Locked everyone in.
Yes.
Perfect. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to start the meeting. My name is Cliff Lawrenson. I'm the Chair of the Board of Paladin Energy. I welcome you to the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Paladin Shareholders, and thank you all for your attendance. The meeting is also being webcast, so a very warm welcome to those who've chosen to join us online. It's now the appointed time for the meeting, and as a quorum is present, I formally declare the meeting open. I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce Paladin's Board of Directors. On my left, Michelle Buchignani, Leslie Adams, Peter Main, and Jon Hronsky. On my right, our MD and CEO, Paul Hemburrow, Directors Anne Templeman-Jones and Peter Watson, along with our Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary, Melanie Williams. Both Anne and Michelle joined the board during this year and are standing for election today.
Also, today's meeting and seated in the front row are Paladin's Chief Financial Officer, Anna Sudlow, Paladin's Chief Commercial Officer, Alex Rybak. There. Also in attendance, we have Paladin's Audit Partner from PwC, Helen Bathurst. Thank you, Helen. Who'll be able to answer any questions on the audit and related matters. We also have Rod Somes from Computershare Investor Services in attendance. A sincere welcome to all. I ask that all shareholders ensure that they have registered their attendance with Computershare at the entrance to the meeting. I also ask that you turn your mobile phones to silent or off so that the meeting will not be disrupted. This meeting is being webcast. However, shareholders joining online will not be able to vote via the webcast facility. You'll be able to submit online written questions during the meeting.
All questions not related to a resolution within the ordinary business of the meeting will be addressed after the closure of the poll, and the ordinary business has been conducted. I'll now present my Chair's address and then hand over to our MD, CEO, Paul Hemburrow.
Good morning and welcome to Paladin Energy's 2025 Annual General Meeting being held in Perth. On behalf of the board, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we're meeting on, the Whadjuk people, and pay our respects to their elders, past and present. We also recognize that Paladin operates in Namibia and Canada, nations with their own unique cultures, and we acknowledge the Indigenous nations, peoples, and communities of those countries and the provinces that host our mining, production, and exploration activities.
It's worth noting that for the first time in many years, shareholders are attending the AGM of a dual-listed company with securities trading on the ASX and the TSX. I want to extend my appreciation to our global shareholders who are listening in from different time zones. We have many new Canadian shareholders who joined the Paladin register following our successful acquisition of Fission Uranium Corporation in December 2024 and our recent public offering, and the board is pleased with their ongoing support for and commitment to the company. I will start my address by talking briefly about several milestone achievements since the end of the 2025 financial year, as these are important to delivering future growth and value for shareholders. We conducted a successful equity raising process during December and October, which added AUD 400 million to our balance sheet from institutional shareholders and retail shareholders.
Our decision to upsize the Share Purchase Plan has enabled our retail shareholders to have a greater involvement in Paladin's future growth and recognizes their ongoing support. The funds secured are de-risking the development of our Canadian projects, finalizing a ramp-up at the Langer Heinrich Mine in Namibia and undertaking further exploration. We have recently completed a highly successful leadership transition to our new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Paul Hemburrow, from our previous long-term CEO, Ian Purdy, about whom I'll say a few words of thanks later. Paul was appointed as a standout executive in our sector who has the leadership attributes, technical skills, and uranium knowledge to capitalize on the opportunities that Paladin has within its global asset portfolio.
Following Paul's appointment as MD and CEO, we further strengthened our leadership team with the appointment of Dale Huffman as President of Paladin Canada from the 20th of October and Scott Barber as Chief Operating Officer starting on the 5th of January 2026. Dale has joined us in Perth today, and shareholders have an opportunity to speak with him following the AGM. That is Dale. Turning to my board colleagues, during the past year, we welcomed two experienced non-executive directors, Anne Templeman-Jones and Michelle Buchignan. Anne and Michelle have exemplary corporate track records in both senior executive and board roles. They are already making strong contributions to strategy, risk management, and governance. With her extensive experience, Anne has now taken on the role of Chair of our Audit and Risk Committee, as its effective governance role is essential to our continued success. Michelle is based in Canada.
In addition to her regular board fiduciary duties, she will be most helpful in establishing Paladin's growing presence in Canada. I outlined in our annual report that the past financial year was transformational for Paladin and that it has laid the foundations for the company's growth for the years ahead. Without doubt, the operational highlight was the successful completion of a full year of production at Langer Heinrich, including the first mining activity at the site for nearly a decade and the transformation of our operations from a restart project to a significant global producer. In fact, today, Paladin is the fourth-largest listed uranium producer globally. Our annual report states that during the first quarter of financial year 2025, we achieved our highest production to date since the recommencement of production.
However, shareholders will also know that this record has already been broken with the current financial year when our production surpassed $1 million for the first quarter. With the Langer Heinrich Mine delivering new U3O8 supply into a strong global uranium market, the board and leadership turned its attention to our future development horizon through the acquisition of Fission Uranium Corporation in Canada. This has been transformational for the company by bringing into our portfolio a near-term development asset in a secure, stable, and sophisticated mining jurisdiction. Strategically, the Fission acquisition has delivered to shareholders a high-quality development project at Patterson Lake South that will complement Langer Heinrich's mine life. The PLS project supports our aspiration to be a reliable supplier of uranium with multi-decade production and growth pipelines. The PLS project is located in the world's most prospective uranium provinces and ranks among the highest quality undeveloped resources worldwide.
The acquisition also delivers extensive land holdings across the Athabasca Basin with strong exploration potential. Our focus is on defining the full extent of these resources over time. The recent PLS engineering review has confirmed to the board that Paladin holds a world-class asset supported by the capability and plan to commence production from 2031. The acquisition of Fission demonstrates the board's strategic confidence in setting a goal to become one of the world's leading independent producers of uranium. We believe this is an achievable goal as the global market enters a period in which international U3O8 supply shortfall is likely to become even more apparent. While Paladin's financial year 2025 remuneration framework is strongly supported by shareholders, we acknowledge that a proportion of shareholders have a differing view about our remuneration approach in financial year 2025.
We will be reflecting on the concerns that have been expressed and will continue to engage with our shareholders during the current year. Paladin's recent 2025 sustainability report reflects a company in transformation from developer to global producer. During the year, we strengthened our sustainability framework in line with the new AASB S2 standards. The report outlines how our operations, people, and partnerships are delivering value safely and responsibly while building the foundations for long-term growth through our development portfolio. Safety is of paramount importance at Paladin, especially at our Langer Heinrich operations and during our exploration campaigns where individuals are undertaking difficult and complex tasks. I want to highlight our robust health and safety performance during the year, with a total recordable injury frequency rate of 2.7 per million hours worked.
This number was well below our target and shows the continued focus of our site teams on safety and welfare. The 2025 year confirmed Paladin's important role in the global decarbonization efforts. Uranium is essential to achieving reliable, low-emission energy, and our business is positioned to supply it from assets that can sustain high standards of environmental stewardship, governance, and community partnership. Across our workforce, supply chain, and host communities, we are deepening local engagement, broadening inclusion and transparency, and embedding sustainability in our decision-making. The result is a company demonstrating operational momentum and maturing sustainability capability, well aligned with the expectations of investors, regulators, and our communities. I've already mentioned that the long-term imbalance between uranium supply and demand is now clear. The stated expansion of nuclear capacity in multiple nations will exacerbate the situation, particularly in the 2030s.
We and many others in the industry believe it now takes more than a decade to deliver a completely new source of uranium supply to a global market, largely as a result of rigorous approval systems. In some nations with significant resources, such as Australia, the ability to deliver new supply is also constrained by restrictive public policy settings. The number of nations and regions investing in new and additional nuclear power capacity to achieve their decarbonization and energy security commitments continues to grow steadily. While European nations are focused on decarbonization and transformation of the energy mix, the United States, in particular, is very much interested in nuclear energy security. I note with interest that even our host governments in Namibia and Saskatchewan, Canada, are now looking at opportunities to develop their own nuclear energy facilities.
Before I conclude, I wish to thank Ian Purdy for his exceptional leadership over the past six years. Ian built an outstanding global leadership team, delivered the Langer Heinrich restart, and positioned Paladin for its next stage of growth. Together with the board, Ian guided the company through a challenging period to a point where it is now poised for a strong and sustainable future. Seizing the opportunities now being presented by the uranium market will take committed and courageous leadership. As we prepare to hear from MD and CEO Paul Hemburrow, I can assure shareholders that the investment is being carefully stewarded for our long-term success. I now take the opportunity to hand over to Paul Hemburrow, our MD and CEO, who will present an update on the company. Paul will take questions related to his presentation after the formal proceedings.
Thanks, Cliff. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. Paladin Energy is a producer of uranium ore. We're a developer of projects, and we're an explorer. We have the foundations in place to deliver significant shareholder value. Our strategy is underpinned by the strong market outlook driven by the global nuclear energy demand to secure electrification globally. We're well positioned as global utilities seek to secure supply from Western-facing uranium jurisdictions, and we have the capacity to bring supply to the market after many years of underinvestment in mining. Langer Heinrich Mine is now in its final year of ramp-up, and full mining production and processing is expected to be delivered in 2027. The Paterson Lake South project provides Paladin with significant growth opportunities. It's a shallow, high-grade underground mine in the Athabasca Basin.
The engineering update confirmed the robust economics of the project, and there are adjacent exploration opportunities with the potential to provide significant upside and life of mine extension. Post-completion of the equity raising and the SPP, we now have the balance sheet flexibility that we need to support the final ramp-up phase of Langer Heinrich Mine and to advance PLS through to FID. FY 2025 was an incredible year for Paladin. It was absolutely transformational. After start-up of the processing facility, we completed the first customer shipment at the beginning of the financial year. We completed the Fission acquisition on the 27th of December, which was an incredibly complex process but very well executed by our team. The team in Canada then completed two mutual benefit agreements with two of the four First Nations groups and have made significant progress on the remaining two agreements.
In April 2024, we made the transition to mining at Langer Heinrich with the mobilisation of three 100-tonne fleets operating at the eastern end of the mine. By June, we completed the EIS, which was accepted as technically complete by Environment Saskatchewan. At the same time, we ended the financial year with AUD 3 million of production at Langer Heinrich. We've seen multiple record performances since restarting, and the September quarter just gone was the best uranium production since the restart and maintains on-target performance to meet this year's guidance. Coming new into the role as CEO and MD, I could not have been more happy with both the timing and the execution of the equity raise, which was a significant milestone that will enable us to unlock significant shareholder value over the coming two years.
As a producer, we build an outstanding contract book of 14 tier one global utility contract counterparties. This gives us exposure to both market-related and base-escalated pricing. Our PLS project provides us with near-term volume opportunities, and our focus will be on unlocking value as we de-risk the project through to FID and identify further value enhancements through close proximity exploration. We have our substantial portfolio of exploration opportunities throughout Australia and Canada. This positions Paladin as a globally significant producer with an enviable growth pipeline. It is one thing to have completed the restart and to have undertaken one of the most significant uranium mining industry acquisitions in many years, but it is quite another thing to have done it safely.
I'm very pleased with the results that we've delivered with a very high standard of performance and, as Cliff mentioned, a TRIF of 2.7, but also without any significant breaches of environmental requirements or standards. We made a significant contribution to the Namibian economy through local employment of both staff and contract employees and through local procurement. In closing, the Paladin strategy is to deliver a multi-decade production and growth pipeline by maximizing production at Langer Heinrich Mine through the final year of ramp-up and into full production in FY 2027, by unlocking the value of PLS through de-risking the project through approvals, agreements, and engineering works through to FID, and by creating value through close proximity exploration at PLS and advancing exploration across the portfolio. Through execution of this strategy, we'll deliver sustainable shareholder value. Thank you. Thank you, Cliff.
Thank you, Paul. As I said earlier, we'll take questions at the end of the proceedings, if that's okay with everyone. We'll now move to the ordinary business of the meeting. I refer to the minutes of the 2024 annual general meeting of the company held on the 29th of November 2024. I've received the minutes, and I've signed them as a true and correct copy of the meeting. Proxies are held by me as Chair. As it was noted in the notice of meeting, it's my intention to vote all available proxies in favor of each resolution. The proxy votes and direct votes that have been submitted in advance of the meeting will be set out in the slideshow for each resolution. The final results of each poll will be available on the ASX and TSX platforms and on the Paladin website later today.
For this annual general meeting, all resolutions will be decided by poll rather than by a show of hands. Each shareholder present, whether in person or by proxy, attorney, or representative, has one vote for every ordinary resolution owned. Mr. Rod Somes from Computershare Investor Services has agreed to act as the returning officer for the poll. At the time of registration for this meeting, those persons eligible to vote were given a green voting card like this. The voting boxes are on the back of the screen card. If you have voted previously via proxy, then no further action is required, and your votes will be recorded in the poll. For all other attending shareholders who are eligible to vote, please ensure you have received your green voting card. If not, Computershare can give you one now.
Shareholders who wish to cast all their votes for or against a resolution should place a mark in the for box or the against box for that resolution. Similarly, proxy holders who have been given open votes, being votes where a person appointing you has not instructed you how to vote, should place their mark in the appropriate box to indicate whether you're voting the open votes in favor of or against the resolution. For convenience, the poll will be conducted at the end of the meeting once all business has been dealt with. However, I now formally declare the poll open. The notice of meeting, also known in Canada as the Notice and Information Circular, was dispatched to shareholders on the 17th of October 2025. Unless there are objections, I propose that the notice be taken as read.
The first item is to receive and consider the financial report and the reports of the directors and auditors for the year ended 30th of June 2025. There are spare copies of the annual report available should anyone require one there in the back. The annual report is also available on our website. Questions in relation to each resolution, including the remuneration report, will be addressed during the ordinary business as each resolution is presented to the meeting. Would anyone like to discuss or ask questions about the financial statement, director's report, or auditor's report? Our auditor, Ms. Helen Bathurst from PwC, is with us today, and she can answer any questions. If you wish to ask a question, please raise your hand and wait to be called upon. Jamie? Thank you.
If there are no further discussions, if there is no further discussion, we'll move on to the first resolution. Resolution one deals with the adoption of the remuneration report under the following resolution: that for purpose of Section 250(r)(2) of the Corporations Act and for all other purposes, approval is given for the adoption of the remuneration report as contained in the company's annual financial report for the financial year ended 30th of June 2025. This is a non-binding resolution as required by Section 250(r)(3) of the Corporations Act. The remuneration report can be found on page 48 of your annual report. In accordance with Section 250(a) of the Corporations Act, I now invite shareholders to ask questions about or make comments on the remuneration report. So nothing. There being no discussion, I conclude the discussion on this item of business.
As noted at the start of the meeting, it's our intention to call a poll for all resolutions, with the poll to be conducted on all resolutions once the business has been dealt with. Resolution two deals with the election of Ms. Anne Templeman-Jones as a non-executive director under the following ordinary resolution: that for the purpose of Listing Rule 14(4), Rule 12(3)(a) of the Constitution, and for all other purposes, Ms. Anne Templeman-Jones, who was appointed as a director of the company by the board on the 5th of May 2025, be confirmed as a director. I'll now invite Anne to speak to this resolution.
Thank you, Cliff. Good morning, everyone here in the room, and to those attendees who are online. My name is Anne Templeman-Jones, and I joined the board as an independent non-executive director in May 2025.
I'm a professional non-executive director, and over the past decade, I've served on a diverse range of boards, including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Worley Ltd, the Trifork Aga Group, and the New South Wales Treasury Corporation. In a world where issues can sometimes rise to the surface like froth in a bubble, it has been essential to remain grounded in disciplined governance and sound judgment. My executive career prior to board service spanned international audit roles with Pricewaterhouse, followed by senior leadership roles in positions in corporate and institutional banking at OCBC Singapore and the Bank of Singapore, Westpac, and ANZ, working across complex finance, risk management, and governance environments. In addition to my global financial services background, I've held executive governance and advisory roles across a broad range of industries, including engineering services in the global energy sector, chemicals, consumer goods, automotive manufacturing, technology, and software services.
This diversity enables me to bring a wide global perspective to the board and a strong understanding of how different industries approach transformation, resilience, and operational risk. It is at this confluence of experiences that I have learned the value of both rigorous oversight and imaginative problem-solving. Personally, I bring extensive experience in audit, risk, technology, and transformation and financing. Increasingly, my board work has focused on cybersecurity, oversight, technology resilience, and the safe and responsible adoption of AI. These capabilities are essential to building organizational resilience and ensuring continuity at a time when digital, operational, and regulatory risks continue to evolve. I bring deep experience in highly regulated sectors, and many of the governance principles, risk disciplines, and compliance frameworks from those industries translate directly to the uranium sector, where safety, transparency, and rigorous oversight are fundamental.
These structures, sometimes described as the containers that hold our systems together, are essential to maintaining trust. As the recently appointed Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, I look forward to contributing to the board's strategic direction and ensuring we maintain disciplined oversight across financial controls, operational risk, technology, and cyber governance. I see this work not just as procedural, but genuinely righteous in the sense that it is grounded in integrity and committed to the long-term interests of our shareholders and our stakeholders. I believe strongly in the importance of authenticity and candor in leadership, being clear, open, and constructive so that management and the board can work together effectively, making informed decisions and fostering a culture of trust and accountability.
Meeting the team in Perth and spending time at Langer Heinrich, my experience, the experience operation to experience the operations firsthand, has reinforced my view of the professionalism, capability, and commitment across the organization. There are moments in leadership that feel almost like starlight, small but powerful reminders of purpose and direction, and I have certainly experienced those in my time with our people. I look forward to meeting those of you who are online at PLS in the near future. I'm excited to contribute to Paladin's growth and development and to work closely with the board and management to deliver strong, sustainable outcomes for our shareholders. I sincerely thank those of you shareholders who have already supported my appointment to the board of Paladin Energy and to those who will cast their votes today, having heard from me personally. Thank you.
Thank you, Anne. If you look at the board, congratulations, Anne. Thank you, Anne, for joining our board. We're delighted and flattered that Anne's joined our board. She's part of our evolution in matching the board leadership scheme with both the opportunities and the world that runs before this company. The proxies are on the screen. Are there any questions to this resolution? There being no further discussion, I conclude this as an item of business and now move to resolution three. The third resolution deals with the election of Ms. Michelle Buchignan as a non-executive director under the following ordinary resolution: that for the purposes of Listing Rule 14(4), Rule 12(3)(a) of the Constitution, and for all other purposes, Ms. Michelle Buchignan—sorry, I've got a mobile phone somewhere—sorted. For the purposes of Listing Rule 14(4), Rule 12(3)(a) of the Constitution, and for all other purposes, Ms. Michelle Buchignan, who was appointed as a director of the company by the board on the 30th of June 2025, be confirmed as a director. I'll now invite Michelle to come and speak to this resolution.
Thank you, Cliff, and thank you to all here today. Good morning. My name's Michele Buchignani , and I joined the Paladin board as a Non-Executive Director in June. I'm Canadian, as you maybe can tell from my accent, and I live in Vancouver. Over my career, I've lived and worked in four different countries, including Australia, where, as an aside, I'll tell you that amongst many wonderful experiences, I had the pleasure of seeing the starlight over Uluru, and it's helped to cement my love of Australia, and I'm very excited to be joining the board of an Australian company.
I was a partner, a corporate partner in a leading Canadian law firm and also held senior leadership roles encompassing management, finance and capital markets, private equity, and strategy in Canada and globally. On the capital markets side, I have, over my career, seen many cycles, including frothy excitement and the burst of bubbles, and I've learned so much from all of that, and I bring that experience to Paladin. On the board side, my board roles have contained a diverse range of experiences, including in private, public, and not-for-profit organizations, including the TSX, ASX-listed company Copper Mountain Mining, TSX Trust Company, which is a federally regulated trust company and part of the Toronto Stock Exchange Group, and TSX and NASDAQ-listed Westport Fuel Systems, which is an automotive technology company.
Finally, I'm also currently an investment committee member of an Australian-based private equity fund that invests in innovative mining technology companies. I'm very excited, as in line with my colleague Anne and others on the board, about the opportunities ahead for Paladin as we develop our assets in Canada. PLS is an extremely exciting project, so it was with great pleasure and a lot of excitement that I visited the Paladin Canada team in Saskatoon a few months ago, and I welcomed the opportunity to hear more about PLS and also the Michelin Project in Labrador. I look forward to working closely with my board colleagues and the senior management team and contributing to the success of Paladin as it embarks on this exciting period of growth. Thank you all, and I'll turn it back to Cliff.
Thank you. Thank you, Michelle. We'll look at your numbers in a sec. Shareholders support your appointment to the board, Michelle, which is fantastic. Thank you very much. As I said earlier, both the board and the executive team, we need to respond to the enormous growth we've experienced over the past few years. Anyone that's been part of a growth company knows that there's growth pains in the process, all sorts of growth pains that happen along the way, but we recognize to capitalize on this opportunity that we have. Essentially, Paul's mission is to take these assets which we've secured, both Langer back in the production in PLS, and turn these into value propositions for our shareholders. That's the phase we're in the company.
Right across the company, we have to morph from what we were before, where we were out trying to secure a bunch of assets and get Langer going again, to flipping to being a value proposition for the shareholders. Paul has an operational background, as you've probably seen. It's very deliberate. The tone of the company has moved from being someone that's acquiring a bunch of assets to a company that's turning these into value propositions as we become a meaningful player in the supply of uranium in global markets. The fourth resolution deals with the ratification of prior issues of shares in relation to the ASX institutional placement. That for purpose of Listing Rule 7.4 and for all other purposes, shareholders ratify the issue of 31,915,288 shares in connection with the ASX institutional placement in September 2025 on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory memorandum.
The proxies for Resolution 4 are now tabled on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution? I conclude the discussion on this item of business, and now move to Resolution 5. The fifth resolution deals with the ratification of prior issue of shares in relation to the TSX bought deal. That for purposes of Listing Rule 7.4 and for all other purposes, shareholders ratify the issue of 4,504,505 shares in connection with the Canadian bought deal private placement in September 2025 on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory memorandum. The proxies for Resolution 5 are now tabled on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution? I conclude the discussion on this item of business, and now move on to Resolution 6. The sixth resolution deals with the approval of the company's performance shares rights plan.
That for purposes of Listing Rule 7.2, Exception 13-B, Listing Rule 10.19, Sections 200-B and 200-E of the Corporations Act, and for all other purposes, shareholders approve the Paladin Energy Ltd Performance Rights Share Plan and the issue of up to a maximum of 4,950,000 securities over the three years following shareholder approval of that plan and on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory memorandum. The proxies for Resolution 6 are tabled on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution? I conclude the discussion on this item of business, and now move on to Resolution 7. The seventh resolution deals with the approval of an increase in the aggregate non-executive directors' fees.
That for purposes of Listing Rule 1017, Rule 12(9)(c) of the Constitution, and for all other purposes, shareholders approve an increase in the maximum aggregate fixed sum available to be paid to non-executive directors of the company from AUD 1.2 million per annum, which is the amount last approved at the company's annual general meeting in 2008, to AUD 1.8 million per annum on the terms and conditions set out in the explanatory memorandum. The proxies for Resolution 7 are tabled on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution? I conclude the discussion on this item of business. As the business of this meeting has been dealt with, we will now conduct a poll on all the resolutions as previously stated. As all the resolutions have been put to the meeting, it's now time to complete your voting cards.
Please complete your voting cards and place them into the poll boxes being circulated by Computershare. Okay. Yeah, that's cool. One more back there. All good, right? In fact, we're all done. Thank you. I believe those persons who wish to vote in the poll have now done so. If there is an individual present who has not yet completed their voting card and had them collected by the Computershare staff, please raise your hand. I now declare the poll process is closed. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the ordinary business of the meeting. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank you for your support. As mentioned earlier, the results of the poll will be announced on the ASX and TSX platform and on the Paladin website later today. I now invite shareholders to ask questions on any matters of general business.
We'll take questions from the floor as well as respond to those submitted through the webcast. If you wish to ask a question, please raise your hand, and a microphone will be provided to you. When speaking, kindly introduce yourself before asking a question. I would point out that we have many subject matter experts in the room with us today, folk from Canada, people that have developed various projects, folk from Namibia. Please, let's turn this into a positive meeting in terms of asking good strategic questions. We have people right here that can deal with these things directly if there's anything you want further clarification on. It is over to question time. We'll start in the room, and then we'll see if there's anything online, and we'll take from there. We'll take compliments as well. Yes, sir. Yeah.
My name's Derek Becker. I'm just interested in the contracts we've been signing with the market-related or base-escalated. Just an indication of how they are, the terms improving over the last year. Would you like a number answer from me, or did you want the subject matter expert, Alex? Subject matter expert, Alex. Just to show whether the uranium market is actually improving.
Good question. Music to my ears. As a general rule, what we do is we like to sign contracts that are accretive to our overall contract portfolio. As Paul mentioned, we've got 14 counterparties in our portfolio, $24 million under contract with a balance of pricing mechanisms with a bias towards market-related because we are very bullish on the uranium market.
I think it's pretty clear the supply-demand deficit, the uncovered requirements that the utilities have, and the kind of general macro winds that we have in the industry more broadly. That is why we positioned the book the way we positioned it, 55% market-related, 45% base-escalated, because we also recognize that uranium prices are some of the most volatile commodity prices in the world, and we do need protection from those uranium cycles. However, what we've done is we've continued to layer in contracts into our portfolio, and every contract that we signed to date has, in terms of pricing, been accretive to the average realized pricing in our book. To give you a feel for the pricing, for example, for FY2025, our average realized price was between $3-$6 a pound higher than our major competitors. We have a very comfortable contract position at the moment.
We're not in a hurry to sign many contracts, but we'll layer in additional contracts into that portfolio when we see accretive opportunities. Thank you.
Thank you, Alex. Jamie, something online?
Yeah. Question from online, which is along the same part as the previous question. How is Paladin positioning itself in the current uranium price environment, and what price levels are required for sustained profitability?
Paul, do you want to do this one or Alex?
One for you, Alex.
Alex again.
Yeah. Good question. I think we are already seeing price levels that allow Langer Heinrich to generate cash flows, and you will see that from our previous results and results going forward. I think the market does need higher prices, generally speaking. I think twofold.
If you look at globally where additional uranium is going to come from, and we all recognize that there's significant volumes of additional new production that needs to come to market. For example, W&A just recently released their nuclear fuel report in September, which talks about essentially doubling of existing reactor requirements over the next decade and halving of production from existing mines. Within that forecast, for example, in 2035, additional new production that needs to come to market is about £180 million annual production. That's the size of the current reactor requirements, roughly speaking, in the world today. We need a doubling of production capacity to come to market, and that naturally needs higher prices. There are new projects that are coming to market that are lower grade, higher cost, and they need much higher prices than we see today.
There are also the Canadian projects that are lower cost, lower operating cost, but higher CapEx. They also need higher prices. There is a general industry consensus that the whole industry does need high uranium prices. It also takes a long time to get projects into production, and there are limited projects that will be in production over the next decade. All that points to a very robust pricing environment, and we have certainly positioned our Langer Heinrich book for that, as I discussed. Longer term, I think also we have 85% of our life of mine production exposed to market-related and uncontracted volumes. Then, of course, we have the PLS project, which has only got one offtake at the moment and is 100% market-related. We are really well positioned for that high-price environment. Thank you.
Thank you, Alex. Over to Paul.
I think, as you can see in the way we've responded and where we are, that as we grow this company, it's incredibly important that we have people that are best in class in every role that we have. It's a responsible industry we're in. The way we operate, because it's radioactive material, requires a level of responsibility that perhaps is at a higher standard than others. We take this incredibly seriously, and we have to. We have to attract the right people to make that happen. The growth in the company has been phenomenal over the past six years, and it's been an absolute pleasure. Things that give us energy to keep going. For example, these two new board members, we've seen their credentials.
Them joining the board is a huge compliment to us as we tweak and recognize that to keep ahead of this challenge and to take the opportunities to our shareholders, the outcomes that present to our shareholders, we need to have best in class across the whole company. We're very careful about the way we do that. With leadership comes responsibility and fiduciary responsibility, and we're very, very serious about the way we do that. A huge thank you to everyone. There are subject matter experts, as I said. I would say too, what I always say in these sort of presentations, if you happen to be looking for a vacation and you want to go to Namibia, it's a fantastic place to visit. If you do, Johan and Andrew, these two gentlemen here, will invite you to the site.
That in itself, even if you're not a running person, is wonderful. We'll show you some of the community things we do within the community in Swakopmund. We all fired up this board. Once a year, we go to Langer, and we have a board meeting in Namibia because it centers the board on what we're really doing. All our board members take a week or so out of their calendars that fly from wherever they are in the world, and we spend a few days with the people, with the project. We can actually see for ourselves as board members things like safety commitment, the way people work, whether our values are intact or not. We all come away both excited and humbled from those experiences.
It is by far, from someone like myself who's been in the extractive industry for a long time, one of the most rewarding site visits I ever go to is Langer Heinrich. I know you have to be a bit of a geek, but even if you're not a bit of a geek, if you happen to go to Namibia, which is a great place to vacation, go to Swakopmund, and you can come and look at the mine site. It's in a reserve. Pictures do not do it justice. The community interaction that we work with there, you'll find this in the sustainability report, for example. There is nothing better than 3D, as they say, and that's what you get if you go and visit. Please do that. I strongly encourage you as shareholders, as your company. We own this thing together.
We completely understand that we're all shareholders by virtue of owning stock or by virtue of our plans that we have in place. We are very serious about taking this company to the next level. Thank you, everyone, for coming today. If there are any more questions, or this and tea, and I think we've even provided cookies this time. Must be that must be from sizing up the SPP that we were able to afford a few cookies for everyone. Please have a chat. If you want to have a one-on-one with anyone in particular, please do. We happen to have a global leadership team meeting simultaneously, which is why we've got people here. Do you have another question?
Yes, one more. Is there any plans for further growth through acquisitions or joint venture arrangements?
Look, we have peripheral vision. If something comes up and it looks good, a dripping roast, as they say, we're in. Look, our primary focus is to turn what we've got into value propositions. It's a dynamic world we live in, and we must think both offensively and defensively. We've got an outstanding team within the M&A group and great support from every type of investment bank and everyone else we need. Certainly, if something comes up that we think is beneficial for our shareholders, we will do it. I guess our main plan is to deliver what we have. I'll never say no if a dripping roast approaches. We're a very courageous company, as you've seen in the way we've done things. Being courageous does require a longer-term view. As I said earlier, growing comes with its attendant pains, and we've had pains, and we will continue to.
But overall, we have a wonderful trajectory, and we think we're in a supply and demand space. The macro uranium thing you've heard from Alex, that's probably one of the most easily demonstrable long-term supply and demand imbalance in any commodity. We feel we're in generally a safe space, which allows us to do these courageous and brave moves that we make from time to time. Dripping roast, yes. Not a dripping roast, not so much. Anything else, Jamie? Anyone else? Let's break, but please feel free to approach any of the executives or board if you wish to. You're more than welcome. Thank you, everyone.