In This Article:
LEADING EDGE MATERIALS’ NORRA KÄRR HREE PROJECT MOVES FORWARD
Vancouver, March 23, 2025 – Leading Edge Materials Corp. (“Leading Edge Materials” or the “Company”) (TSXV: LEM) (Nasdaq First North: LEMSE) (OTCQB: LEMIF) provides an update for the 100% owned Norra Kärr Heavy Rare Earth Elements (“HREE”) Project.
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The Company continues to advance its Rapid Development Plan (“RDP”) for extraction at Norra Kärr, aiming to achieve the shortest possible timeframe to production of heavy rare earth element concentrate and nepheline syenite. A phased development approach is under consideration—starting small and quickly—to enable early access to the deposit, initial production and sales of nepheline syenite, cash flow generation, and stockpiling of HREE concentrate for later processing and sales. This approach minimizes both risk and environmental impact.
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On March 19, the European Commission (“EC”) published its Joint White Paper for European Defence Readiness 2023, highlighting the increasing geopolitical competition over critical raw materials (“CRMs”). The document states: “The EU’s strategic competitors are heavily investing… [in] security of supply of critical raw materials, fundamental for our economic and industrial production, defence capabilities, and competitiveness. They are increasingly a cause for competition and conflicts and part of power politics, as excessive dependencies can be exploited.” It also underscores the need for the EU and its member states to build strategic reserves of raw materials. The Rapid Development Plan for Norra Kärr aligns closely with this mission and the Company could progress directly to a Feasibility Study for the quarrying operation, and undertake environmental and other workstreams in parallel, to expedite the timeline to production and thereby contribute to the EU’s 2030 objectives for CRMs security of supply.
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Testwork is underway on nepheline syenite and aegirine to assess their mineralogy, chemical composition, and leachate chemistry. The results will help evaluate market opportunities for these potential products, including demand and pricing scenarios.
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The Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA2021”) financial model will be updated in Q2 2025, incorporating revised price assumptions for nepheline syenite and a full review of all other modelling inputs. In the PEA2021, three nepheline syenite markets were selected, those requiring the least amount of additional processing and product qualification, with pricing ranging from US$12-65 per tonne. These assumptions were conservative, and the Company is now investigating higher value markets such as functional filler products with comparable prices at the time of US$100-500 per tonne. In the PEA2021, nepheline syenite contributed 11% of the total revenue and there is the potential for significant upside in pricing and revenue contribution to the overall project economics.
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A decision on the Company’s application for Strategic Project status under the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) is expected soon. Since submitting the application in August 2024, the Company has made tangible progress with Norra Kärr, including the significant milestone of submitting a new application for an Exploitation Concession (Bearbetningskoncession)—a 25-year mining lease—and continues to explore creative pathways to early and sustainable production.