Mr. Michael Schrider reports

UCORE VERIFIES LOUISIANA RAPIDSX EQUIPMENT SCALE-UP CONFIGURATIONS

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. has completed the scale-up testing and optimization program for its commercial-scale RapidSX computerized and motionless mixing contactor assemblies to be deployed at its Alexandria, La., strategic metal complex. This contactor equipment scale-up program (RSX-1) builds on the 7,400-plus hours of simulated commercial runtime on the company's demonstration plant at its RapidSX commercialization and demonstration facility in Kingston, Ont.

The contactor scale-up and optimization program is partially funded by Ucore's U.S. Department of War $18.4-million (U.S.) other transaction agreement modification ($20.4-million (U.S.) total) to facilitate the technology transfer from demonstration scale in Kingston to full commercial-scale deployment in Louisiana. The completion of this optimized RapidSX equipment testing marks a significant milestone in Ucore's pathway to build its first commercial RapidSX rare earth separation machine, enhanced machine A, capable of processing 600 tonnes per year of total rare earth oxides.

The objectives of the RSX-1 scale-up and optimization program were to:

• Verify the commercial scale-up of the four-inch-diameter demo plant contactors and matched phase separators, and associated piping, pumps, sensors, instruments, chemistry and operational assumptions up to the selected maximum 24-inch-diameter contactor size design for the SMC;
• Confirm that the RapidSX technology performs as expected and performs equal to or better than conventional solvent extraction in all contactor sizes expected to be deployed at the company's Louisiana SMC, under the most conservative chemistry assumptions.

The results from the RSX-1 scale-up and optimization program were as follows:

• Ucore developed an optimized operating profile for intermediate-size contactors based on over 400 completed tests with 1-1/4th-inch, two-inch, four-inch, 12-inch and 24-inch contactor diameters and configurations of organic/aqueous ratios and hydraulic flux rates.
• Ucore designed, compared, optimized and validated a 24-inch diameter contactor assembly against a four-by-12-inch-diameter contactor assembly (that is, the same total area, working in parallel) to take advantage of RapidSX's inherent equipment flexibility and modularity for varying hydraulic flux rates. This was also done for other equivalent area contactor configurations.
• Ucore selected the specific operational configurations and equipment for enhanced machine A and other planned SMC machines.

The follow-on enhanced machine A activities from the RSX-1 scale-up and optimization program are as follows:

• All testing information now exists to incorporate the results into detailed design engineering.
• As part of the final factory acceptance testing program, Ucore will test the optimized enhanced machine A individual contactor assembly configuration (that is, a two-by-eight-inch-diameter RapidSX contactor assembly) with the specifically selected components and operational assumptions as part of RSX-2 and RSX-3, planned for the rest of August and September of 2026.

The extensive 12-month RSX-1 scale-up, optimization and verification campaign was designed to evaluate mixing, phase continuity, hydraulic stability, pressure behaviour, phase disengagement and visible entrainment over a wide range of contactor diameters and operational profiles. Mass-transfer performance was compared with the CSX baseline, which represented the equilibrium reference and target performance level for determining whether the RapidSX contactors achieved the required extent of mass transfer -- resulting in final contactor assembly equipment selections and optimized operating assumptions for the Louisiana SMC.

"Ucore continues to make very deliberate progress in transitioning from its Kingston, Ont., commercialization and demonstration facility to its first commercial-scale rare earth refinery in Louisiana," stated Mike Schrider, PE, Ucore's vice-president and chief operating officer. "As announced in May, the company's first SMC RapidSX machine, enhanced machine A, will allow the processing of a variety of western mixed rare earth carbonate and/or oxide sources into NdPr, samarium, gadolinium and, potentially, yttrium, contributing to a critical western need, as new U.S. source restrictions take hold on Jan. 1, 2027."

As Ucore reported on May 28, 2026, pending construction completion, commissioning, qualification and receipt of all required financing and permits, Ucore's Louisiana SMC is designed to be capable of accepting mixed rare earth carbonate and mixed rare earth oxide from western-friendly feedstock sources and processing up to 9,600 tonnes per year of contained total rare earth oxides. The SMC is designed to be constructed and rolled out in modules to take advantage of the inherent flexibility of the RapidSX technology platform and to produce NdPr, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, SmEuGd, Tb, Dy, and other rare earth oxide products and intermediates.

About Ucore Rare Metals Inc.

Ucore is focused on rare and critical metal resource, 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, Ucore aims to support the development of a more diversified and resilient North American rare earth element 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 heavy rare earth element project on Prince of Wales Island in southeastern Alaska, United States.

Ucore is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol UCU and in the United States on the OTC Markets' OTCQX Best Market under the ticker symbol UURAF.

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