Q2 2025 Paladin Energy Ltd Activities Report Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Daniel Roden - Jefferies - Analyst : Good day. Thanks, Anna, Alex and Paul for taking our question. First one, I just wanted to I guess on PECA, it's a good recovery 88% for the quarter. I just wanted to get a gauge on what the exit rate for that was in December? And is that 88% was that pretty consistent, like pre and post chart? Or did you see a pretty big improvement post the rectification obviously the plan?

Question: Daniel Roden - Jefferies - Analyst : Okay. And I just wanted to maybe just unpack a little bit more on the, I guess, the open pit ramp-up profile. I think if you look at the balance sheet on the definitely wasn't the rationale behind it, but the balance sheet is looking a lot healthier from the Fission kind of closure with the cash and some and deposits. So I guess what's stopping the investment in the open pit ramp-up, if it's going to provide a bit more consistency in the feed profile?

Question: Daniel Roden - Jefferies - Analyst : Okay. And if I could probably elaborate on that a bit further there, but when it's scheduled to come into operation in July, what is the ramp-up profile for that look like?

Question: Daniel Roden - Jefferies - Analyst : Thanks. I will hand it over. Thanks, guys. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JANUARY 22, 2025 / 12:00AM, PDN.AX - Q2 2025 Paladin Energy Ltd Activities Report Call

Question: Cameron Tyler - Bank of America - Analyst : Yeah, good morning. Thanks, team. Just a question on the water. So you said you've had good supply from NamWater. Have you had any interruptions in January? And with the storage, water storage tanks, have to draw much on those buffer tanks over the last quarter or so? Or you've been pretty consistent with the NamWater supply?

Question: Cameron Tyler - Bank of America - Analyst : Okay. Thank you. And just on bringing that mining forward from the open pit, is there any sort of balance between current uranium prices? Like, I mean, clearly, the street is pretty bullish on uranium prices over the next 12 months and thereafter you sort of are you happy to punch through that low grade stockpile and then mine the higher grade when you expect your uranium prices to sort of push up a bit? Or does that not really come into play? Are you sort of setting your sights purely on FY 2021 guidance?

Question: Cameron Tyler - Bank of America - Analyst : Okay. Thanks, Paul. Just one for Ian, maybe on the Fission update. So you spoke briefly about the team, but over there in Canada, but Ross McElroy had elected to resign at the last update. Can you give confidence to shareholders that PLS projects should be successful without Ross?

Question: Cameron Tyler - Bank of America - Analyst : Yeah, Wonderful. Thanks, Ian. And just maybe another one quickly potentially for Alex. So with the ICA approval, there is requirements that that they are restricting sales to China just purely to CGN under the existing contract. Does that hinder any upside for PLS volumes and potential pricing given China's appetite for uranium going forward?

Question: Cameron Tyler - Bank of America - Analyst : Perfect. Thanks Alex. I'll pass it on.

Question: James Bullen - Canaccord - Analyst : Thanks and thanks Ian and team. And Paul, I guess, this a question for you. Just obviously, NamWater fulfilling their side of the bargain providing more steady water. But what's happening around the tails water recovery? Have you seen an improvement there? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JANUARY 22, 2025 / 12:00AM, PDN.AX - Q2 2025 Paladin Energy Ltd Activities Report Call

Question: James Bullen - Canaccord - Analyst : Okay, great. Thanks. And just as you go into the mining phase, we look back at the DS S numbers. I think you're about us 14 bucks there. Are you still feeling relatively comfortable around those DS S numbers obviously corrected for inflation for the mining phase?

Question: James Bullen - Canaccord - Analyst : That's brilliant. And just around PLS, what are the next major catalysts that the market should be looking for there or announcements?

Question: James Bullen - Canaccord - Analyst : That's great, Ian. I will look forward to your waiting in the ATS going up. Thank you very much.

Question: Andrew Hines - Shaw and Partners - Analyst : Yeah, thanks and well done, team. That's obviously a much better quarter than where we were in September and all that hard work has started starting to come off. Paul, a quick question for you. That plant recovery number, 88% in the quarter. That's actually surprisingly good at this stage of the ramp-up in commissioning. Do you have any targets in your head around how high you can get the recoveries out of the plant?

Question: Andrew Hines - Shaw and Partners - Analyst : Yeah, And I guess with high-grade material and more consistent feedstock, you should be able to tweak it up a little bit. A quick question maybe for Anna on cash flow. It's good to see the operation cash flow positive. I think operating cash flow in the quarter of EUR43 million of reading the release. How much more CapEx is left to spend? I think it was only a modest amount in that quarter, which I think was related to the tailings storage facility, if I'm correct, Anna. As you go into the mining operations, what's your CapEx bill look like for the next six months?

Question: Andrew Hines - Shaw and Partners - Analyst : Okay. Thanks. And final one for me. Perhaps for Alex, around the state of the market. I note that you've signed another contract in the quarter, so it takes in 11 offtake agreements. So you've obviously been out there and active. Just it's been a pretty quiet period over the last little period for contracting. And, obviously, despite your own price has also been a little bit on the soft side. Just Alex, your thoughts about what's happening out there, what are the utilities doing? What's your expectations for the market this year?

Question: Andrew Hines - Shaw and Partners - Analyst : Thanks. Can you give us any color on the nature of that contract that you signed in the quarter? Is it I presume it's a market-related contract. Are we still seeing sort of floors and ceiling type contracts, floors, I think they were sort of around 75 earlier in the start of the last quarter up to around 130 ceilings. Are those the same sort of numbers that you're seeing in the market?

Question: Andrew Hines - Shaw and Partners - Analyst : That's great. Thanks, Alex. I'll hand it over to someone else. So well done team again on a good quarter and good to see Lan Heinrich performing exceptionally well. So well done. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JANUARY 22, 2025 / 12:00AM, PDN.AX - Q2 2025 Paladin Energy Ltd Activities Report Call

Question: Dim Ariyasinghe - UBS - Analyst : Thanks, guys. Just a couple of questions to round out. Just finishing up on the water. So it sounds like it was a good quarter that the water issues have been mitigated from now. I just want to confirm, though, you've still got to ramp up the plant more so to get the full plate. I think at capacity, maybe it's like 1.3 million, 1.2 million tonnes through the quarter. Do you like hypothetically, if you were at full tilt now, would you have enough water to deal with that sort of throughput?

Question: Dim Ariyasinghe - UBS - Analyst : Yeah, awesome. Okay. Cool. Thanks. And then just on the costs. I don't think anyone is going to fault you too much during a ramp-up. But can you give us any guidance on how you expect that to evolve over the course of the year, noting that it's still there's a bit of daylight between where you are now versus your original guidance. This is all on a unit cost base. So am I right in assuming there's just a fixed cost component and that smooths out as you ramp up continue to ramp up?

Question: Dim Ariyasinghe - UBS - Analyst : Great. Thanks. And maybe just last one, just to talk about the mining restart. Maybe you could just walk me through conceptually what needs to be done before July like from have you hired the contractors I guess, yes, what's left to do, I guess, before we start seeing you guys in the mind?

Question: Dim Ariyasinghe - UBS - Analyst : Awesome. Okay. Cool. Thanks and congratulations again.

Question: George Ross - Argonaut - Analyst : Yeah, good morning guys. Congratulations on the quarter and also the Fission deal closing. Just most of my questions have been answered. But just in regard to shifting to the institute ore processing, is there any sort of view on if there's going to be any, I guess, impact on recoveries versus the stockpiled ore positive or otherwise?

Question: George Ross - Argonaut - Analyst : Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes, basically is are there any expectations of whether or not the recoveries will change? After you shift from the stockpile door to the, to the mine or.

Question: George Ross - Argonaut - Analyst : Yeah. Okay, great. Look, that's it for me. Everything will spin out to grats again.