HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA — October 7, 2021 — Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (“Ucore” or the “Company”) (TSXV:UCU) (OTCQX:UURAF) and Alaska’s Southeast Conference (collectively the “Parties”) are pleased to announce the execution of a MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT (“MOA”), setting forth certain nonbinding understandings and binding agreements between Ucore and Southeast Conference for the evaluation and potential establishment of a NATURAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT COMPLEX. The complex will include land and a building (the “Facility”) suitable to house Ucore’s rare earth element (“REE”) separation and purification plant (the “Plant”, the “Alaska Strategic Metals Complex” or the “Alaska SMC”) for the production of REE oxides (“REOs”). The site selection for the Facility shall be based on the explicit goal of expanding the NATURAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT COMPLEX with other related and non-related Southeast Alaska economic development opportunities.
Mike Schrider (L) and Robert Venables (R) at the 2021 Southeast Conference Annual Meeting in Haines, Alaska
Southeast Conference is the State of Alaska’s (and federally designated) regional economic development organization for Southeast Alaska and it has the authority to access federal grant funding for economic development activities. Ucore is currently undertaking business, engineering and permitting activities for the development of the Alaska SMC REO production facility. The Alaska SMC’s target location is Ketchikan, Alaska, due to: (i) its proximity to Ucore’s Bokan Dotson Ridge Rare Earth Element Project (“Bokan”) on Prince of Wales Island; (ii) its deep-water shipping ports on the Pacific Northwest’s Inside Passage and accessibility to the industrious Pacific Rim; and (iii) the supportive local and State of Alaska administrators.
The Parties envision a joint venture opportunity to acquire and develop the Facility with a combination of Southeast Conference grant funding and Ucore funding; then establishing a long-term lease relationship between the Parties for the Facility resulting in Ucore’s subsequent development and long-term operation of the Plant (i.e., the Alaska SMC).
Ucore Vice President and COO, Mike Schrider, P.E., stated, “The establishment of the MOA between Ucore and Southeast Conference is an important moment in the development of the Alaska SMC and represents just one of many envisioned partnerships as Ucore advances the establishment of a robust and independent rare earth supply chain for the United States and its allies – with an Alaskan-centric focus.”
“The Southeast Conference has a long history of partnering and stimulating economic development in Southeast Alaska,” added Southeast Conference Executive Director, Robert Venables. “This collaboration with Ucore as the anchor tenant for the NATURAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT COMPLEX will stimulate complementary growth in the mineral sector and attract other types of resource extraction entities that will benefit from the direct and indirect business and physical infrastructure improvements created by the development of the Alaska SMC.”
Ucore’s development plan for the Alaska SMC calls for substantial completion of construction by the end of 2023, followed by commissioning, product qualification testing with US-allied feedstock, and production of individual REOs in H1 of 2024.
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About Ucore Rare Metals Inc.
Ucore is focused on rare- and critical-metals resources, extraction, beneficiation, and separation technologies with potential for production, growth, and scalability. Ucore has a 100% ownership stake in the Bokan-Dotson Ridge Rare-Earth Element Project in Southeast Alaska, USA. 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, Ucore’s vision includes disrupting the People’s Republic of China’s (“PRC”) control of the US REE supply chain through the development of a heavy rare-earth processing facility — the Alaska Strategic Metals Complex in Southeast Alaska and the long-term development of Ucore’s heavy rare-earth element mineral resource property located at Bokan Mountain on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska.
Ucore is listed on the TSXV under the trading symbol “UCU” and in the United States on the OTC Markets’ OTCQX® Best Market under the ticker symbol “UURAF”.
For further information, please visit www.ucore.com.
About Southeast Conference
Mission: As the state and federally designated regional economic development organization for Southeast Alaska, Southeast Conference serves as the collective voice for advancing the region’s economy. Southeast Conference has over 200 member organizations representing 1,200 people from 32 regional communities. The mission of Southeast Conference is to undertake and support activities that promote strong economies, healthy communities and a quality environment in Southeast Alaska.
Southeast Conference began in 1958 with a group of people supporting the establishment of a regional transportation system in Southeast Alaska, which led to the formation of the Alaska Marine Highway System. After that success, Southeast Conference stayed together through more than a half-century to focus on concerns unique to the region, including transportation, maritime, tourism, timber, seafood, mining, health care, government, and overall quality of life.
For further information, please visit www.seconference.org.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements” regarding, among other things, the Company’s ALASKA2023 Business Plan as well as the upcoming prospective financing activities involving the Company and AIDEA. All statements in this release (other than statements of historical facts) that address future business development, technological development and/or acquisition activities (including any related required financings), timelines, litigation outcomes, events, or developments that the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. In regard to the disclosure in the “About Ucore Rare Metals Inc.” section above, the Company has assumed that it will be able to procure or retain additional partners and/or suppliers, in addition to IMC, as suppliers for Ucore’s expected future Alaska Strategic Metals Complex (“Alaska SMC”). Ucore has also assumed that sufficient external funding will be found to prepare a new National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) technical report that demonstrates that the Bokan Mountain Rare Earth Elements project (“Bokan”) is feasible and economically viable for the production of both REE and co-product metals and the then prevailing market prices based upon assumed customer off-take agreements. Ucore has also assumed that sufficient external funding will be secured to develop the specific engineering plans for the Alaska SMC and its construction. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, without limitation: Innovation Metals Corp. (“IMC”) failing to protect its intellectual property rights in RapidSX™; RapidSX failing to demonstrate commercial viability in large commercial-scale applications; Ucore not being able to procure additional key partners or suppliers for the Alaska SMC; Ucore not being able to raise sufficient funds to fund the specific design and construction of the Alaska SMC and/or the continued development of RapidSX; adverse capital-market conditions; unexpected due-diligence findings; the emergence of alternative superior metallurgy and metal-separation technologies; the inability of Ucore and/or IMC to retain its key staff members; a change in the legislation in Alaska and/or in the support expressed by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (“AIDEA”) regarding the development of Bokan and/or the Alaska SMC; the availability and procurement of any required interim and/or long-term financing that may be required; and general economic, market or business conditions.
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CONTACT
Mark MacDonald
Vice President, Investor Relations
Ucore Rare Metals Inc.
+1 902 482 5214
mark@ucore.com
