Mr. Craig Taylor reports

DEFENSE METALS ADVANCES PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY

Defense Metals Corp. has provided a progress update with respect to its 2023 site infrastructure geotechnical investigations. The work, with the support of the Defense Metals' technical team and APEX Geoscience Ltd., is being completed by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc., one of the principal consultants for the preliminary feasibility study (PFS), regarding the company's Wicheeda rare earth element (REE) project located near Prince George, Canada.

Craig Taylor, chief executive officer of Defense Metals, commented:

"It is great to see our technical consulting teams making significant headway with the Wicheeda site investigations. Defence Metals has assembled a world-class team of experts who have both the experience and technical skills to bring this project through prefeasibility."

The SRK geotechnical investigation includes the following scopes:

• Geotechnical engineering (waste rock, tailings, contact water pond and site infrastructure geotechnical investigation);
• Tailings alternative assessment prior to advancing into PFS-level design of a preferred alternative;
• Geochemical characterization (to support mine planning/waste management and to develop preliminary water chemistry predictions for the main mine facilities).

The work completed to date included field site inspections from SRK personnel: Ed Saunders, PEng, principal consultant -- mining rock mechanics (waste storage facility geotechnical); Kirsty Ketchum, PhD, PGeo, principal consultant -- geochemistry (metal leaching and acid/alkaline rock drainage geochemical characterization); and Aton Bloem, senior consultant -- mining rock mechanics (open-pit geotechnical).

Site infrastructure geotechnical investigations planned include a series of excavated test pits, and sonic overburden drill holes designed to support the preliminary characterization of the shallow soil subsurface and bedrock foundations of potential future waste rock storage (WSF), mineralization stockpile, contact water pond (CWP), crusher, processing plant (INF) and tailings storage facility (TSF) locations.

To date, a total of 13 excavated tests pits and four sonic overburden geotechnical holes for a total of 93 metres have been completed to characterize surficial material conditions within the proposed WSF, CWP and TSF areas. Site geotechnical investigations encountered shallow overburden conditions (nil or 36.6 metres depth to bedrock.

SRK on-site engineering consultants supervised the investigations and carried out soil geotechnical logging, direct testing, sampling, photography of recovered materials, standpipe installation and co-ordination of laboratory testing. SRK will process the data collected from the sonic drilling and test pit investigations, and laboratory testing results will be incorporated into the quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) dataset.

In addition to infrastructure geotechnical investigations, SRK has commenced a tailings alternatives assessment prior to advancing into PFS-level design of a preferred alternative. This will include tailings characterization and development of design criteria, a siting evaluation and an alternatives trade-off.

As part of the geochemical characterization scopes, SRK has completed a review and compilation of site geological and geochemical data, and drill core logs that have been acquired since the 2021 preliminary economic assessment (PEA). These data will be used to develop a sampling plan of the existing drill core for geochemical characterization of the proposed mine facilities, and future set-up of on-site kinetic leach tests (barrel tests). Data will be interpreted to support mine planning/waste management and to develop preliminary water chemistry predictions for the main mine facilities (source terms). Source terms are an input to the site water and load balance model.

Excavated test pit and sonic overburden drilling is currently paused and is expected to resume as part of the WSF, CWP, INF and TSF (and TSF alternative) geotechnical investigations during September, in conjunction with the planned drilling of an additional four pit geotechnical core holes totalling 820 metres.

Qualified person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release as it relates to the Wicheeda REE project has been reviewed and approved by Kristopher J. Raffle, PGeo (B.C.), principal and consultant of APEX Geoscience of Edmonton, Alta., a director of Defense Metals and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101.

About the Wicheeda REE property

Defense Metals' 100 per cent owned, 6,759-hectare (approximately 16,702-acre) Wicheeda project is located approximately 80 kilometres northeast of the city of Prince George, B.C. (population 77,000). The Wicheeda REE project is readily accessible by all-weather gravel roads and is near infrastructure, including hydro power transmission lines and gas pipelines. The nearby Canadian National Railway and major highways allow easy access to the port facilities at Prince Rupert, the closest major North American port to Asia.

The 2021 Wicheeda REE project preliminary economic assessment technical report (PEA) outlined a robust after-tax net present value (discounted at 8 per cent) of $517-million and an 18-per-cent internal rate of return (1). This PEA contemplated an open-pit mining operation with a 1.75 to 1 (waste to mill feed) strip ratio providing a 1.8-million-tonne-per-year mill throughput producing an average of 25,423 tonnes of rare earth oxides annually over a 16-year mine life. A phase 1 initial pit strip ratio of 0.63 to 1 (waste to mill feed) would yield rapid access to higher-grade surface mineralization in year 1 and payback of $440-million initial capital within five years.

About Defense Metals Corp.

Defense Metals is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the development of its 100-per-cent-owned Wicheeda rare earth element deposit located near Prince George, B.C., Canada.

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