TORONTO, March 11, 2026, 11:28 EDT
Shares of Denison Mines Corp (U.S.-listed) edged down roughly 1.6% to $3.98 by late Wednesday morning, following its 2025 results filing. The company also reiterated plans to start construction at the Phoenix uranium project in Saskatchewan sometime this month.
Phoenix stands out as the asset with the potential to shift Denison from a distant developer into a genuine uranium producer. The site relies on in-situ recovery, or ISR, which extracts uranium by dissolving it underground and then pumping it to the surface, skipping the usual mining route. Denison hasn’t budged from its plan to begin output by mid-2028.
Investors aren’t fixated on past earnings—attention has shifted to whether Phoenix can secure financing and customer deals ahead of its first production. Denison’s annual report notes a US$6 million prepayment landed in December, tied to a forward sales agreement for 4.5 million pounds of uranium between 2028 and 2033. The company also says negotiations are well underway for over 12 million pounds in further sales commitments.
Denison CEO David Cates said the company expects to start site preparation for Phoenix later this month, adding he still considers it among the “few new sizeable sources” of uranium likely to come online before the decade wraps up. According to the annual report, Denison ended the year with C$465.9 million in cash, working capital of C$512.6 million—a key measure of short-term liquidity—and physical uranium holdings valued at C$190.3 million. Denison Mines Corp.
Denison’s top-line figures stayed weak. For 2025, revenue landed at C$4.9 million, while net loss widened to C$217.3 million from C$91.6 million in 2024. The company attributed C$148.2 million of this year’s loss to fair-value changes on its convertible notes—debt that can be swapped for equity—and associated hedge options, according to
Denison’s advance didn’t line up with a broad sector play. Cameco slipped 1.3%, NexGen gave up around 1.5% in New York, yet Energy Fuels added 1.1%. Uranium stocks were a mixed bag, investors parsing the same backdrop.
The environment remains favorable. Back in January, Reuters noted long-term uranium contract prices were closing in on $100 per pound. By February, spot prices had surged to a two-year peak at $101, only to slip back into the $85-$90 range. Those levels are key—they set the stage for utilities deciding whether to commit to the long-term deals that underpin new mining projects.
Phoenix pushed past two milestones that had been on investors’ radar for years. Denison secured final federal signoff back in February—marking Phoenix as the first Canadian uranium mine in over two decades to get federal construction approval. After that, the company made its final investment decision, leaving a March construction kickoff in sight.
Phoenix hasn’t started throwing off cash yet—it’s still in the buildout phase. In January, Denison bumped its post-FID initial capex estimate up to around C$600 million, which is 20% higher than the inflation-adjusted figure from last year’s feasibility. By the end of 2025, long-term liabilities rise to C$685.6 million, the bulk of that tied to US$345 million in convertible notes. The big risk? Another round of cost increases or a weaker uranium market could keep Denison’s shares on the sidelines, waiting for that production narrative to deliver.
Right now, investors are looking at the March 10 filing as more of a progress marker than a new spark. Next up, it comes down to action: can Denison mobilize teams this month and actually lock in supply deals before Phoenix hits its mid-2028 milestone?
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