Name of the Project
Rook I uranium project.

Location
Saskatchewan, Canada.

Project Owner/s
Uranium miner NexGen Energy.

Project Description
Rook I is the biggest development-stage uranium project in Canada.

The project hosts the Arrow deposit, which, in turn, hosts measured and indicated mineral resources of 256.7-million pounds of uranium contained in 3.75-million tonnes grading 3.1%.a

The project has a mine life of 10.7 years, with average production estimated at up to 30-million pounds a year.

Average life-of-mine production is estimated at 21.7-million pounds a year of uranium.

Access to the underground Arrow deposit will be through two shafts, an 8-m-diameter production shaft (intake air) and a 5.5-m-diameter exhaust shaft (second egress). Access to the workings will be from the production shaft.

Conventional longhole mining will be used for production. The mining method will use mechanised equipment and conventional processes widely employed in the global mining industry.

The estimated mill capacity is targeted stated at 1 300 t/d of ore.

The key infrastructure contemplated includes:

• underground infrastructure, including materials handling systems, maintenance facilities, a fuel bay, an explosives magazine, ventilation, a paste backfill and a paste tailings distribution system, electrical and communications facilities, underground water supply and dewatering facilities.
• an underground tailings management facility.
• surface support infrastructure for the mine, including headframe and hoist facilities, a surface explosives magazine and ventilation fans.
• surface support infrastructure for the mill, including a process plant, a solvent-extraction plant, an effluent treatment plant and an acid plant.
• site support infrastructure, including an accommodation camp, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, an LNG power plant, mine and mill dry facilities, analytical and metallurgical laboratory and maintenance, as well as warehouse and security buildings.
• a surface ore-storage stockpile facility, as well as waste-rock storage facilities for potentially acid-generating, nonpotentially acid-generating and special waste materials.
• water management facilities, consisting of two site water runoff ponds, six contact water process ponds, a potential acid-generating stockpile runoff collection pond, and conveyance and diversion structures.
• domestic and/or industrial waste management areas.
• an airstrip.

Potential Job Creation
The project is expected to support long-term regional economic development, skilled job creation and broader growth in Saskatchewan while strengthening Canada’s position in the nuclear energy sector.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of C$6.32-billion and an internal rate of return of 45.2%, with a payback of one year, based on a uranium price of $95/lb.

Capital Expenditure
C$2.2-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
The project is expected to take four years to complete.

Latest Developments
NexGen Energy has secured final federal approval after the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission approved the project’s environmental assessment and issued a licence to prepare the site and start construction on March 5. The approval follows the conclusion of the final two-part commission hearing on February 12, 2026, and, together with the provincial environmental approval received in November 2023 and other required Saskatchewan authorisations, clears the way for full project construction.

With the outstanding approvals now in place, construction is scheduled to start in mid-2026. NexGen has said the project team, engineering, procurement arrangements, contractors, vendors and capital are already in place, with advanced site works and shaft-sinking preparation under way. 

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
NexGen Energy, tel +1 306 954 2275.