CEO UPDATE TO
SHAREHOLDERS
Vancouver,
December 15, 2024 – Leading Edge Materials
Corp. (“Leading Edge Materials” or
the “Company”) (TSXV: LEM)
(Nasdaq First North: LEMSE) (OTCQB:
LEMIF) provides an update from the CEO to
shareholders.
Kurt Budge, Chief
Executive Officer, writes:
“When I joined the
Company in May, the Norra Kärr Heavy Rare Earth (“HREE”) Project
was the priority. In August this year, the Company submitted an
application for Strategic Project status under the European Union’s
Critical Raw Materials Act (“CRMA”) and, last week, we submitted a
new application for an Exploitation Concession
(“Bearbetningskoncession”) 25-year mining lease to the Mining
Inspectorate of Sweden (“Bergsstaten”).
The Norra Kärr journey
started long ago, with its discovery by the Geological Survey of
Sweden (“SGU”) in the early 1900s. In more recent times, July 2011,
SGU designated Norra Kärr a mineral deposit of national interest
linked to its potential for providing a supply of rare earth
elements (“REE”) to Sweden and Europe. Norra Kärr is the only NI
43-101 compliant REE resource in mainland Europe.
Norra Kärr represents
the EU’s first step towards primary production and establishment of
a secure, sustainable, and resilient supply chain for HREEs. With
EU demand for rare earth metals expected to increase six-fold by
2030, wars, uncertainty around geopolitics and global trade
policies mean that security of supply of critical raw materials is
of paramount importance.
The 2014 report by The
European Rare Earths Competency Network (“ERECON”) titled
Strengthening ‘The European Rare Earths Supply-Chain’, stated that
‘The development of new sources of heavy rare earths outside of
China and greater recycling must [therefore] remain an urgent
priority…’.
In 2023, the EU
imported 18,300 tonnes of rare earth elements, with imports split
between China 39%, Malaysia 33%, and Russia 22%. Clearly, supply
disruption from anyone of these sources would be damaging for the
EU. The geopolitical risk is self-evident. In the current design,
Norra Kärr is estimated to produce 5,341 tonnes of rare earth
oxides over a production life of 26 years, with only a third of the
defined resource being exploited. The critical importance of the
deposit to the EU cannot be underestimated.
The CRMA, adopted by the European
Council on 18 March this year is at the forefront of the EU’s
efforts to reduce dependency on China, and to build secure and
sustainable regional supply chains for critical raw materials. The
CRMA represents a potential game-changer for the Company’s
portfolio.
Looking ahead, 2025 is
shaping up to be a transformational year for Norra Kärr, with a
decision expected on Strategic Project status in the first quarter,
and thereafter the Bearbetningskoncession. The Company is also
planning for the start of Pre-feasibility in the second
quarter.
The Company believes
that the decoupling of extraction and downstream processing, with a
quarry at Norra Kärr producing two valuable products, a HREE
magnetic concentrate and the industrial mineral nepheline syenite,
and an industrial plant conceptually located at Luleå, could
expedite permitting timelines.
The scope of the
downstream is being considered, with one option being to create a
rare earths processing hub that could import concentrates as well
as process Norra Kärr material. This would not only capture the
value chain in Sweden, but also increase the significance of the
overall project, as the Company is in effect creating two
strategically important businesses instead of one.
When the financials
were modelled for the Preliminary Economic Assessment in 2021, the
Project had a pre-tax NPV10 of over US$1B. While the
numbers will be updated in PFS, we have a robust project, and the
Company is already mapping the funding options that could be
available as we progress.
The urgency to back
development and attract investment is not lost on President-elect
Donald Trump who posted last week that “Any person or company
investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of
America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits,
including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals.
GET READY TO ROCK!!!”.
While the substance
may be lacking for now, the intent is clear, and new policies could
see an acceleration of investments already being made by the U.S.
International Development Finance Corporation (“DFC”) in critical
raw materials projects.
The EU is mobilizing
investment opportunities, with, on 3 December, the European
Commission and the European Investment Bank (“EIB”) announcing a
new partnership to support investments in the EU’s battery
manufacturing sector, a further €1.8 billion committed to
investments in the wider battery value chain, as part of €3 billion
of public support in total for the development of a competitive and
sustainable European battery industry.
As the only built and
permitted natural flake graphite mine in Europe, Woxna Graphite is
well-positioned to play a significant role in the production of a
‘headline news’ critical raw material, natural graphite, as
feedstock to the European anode value chain or industrial graphite
markets.
China’s influence on
graphite is clear. In October 2023, China’s Ministry of Commerce
and the General Administration of Customs announced that effective
December 2023, export permits would be imposed on key lithium-ion
battery anode raw materials. The affected products were high purity
synthetic graphite and its products, and natural flake graphite and
its products, including spherical and expanded
graphite. The export controls were imposed by China on
the grounds of safeguarding domestic interests.
When it comes to
global trade, in June, the US announced 25% tariffs on imports of
natural and synthetic graphite anodes from China, following the
previous announcement of 25% tariffs on natural graphite imports
beginning in 2026. Fastmarkets analyst Georgi Georgiev has said
“graphite has emerged as Washington’s ‘Achilles Heel’ in its trade
confrontation with Beijing”.
The case for regional
primary raw material supply is further strengthened when a major
natural graphite producer Syrah Resources declares ‘force majeure’
for its Balama operations in Mozambique, caused by post-general
election civil unrest and violent protests across the country's
major cities. Syrah is one of the few established
graphite producers outside of China but has been unable to produce
at Balama throughout October-December. Syrah reports it is working
on restoring operations "as quick as possible" but has acknowledged
that will be a lengthy process.
While graphite may
have been the forgotten part of the lithium-ion battery until now,
it’s becoming harder to ignore, and if we are to have a successful
energy transition, then e-mobility and renewables generation are
key, and for those end-uses you need lots of graphite for
manufacturing anodes. Stable jurisdictions, such as the Nordics,
can contribute to delivering the essential raw materials needed to
support the European battery industry. The EU currently imports
approximately 100,000 tonnes per year of natural graphite.
Woxna has had its
challenges over the years, but the broader context is very
different now, the adoption of the CRMA, uncertain geopolitics and
trade flows, increasing the strategic importance of natural
graphite to Sweden and the European Union, and by extension new
opportunities to raise finance for exploration and development.
The Company continues
to review options for Woxna, which include the possibility of
contracting with a long-term partner willing to pay for secure
natural graphite produced to the highest ESG and sustainability
standards. The Company believes that the market must value and pay
for these attributes, and that transparency initiatives will create
a barrier to entry for non-compliant raw materials and be a driver
for their improved performance.
The EU’s support for
critical raw materials exploration and development has also seen,
in July, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(“EBRD”) and the EU launched a joint facility aimed at providing
equity investments of up to €100 million for the exploration of
critical and strategic raw materials. The EBRD has committed €25
million to the facility, which will be matched by the EU’s Horizon
Europe Programme under the InvestEU umbrella, with the goal of
mobilizing an additional €50 million in investments.
This initiative could benefit the Company’s work at Bihor Sud, as
countries like Romania are very much in consideration as investment
destinations.
Drilling at Bihor Sud
was initially delayed over the summer, due to the late arrival of
the rig and the need to implement robust health and safety
protocols and finally started at the end of September. Since then,
steady progress has been made as the team operating the Company’s
rig has been training ‘on the job’ and is currently drilling in
gallery G7.
To accelerate the
programme, the Company is hiring four new geologists and will be
signing up a new drill contractor to start drilling gallery G2. The
driller is expected to be on site at the end of January.
Bihor Sud remains a
very exciting brownfield exploration project. It’s a historic
mining area with tens of kilometers of underground galleries, or
tunnels, developed in the licence area. Between the 1960-90s the
responsible division of the Romanian State only targeted what was
then called ‘strategic metals’, principally uranium, and explored
for nothing else.
The Company’s
objective at Bihor Sud, is to define a large-scale, mineable
mineral resource. Initially, we are following-up on the work done
in gallery G7 last year, and the extensive Cobalt-Nickel-Gold
mineralized zone that was identified, and in the new year starting
to drill in gallery G2 which has shown its potential for extensive
Zinc-Lead-Copper-Silver mineralization. We are encouraged by the
findings to date, which highlight the strong potential for
discovering a significant polymetallic deposit.
To wrap-up, the Company has made good progress this year, but
with a fundraising under our belt, 2025 is shaping up to be even
better, with key milestones to be passed on Norra Kärr as that
project grows in recognition, a new plan for Woxna, and we hope
exploration success at Bihor Sud.
I and the Board of Directors of Leading Edge Materials send our
thanks to the Company’s shareholders, our employees and
stakeholders for their support in 2024 and we wish everyone a very
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Norra Kärr -
Preliminary Economic Assessment 2021 (PEA)
PEA 2021 news release:
https://leadingedgematerials.com/leading-edge-materials-announces-positive-preliminary-economic-assessment-results-for-its-norra-karr-ree-project-with-us1026m-pre-tax-npv10-and-30-8-pre-tax-irr/
On behalf of the Board of
Directors,Leading Edge Materials
Corp.
Kurt Budge, CEO
For further information,
please contact the Company
at:1.778-373-6727info@leadingedgematerials.comwww.leadingedgematerials.com
About Leading Edge
Materials
Leading Edge Materials
is a Canadian public company focused on developing a portfolio of
critical raw material projects located in the European Union.
Critical raw materials are determined as such by the European Union
based on their economic importance and supply risk. They are
directly linked to high growth technologies such as lithium-ion
batteries and permanent magnets for electric motors and wind power
that underpin the sustainability transition of society. The
portfolio of projects includes the 100% owned Woxna Graphite mine
(Sweden), Norra Kärr Heavy Rare Earth Element project (Sweden), and
the 51% owned Bihor Sud Nickel Cobalt exploration alliance
(Romania).
Additional
Information
The information was
submitted for publication through the agency of the contact person
set out above, on December 15, 2024, at 11:30 PM Vancouver
time.
Leading Edge Materials
is listed on the TSXV under the symbol “LEM”, OTCQB under the
symbol “LEMIF” and Nasdaq First North Stockholm under the symbol
“LEMSE”. Mangold Fondkommission AB is the Company’s Certified
Adviser on Nasdaq First North and may be contacted via
email CA@mangold.se or by phone +46 (0) 8 5030 1550.
Reader Advisory
This news release may
contain statements which constitute “forward-looking information”,
including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and
current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers
with respect to the future business activities of the Company. The
words “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”,
“anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect” and similar
expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are
intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are
cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future business activities and involve risks and
uncertainties, and that the Company’s future business activities
may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements
as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to,
fluctuations in market prices, changes in the Company’s intended
use of proceeds from the Private Placement, successes of the
operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and
financing and general economic, market or business conditions.
There can be no assurances that such information will prove
accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own
evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any
obligation to update any forward-looking information except as
required under the applicable securities laws.
Neither the TSX
Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term
is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news
release.
Leading Edge Materials (TSXV:LEM)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Nov 2024 bis Dez 2024
Leading Edge Materials (TSXV:LEM)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Dez 2023 bis Dez 2024
