Ucore Readies for Louisiana 2026 Heavy Rare Earth Element Processing Ucore Updates on Advancements and Accomplishments for : US D epartment of War HREE Demonstration & RapidSX ™ Technology US Transition Project from Ucore’s
Ucore Readies for
Louisiana
2026 Heavy
Rare Earth Element Processing
Ucore
Updates
on
Advancements
and Accomplishments for
:
US D
epartment of War
HREE
Demonstration
&
RapidSX
™
Technology
US
Transition
Project
from Ucore’s
-
Kingston, Ontario,
CAN
,
Commercialization and Demonstration Facility
-
to
-
Alexandria, Louisiana,
USA,
Strategic Metals Complex
& HREE Refinery
Halifax, Nova Scotia (
December
11
, 2025
)
–
Ucore
Rare
Metals
Inc.
(TSXV:
UCU
)
(OTCQX:
UURAF
)
(
“
Ucore
”
or
the
“
Company
”
)
is pleased
to
update
on its
RapidSX
™
rare earth
element (“
REE
”) separation technology
commercialization progress and its USD$22.4 million
U.S. Department of
War
(“
Do
W
”)
Other Transaction Agreement (“
OT
A
”
or the “
Project
”
)
through
the
U.S. Army Contracting Command
-
Orlando
(
“
ACC
-
ORL
”
)
.
Since
the
December 2023
start
of
the demonstration program,
Ucore has operated and
continuously improved its 52
-
Stage RapidSX
™
Demonstration Plant (“
Demo Plant
”) within
the Company’s
Kingston, Ontario, Commercialization and Demonstration Facility
(“
CDF
”)
.
This work is dedicated to transitioning
the Company’s
RapidSX
™
separation
technology to
its
under
-
construction
Louisiana
Strategic Metals Complex (“
SMC
”)
in Alexandria, Louisiana.
The
Louisiana
SMC is
a
developing
REE separation and oxide production facility focused on
the production
of
mid (
Sm
Eu
Gd
) and heavy (
initially
Tb
and
Dy,
potentially
followed by
Y
,
which is in high demand
) rare earth elements
with the ability to also produce an
NdPr
rare
earth oxide (“
REO
”) product.
The CDF work has focused on the
precise
manipulation of tonnes of a heavy mixed
rare
-
earth oxide derived from a US
-
friendly feedstock resource through
the
series of RapidSX
™
splits
shown in Figure 1
.
Figure
1
–
CDF
Heavy Rare Earth Processing Demonstration Trials
-
Road Map to
the
Louisiana
SMC in 2026
–
2
–
85401206.3
These splits represent the
initial
planned
REO
groups and products for the Louisiana SMC
,
and in every case have been directly compared to a 52
-
Stage Conventional Solvent
Extractant (“
CSX
") pilot circuit
at the CDF
for direct purity and recovery comparisons.
Ucore’s a
dvancements
and achievements
on the Project that lead to Louisiana
include
:
Completion of about
5,700 hours of REE processing with tonnes of
heavy mixed
rare earth oxides
(“
MREO
”)
in
an automated
and
simulated
24
-
hour per day
commercial production environment
Production of
LaCe,
NdPr,
SmEuGd,
Sm, Gd
,
HoYErTmYbLu, TbDy,
Tb, and Dy
rare earth element
groups and
products
, while:
o
Demonstrating
the use of one RapidSX
™
Machine
(i.e., the Demo Plant) for
all splits and multiple feed stocks
o
Instituting
a continuous improvement program
for the
RapidSX
™
Technology Platform in preparation for copy and paste transfer to
the Louisiana SMC
o
Developing
the ability to quickly (i.e., within hours)
reconfigure
the
RapidSX
™
unit operational equipment
(e.g., extract, scrub, strip, etc.,
components)
for
specific separation requirements
o
Honing the
ability
to
stop (i.e., for minutes, hours, days, or weeks)
and
immediately restart
for planned and unplanned events
o
Establishing
protocols for replicating p
recise and robust manipulation of
the standard solvent extraction
chemistry
within
the
RapidSX
™
technology
platfor
m
Construction of
a dedicated production environment ICPMS laboratory
with
seven days per week support
(to support 24/7 operations)
o
Analyzed over
25,000
samples
proving
that RapidSX
™
and CSX yield
virtually identical chemistry results
o
Developed the
laboratory and sampling protocols for Louisiana SMC
operations
Proven
*
RapidSX
™
improvements over
CSX
inclu
de:
o
Enhanced OPEX and more environmentally friendly operations through
2 to 4 times faster
throughput
Constructed primarily from commercial
-
off
-
the
-
shelf (“
COTS
”)
equipment
with a
significantly
reduced
individual
stage footprint
Leading
to
a
smaller
physical plant
and environmental impact
footprint
and an overall CAPEX reduction
*
Quantitative
affirmation
in progress
Full commercial
-
scale
Louisiana
SMC work is underway
for
the installation of
RapidSX
™
Machine #1
in mid
-
2026,
including:
o
F
ield and design e
ngineering
, including supporting infrastructure
equipment
o
P
ermitting
activities
o
L
ong lead material & equipment procurement
o
CDF
scale
-
up
trials
for full
-
scale RapidSX
™
M
achine components
–
3
–
85401206.3
o
H
eavy feedstock procurement
for initial testing, commissioning
,
and trials
Including coordination trials starting at the CDF and culminating
at the Louisiana SMC
“The
nearly two years of CDF demonstration
work undertaken
by Ucore
has
been done with
deliberate coordination
with the
Louisiana
SMC
production roll
-
out pathway
.
The result is a
technically proven
and de
-
risked
commercialization
pathway to commence
heavy rare earth
processing in Louisiana
in 2026
,”
s
tated
Mike Schrider,
P.E.,
VP and COO of Ucore
. “
W
ith
our planned sequential deployment of RapidSX
™
Machin
es
, based on the unique
demonstrated ability to produce products with only one RapidSX
™
M
achine
.
Ucore has
established a blueprint for smart deployment of capita
l, with minimal commercial risk,
while
getting to early heavy rare earth production within the United States of America
–
a
stated
objective of the
initial
OTA
.”
# # #
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 tha
t 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
g
uarantees of future performance or results, and actual
results or developments may differ materially from those in forward
-
looking statements.
Regarding the disclosure in the press release above
about the
amended
OT
A
greement
and
the expected successful progress of the
p
roject and the resulting milestone payments from
the
DoW
,
the Company has assumed that the
p
roject (including each of its milestones
and
the Company’s objectives in this regard
) will be completed in a satisfactory manner and in a
reasonable period of time within approximately the next two years.
Regarding the disclosure
in the press release above about the other forms of government support for Ucore, the
Company has assumed that the applicable projects (including each of the
associated
–
4
–
85401206.3
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
Q3
-
202
5
(filed on SEDAR
+
on
November 25
, 202
5
) (
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 sufficient 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 offtake agreements. Ucore
has also assumed that sufficient external funding will be secured to continue the developm
ent
of the specific engineering plans for the SMCs and their construction
and eventual
commissioning and operations
. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those in forward
-
looking statements include, without limitation: IMC fail
ing 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 sufficient funds to fund
the specific design and construct
ion 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 me
tal
-
separation technologies; the inability
of Ucore and/or IMC to retain its key staff 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 t
he 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 Officer, 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