Mr. Kurt Budge reports

LEADING EDGE MATERIALS CLOSES FIRST TRANCHE OF C$ 6,000,000 PRIVATE PLACEMENT WITH BINDING STANDBY SUBSCRIPTION AND COMMITMENT OF CORNERSTONE SHAREHOLDER

Leading Edge Materials Corp. has closed a first tranche of the private placement announced previously on July 12, 2026, issuing 16,032,000 common shares at a price of 25 cents per share for gross proceeds of $4,008,000. The company's cornerstone shareholder, Eric Krafft, has agreed to subscribe for any units not otherwise purchased by investors under the private placement.

The common shares were issued as part of a unit private placement. Each Unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the company and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share at a price of 40 cents per warrant share until the date which is two years from the closing date of the private placement.

Leading Edge Materials intends to use the net proceeds to advance the company's projects in Sweden and Romania as well as for general working capital and corporate purposes. In particular, following the recent award of a 25-year mining lease for the Norra Karr heavy rare earth elements project, proceeds will support prefeasibility study workstreams and environmental permitting for that project, alongside studies related to a possible restart of the Woxna graphite mine and processing plant. The company continues to seek alternative capital for its Romanian exploration activities, with on-the-groundwork focused on further definition of the most promising polymetallic targets.

A finder's fee of 6 per cent was paid to an arm's-length third party on a portion of the private placement. The private placement is subject to certain conditions, including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The securities issued pursuant to the private placement are subject to applicable statutory resale restrictions, including a hold period expiring on Dec. 19, 2026, pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws.

This news release is not a prospectus under Regulation (EU) 2017/1129. The company has not authorized any offer of securities to the public (as defined in the European Union prospectus regulation) in any EEA (European Economic Area) member state and no such prospectus has been or will be prepared in connection with the private placement.

The company expects certain insiders of the company to participate in the private placement. Any participation by insiders in the private placement constitutes a related party transaction as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101, Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. However, the company expects to rely on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 based on the fact that neither the fair market value of the units subscribed for by the insiders nor the consideration for the units paid by such insiders would exceed 25 per cent of the company's market capitalization.

About Leading Edge Materials Corp.

Leading Edge Materials is a Canadian-listed company focused on developing critical raw material assets across the European Union. Its primary focus is the wholly owned Norra Karr heavy rare earth element project in Sweden -- one of the world's most strategically significant heavy rare earth deposits and among the few advanced-stage projects within the European Union capable of producing dysprosium, terbium and yttrium at meaningful scale.

Situated in one of the globe's most politically and regulatory stable mining environments, Norra Karr is well positioned to contribute directly to the objectives of the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act, including the bloc's target of sourcing 10 per cent of its critical raw material consumption domestically by 2030. Beyond rare earths, the company also holds the Woxna graphite mine in Sweden -- a fully constructed and permitted facility -- as well as a 90-per-cent stake in the Bihor Sud nickel-cobalt exploration alliance in Romania.

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