Mr. Pat Ryan reports

UCORE ANNOUNCES A US$4 MILLION AWARD FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Innovation Metals Corp. (IMC), Ucore Rare Metals Inc. has been awarded a firm fixed-price $4-million (U.S.) other transaction agreement (OT agreement or award) by the United States Army Contracting Command-Orlando (ACC-ORL or U.S. DoD (Department of Defense)) to conduct a rare earth element (REE) separation technology capabilities prototype project at the company's RapidSX commercialization and demonstration facility (CDF) in Kingston, Ont., utilizing its 52-stage RapidSX demonstration plant for the separation of mixed heavy and light REE concentrate feedstocks.

The objectives of the project are to present to the U.S. DoD:

1. The capability to commercially source a sustainable domestic (that is, United States and Canada) processing facility for converting heavy and light REE feedstock sources to salable individual rare earth products.
2. A new innovative separation process that increases the ability to create domestic REE processing plants.

It is anticipated that upon successful completion of the project, a follow-on production OT agreement may be issued to further support Ucore's REE separation capabilities in North America, led by its flagship Louisiana strategic metals complex (SMC) planned for Alexandria, La., as announced on April 6, 2023.

"We believe that Ucore has one of the west's most compelling rare-earth-supply-chain business models," stated Pat Ryan, Ucore chairman and chief executive officer. "This U.S. DoD project will allow us to demonstrate the RapidSX technology platform for rare earth element separation and will include original equipment manufacturers' qualification trials in co-ordination with our commercial development activities at the company's planned Louisiana SMC.

"The rare earth element processing opportunity afforded Ucore through this award is pivotal as the company continues to seek out and collaborate with like-minded upstream and downstream partners as part of a western rare-earth-element supply chain solution."

REEs are critical to many defence and commercial technologies, including those relying on rare earth permanent magnets to convert electrical to mechanical energy. Demand for these unique elements is expected to increase significantly as the electrification of the worldwide vehicle fleet continues.

This OT agreement will allow the company to operate the RapidSX demonstration plant for extended periods of nearly continuous operation, with the goal of demonstrating the following attributes to the U.S. DoD:

1. Rare earth separation processing capability at a rate more efficient than conventional solvent extraction (CSX);
2. Separation technology applicability to both light and heavy REEs with the same equipment;
3. A continuous process working facility capable of processing tonnes of feedstock; and
4. An increase in the company's RapidSX technology readiness level (TRL).

In addition to increasing the TRL of the RapidSX technology and developing a corresponding techno-economic assessment, the project is designed to demonstrate that RapidSX can be used to efficiently and quickly separate individual light and heavy REEs and compounds (such as PrNd (praseodymium/neodymium), Pr, Nd, Tb (terbium), and Dy (dysprosium)) sourced from a domestic-friendly mixed heavy-rare-earth-oxide concentrate feedstock source.

Background information about the award process

On Nov. 10, 2022, the U.S. DoD issued a request for solutions (RFS) seeking vendors and suppliers of innovative REE projects that can promote the adoption of REE recovery and separation technologies that incorporate advanced processing capabilities with the ability to meet the U.S. DoD's requirements.

On Jan. 17, 2023, Ucore, through IMC, submitted a solution to the U.S. DoD in response to the RFS, based on the execution of its separation technology development program in Kingston, Ont., and its commercial deployment advancements in Louisiana. Ucore's solution described the proposed project and the use of its proprietary RapidSX separation technology at the CDF utilizing the demonstration plant.

On June 2, 2023, the OT agreement was finalized and awarded to the company, through IMC, by ACC-ORL. Pursuant to the terms of the OT agreement, the company is to pursue and complete the project in stages, and provide regular reporting and information to ACC-ORL. The payment milestones are divided into fixed tranches and tied to the successful completion of each stage.

About Ucore Rare Metals Inc.

Ucore is focused on rare and critical metal resources, extraction, beneficiation, and separation technologies with the potential for production, growth and scalability. Ucore's vision and plan is to become a leading advanced technology company, providing best-in-class metal separation products and services to the mining and mineral extraction industry.

Through strategic partnerships, this plan includes disrupting the People's Republic of China's control of the North American REE supply chain through the near-term development of a heavy and light rare earth processing facility in the U.S. state of Louisiana, subsequent SMCs in Canada and Alaska, and the longer-term development of Ucore's 100-per-cent controlled Bokan-Dotson Ridge rare heavy REE project on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska, U.S.

We seek Safe Harbor.