Afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our quarterly webinar for the period ending 30 June 2026. Thank you all for joining us today. For those of you that don't know me, I'm Emma Culver, Investor Relations and Communications Manager at Bannerman. We're joined today by our Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Gavin Chamberlain, who will shortly provide an update on Bannerman and the Etango Project. Following this, we will jump into some Q&A. At the bottom of your screen, you will see a Q&A tab. Please open that up, write your questions in, and we will run through them at the end of the highlights. For now, I will hand over to Gavin, who is joining us from Namibia. Good morning, Gavin.
Morning, Em.
How are things looking on-site at Etango? I will share my screen so we can run through these updates for the quarter.
Morning, Em. Morning to all the investors and stakeholders on the call. Yeah, Em, it's really exciting times. As you know, every time we come to site, we see more progress. Looking forward to taking everyone through the quarterly results and fielding some questions and answers. I think the highlight for the quarter was really our strategic financing progress in terms of the Conditions Precedent, where we've made significant progress. We still have confidence now that the final CPs and transaction completion should be expected during quarter three of 2026. That's really positive for us. That allows us to move forward along the schedule that we've already planned. We're feeling confident that we'll actually achieve this. Over and above that as well is we had a strong quarter in terms of cash control as usual.
As you know, we have strong discipline related to managing our cash flow. We ended the quarter with AUD 53 million of cash assets and liquid assets of an additional AUD 11.5 million. Keeping in mind as well, we've already committed an additional AUD 36 million to ongoing contracts on-site at the moment. Our total spend on the project today to be sitting at AUD 69 million. I think one of the really pleasing things is to be seeing the actual increase in the long-term uranium price over the quarter, now sitting at AUD 97 per pound, which is obviously very supportive of where we want to go in this business. On the actual Etango early works progress, we will share a couple of photographs now as well, but on the early works, the construction activity has continued to track against budget and schedule.
With over 560 personnel currently working on-site, we're extremely pleased to say that we achieved 1.1 million LTI-free man-hours on the project alone. We've previously reported in terms of the safety record for the entire company, but for the project alone, we've already achieved 1.1 million, which is really a good indication of the value that the team on-site and the contractors on-site are placing on safety and safe construction practices. As I said, 560 personnel on-site, 1.1 million. I really wanted to share this photograph because it gives you an idea of the camaraderie that's developed on this site. That's the normal early morning safety talk before people start work. I really just love the photograph.
That's why I wanted to share it, but also to once again highlight the focus on being LTI-free as we move into the further construction. Our bulk earthworks has progressed extremely well during the quarter. We're now at 92% complete, and this contract should be finished during the next quarter. What you see in the photograph is the near completion earthworks for the heap leach pad. The other bit of work is on the concrete on-site. We've had significant progress during the quarter. The primary crusher is sitting above ground level at this point in time, and that's the photograph you see in front of you. You would have been tracking this over the last year or so because we started off with photographs of the excavation, now finally, we're actually getting towards the end of the actual concrete work.
I reckon that by the end of the quarter, we'll be able to show you-- next quarter, we'll be able to show you the completed crusher building. This photograph really gives you an idea of the bulk of the dry plant area. In the foreground, you've got the stockpile area moving through to the silo at the end of the-- in the background in the picture. So it gives you an idea of where the concentrated work is happening on the project. Effectively, this is predominantly focused on concrete work at this point. The earthworks were finished here in the previous quarter. That is the final silo, which basically is the end of the dry circuit, which is also now progressing significantly above ground level. Very good progress here. Once again, probably the most complex pour on the site, which is going relatively well.
Well, it's going very well, I should say, not relatively well. That's the completed concrete works for the secondary and tertiary screening building. Outside of the site, we've progressed significantly on the permanent water supply line. Phase 1 of that contract is sitting at 87% complete. Just to remind people, phase 1 of the contract is the connection to the NamWater reservoir. Crossing over the river and under the road, then stopping on the other side of the road, waiting for the pipe delivery. The plinths are all installed up to the first pump station. Really, that's the end of the summary of the quarter. As I said, a very positive quarter, both from a deal perspective and an ongoing progress against the current schedule.
I think at this, Emma, is there any questions that I can field at this point?
Yes. We'll jump in, Gavin. Thanks so much for the update. For those that would like to look further at the photos, they are on the website in the latest presentation. Gavin, can you just talk us through the CPs? What is still to be satisfied? How are they tracking? What gives us confidence that's going to close for Q3?
Yes. Thanks, Emma. Good question. On the CP satisfaction, people who've read our previous announcement around the deal would have realized that there were a number of CPs. In the last quarter, we've made significant progress. Starting off with the Sinomax shareholders needed to approve the deal, which was achieved and closed out. We also needed the Namibian Competition Commission approval, which has also been approved and closed out. Over and above that is there were some infrastructure contracts that we needed to conclude, and people would have noticed that we signed the NamWater agreement during the quarter. Over and above that, we've also achieved the acid storage facility lease and our power contract was already signed. From the infrastructure contract requirement, we've also met all of the CPs.
The only outstanding CP at the moment, which has been submitted and is in progress, is the NDRC and the Ministry of Commerce approval in China itself. It is effectively the two remaining approvals from the Chinese government and regulators in terms of the deal moving forward.
Thanks, Gavin. Just on the NaCC, so the Namibian Competition Commission CP, any insight into that? I mean, that was one that we thought could take longer. Obviously, very happy to have that one away. Can you just talk through that one?
Yes. That was actually a significant achievement for us. We worked on that along with CNOL as partners. The approval that we got had a couple of provisions required in terms of moving forward. It was extremely fair in that a lot of the provisions are actually less stringent than the actual mining license approvals. The good thing about it as well, and I think the message that people should be taking out of this is that CNOL and ourselves have agreed to achieve a 90% Namibian employee ratio within five years. A lot of fear has been around, is this going to be another Chinese-operated mine, et cetera. I have been saying for a number of years now that this is a Namibian mine for Namibians.
The fact that CNOL was party to this agreement and has signed off on the requirements for both employment and procurement going forward, I think is a significant step in terms of showing people that we really mean this to be a Namibian mine for Namibians. I think that the targets that we set, we are actually achieving all of those targets in terms of ratios at the moment. Some of them are challenging, but with a little bit of work, we are 100% confident we will achieve them. When I say they are a little bit challenging, we need to put systems in place, but we have got five years to do it, and it is really around achieving the procurement targets. They are reasonable, but we need to put a plan in place to make sure we achieve.
Yeah. Perfect. Staying on the topic of CPs, we've got a question here from Glenn. Is there a timeline that the NDRC needs to respond by? Or is it a case of how long's a piece of string? Have we seen any of these foreign investment approvals into uranium outside of China lately?
Exceptionally good question. From our perspective, we have confidence. The reason being is there's been a lot of interaction between the CNOL executive management and MOFCOM, which is really the main, which is the Ministry of Commerce approval. They've already had a number of meetings at a senior level with them. They've responded to questions and answers post the submission of the original document. As far as we're aware, there are no outstanding questions from MOFCOM. Effectively, they're processing and following their normal regulated procedure to get to the completion of the approval. The good news is that all of the questions and answers have now been answered and submissions being submitted to MOFCOM.
Great. Thanks, Gavin. We've got a few questions, a couple of questions come in around CapEx budget. We'll start off on the CapEx into FY 2027. Can the market expect expenditure to be similar over the next couple of quarters as we have seen? What's that ramp up in terms of expenditure?
Yeah. Certainly for the next quarter, it will be very similar to what we achieved in this quarter. The reasons being is the earthworks contractor is coming to an end, his expenditure will reduce. But we've also placed the five long lead items for the mechanical equipment in the dry plant, which will then obviously be supplemented. Well, we'll supplement the reduction in spending on the earthworks. For the next quarter, at least, it's going to be very similar expenditure. Post-deal completion, we will move into significantly accelerated expenditure with the placement of the structural steel contracts, which are currently being adjudicated and will be ready for placement on completion. That will see a significant increase in expenditure. We are 100% aligned with our September 28 commissioning date based on the late start of the deal being the end of September.
Any deal completion before that will probably have a positive impact on the schedule moving forward.
Great. Thank you so much for that one. On the reimbursement, CNOL up to AUD 27 million from 1st of July up until completion. How's that tracking at this point?
Our expenditure has been tracking our original plan. The AUD 27 million is directly linked to the cap of AUD 16 million in terms of capital expenditure, and that capital expenditure was based on getting to the end of September. As we get closer to deal completion, we may choose to accelerate some of the expenditure, just to ensure that we get the AUD 16 million cap and that we get the full AUD 27 reimbursement. We won't be overspending the AUD 16 million, we certainly will not be giving away any money to anybody.
Great. Just another question on the CapEx. How are we thinking about the pressures on the AUD 353 million, the estimate? What percentage impacts are you seeing at this point, and when can the market expect an update? Obviously, I think to this point, we've been saying that at end of close, if there's anything outside that ±10%, if you can just update everyone on that, Gavin.
We're tracking well against the budget at the moment. I think one of the most pleasing things for the quarter was the five orders that we placed for the mechanical equipment in the dry plant area came in on budget, and in fact, a little bit under our original budget. Our strategy of placing contracts with escalation formulas pre-agreed actually meant that even though we have a crisis in the Middle East in terms of the war that's going on there, it never affected the actual pricing for those pieces of equipment. At the moment, we're tracking well. When we talk to the AUD 353 ±10%, I do need to stress that the ±10% is for unknown unknowns, such as the war.
For the known unknowns, we have a contingency within the AUD 353. We're tracking well against that. I believe the AUD 353 ±10% is secure. We're confident that we can achieve that number.
Great. Just to clarify, a question here from Andrew Hines on the critical path to construction or for construction. Those five contracts in the dry plant area, they're placed because that is determined like that's going to hit that critical path, or is there anything else that we need to be mindful of to ensure that critical path of 2028?
Yeah. Good question from Andrew there, because we've placed those contracts for a reason. The reason is actually to try and make sure from a schedule perspective, that we actually have a little bit of float within the schedule. They're not on the critical path. We wanted to place them now so that we can build a bit of float in for back-end unknowns. Right now, we've placed them where we delivered well within the critical path. They will also create some additional float for us on the overall construction.
Great. Thank you. Heading away from CapEx here, there is one question here. Does the AUD 53 million cash balance include or exclude commitments? Obviously, we can answer that one quite easily. It's exclusive of the commitments going forward, and those commitments will come off in the next quarters. Correct, Gavin?
Correct. Yes. We have committed an additional AUD 36 million to project construction, but that's for contracts that run well into 2025. It's not like the AUD 36 million is going to be spent in the next couple of months. To give you an idea, the concrete contractor is on site at least until March 2025, the crushing contractor till almost mid-2025, and then the pipeline contract as well. All this only due to complete by the end of 2025. The AUD 36 million covers existing contracts plus those five dry plant mechanical equipment orders as well, which will only be delivered during 2025 as well. That AUD 36 million is spread over a number of months.
Fantastic. Thank you for that clarity. Jumping a bit more into the project. Is there any visibility at the moment whether Bannerman is going to go for the XT or XP strategy? Can you talk through how you're thinking about post Etango-8?
Yeah. I don't think our strategy has changed terribly much except that it's more heading towards the expansion as opposed to the extension case. The thinking around the strategy there is that five years after we've commenced production in Etango-8, we would have Etango-16 in production. That makes the most sense from us from a financial and from a practical construction perspective. Obviously, we would be building Etango-16 while we're still operating Etango-8. From five years after start commencing with production, we would be running both plants simultaneously.
Fantastic. Are there any contingency plans for water supply, if NamWater has issues?
Yeah. I think on the NamWater side, our contract that we signed is actually really good for us in that it covers supply both from the existing desalination plant as well as the new desalination plant that's been announced. The new desalination plant is due to be commissioned before the mine is completed. That effectively means there will be a dual supply, and the contract we signed allows for supply from both sources. I must stress, the existing desalination plant has sufficient water for our project.
That was why we did start the permanent water supply. Is it the last at the feeder station, Gavin, to get the last pipe in?
Yeah. There were existing connections on the reservoirs at the feeder station. By managing to get this contract signed and pay the deposit, we've now done two things. We've secured our capacity in the supply line, in other words, the amount of water that comes from the desalination plant to Swakopmund. We secured our portion of the capacity. Over and above that, we also secured the last existing fitting in the reservoir at Swakopmund.
Fantastic. Another question here from Lynn. "Conscious that we don't need to write offtake contracts anytime soon, but wondering if you could share any thoughts on the contracting environment, and what terms can be achieved, if in fact you are having discussions." I think this is probably that broader, where are we seeing the market at the moment, Gavin? It seems quiet in the spot market and I think the equities obviously track that. As you said, that long-term price has increased this quarter for US dollars. What are we seeing in the market for contracts at this stage?
Most of this is secondhand knowledge. We've been very quiet in our negotiations on contracts. We believe that by securing the 60% offtake with Sino, we have the luxury of a bit of time on our hands, and we would only really start actively and aggressively looking for contracts probably six months before we go into production. Which will allow us to achieve, I think, significantly higher pricing than we would be able to achieve now. Based on what I've heard in the market and obviously always keeping an ear to the ground is, it sounds like you're getting floors in mid-70s and ceilings between $130 and $155 at the moment in terms of market related.
We are seeing from the utilities themselves a preference for fixed-price escalated, which I believe people are now managing to negotiate just north of $100.
Fantastic. Well, let's see, we're heading into WNA season, which they always say is the season for contracting. Let's see what happens. That is all the questions that we have from this side, Gavin. Any last thoughts from you? Have you been on site this last week since being there?
I've actually got the whole Australian board here with me at the moment. We've got a big site visit planned for tomorrow, which will be quite exciting for the local team as well. We did have a site visit last week just to make sure that we're not going to have any surprises when we're on site. I must admit, the only surprise I have is just how well they're actually managing to construct. These Namibian contractors are world-class, and they are doing a fantastic job. Just once again, I always want to end with thanks to the entire Namibian team and the entire Perth team that are allowing us to actually move this project forward in the plan along the lines of what we've always strategized. A big thank you to everyone involved.
Thanks, Gavin, and thank you everyone for joining us. If you do have any questions, please reach out to me at any stage. I'm always contactable, always happy to speak with our investors, please reach out and we look forward to speaking with you in the next quarter. Thanks, Gavin.
Great. Thanks, Emma, and thanks to everyone who joined the call. Thank you.