DoW Accepts Ucore’s Phase 1 Final Report and RapidSX™ Techno-Economic Assessment
DoW Accepts Ucore’s Phase 1 Final Report and
RapidSX™ Techno-Economic Assessment
Halifax, Nova Scotia – April 7, 2026 – Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSXV: UCU | OTCQX:
UURAF) (“ Ucore” or the “ Company”) is pleased to announce the acceptance of its final
reporting under Phase 1 of its Other Transaction Agreement (“OTA” or “Agreement”) with the
US Department of War (the “ Reports”). The proprietary Reports were submitted to the US
Army Contracting Command – Orlando and included both a Final Demonstration Report and
a Final Techno-Economic Assessment (“TEA”). As per the Company’s previous press release
dated February 17, 2026 , the Reports detail the work conducted at Ucore’s RapidSX™
Commercialization and Demonstration Facility (“ CDF”) in Kingston, Ontario, which included
direct comparison trials of the patent-pending RapidSX™ technology with conventional
solvent extraction (“CSX”) over thousands of hours.
The acceptance of the final Reports concludes Ucore’s successful performance of Phase 1
under the Agreement and triggers the final Phase 1 payment milestone.
The following excerpt summarizes the Key Performance Metrics outlined in the Reports:
“Table 13 – Key Performance Metrics”
Metric Performance
REE Separation Processing Efficiency
Extraction Rate On average, 5.4x less mixing time than CSX is needed to
achieve target level of extraction
Settling Rate On average, 1.8x less settling time than CSX is needed for
phase disengagement
Recovery Virtually identical - better than or similar to CSX 13 times out
of 14
Purity Virtually identical - better than or similar to CSX 11 times out
of 14
Separation
Flexibility
Able to reconfigure stages in SX circuit within hours, allowing
separation of different REEs to different target purities with
the same equipment
Ontime
Flexibility
Able to start and stop the system at will without loss of
production equilibrium. RapidSX™ can immediately restart
after planned and unplanned shutdown events.
Other Demo Plant Performance Data
Operating Hours 5,718 hours
Tonnage
Processed 1.76 metric tonnes REO equivalent
Separations
Applied 7 separations: 5 for heavy REE and 2 for light REE
Footprint Up to 60% smaller for a process with equal throughput
Economics
CAPEX 34% reduction in CAPEX
OPEX Similar: 2.2 $USD/kg of REO feedstock for RapidSX™, a
slight decrease from CSX (2.3 $USD/kg)
The Phase 1 Reports detail the work completed at the CDF, and provide further support and
risk mitigation for the Company’s commercialization execution strategy at the Louisiana
Strategic Metals Complex (" Louisiana SMC ") in Alexandria, Louisiana. Because the
proprietary Reports contain detailed technical and commercial analysis provided to the DoW,
Ucore is limiting this announcement to a high-level summary with selected tables of the
findings most relevant to stakeholders on the Company’s path to commercial execution in
Louisiana.
Commercial Proof of Performance
The Reports, which were generated from millions of data points generated over a 2-year
sequence of campaigns, indicate that the rare earth element (“ REE”) product recovery and
purity achieved with RapidSX™ were consistently equal to or better than CSX. It should be
noted that this was the expected result given that the chemistry of RapidSX™ and CSX
is exactly the same.
The RapidSX™ advantage is in applying the chemistry much more efficiently, resulting in
faster separation steps with a smaller physical equipment footprint. When coupled together,
these two attributes yield significant cost and ESG efficiencies across a commercial REE
separation facility.
Seven demonstration campaigns were completed as follows, all starting with nearly two
tonnes of a heavy mixed rare earth oxide feed source containing both heavy and light REEs:
“Table 6 - Heavy and Light REE Classification of Each Separation”
Separation
Number REEs Separated Classification Operating
Hours Start Date End Date
SX-1 TbDy|TbDyHoY Heavy REE 540 Dec 18,
2023
Apr 5,
2024
SX-2 Dy|Ho Heavy REE 3480 Apr 30,
2024
Mar 12,
2025
SX-3 Gd|Tb Heavy REE 303 Mar 28,
2025
May 6,
2025
SX-4 Tb|Dy Heavy REE 656 May 7,
2025
Jun 16,
2025
SX-5 Nd|Sm Light REE 361 Jun 17,
2025
Sep 11,
2025
SX-6 Ce|Pr Light REE 214 Oct 28,
2025
Nov 21,
2025
SX-7 Sm|SmEuGd|Gd Heavy REE 172 Dec 18,
2025
Jan 24,
2026
Total - 2 Light REE
5 Heavy REE 5,717 Dec 18,
2023
Jan 24,
2026
Product Purity and Recovery
The success of each of the above separations was determined by comparing the purity and
recovery of each separation to the CSX baseline. The purity and recovery values are the key
metrics used to compare separation efficiency. Purity is calculated as the amount of target
REEs out of total REEs. Recovery is calculated based on the losses to the opposite side of
the split.
Operational Flexibility & Lower Capital Intensity
The Reports highlight the ability to stop and restart the system without loss of equilibrium, as
well as the ability to reconfigure circuit stages within hours to suit different separations and
product objectives. This kind of flexibility is especially important in a commercial refinery,
where feed variability, and meeting customer specifications in an evolving Western market,
all benefit from a platform that is more agile. The Reports also supports the view that
RapidSX™ can apply the proven chemistry of solvent extraction in a smaller and more
modular equipment arrangement than conventional mixer-settler systems. Lower SX-area
capital intensity can improve project economics, support a staged buildout strategy, and allow
capital to be deployed more intelligently as the Louisiana SMC grows.
As noted, the success of the DoW demonstration program was as expected; the Company is
not commercializing speculative chemistry. Rather, it is implementing a proven solvent
extraction chemistry distribution platform while improving the physical delivery of the process.
"Phase 1 did more than validate a technology platform. It clarified why RapidSX™
matters commercially ," said Mike Schrider, P.E., Vice-President and Chief
Operating Officer of Ucore. "For Louisiana, the message is straightforward: across
seven demonstration campaigns, RapidSX™ matched conventional solvent extraction
on purity, recovery, and product quality, while delivering faster extraction and phase
disengagement in a smaller operating footprint. We believe that combination is exactly
what the U.S. rare earth supply chain needs."
Knowledge Transfer and Copy-and-Paste Deployment
The report emphasizes that continuous improvement, plant learnings, operating protocols,
controls development, and sampling discipline are designed to reduce risk for direct
knowledge transfer from the Kingston CDF to the Louisiana SMC. The planned coordinated
commissioning will shorten the learning curve, strengthen startup discipline, and improve the
likelihood of a smoother transition into commercial production.
# # #
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 US State of Louisiana, subsequent SMCs in Canada
and Alaska and the longer-term development of Ucore’s 100% controlled Bokan-Dotson Ridge
Rare Heavy REE Project on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, USA (“Bokan”).
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.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking
statements” . 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, events, or developments that the
Company is pursuing 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 diƯer materially from those in forward-looking statements.
Regarding the disclosure in the press release above about government support for Ucore, the
Company has assumed that the applicable projects (including each of the associated
milestones) will be completed satisfactorily and in accordance with the respective agreements
or letters of intent (as applicable) for such government support. For additional risks and
uncertainties regarding the Company, its business activities, its ability to qualify for and receive
any additional funding from any U.S. or Canadian government, the CDF and the aforementioned
projects (generally), see the risk disclosure in the Company’s MD&A for Q4-2025 (filed on
SEDAR+ on March 18, 2026) (www.sedarplus.ca) as well as the risks described below.
Regarding the disclosure above in the “About Ucore Rare Metals Inc. ” section, the Company has
assumed that it will be able to procure or retain additional partners and/or suppliers, in addition
to Innovation Metals Corp. (“ IMC”), as suppliers for Ucore’s expected future SMCs. Ucore has
also assumed that suƯicient external funding will be found to continue and complete the ongoing
research and development work required at the CDF and also later prepare a new National
Instrument 43-101 technical report that demonstrates that 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 o Ưtake agreements. Ucore has also assumed that
suƯicient external funding will be secured to continue the development of the specific
engineering plans for the SMCs and their construction and eventual commissioning and
operations. Factors that could cause actual results to di Ưer materially from thos e in forward-
looking statements include, without limitation: 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
SMCs; Ucore not being able to raise suƯicient funds to fund the specific design and construction
of the SMCs 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 sta Ư members; a
change in the legislation in Louisiana or Alaska and/or in the support expressed by the Alaska
Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) regarding the development of Bokan; the
availability and procurement of any required interim and/or long-term financing that may be
required; and general economic, market or business conditions.
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined by the TSXV) accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
CONTACTS
Mr. Michael Schrider, P .E., Ucore Vice President and Chief Operating OƯicer, is responsible
for the content of this news release and may be contacted at 1.902.482.5214.
For additional information, please contact:
Mark MacDonald
Vice President, Investor Relations
Ucore Rare Metals Inc.
1.902.482.5214