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Ucore Rare Metals Inc
Symbol UCU
Shares Issued 277,049,826
Close 2018-10-19 C$ 0.165
Market Cap C$ 45,713,221
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Ucore Rare Metals begins financing talks with AIDEA

2018-10-22 09:39 ET - News Release

Mr. Jim McKenzie reports

ALASKA GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT AGENCY ENTERS FINANCING DISCUSSIONS WITH UCORE

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. has entered financing discussions with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) for Ucore's strategic metals complex (SMC) as the initial phase of Ucore's overall Bokan-Dotson Ridge rare earth mine project.

The commencement of discussions has been documented by a letter of support from AIDEA, now available to the public. The letter is addressed from John Springsteen, chief executive officer and executive director of AIDEA, to Jim McKenzie, president and chief executive officer of Ucore.

Pursuant to the letter, the parties acknowledge that the construction of the SMC will be the highest development priority, due to market demand, and will predate the planned ore extraction infrastructure at the Bokan rare earth element (REE) mine. The letter also sets out the targeted completion date of late 2020 for the SMC, which will be accepting feedstock from multiple domestic and international locations.

The financing for the production facility is expected to be furnished pursuant to Senate Bill 99, approved by the Alaska Legislature in 2014. The bill provides AIDEA with the discretion to issue up to $145-million in AIDEA bonds to Ucore in order to finance the infrastructure and construction costs of the Bokan REE project. The SMC has been designated as a prospective component of that $145-million undertaking, and as stated in the letter, AIDEA has now engaged in the process of examining methods to provide funding for the SMC. The AIDEA financing process will ultimately incorporate a review of Ucore's site selection, capex (capital expenditure) requirements, opex (operating expenditure) computations and off-take plans.

"We'd like to express our gratitude to AIDEA and the State of Alaska for the initiation of this advanced-stage process, for the support inherent in the letter and for the significant funding available via Senate Bill 99," said Jim McKenzie, president and chief executive officer of Ucore. "The SMC will initially be constructed to process byproduct and primary rare earth concentrates from non-Chinese operations that require REE separation services to produce a saleable product in the current Chinese-dominated rare earth element worldwide market. The process required to get us to this advanced stage has been multifaceted, and the work of AIDEA to shepherd this important southeast Alaska facility is indispensable to us. A particular word of thanks to Mr. Springsteen and his staff."

"AIDEA staff and board members share our opinion that the development of an industrial plant such as the SMC in Ketchikan will lead to a diversification of the state's economy and provide a basis for the establishment of a U.S. REE supply chain, a goal which is important to both Alaska and the United States as a whole," said Mike Schrider, chief operating officer of Ucore.

The letter also acknowledges Ucore's commitment to obtain local government and regional economic association support for the SMC and the participation of two Alaskan entrepreneurs and business leaders: Randy Johnson and Mike Barry who are both members of Ucore's advisory board, providing local knowledge, expertise, and advice to Ucore's management team. The working site for the construction of the SMC is currently undergoing due diligence studies, work that is being conducted by R&M Engineering of Ketchikan.

About Ucore Rare Metals Inc.

Ucore Rare Metals is a development-phase company focused on rare metal resources, extraction and beneficiation technologies with near-term potential for production, growth and scalability. The company has a 100-per-cent ownership stake in the Bokan-Dotson Ridge rare earth mine.

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