Mr. William Dawes of Mkango reports

MKANGO RESOURCES LIMITED ANNOUNCES COMMISSIONING OF SECOND UK INSERMA UNIT

Mkango Resources Ltd.'s HyProMag Ltd. has successfully commissioned a second automated hard-disk-drive (HDD) preprocessing unit in the United Kingdom, co-located at the recently opened commercial-scale magnet recycling and manufacturing facility at Tyseley Energy Park, Birmingham.

Highlights:

• Cutting-edge technology developed and manufactured by HyProMag partner, Inserma Anoia SL, to separate the magnet and printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA) from HDDs in seconds;
• As part of the commissioning phase, a batch of 13,000 HDDs is being processed at Tyseley, with potential for one unit to process more than 30,000 HDDs per week on a single shift once fully commissioned;
• The separated magnet assemblies from the HDDs will be processed through the patented hydrogen processing of magnet scrap (HPMS) technology being commercialized by HyProMag, and the PCBAs will be sold for precious metals recovery;
• Low-cost sustainable automated solution, maximising potential value recovery and recyclability of critical elements in the HDD.

The technology is being rolled out into multiple jurisdictions with partners Inserma, Intelligent Lifecycle Solutions Ltd. (ILS) and Cotec Holdings Ltd., with further units already delivered for commissioning at HyProMag GmbH's facility in Pforzheim, Germany, and to HyProMag USA.

William Dawes, chief executive of Mkango and director of HyProMag, commented: "This is the second groundbreaking technology to be brought to commercial scale by HyProMag and its partners. Complementary to the HPMS technology being commercialized in the U.K., Germany and USA, the Inserma technology unlocks a burgeoning source of NdFeB [neodymium-iron-boron] feedstock from HDDs, geared to large-scale data centre deployment on a global scale, which is expected to be a major source of end-of-life HDDs. A five-times growth in data centres is expected in Europe alone."

Nick Mann, managing director of HyProMag, commented: "With millions of HDDs reaching end of life every year at data centres across the U.K., the opportunity to recover critical materials is obvious. With PCBA separation, magnet separation and the centre spindle removal, the Inserma technology not only enables material recovery but also enhances data destruction processes and can even lower those costs. So, with critical material recovery, value add, improved sustainability and lower operating costs for data destruction, this is a rare case where all stakeholders can share the benefits."

Paco Ortiz, director of Inserma, commented: "We have a long-standing working relationship with HyProMag, University of Birmingham and University of Pforzheim, and we are very excited to see the Inserma technology being deployed on a commercial scale. This creates a strong platform for Inserma to expand its reach internationally, leveraging off the network of relationships which HyProMag, Mkango and Cotec bring to the table, whilst capitalizing on the many synergies between our businesses."

Jon Godfrey, director of ILS, commented: "We are excited to see this collaborative effort between ILS, HyProMag and Inserma come to fruition. With the first U.K. Inserma unit already commissioned at the ILS site in Airdrie, the addition of the PCBA to this unit and the commissioning of the second full Inserma unit at Tyseley, HyProMag and ILS are well positioned to capture this growing source of feedstock from HDDs."

The Inserma technology

In September, 2024, Maginito (Mkango 79.4 per cent, Cotec 20.6 per cent) secured an exclusive agreement with Inserma to commercialize automated preprocessing of HDDs, loudspeakers and electric motors for HyProMag.

The Inserma preprocessing technology for HDDs, in combination with HyProMag's HPMS technology, has major benefits for sustainable, secure and low-cost recycling of HDDs.

Key advantages:

• Rapid automated recovery of magnet assembly and PCBA for recovery of rare earths and precious metals in separate product streams;
• Based on work to date, magnet and PCBA removal occurs in approximately three seconds per HDD, with further opportunities to reduce processing times and the potential to process more than 30,000 HDDs (approximately 15 tonnes of HDDs) per unit per five-day week on a single eight-hour shift, with the option to run multiple preprocessing units on multiple shifts;
• Avoids shredding of magnet and precious metal containing components, thereby maximizing value recovery;
• Simultaneous removal of magnet and centre spindle further facilitates subsequent shredding and reduces blade breakage, costs and carbon footprint;
• Secure data destruction of the remainder of the HDD can remain on site;
• No heat treatment or dismantling required for magnet recovery, and production of separated streams facilitates downstream processes;
• Processing of the magnet stream by HPMS produces a clean powder for either short-loop recycling or long-loop chemical processing, which are at commercial and pilot scale at Tyseley, respectively.

Future Inserma units for HDDs can be co-located at hyperscale data centres, mobile or stationary shredding facilities, smelters, third party recycling sites, or HyProMag facilities, and HyProMag is engaging with hyperscalers and HDD recycling companies in multiple jurisdictions globally.

Other collaborations with Inserma include preprocessing solutions for recycling of magnets from loudspeakers pursuant to the collaboration with Areera.

About Mkango Resources Ltd.

Mkango is listed on the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) and the TSX Venture Exchange. Mkango's corporate strategy is to become a market leader in the production of recycled rare earth magnets, alloys and oxides, through its interest in Maginito, which is owned 79.4 per cent by Mkango and 20.6 per cent by Cotec, and to develop new sustainable sources of neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium to supply accelerating demand from electric vehicles, wind turbines and other clean energy technologies.

Maginito holds a 100-per-cent interest in HyProMag and a 90-per-cent direct and indirect interest (assuming conversion of Maginito's convertible loan) in HyProMag GmbH, focused on short-loop rare earth magnet recycling in the United Kingdom and Germany, respectively, and a 100-per-cent interest in Mkango Rare Earths U.K. Ltd, focused on long-loop rare earth magnet recycling in the United Kingdom through a chemical route.

Mkango also owns the advanced-stage Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi and the Pulawy rare earths separation project in Poland. Both the Songwe and Pulawy projects have been selected as strategic projects under the European Union Critical Raw Materials Act. Mkango has signed a business combination agreement with Crown PropTech Acquisitions to list the Songwe Hill and Pulawy rare earths projects on the Nasdaq Stock Market through a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger under the name Mkango Rare Earths Ltd.

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