Mr. Mark Saxon reports

TASMAN'S NORRA KARR HEAVY RARE EARTH ELEMENT PROJECT HIGHLIGHTED BY EUROPEAN COMMISSIONS "ERECON" STUDY

Tasman Metals Ltd.'s Norra Karr heavy rare earth element project has been highlighted by the European Commission's Erecon (European Rare Earths Competency Network) study.

The European Commission (EC) has released the final report into the risks and opportunities within the European rare earth element (REE) supply chain. The report, entitled, "Strengthening the European Rare Earths Supply Chain," was completed by Erecon and can be found on-line.

The Erecon group was commissioned by the European Parliament in 2013. The price volatility and access restrictions experienced by consumers of REEs from 2010 to 2102 was recognized as a significant threat to Europe's mega-industries, and Europe's capacity to play a role in the development and use of emerging low-carbon technologies. Erecon brought together more than 80 experts from industry, academia and policy-making to look at ways of improving the security of Europe's REE supply. Tasman's technical staff contributed at length to relevant working groups and the steering committee.

"We congratulate the Erecon team on the technical rigour and effort to understand the opaque supply chain of REEs," said Mark Saxon, Tasman's president and chief executive officer. "The conclusions and policy recommendations demonstrate an understanding of the growing importance of resource security to Europe and need for long-term strategic planning. Volatile pricing and insecure access to REEs and other raw materials threaten to undermine European competitiveness, and may slow the uptake and development of priority low-carbon technologies, such as electric vehicles and offshore wind energy. Erecon has provided Tasman with a deep European network across the entire REE sector."

The Erecon group identified significant threats to Europe as a result of the current Chinese heavy REE supply monopoly. It was concluded that the Chinese government regards its REE resources as a national endowment of strategic importance and will continue to capitalize on the opportunities this offers for developing high-tech industries. Whether China will be a reliable future supplier of heavy REEs was viewed as an open question, with the high environmental impact of mining very low-grade clay deposits in southern China, the prevalence of illegal production and the lack of transparency cited as placing the REE industry outside normal supply-demand considerations.

Opportunities for primary REE production in Europe were extensively compiled and reviewed by the Erecon team, which identified two advanced-stage projects. Tasman's Norra Karr heavy REE project in Sweden is the only one on the European mainland, with the capacity to be a major supplier of the most critical REEs for decades.

A series of policy recommendations are provided by Erecon to increase the opportunity for REE production in Europe. Of note, "levelling the playing field for European HREE exploration through co-funding for prefeasibility and bankable feasibility studies" is proposed as a policy option, including that "the EC and member states should evaluate possibilities for supporting the extensive [research and development] necessary for prefeasibility and bankable feasibility studies, to avoid high-quality deposits in Europe simply going unexplored."

We seek Safe Harbor.