Mr. Michael Schrider reports

UCORE COMPLETES LOCAL LOUISIANA TAX EXEMPTION APPROVAL PROCESS FOR 7,500-TONNE RARE EARTH SEPARATION PLANT

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. has completed the local approval process of the Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) associated with its selection of an 80,800-square-foot brownfield facility within the England Airpark in Alexandria, La., as the location for its developing Louisiana strategic metals complex (LA-SMC) rare earth element (REE) separation and oxide production facility. The $8.2-million (U.S.) ITEP incentive is part of the broader $15-million (U.S.) incentive package offered by Louisiana Economic Development and previously announced by Ucore on April 6, 2023.

The Industrial Tax Exemption Program is administered by and subject to the contract between the company and the Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry (C&I board), and requires additional approvals from the Rapides Parish's Police Jury, School Board and Sheriff's Office. These approvals were obtained within 60 days after the C&I board voted to approve the project on July 14, 2023.

The ITEP offers up to a 10-year exemption to the company (five-year initial term at 80 per cent and five-year renewal term at 80 per cent), which may result in $8.2-million in projected tax savings for the company during the time of the exemption period, subject to final approval by the governor, on the local ad valorem property tax for the facility. The company's commitments to creating 100 family wage-paying jobs, its planned capital investment of $75-million (U.S.) and a statewide baseline of employees from which new jobs at the facility will be counted are the primary factors in obtaining and retaining the exemption.

Ucore and the England Authority have established a multidecade lease arrangement to ensure the long-term viability of the LA-SMC, and continued employment opportunities for the residents of Rapides and surrounding parishes.

"Ucore is extremely grateful to Louisiana Economic Development, the C&I board, and the Rapides Parish's Police Jury, School Board and Sheriff's Office for their support in granting the ITEP approvals to-date, required to advance our LA-SMC project in Alexandria, La.," stated Mike Schrider, Ucore vice-president and chief operating officer. "The overall state and local support we are receiving for the establishment of one of the first modern rare earth element processing facilities in North America has been an amazing experience, and we are diligently working to execute a Louisiana project that has the potential to significantly enhance the manufacturing landscape across North America as the world shifts to electrification."

The company is also making significant strides in its raw material supply agreements, prepurchase and supply offtake agreements, other potential debt, grant and/or incentive programs with the Canadian and U.S. governments, and other entities as it executes the commercial demonstration and deployment of its RapidSX REE separation technology platform originating from its Kingston, Ont., commercialization and demonstration facility (CDF). These efforts and the knowledge transfer from the CDF will continue throughout 2023 and 2024, and culminate with planned LA-SMC production throughput of 2,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) TREO (total rare earth oxides) (ex-cerium and ex-yttrium) by the beginning of 2025, with expansion to 5,000 tpa by 2026 and a final estimated increase to 7,500 tpa for the fully completed project in 2027.

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 are 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 strategic metal complexes in Canada and Alaska, and the longer-term development of Ucore's 100-per-cent-controlled Bokan-Dotson Ridge rare HREE project on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska, U.S.

We seek Safe Harbor.