Mr. Gary Lewis reports

AEF COMMENCES STAGE 3 TESTWORK PROGRAM TARGETING BATTERY-GRADE HIGH-PURITY MANGANESE SULPHATE PRODUCTION

AE Fuels Corp.'s Australian subsidiary, Advanced Energy Fuels (Aust) Pty. Ltd., has signed a stage 3 research agreement with Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, to undertake testwork aimed at progressing a scalable purification pathway for battery-grade, high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) with optionality for electrolytic manganese metal (EMM) capability.

Gary Lewis, chief executive officer and director of the company, said: "This program reflects our collective desire to make smart decisions based on quality data to accelerate progress and reduce risk. Co-funded through CSIRO's Kick-Start program, Stage 3 builds on CSIRO's world-class research to deliver the data and know-how required for scale-up. Our goal remains a fully integrated global manganese supply chain, from mine to battery-grade manganese sulphate. AEF is executing in disciplined stages, validating each step and derisking before committing major capital whilst simultaneously securing commercial and government support. We are excited to be continuing our collaboration with CSIRO, working together to better understand these high-purity battery materials and to unlock their value."

The South Woodie Woodie manganese project

The South Woodie Woodie manganese project is a fully integrated HPMSM/EMM project designed to meet multiple and evolving specifications of both electric vehicle and energy storage system markets. To that end, AEF continues to advance a staged development plan, targeting the extraction, processing and sales of HPMSM and EMM to North American and allied markets.

The manganese deposit is located in the eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia and AEF recently finalized the acquisition with the exercise of its option with Trek Metals (Jan. 13, 2026).

Work program

Work programs supporting the development of South Woodie Woodie commenced in 2024. Given the broad usage of manganese within the lithium-ion battery market, the challenge is to produce a high-purity product suitable for both nickel-cobalt (NC) and non-NC cathodes across both mobile and stationary energy storage markets.

In 2025, AEF partnered with CSIRO, leveraging its extensive manganese testwork capability to accelerate development. Synthetic feed solutions based on South Woodie Woodie project chemistry validated a conceptual flowsheet designed to produce battery-grade HPMSM, with EMM as a potential downstream product pathway. This process will continue to add certainty to flowsheet design, with a target of delivering a prefeasibility study (PFS) by mid-2027.

AEF is progressing a staged development pathway from feed upgrading to downstream processing, including:

• Beneficiation studies in multiple rounds to support concentrate production assumptions;
• Reduction and leaching testwork to improve upstream performance ahead of purification;
• CSIRO purification programs providing the foundation for advanced pilot testwork;
• An internal mine planning review has been completed to help frame potential mining scenarios and prioritize key sensitivities for future engineering work;
• First manganese sulphate produced from South Woodie Woodie mineralization.

Processing pathway

AEF has commenced evaluation of a manganese processing flowsheet intended to guide continuing metallurgical testwork and future technical studies. The indicative flowsheet outlines a potential end-to-end processing pathway from run-of-mine material through beneficiation and downstream hydrometallurgical processing, with production of high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) and electrolytic manganese metal (EMM).

Targeting battery-grade HPMSM -- commencing final stage Mn solvent extraction (SX) testwork

The next phase of testwork (stage 3) builds on CSIRO's completed bench and pilot work, and is designed to demonstrate and optimize continuous solvent extraction (SX) purification performance, and demonstrate first production of HPMSM meeting commercial specifications. EMM remains a potential downstream product pathway, subject to future technical and commercial evaluation.

Timeline AEF is pursuing a staged project execution pathway, with each stage intended to progressively reduce technical, environmental and commercial risk on the path to first production.

Qualified person

John Levings, BSc, FAusIMM, technical director, AE Fuels, is the qualified person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, responsible for the scientific and technical information in this news release. Mr. Levings has reviewed, verified and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release. Mr. Levings is not independent of the company for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

About AE Fuels Corp.

AE Fuels is a battery materials company focused on the extraction and purification of minerals critical for the batteries that power electrification and energy storage. AEF has a multiasset portfolio strategically located in Tier 1 jurisdictions with manganese projects in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and fluorspar prospects in New Mexico in the United States. Manganese and fluorspar are essential raw materials to multiple high-growth industries and are designated critical minerals in Australia, U.S. and European Union due to their importance to energy security and clean technology supply chains. AEF is advancing development activities aimed at delivering reliable, allied-sourced supply of these materials to reduce U.S. dependence on high-risk or non-aligned jurisdictions.

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