enables us to ramp production responsibly as market fundamentals and policy direction evolve. The current uranium price backdrop, underpinned by growing global nuclear demand and supportive U.S. policy, provides a compelling setup for value creation. Importantly, the launch of UR&C positions UEC to be the only vertically integrated American uranium producer. We are moving quickly. During the quarter, we commissioned a detailed feasibility study with Fluor and have begun hiring key technical and project personnel. Federal stakeholder discussions are ongoing, and an extensive siting process has been commenced with potential host states and local governments. This initiative builds on UEC's existing uranium platform, advancing a fully American supply chain aligned with U.S. energy policy and defense needs.

As a reminder, we are focused on four key pillars of production growth: the Powder River Basin Hub and Spoke operations, anchored by our Irigaray Central Processing Plant in Wyoming, the South Texas Hub and Spoke operations, anchored by our Hobson CPP, the Sweetwater Hub and Spoke operations, anchored by our Sweetwater Plant in Wyoming, and finally, the Roughrider project in Canada. We are actively advancing each of these growth pillars and have provided a detailed update in our quarterly news release. I will now focus on our operating activities in the Powder River Basin and South Texas. Moving to the next slide, we will start with the Powder River Basin Hub and Spoke operations. Since the resumption of operations and as of October 31st, 2025, accumulated production from Christensen Ranch was approximately 199,000 pounds of precipitated uranium and dried and drummed U3O8 at our Irigaray CPP.

As part of the ongoing production ramp-up, UEC continued to develop new production areas at Christensen Ranch. Mine development advanced with active well installation, piloting casing and underreaming in Wellfields 11 and 12, and delineation drilling in Wellfields 8 and 10 extensions. Additionally, construction continued on six new header houses in Wellfields 11, 12, and 10 extension. These new production areas will form the base for UEC's future production plans at Christensen Ranch. In parallel, process upgrades at our Irigaray CPP continued in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, including a full rebuild of one of two yellowcake thickeners, replacing the rake, gearbox, and motor, along with the repair of a replacement of multiple calciner components. Together with the refurbishment completed at Christensen Ranch earlier in the year, these timely investments are expected to support higher production rates in addition to improved operational efficiency and performance.

We are excited to announce that development plans have commenced at the Ludeman Satellite Project. This is a fully licensed and permitted project that will be constructed as a satellite ion exchange plant, sending uranium-loaded resin to the Irigaray CPP for resin elution, precipitation, drying, and packaging. Just 10 mi northeast of Glenrock, Wyoming, delineation drilling in the first production area at Ludeman commenced on November 19, 2025, with 200 holes planned. The delineation drilling will assist well field pattern design. Ludeman's S-K 1300 compliant resources are 9.7 million pounds of measured and indicated and 1.3 million pounds of inferred uranium. 41 monitor wells are already installed for the first production area, and baseline water quality sampling is planned for these wells in Q4 fiscal 2026. Engineering for the satellite plant is in progress using internal technical expertise, with external engineering planned to commence in January 2026.

Design and procurement of the ion exchange vessels for the plant is also underway. Just as a reminder that in the Powder River Basin, the Irigaray CPP has a licensed capacity of four million pounds per year, surrounded by 17 satellite projects, four of which are fully permitted, including Christensen Ranch and Ludeman. Turning to South Texas, construction of the Burke Hollow Ion Exchange Facility and first production area progressed on schedule during the quarter, with key advances made across well field development and processing infrastructure. All large diameter tanks have been installed at the ion exchange facility, and testing of the disposal well was completed with the state regulatory agency in attendance. The utility provider completed the installation of three-phase power into the project site, and all facilities have been energized. Well completion and mechanical integrity testing reports are underway following completion of construction.

The company's workforce in South Texas has grown to 86 personnel in preparation for startup of the Burke Hollow project. As we close out calendar 2025, the macro backdrop for uranium has never been this encouraging, with strong bipartisan support for safe, clean, reliable nuclear energy. We see strong support from the U.S. government, including the recent designation of uranium as a critical mineral. Big Tech is a key component of new demand, and with the largest hyperscalers continuing to invest heavily in the energy sector to secure the necessary power required for their massive data center investments. Overarching all of this is the fundamental supply deficit, which is expected to exceed 1.7 billion pounds by 2045 on a cumulative basis. As I've stated before, we have never seen a more positive policy environment for our industry.

In summary, this quarter, UEC has neared an exciting inflection point of growing from a single asset producer towards diversified uranium production while becoming a U.S. origin supply chain from mine to conversion. UEC is uniquely positioned to meet the growing demand for secure domestic uranium supply. We're excited about the opportunities ahead and look forward to delivering further value to our shareholders. Before I turn it back to the operator, a couple of points. First, today's call is scheduled to conclude around noon Eastern. If we don't get to your question, please don't hesitate to reach out to our investor relations team, and we'll be happy to follow up directly. Second, please note that I'm joined today by Josephine Man, our Chief Financial Officer, Scott Melbye, our Executive Vice President, and Brent Berg, our Senior Vice President of U.S. Operations.

Together, the four of us are backed by a UEC team with more than 900 years of combined experience in the uranium industry. That depth of experience is what drives our daily execution across operations, finance, and strategy. With that, we'll open the call to questions. Operator, please go ahead.

Operator (participant)

We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please, just a reminder to limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. The first question comes from Brian Lee with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Brian Lee (Chief Risk Officer)

Hey, everyone.

Thanks for taking my questions. I just wanted to first start on the UR&Cventure. Amir, I know you're making progress there, but just trying to understand a little bit better maybe the next set of milestones in the development of UR&C, maybe the timing, what you're expecting there through the first half of 2026, and then maybe where you'd like to be on that venture by the end of next year, and I had some questions around production as well.

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Okay. Thank you, Brian. With respect to UR&C, we are moving as fast as possible and mobilizing various initiatives around a siting study that is now progressing very well, state-level discussions and meetings that we've had with stakeholders and state-level governments.

We would like to, and we'll provide more information on this, Brian, but the work has commenced on our feasibility study with Fluor and other consultants that we have involved in that. We really want to be in a position to deliver that inside 2026 calendar year and hopefully towards the midpoint of that. But again, that's a date that we'll be able to speak to with more confidence as we approach fiscal Q2 for UEC. In the meanwhile, we've been very pleased with the way team building has been coming around in terms of building our technical team and technical bench strength around this new initiative. So overall, kind of multiple parallel tracks, all moving forward, and we'll have a lot more to share in our fiscal Q2 results when those come out.

Brian Lee (Chief Risk Officer)

Okay. Looking forward to it.

And then just second question around production, a lot of moving pieces here. You had the upgrade that Irigaray you're starting to move forward on Ludeman. Maybe as we zoom out, can you kind of give us a sense of what the production cadence is going to look like here into Q2 and then through the rest of the year? And maybe just specifically on Irigaray, the 49,000 lbs in less than three weeks, you sort of run rate that. It looks like it's 250,000 lbs in a quarter, potentially. Is that the right type of run rate that Irigaray is going to be running at now? And what does that mean for the cadence of production overall across the various sites through the rest of the year and the next couple of quarters? Thank you.

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Thank you, Brian.

Just to zoom out again and again for perspective, and as I mentioned during my prepared remarks, 12 months ago, we were sitting in a place where we were just starting to ramp up at Christensen Ranch. We now have two solid quarters of results demonstrating the low cost that we're delivering at Christensen Ranch and Irigaray among the lowest in the U.S. We are talking about bringing online Burke Hollow very soon, six additional header houses at Christensen Ranch, and now Ludeman is in the development construction pipeline as well, so you're right, there are a lot of moving parts. Brian, as you recall, much of the production that's been reported has come since April of this year from header houses fiscal quarter, and then with Burke Hollow coming online, most of the production from Burke Hollow really contributing towards fiscal Q3.

So to answer your question on cadence, we would expect to see more of a step change in that cadence in fiscal Q3 and Q4 as we see a greater contribution of production coming in from Burke Hollow and from most of the six header houses that are currently under construction at Christensen Ranch.

Brian Lee (Chief Risk Officer)

Okay. I appreciate the perspective. I will get back in queue. Thank you.

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Thank you, Brian.

Operator (participant)

The next question comes from Heiko Ihle with H.C. Wainwright. Please go ahead.

Heiko Ihle (Managing Director Equity Research)

Hello, Josephine, Amir, and Scott. Just a couple of follow-ups here. With Irigaray, the plant upgrades, obviously, you're done now. I assume the answer is no, but this doesn't really have a ramp-up period, right? In other words, this goes from off to full capacity pretty much at the flip of a button, right?

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Yeah, correct, Heiko.

Most of that work is basically what we mentioned in the press release since coming online on November 13th. So again, just to step back, the refurbishment of the yellowcake thickener and calciner were sequential, and so as such, the equipment was offline for much of the quarter while this repair and replacement of key components were underway. Once online on November 13th, we were at steady-state operations and steady-state operations had resumed basically with the drying and packaging throughput really nearing a rate of almost a million pounds per year. Let me just also allow Brent Berg, our Senior VP of Operations, to step in on that. Go ahead, Brent.

Brent Berg (Senior VP of Operations)

Yeah, thanks, Amir.

I would just add that similar to the refurbishment that was undertaken in fiscal 2025 for Christensen Ranch with the ion exchange plant, we felt that it was an opportune time to do those similar upgrades to the Irigaray Central Processing Plant, and so the refurbishment to the calciner was really centered around increasing throughput of dried yellowcake, and all of the updates that we did were things that included components as recommended by the manufacturer to increase operational efficiency, and that work has really led to continuous 24/7 operation and the ability to operate the plant at design capacity.

Brian Lee (Chief Risk Officer)

Fair enough, and then with uranium refining and conversion, URC, just a couple of follow-ups here. I mean, what would you say the major misconceptions in the market are? I mean, we've been getting a lot of questions on scalability and time to profitability even.

How should analysts like myself show off how this thing can unlock shareholder value? and are there maybe any catalysts that are underappreciated by the market in your opinion?

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Hey, thank you, Heiko. At a strategic level and at a positioning level, clearly, this is an opportunity and a new business line that highly differentiates UEC. There are simply no other companies in the U.S. that have end-to-end capabilities from uranium resources to mining to processing and now the planned refining and conversion that we have in place. So strategically speaking, it's a highly differentiated positioning for UEC to be a true supply chain provider. With respect to the way the financial analysis around it worked, the best outcome there is when our feasibility study is completed and reported, and as I mentioned earlier, we're aiming for that to be hopefully around the midpoint of 2026 calendar year.

But again, we will firm that up as we report fiscal Q2 results. But we are moving very rapidly. We're capitalized to be able to move rapidly. And of course, as you know, this is work that is building on the last couple of years of prior early work that we completed that was the foundation of what allowed us to be in a position to announce this UR&C initiative in early September. So it was only early September that we formally announced it. And in just 60-90 days, we're making incredibly fast progress. And look, this is a very essential piece of the overall value chain and the supply chain for nuclear fuel. This is a serious bottleneck without another conversion facility in operation. This is the real kind of pinch point right now between connecting mining and enrichment.

So it's very integral, and we're very excited by it. And I think you'll have hopefully much more information to be able to value and assess this by in the coming quarters.

Heiko Ihle (Managing Director Equity Research)

Perfect. I'll get back in queue. Thank you very much.

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

The next question comes from Katie Lachapelle with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.

Katie Lachapelle (Managing Director Equity Research)

Hi, Amir and team. Thanks for taking my question. In your prepared remarks, you noted that you've made a positive development decision for the Ludeman project. Can you provide any guidance on the potential production timelines or operating rates that you expect for that well field? And then in addition to that, how are you now thinking about the sequencing of the various ISR well fields in Wyoming?

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Thank you, Katie. I'll go first, and then I'll hand it to Brent Berg as well.

So again, for context and as we zoom out, UEC has a very powerful position in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. Wyoming and the Powder River Basin have multi-decades of productive history for uranium mining. And we've assembled over the years of M&A and consolidation that we did a platform that includes our central hub, that's the Irigaray Central Processing Plant, and 17 satellite projects, four of which are fully permitted and two that we're talking about now, Christensen Ranch that's in operation, and now Ludeman that we want to bring online next. So Katie, this is all speaking to the production ramp-up that obviously we have planned and that bench strength that we have and the sheer number of properties that we control, including fully permitted projects. So sequentially, you can see Christensen obviously is going to continue to grow. Ludeman, we've commenced the development work.

Most likely, again, depending on market conditions, depending on the outcome of Section 232, we may even develop Reno Creek and more in parallel track. Again, we're taking our cues from the market. When you're in a position where you're already operating, you're already permitted, you have the luxury to be able to make those decisions and respond accordingly. The Ludeman project is very well situated in terms of being just south of previously producing Smith Ranch mines that were in production for a very long time. I'll let Brent maybe speak to some of the kind of accessibility issues and development plans that are currently underway at Ludeman. Go ahead, Brent.

Brent Berg (Senior VP of Operations)

Sure. Thanks, Amir. Katie, I would just add that at Christensen Ranch, header houses 107 and 108 accounted for a large percentage of 2025 mine production.

And it really highlights the importance of these new mining areas as we continue to ramp up production with mine development now routine at the Christensen Ranch operation. We've continued that development in well fields 11, 12, and 10 extension where we've got six header houses underway with cased well installation nearing completion and surface construction on schedule for startup of additional fresh production in the coming year. Ludeman, of course, is an attractive project for us being fully licensed and permitted and just down the road from our Irigaray Central Processing Plant. And so we will develop that project just as we would our new well fields at Christensen Ranch. And we'll truckload resin to Irigaray for processing, no different than we are doing at Christensen Ranch, but it's a little further out in the next exciting phase of our development at UEC.

Katie Lachapelle (Managing Director Equity Research)

Awesome.

And then maybe just one quick follow-up. Just now, you referenced the potential for the U.S. Strategic Uranium Reserve as a potential outcome of the Section 232 investigation. I'm just wondering if you can provide any comments on expected timelines for that release and then any additional key outcomes that you anticipate from the Section 232 investigation.

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Katie, I'm going to let Scott Melbye, our Executive VP, comment on that. And for the benefit of the listeners, Scott is also the president of the Uranium Producers of America. That's our industry association in Washington, D.C. Go ahead, Scott.

Scott Melbye (EVP)

Great. Thanks, Amir. And Katie, we are optimistic about the potential for the Strategic Uranium Reserve being really expanded over what was done in the first term. The 232 report has been submitted to the president. He has a statutory timeline to reply to that. Why are we so optimistic?

Because none of those details have been released publicly, but we know we have a precedent from the previous 232 investigation. It was a remedy that President Trump chose to institute the first time around. I think the findings of import penetration haven't changed over what were the conditions back then. In fact, the world has gotten more complicated with geopolitics, so we think the conclusion is the same, and we feel that that's a remedy the president may go to. Secondly, we've also heard very supportive comments from Secretary Wright and Secretary Burgum on the need for an expanded uranium reserve, public remarks that they've made in the last weeks and months. Three, I think it's safe to say this was, in a very small way, in the first term, a successful policy initiative, and speaking on behalf of UEC and I think the broader U.S.

Domestic industry, reinstituting the Strategic Reserve would result in advanced development activities at U.S. uranium operations, and then four, don't underestimate the defense needs for U.S. origin unobligated uranium for things like the Naval Propulsion Program. If we're building more aircraft carriers and submarines, as is President Trump's desire, we need more U.S. origin uranium, and I just direct people's attention to language in the current National Defense Appropriations Act legislation that's before Congress right now, does direct the Department of Defense and NNSA to report on the status of our stockpiles of U.S. origin uranium and really the adequacy of those stockpiles to move forward with further growth in our Naval Propulsion Program, so we're optimistic. We'll see, like everyone else, what comes from that, but I think the legislative mandated timelines really kind of come around the end of the year.

So we're hopeful we'll hear something in December. But if not, early January, we should hear the president's recommendations.

Katie Lachapelle (Managing Director Equity Research)

Perfect. Thank you, Scott. That's it for now on my end. I'll go back into the queue, guys.

Operator (participant)

The next question comes from Joseph Reagor with Roth Capital Partners. Please go ahead.

Joseph Reagor (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Hey, Amir and team. Thanks for taking the questions. Most want to read kind of follow-ups to other people's at this point. I guess first one, just as a follow-up on Section 232, is it fair for us to assume that you guys are probably withhold from making any spot sales, barring a jump in the spot price between now and the Section 232 readout?

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Yeah, Joseph. Oh, go ahead, Scott. Go ahead, Scott.

Scott Melbye (EVP)

Yeah. I mean, we're quite content to build that strategic inventory. Of course, to have U.S.

Domestic uranium available to sell into Strategic Reserve is one objective. But two, we just believe that this market is in such a structural deficit today and doesn't seem to be getting. The gap isn't closing. If anything, with a doubling of nuclear generation now and production lagging, we're quite content to have these new pounds produced and our inventory to sell into stronger markets in the coming year.

Joseph Reagor (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Okay. Fair enough. And then over at Irigaray, one question I don't think has been asked yet is, do you guys have a rough estimate of how many pounds of production were held back because of the upgrade during fiscal Q1?

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Hey, Joe, nothing was held back because we continued to keep material basically in circuit. So operations kept going. And it was really just the final step of packaging the uranium that did not occur.

And the cost associated with that final step is extremely nominal, so really, now that you've seen kind of from mid-November to end of November, things have resumed post all those upgrades. It's finishing that final step, but otherwise, everything was working at the plant and supporting the feed that was coming in from Christensen. Brent, would you like to add to that?

Brent Berg (Senior VP of Operations)

Sure. Thanks, Amir. Maybe I'd just add that the upgrades that we did were sequential, so we first tackled the thickener in the precipitation circuit, and this is one of two storage vessels for storing precipitated yellowcake prior to drying and packaging, so we did a full replacement of the rake, the gearbox, and the motor for the rake drive, and then with the calciner, we did a number of upgrades, including all the wear parts like bearings, sand seals.

We replaced the rake arms with insulated components and new teeth to increase retention time in the dryer. And additionally, the drive, the motor, the gearbox, the bevel pinion were all replaced. But as a result, drying and packaging is now running 24/7 two-shift operation as it should.

Joseph Reagor (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Okay. One final thing, if I could. Do you guys have a budget, a capital budget yet for Ludeman, or if not, when might we be getting one?

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Yeah. Hey, Joe, we'll look to provide more feedback on that in the next quarter coming up or current quarter that we're in for fiscal. But at the same time, you can expect very similar development costs there as we've seen with Christensen Ranch in that we're looking basically we're utilizing many of the same drilling companies or drilling rigs that we use that Christensen.

So one of the key components of our development cost, which is drilling to delineate the well fields and install the wells, that cost is quite consistent in terms of what we've seen so far. And also, Ludeman is much more of an accessible project. It's closer to nearby town. And so we also feel we may have some benefits there in terms of development costs as we move forward. But again, some good parallels and similarities with what you've seen out of Christensen Ranch exist with Ludeman.

Joseph Reagor (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Okay. Thanks for the color on all that. I'll turn it over. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

The next question comes from Justin Chan with SCP Resource Finance. Please go ahead.

Justin Chan (Director Mining Equity Research)

Hi, Amir, Scott, Brent. Thanks for hosting the call. I guess as a follow-up to the questions on Christensen Ranch and Ludeman, so you've got the six header houses that are under construction.

Do you plan to construct more over the next, let's say, the remainder of this fiscal year? Or will the six at Christensen Ranch be what you're planning there and then the new header houses are at Ludeman? Yeah. Can you just give us an update on that? And for Texas, can you give a sense of what the milestones are over the next, let's say, next quarter and then the quarter after that so we can judge progress?

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Yeah, for sure. Brent, why don't you go ahead on Ludeman and Christensen Ranch?

Brent Berg (Senior VP of Operations)

Sure. Justin, thanks for the question. So at Christensen Ranch, of course, when you were at site, we toured the wellfield development. And we were very much focused on mine unit 11 or wellfield 11 at that time. We've since started development in wellfield 12 as well as 10 extension.

But we will continue on with further development and additional header houses at Christensen Ranch. So wellfield 10 extension, as well as an extension to wellfield 8, are both quite large. And there are a number of header houses associated with both. So you'll continue to see this pace as we progress. In terms of Burke Hollow, construction is substantially complete. So what the team is very focused on right now is pre-operational testing and commissioning of equipment, training key personnel, and finalizing as-built drawings, mechanical integrity tests, and well completion reports. As far as next milestones, the wellfield at Burke Hollow will be brought online gradually and increasing the flow to the satellite ion exchange plant. Chemicals, including oxygen, carbon dioxide, and bicarbonate, will be added to the initial production area to activate the uranium recovery process.

And then as the grade increases in the feed to the plant, the uranium content loaded on the resin will subsequently increase. And of course, once that resin's loaded, it'll be transported in one of the new resin hauling trailers to Hobson for processing. So that's what I foresee the next few months looking like.

Justin Chan (Director Mining Equity Research)

Gotcha. Thanks, Brent. So at Burke Hollow, let's say this time next quarter, you'll have solution into the wellfield. Presumably, it'll be at target pH, and we'll start to get some information about grades and flow rates and stuff like that. Is that a good way of tracking how the next few months, what I might be asking you in three months' time?

Brent Berg (Senior VP of Operations)

Yeah. Justin, I think that's exactly right. So as we start adding the chemical to the wellfield, we'll see the uranium grade respond as well as the pH.

We'll get a lot better picture of what that production profile is going to look like as we ramp up Burke Hollow and send that uranium-loaded resin to Hobson for processing.

Operator (participant)

The next question comes from Mohamed Sidibé with National Bank Financial. Please go ahead.

Mohamed Sidibé (Equity Research Analyst)

Hi, Amir and team. And thanks for taking my question. Most of my questions have been answered. But maybe just on your NMC, given the work that you're advancing in fiscal year 2026 ahead of the feasibility study, can you maybe provide us with a little bit of color on maybe the spend required to advance some of these initiatives specifically for fiscal year 2026? Thank you.

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Sorry. Just I heard your question. What was the required part you asked for? The bandwidth required?

Mohamed Sidibé (Equity Research Analyst)

No, no, the spend.

So, just trying to understand how much spend to advance the feasibility study, the engineering work, advanced negotiations with host governments, just to understand a little bit better the impact to your balance sheet just for fiscal year 2026 as you advance work on the conversion facility?

Amir Adnani (CEO)

Okay. Understood. Thank you for clarifying that and thank you for the question. Relative to the size of our balance sheet and relative to the current quarterly cash burn rate, given the sort of study phase that we're at right now with UR&C, the requirements, the capital requirements are still very modest. In the coming quarter or two, we'll be able to obviously speak to that with more estimates, especially as the feasibility study comes out, but certainly, I would say we are very sufficiently capitalized for the work that needs to happen there.

And the current spending is very modest, again, because we're at that study stage. And that work, you would appreciate, is going to be like that. But ultimately, again, there is a serious kind of ramp-up and work and efforts coming. And there'll be another kind of step change in the work we're doing once the feasibility study is released, once the siting work has been completed, once site selection has been announced and sort of planned. So again, major milestones ahead. But between now and then, very adequately funded to continue to advance the work.

Mohamed Sidibé (Equity Research Analyst)

Great. Thanks for answering my question. Thank you all.

Operator (participant)

This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks.

Amir Adnani (CEO)

All right. Thank you for that. Thank you for everyone who participated in today's call. We really appreciate it.

Again, as we said at the outset, this quarter represents a major step change for UEC, both in terms of the strategic initiative that we have launched with our uranium, the United States Uranium Refining and Conversion Corp. Again, this highly differentiates UEC as being the only company with U.S. origin supply chain from mine to conversion. The work that has been done in operations, again, we were just a year ago just resuming at Christensen Ranch and came into this quarter as a single asset producer, and we've laid the groundwork during this quarter to become a multi-asset producer with Burke Hollow coming into production imminently and with Ludeman now in development and construction.

The other area in terms of the operating results at Christensen Ranch, we're really pleased with demonstrating the continued low-cost production profile that that project carries between uranium recovered and processed between Christensen Ranch and Irigaray plant, so again, all in all, a lot happening, a lot of significant progress. We're very excited by it all, but also to highlight that we remain in an incredibly strong balance sheet position. In fact, even stronger than before. We continue to be debt-free and with almost $700 million of cash, physical uranium, and liquid assets. Finally, with 1.4 million pounds of uranium in inventory, not including the 199,000 pounds produced and not including another 300,000 pounds that we have the ability to purchase this month, we're sitting also in a very strong inventory position ahead of the Section 232 decision.

And hopefully, that will be a positive catalyst, as we believe it could be, for our industry, particularly the U.S. uranium industry, where UEC is the leading company in that space and the fastest growing and largest U.S. uranium company. Thank you again for your time today and wishing everyone a pleasant December, Merry Christmas, and happy holidays.

Operator (participant)

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.