Mr. Michael Schrider reports

LOUISIANA GOVERNOR EXECUTES UCORE'S SMC INDUSTRIAL TAX EXEMPTION CONTRACT

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. has a series of significant updates regarding the continuing development of its rare earth element processing refinery, the Louisiana strategic metals complex (LA-SMC) in Alexandria, La.

Final industrial tax exemption program contract

The governor of Louisiana, Jon Bel Edwards, has executed the contract for exemption of ad valorem taxes for Ucore's SMC project. This Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) provides 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 will result in an estimated $8.2-million (U.S.) in projected tax savings for the company during the time of the exemption period on the local ad valorem property tax for the LA-SMC 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 (LED) and previously announced by Ucore on April 6, 2023.

"Ucore is extremely grateful to the governor and his staff at LED for guiding our project through this process," stated Mike Schrider, PE, Ucore vice-president and chief operating officer. "The support shown by Louisiana and all the local entities that have come together to enable us to pursue this critical project cannot be overstated. Knowing that we have local, regional and state support, coupled with federal support through the U.S. Department of Defense and, most recently, from the government of Canada -- truly provides a North American solution as we focus on keeping manufacturing jobs in the United States and Canada."

"The recent trip to Ucore's Kingston, Ont., Rapidsx demo plant really reinforced the size, scale and importance to North America of what Ucore is working to accomplish for the electric vehicle industry," stated England Airpark's executive director, Ralph Hennessy. "They have assembled a very capable team to construct their facility at the England Airpark, representing a significant milestone in Louisiana's pathway to a multienergy economy -- we couldn't be more pleased to be associated with this transformative project, which will change how the world processes rare earth elements."

The company is very pleased to announce the selection of Orbital Engineering's Baton Rouge, La., office for construction engineering services and the selection of Ratcliff Construction of Alexandria, La., for construction contracting services. Both Orbital and Ratcliff will work hand in hand with the Ucore process engineering team consisting of Ucore, Mech-Chem and Associates, Kingston Process Metallurgy, and a host of local and regional subcontractors as the company transitions from the demonstration and scale-up work at its Rapidsx commercialization and demonstration facility (CDF) in Kingston, Ont. The work at the CDF is centred upon the 52-stage Rapidsx rare earth element demonstration plant and the required scale-up of the Rapidsx equipment necessary to construct the LA-SMC.

Following a Nov. 30, 2023, programmatic kick-off meeting for the construction engineering and contracting effort of the LA-SMC, members of the Ucore LA-SMC program team visited the demo plant in Kingston on Dec. 4, 2023. The purpose of this visit was to start the copy and paste transition process from the work originating in Kingston to the required work in Alexandria. The team focused on materials of construction, fabrication, constructability and knowledge transfer of lessons learned during design, construction and commissioning to the LA-SMC's three-phased construction process. This process consists of a planned production ramp-up from 2,000 (in the first half of 2025) to 5,000 (in 2026) to 7,500 (in 2027) tonnes per annum (ex-cerium and ex-yttrium) of total rare earth oxide (TREO) throughput.

In addition to participation by two different Louisiana electrical, controls and mechanical subcontractors to Ratcliff, the company was delighted to host senior leadership from its soon-to-be landlord at the England Airpark and its local economic development partner, Louisiana Central.

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 strategic metal complexes 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, United States.

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