Ucore's ALASKA2023 Plan Bolstered by President Biden's 100-Day Review of the Critical Mineral Supply Chain
Halifax, June 9, 2021 - Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSXV: UCU) (OTCQX: UURAF)i ("Ucore" or the "Company") is pleased with recent developments in Washington D.C. that are poised to strengthen United States supply chains and spur the domestic production capacity of rare earth elements ("REEs") and other critical materials.
On Tuesday, June 8th, 2021, United States President Joe Biden released a review of US supply chain vulnerabilities pursuant to Executive Order 14017. The review shows that the US government will continue to invest in REE technologies and production capabilities, which could serve to benefit Ucore, its wholly owned subsidiary, Innovation Metals Corp. ("IMC"), and their proprietary RapidSX™ separation technology for the separation of both light REEs ("LREEs") and heavy REEs ("HREEs"). Key recommendations include:
- Encourage the development and adoption of 21st century standards for the extraction and processing of critical minerals;
- US $50 billion to establish a Supply Chain Resilience Program to monitor and forecast vulnerabilities and promote industry partnerships;
- A "trade strike force" to identify and counter unfair foreign trade practices, the first action of which will be to investigate unfair trade practices surrounding neodymium (NdFeB) permanent magnets;
- Reducing the time, cost, and risk of permitting for critical mineral mining projects; and
- Using the US government's buying power and investment authorities to encourage the purchase of critical materials from secure and reliable domestic and allied sources. This includes:
- Additional funding for the Defense Production Act ("DPA") Title III program to scale emerging technologies for critical materials and enable offtake agreements; and
- Recapitalizing the National Defense Stockpile to better buffer against supply chain threats.
Ucore Chairman and CEO, Pat Ryan, P.Eng. said, "We are very pleased with the White House's concern for REEs and its efforts to spur the domestic production of critical materials. China has long dominated the REE supply chain, but with the US government's help, we can and will use our groundbreaking 21st Century separation technology, RapidSX, to bring control back into the hands of Americans. Our ALASKA2023 business model is founded on this transformative technology and the development of a resilient US supply chain through the development of two REE separation plants and ultimately a HREE mine at Bokan Mountain Alaska - the very definition of US resiliency."
i Ucore has received questions from shareholders regarding recent brokerage industry notices warning investors who hold shares in companies that do not share publicly available information about the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") adopting amendments to Rule 15c2-11 (the "Rule") and its impact on the quoted market for over-the-counter ("OTC") securities categorized as Pink No Information.
The OTC Markets Group has informed Ucore that as an OTCQX company, Ucore already shows good corporate governance by actively demonstrating its compliance with securities laws and meeting OTCQX disclosure standards, including making current information publicly available. The OTCQX market standards exceed the requirements for continued quoting under Rule 15c2-11 and the proposed amendments will not affect shareholders of UURAF.
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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, this vision includes disrupting the People's Republic of China's ("PRC") dominance 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.
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 online awareness campaign. 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: 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; unexpected or adverse outcomes in the currently outstanding litigation matters between Ucore and IBC Advanced Technologies, Inc.; 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.
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined by the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
CONTACT
Mark MacDonald
Vice President, Investor Relations
Ucore Rare Metals Inc.
+1 902 482 5214
mark@ucore.com
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/87090
