Canadian uranium developer NexGen Energy has unveiled a major dual-market equity raising, securing commitments for about C$400-million in North America and A$400-million in Australia to fund its flagship Rook I uranium project in Saskatchewan.

The Vancouver-headquartered group said on Wednesday it had entered into two separate underwriting deals – one in Canada and the US, and another in Australia – that would collectively raise close to C$800-million at C$12.08 a share.

Under the Canadian leg, a syndicate of underwriters led by Merrill Lynch Canad has agreed to acquire 33.1-million shares on a bought deal basis, generating gross proceeds of about C$400-million.

Separately, Aitken Mount Capital Partners will underwrite the issue of 30.5-million shares, to be settled in the form of CHESS Depositary Interests, to sophisticated and professional investors in Australia. The issue price is set in line with the Canadian deal, equivalent to A$12.08 a share, with gross proceeds of about A$400-million. Canaccord Genuity will act as joint lead manager and bookrunner but not underwriter for the Australian tranche.

NexGen said the capital would be directed towards advancing engineering work and pre-production costs for Rook I, which is billed as the world’s largest and lowest-cost new uranium mine. “The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to advance engineering of the Rook I Project, for Rook I preproduction capital costs and for general corporate purposes,” it said.

NexGen noted that the completion of each leg of the equity raising was not conditional on the other. 

The offers are expected to close around October 15, subject to approvals from the TSX and the NYSE. NexGen’s CHESS Depositary Interests are expected to remain in a trading halt until the conclusion of the Australian bookbuild, anticipated before the ASX market opens on Monday, October 6.

The Rook I Project, located in the Athabasca basin in northern Saskatchewan, has been framed as a generational uranium development. A feasibility study has outlined what NexGen describes as “elite environmental performance and industry-leading economics". The company is targeting first production later this decade to meet rising global demand for nuclear fuel as countries seek to decarbonise electricity supply.

NexGen said its strategy was to set “the most elite environmental and social governance standards” while developing what it expected to be the world’s largest low-cost producing uranium mine.