Nexus Uranium Hires Veteran ISR Engineer as Chord Drilling Decision Looms
24.05.2026 - 16:35:36 | boerse-global.de
Nexus Uranium has brought in Mark Hollenbeck, a mining engineer with over three decades of regulatory and project experience, to bolster its team just as the company awaits the outcome of a critical hearing for its Chord uranium project in South Dakota. Hollenbeck's expertise in in-situ recovery (ISR) operations — he spent more than a decade steering enCore Energy's Dewey-Burdock project through approvals from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency — carries particular weight given Chord's location just three miles southeast of that very site, roughly seven miles north of Edgemont in Fall River County.
The five-day hearing before the South Dakota Board of Minerals and Environment concluded on May 22 at the Mueller Civic Center in Hot Springs. The board has yet to issue a formal ruling on the exploration permit application (EXNI 453), which Nexus had flagged as the final state-level hurdle for the project. Without that green light, the company's fully funded first drilling program — planned for the summer of 2026 — faces a shrinking window.
Under state law, a permit must be granted within 30 days of board approval. The company's internal roadmap targets a drill permit award in June 2026, meaning any delay beyond that month would compress the seasonal working window for the planned 38 reverse-circulation exploration holes, each up to 700 feet deep. Nexus has said it will not build new roads to carry out the program.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Nexus Uranium?
Investors have already priced in uncertainty. Shares closed at €0.45 in Frankfurt on Friday, down 7.96% on the day, extending a seven-day slide of 22.77%. The stock now sits 75.36% below its 52-week high and just 2.5% above the October 2025 low of €0.44. Year-to-date losses stand at 63.48%, with annualized volatility above 86% reflecting the outsized reaction to project-specific news typical of a junior explorer with a single-digit million-euro market cap.
The broader uranium market, meanwhile, continues to provide a supportive backdrop. Spot uranium traded at $84.70 per pound on Friday, still 18.38% higher than a year ago despite recent softening. The structural supply deficit — estimated at around 50 million pounds annually — is expected to widen as demand grows 28% by 2030 and potentially doubles by 2040. Key drivers include the build-out of nuclear reactors: more than two-thirds of global units under construction are in Asia alone, with roughly 40 in China. Cameco recently reaffirmed its annual guidance and highlighted the long-term growth trajectory for nuclear.
Policy tailwinds have also strengthened. The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" passed in 2025 preserves and expands tax credits for nuclear power, while new reactors now have until 2033 to meet construction deadlines. The CME Group is also planning a physically delivered uranium futures contract that could boost the commodity's visibility. For a developer like Nexus, however, the macro environment is secondary to an approved drill permit.
A handful of US economic releases due May 28 — the second estimate of first-quarter GDP, durable goods orders, and personal income and spending including the PCE price index — could influence general risk appetite, but for Nexus the single event that matters is the official decision from South Dakota. If the board's ruling arrives soon, the 30-day permit clock starts and the summer program stays on track. If it drags, the already narrow operating window for 2026 closes further. The market's gaze is fixed squarely on one document.
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