Mr. Mike Schrider reports

UCORE COMPLETES RAPIDSX(TM) DEMO PLANT COMMISSIONING - BEGINS US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. has completed its planned commissioning procedures for the company's RapidSX commercial demonstration plant for the separation of heavy and light rare earth elements (HREEs, LREEs or REEs). The demo plant is located within Ucore's 5,000-square-foot RapidSX commercialization and demonstration facility (CDF) in Kingston, Ont.

"Since early this year, the company has been testing, adjusting and optimizing its 52-stage demo plant to meet its RapidSX commercialization and demonstration deployment objectives in Louisiana," stated Mike Schrider, PE, Ucore vice-president and chief operating officer. "Ucore is very pleased to announce the completion of commissioning procedures with its third and final mixed REE chemical concentrate and the commencement of its U.S. DoD demonstration program. The objectives of this program are to establish a direct techno-economic comparison between conventional solvent extraction [CSX] and RapidSX for separating heavy and light rare earth elements and to establish RapidSX technology for commercial deployment in North America."

The CDF facility is operated by Ucore's commercialization partner, Kingston Process Metallurgy Inc. (KPM).

"KPM has been assisting in the development of RapidSX since right after Ucore acquired the technology in May of 2020," stated Dr. Boyd Davis, PhD, co-principal of KPM. "We are very pleased to see the successful transition from the final LREE commissioning feed to the HREE demonstration feed with no operational upsets. The automated front-end leach facility has been commissioned, is running on spec and matches the RapidSX throughput. During the final commissioning phase, we processed over one tonne of mixed rare earth feed in less than one week of run time while hitting our product specification targets -- it is rewarding when a technology matches and even exceeds expectations."

KPM's project leader, Jonathan Leung, MEng, added: "It is an exciting time for the team in Kingston. We are running 24/7 until the holidays and back at the same pace in the first week of January. All 52 stages of the demo plant are operational, and the mechanical and control systems have been fully tested and enhanced during commissioning. We are now focusing on the loading/scrubbing balance of the first heavy rare earth demonstration run, just like in any solvent extraction plant."

The company expects to achieve a number of milestones in Q1 2024 and looks forward to providing updates regarding enhanced RapidSX results and performance metrics, its U.S. Department of Defense and government of Canada demonstration programs, and to further detail the financing and technical development pathway from its Kingston, Ont., CDF to the LA-SMC in Alexandria, La.

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 establishment 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.

We seek Safe Harbor.