Episode Details

Interview with Janet Lee Sheriff, Director & CEO of Verdera Energy

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/verdera-energy-tsxvv-high-grade-resource-in-new-mexico-positioned-for-us-uranium-growth-10515

Recording date: 25th September 2026

Verdera Energy Corp. (TSXV:V, OTCQB:VUECF) is a New Mexico-focused uranium developer built around in-situ recovery (ISR), the extraction method behind roughly 60% of global uranium output. The company holds private mineral rights over approximately 400 square miles of the Grants Uranium District, historically one of the world's most productive uranium regions and once a leading source of U.S. supply.

The portfolio spans four core projects. Crownpoint and Hosta Butte hold a current NI 43-101 estimate of 23.42 million pounds Indicated and 5.36 million pounds Inferred. Nose Rock, West Largo and Ambrosia Lake carry historic estimates that have yet to be verified as current resources. Following the sale of Treeline, the combined portfolio stands at roughly 86.6 million pounds of current and historic uranium.

Verdera's most distinctive asset is its data. The company acquired the Uranium Resources Inc. database with its enCore Energy spin-out and separately bought the Kerr-McGee archive. Together these cover about 90% of New Mexico's historic uranium records, including around 250,000 drill hole logs and, according to CEO Janet Lee-Sheriff, historic wellfield plans and designs. Staff in Durango, Colorado, are scanning and consolidating the records.

That archive is now being put to work in two ways. At West Largo, where the historic estimate totals 17.2 million pounds with the bulk grading 0.30% eU₃O₈, the team has recovered the original drill logs and is incorporating them into an NI 43-101 technical report. Management believes this may remove the need for validation drilling. Separately, the archive underpinned the sale of the non-core Treeline project to Americas Uranium, which closed on 24 September 2026. Verdera received US$100,000 in cash and C$200,000 in shares, with C$1.8 million more in shares due over 36 months and a retained 1.5% royalty. Management expects further transactions of this kind.

The company is well funded for its current stage. Lee-Sheriff cited about C$23 million in the bank, while the presentation shows C$24 million in cash and marketable securities at 31 August 2026. The company's own peer comparison puts Verdera at C$0.36 of enterprise value per pound, well below enCore at C$8.02 and Laramide at C$1.54. Part of that discount reflects the historic status of most of Verdera's resource base.

Social licence is the central non-technical challenge. New Mexico's legacy of conventional mining left strong community concerns, and past projects stalled at state level. Lee-Sheriff, who also leads the Clean Energy Association of New Mexico, is pursuing a two-track strategy of state and federal engagement alongside hands-on community work with tribes and residents. The Cibola County commissioners' three-to-two vote in favour of supporting ISR extraction, taken the day before the interview, is an early sign of shifting sentiment.

Key watch-items include the West Largo NI 43-101 report, further monetisation of non-core assets, county and state permitting signals, and the quarterly release of restricted enCore-related shares through February 2027. Verdera's stated long-term goal is production, delivered with partners experienced in ISR operations.

View Verdera Energy's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/verdera-energy

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