Shareholder Letter from Pat Ryan, CEO of Ucore Rare Metals
December 2025
Dear Shareholders,
As the year draws to a close, I would like to extend my best wishes for the holidays and express my sincere gratitude for your continued support. In 2025, we focused on advancing our business plan by leveraging unprecedented government support to take a leadership position in the important business of mid-market rare earth refining and processing. Western supply chains are currently being reshaped at a furious pace, and I am pleased to report that we have made good progress in the areas of technology, facilities, government alignment opportunities, business relationships, and capital in implementing our plans for a North American rare earth refining platform outside of China.
2025 in Review: Measurable Progress
Kingston Facility: Operating Data Supporting Scale-Up
At our commercial demonstration plant in Kingston, Ontario, we logged approximately 5,500 hours of simulated commercial run time and collected nearly 11,000 process samples to document optimization for the first commercial machine. These results were directly compared to a solvent extraction pilot project to demonstrate the improved characteristics of our RapidSX™ technology in terms of throughput, OPEX, and projected CAPEX.
RapidSX™: From Demonstration Stage to Commercial Use
We received a follow-on order worth $18.4 million from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to build and demonstrate our first commercial-scale RapidSX™ machine and associated infrastructure. The program aims to begin producing saleable individual REE products in the second half of 2026, which is an important step toward U.S. independence in the field of heavy rare earths.
Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex (SMC): Groundbreaking and Capacity Building
In May, we broke ground on our SMC in Alexandria at England Airpark in Louisiana, our first commercial rare earth element separation facility. This scalable brownfield site is designed for the production of high-purity oxides essential for permanent magnets and defense systems. Our U.S. project also has DPAS priority status, which facilitates access to long-lead equipment.
Canada’s Sm/Gd Path: Expanding Our Capabilities
In October, Canada conditionally approved up to CAD 36.3 million (NRCan and FedDev Ontario) for the expansion of a samarium and gadolinium oxide facility in Kingston. This would be North America’s first dedicated Sm/Gd refinery to support samarium-cobalt magnet supply chains and would complement our Louisiana focus on NdPr, Dy, and Tb.
Building a Commercial Ecosystem
Alignment with Downstream Areas
We have signed a letter of intent to supply rare earth oxides to VAC in Europe and eVAC in South Carolina, linking our future REO production volumes to active NdFeB and SmCo magnet production facilities. Complementing this, Ucore has signed a letter of intent with Permag, which is expanding its samarium-cobalt magnet production capabilities in the United States, strengthening demand for our Kingston Sm/Gd process and improving our visibility from refining to end markets for magnets.
Raw Material and Process Options
We signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Wyloo and Hastings during the G7 meetings of energy and environment ministers in Toronto (October 30-31) to secure future raw material supplies for Yangibana and evaluate options for hydrometallurgy in the U.S., with Louisiana as a priority. We have also signed a supply agreement with Critical Metals Corp. (Tanbreez, Greenland) to supply Louisiana with heavy REE concentrate and advanced a collaboration with Metallium Limited to incorporate e-waste and tailings as process inputs through the integration of Flash Joule Heating with RapidSX™ separation.
The Coming Year
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded a $4 million “Other Transaction Agreement” (OTA) order for HREO feedstock processing, which is nearing completion. The final techno-economic report is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.
- The $18.4 million agreement with the DoD currently provides for ongoing payment tranches that will continue through 2026 for the expansion of Phase 1 in Louisiana. Additional project funding may be announced under the “OTA.”
- Outside of China, 90% of metal/alloy and magnet production is located in Europe, Japan, and South Korea. The letters of intent are expected to be finalized as definitive agreements by the first half of 2026.
- OEM customers from the electric vehicle, renewable energy, consumer electronics, and defense sectors will commit to SMC production volumes by the first half of 2026.
- Multiple letters of intent for Western-aligned raw materials with Louisiana and Ontario will be upgraded to definitive agreements.
- Updates on project progress for SMC Louisiana and Ontario will be provided as milestones are achieved.
Conclusion
Our mission is clear: to revitalize North American rare earth refining capabilities with a modular, feedstock-independent technology platform that delivers high-purity products on a commercial scale. In 2025, we laid the foundation, secured funding, advanced our technology, and strengthened connections from mines to separation to magnets.
Thank you for your continued trust. On behalf of the Ucore team, I wish you and your families a safe and happy holiday season. We look forward to keeping you updated on key milestones in 2026.
Sincerely
Pat Ryan, P.Eng.
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
Ucore Rare Metals Inc.
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