Easily winnable REE Deposits • Edward Loye – Managing Director E - Tech Metals • e.loye@etechmetals.com • 14 th May 2020 www.etechmetals.com 2 This document (“Presentation”) has been prepared by E - Tech Metals Ltd , a private limited company (“Company”) in connection with a presentation to prospective investors This document and the information contained in it is solely the responsibility of the Company The contents of this Presentation have not been approved by an authorised person within the meaning of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA") for the purposes of section 21 of FSMA Reliance on this Presentation for the purpose of engaging in any investment activity may expose a prospective investor to a significant risk of losing all of their investment Although reasonable care has been taken to ensure the facts stated in this Presentation are accurate and that the assumptions expressed are fair and reasonable the information in this Presentation, which includes certain information drawn from public sources, does not purport to be comprehensive, and has not been independently verified and is liable to change The date of this Presentation is 14 May 2020 No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made and to the fullest extent permitted by law, neither the Company nor any of its representatives, officers, employees, advisers or agents shall accept any liability whatsoever for the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information or opinions contained in the Presentation (including any subsequent revisions or amendments) or of any other written information or oral information made or to be made available to any interested party or its advisers The information in this Presentation is subject to updating, completion, revision, further verification and amendment In providing this information, the Company undertakes no obligation to provide the recipient with access to any additional information or to update this information or to correct any inaccuracies therein which may become apparent This Presentation does not constitute an offer to the public nor requires an approved prospectus under section 85 of FSMA or the Prospectus Rules published by the Financial Services Authority ("FSA") (as amended) and accordingly this document does not constitute a prospectus for these purposes and has not been pre - approved by the United Kingdom Listing Authority pursuant to section 85 of FSMA This Presentation (including its contents) is only being communicated in the United Kingdom to persons of a kind described in Articles 19 ( 5 ) (Investment Professionals), 43 (Members and Creditors of Certain Bodies Corporate), 48 ( 2 ) (Certified High Net Worth Individuals), 49 ( 2 ) (High Net Worth Companies, Unincorporated Associations etc ), 50 ( 1 ) (Sophisticated Investors), 50 A (Self - Certified Sophisticated Investors), 51 (Associations of High Net Worth or Sophisticated Investors) and any other persons who fall within other applicable exemptions under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (“Exempt Persons”) It is not intended to be distributed or passed on, directly or indirectly, to any other class of persons Any investment activity to which this Presentation relates is available only to Exempt Persons, and other classes of person should not rely or act on this document Persons other than Exempt Persons should not take any action nor rely upon this Presentation and should return this Presentation immediately to the Company Statements in this Presentation or otherwise regarding the Company’s or its management’s intentions, beliefs or expectations, or that otherwise speak to future events, are “forward - 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looking statements The Company does not undertake to update, revise or correct any of the forward - looking information A "Certified High Net Worth Individual" is one who has a current certificate of high net worth (signed by his or her employer or accountant) and who has signed, within the period of twelve months ending on the date of this document, a statement that he or she is of high net worth and understands that he or she may receive financial promotions which have not been approved for the purposes of section 21 of the FSMA For these purposes, "high net worth" means having either ( i ) an annual income of at least £ 100 , 000 or (ii) net assets (excluding the value of his or her primary residence and any insurance or pension rights) of at least £ 250 , 000 A "Sophisticated Investor" is one who has a current certificate signed by an authorised person to the effect that he or she is sufficiently knowledgeable to understand the risks associated with the type of investment described by this document and who has signed, within the period of twelve months ending on the date of this document, a statement that he or she is sophisticated in relation to such investments and understands that he or she may receive financial promotions which have not been approved for the purposes of section 21 of the FSMA A "Self - Certified Sophisticated Investor" is one who has signed, within the period of twelve months ending on the date of this document, a statement that he or she is sophisticated in relation to the type of investment described by this document and understands that he or she may receive financial promotions which have not been approved for the purposes of section 21 of the FSMA This Presentation (including its contents) is confidential and is for distribution only to a limited number of companies or persons and their professional advisers selected by the Company and its financial adviser for that purpose It is not intended to be distributed or passed on, directly, or indirectly, to, and may not be read by, any other persons without the express written consent of the Company This Presentation is being supplied to you solely for your information and may not be copied, reproduced, further distributed to any other person or published, in whole or in part, for any purpose The distribution of this Presentation in certain non - UK jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons into whose possession this document comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions Any such distribution could result in a violation of the law of such jurisdictions Neither this document nor any copy of it may, subject to certain exemptions, be taken or transmitted into Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Singapore, or the US or distributed to these countries or to any national, citizen or resident thereof or any corporation, partnership or other entity created or organised under the laws thereof This Presentation does not constitute or form any part of an offer or invitation to sell or issue or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe or otherwise acquire, any ordinary shares in the Company in any jurisdiction No person other than Company is authorised to give any information or to make any representation other than as contained in this document and, if given or made, such information or representation must not be relied upon as having been authorised by the Company This Presentation has been delivered to interested parties for information only and on the express understanding that they shall use it only for the purpose set out above The distribution of this Presentation shall not be deemed to be any form of commitment on the part of the Company to proceed with any transaction By accepting this Presentation, you confirm that you are an Exempt Person and agree to be bound by the foregoing terms and limitations Disclaimer www.etechmetals.com 3 2010s REE boom & stall • The rare earth element (REE) “boom” of 2010 - 2014 was initiated by a combination of Chinese policy changes, increased REE prices, rest - of - world (ROW) government intervention, and expanded media coverage, and general ignorance about the sector. • Pressure to provide a solution led to as many as 400 junior companies had entered the space by the early 2010s. • Mine to market requires years of planning, permitting, delineation, and engineering & metallurgical studies • Most ROW REE players have since stalled or disappeared completely after prices crashed in 2013/14. • Lynas’ Mount Weld deposit (currently in production) benefitted of a much longer lead time over its peers starting in 2001...and large financial support from JOGMEC Lynas’ Mount Weld deposit in Australia – in production for a reason Mineralogy is king www.etechmetals.com 4 Renewed interest in REE 2019/2020 • Off back of the battery metals boom for lithium & cobalt in recent years, investors have “joined the dots” and are increasingly realising that REEs (notably NdPr magnets in electric car motors) are part of the story as we endeavour to “decarbonise” our economies • US - China trade tensions. Governments are strategizing REEs again • Reinforcing the need to diversify supply • Sleeping dogs from the early 2010s are waking up... • ...puppies are being born • ...but the same old problems remain Ion adsorption clays The rare earth elements are not that rare! www.etechmetals.com 6 Key fundamentals to a producing REE Mine - composition Deposit composition: Over 200 minerals have been identified as containing REE. However, only a few minerals possess REE in economic recoverable amounts (in bold) • bastn ä site - (Ce) (REE )CO 3 F • synchysite - (Ce) Ca(REE)(CO 3 ) 2 F • parisite - (Ce) Ca(REE) 2 (CO 3 ) 3 F 2 • monazite - (Ce) (REE )PO 4 • ancylite - (Ce) ( Sr,Ca )REE(CO 3 ) 2 (OH) H 2 O • loparite ( Na,REE,Ca )( Ti,Nb )O 3 • xenotime - (Y) YPO 4 • euxenite REE( Nb,Ta,Ti ) 2 O 6 • steenstrupine Na 14 Ce 6 (Mn 2+) 2 Fe 3+) 2 Zr(PO 4 ) 7 Si 12 O 36 (OH) 2 .3H 2 O • eudialyte Na 15 Ca 6 Fe 3 Zr 3 Si(Si 25 O 73 )(O,OH,H 2 O) 3 ( Cl,OH ) 2 • “yttro - fluorite” (Ca, Y)F www.etechmetals.com 7 What is TREO? The untold story of mineral deportment To the left, an example concentrate of 72.6% TREO Sounds good. But where is that TREO sitting? Is it mono - mineralic (in terms of REE) or poly - mineralic? This example, is poly - mineralic And can the minerals be easily separated from the other non - REE minerals (impurities)? Crucial for further processing Mineral Modal % Monazite 52 Bastnasite 15.1 Fluorite 11 Fe - oxides 6.9 Ankerite 3.5 Allanite 5.5 Barite 1.9 Quartz 1.8 Mica/clays 1.8 Other 0.5 100 The same principal applies to any declared resource in terms of TREO grade from whole - rock assay i.e. drilling. “We are pleased to announce a indicated resource of 20 million tonnes grading 2% TREO at a 1% TREO cut - off” But where is that TREO sitting? www.etechmetals.com 8 What is TREO? The untold story of stoichiometry R EE developers love pie - charts, particularly percentages of TREO But the values are misleading in terms of the speciation that is hosting the TREO. A monazite running 68% TREO (the other 32% phosphate, thorium portion of the mineral) then the Nd content of that monazite concentrate is 68% of 18% = 12.24% Nd A bastnäsite running at 58% TREO (the other 42% fluorcarbonate portion of the mineral) then the Nd content of that bastnäsite concentrate is 58% of 18% = 10.44% Nd NB. as previously explained the % of TREO displayed here could actually be hosted in a few REE minerals – and this is usually the case Individual RE oxides % of TREO Comparison of four main deposit types Eneabba , Western Australia http://www.amcconsultants.com.au/2010_jun.asp?ID=3 • CARBONATITES • Reasonably large • Higher grade • Fresh magmatic & weathered types • Usually light REE ( Ce,La,Nd,Pr ) • Lower radioactive Th content ( but variable from deposit to deposit) (Weathered carbonatite) Greg Hall • MINERAL SANDS • Reasonably large • But low grade • Key is that REE minerals ( monazite and xenotime ) are by - products of Ti , Zr mining. • High radioactive Th content • ION ADSORPTION • Small / shallow – yet broad environmental impact • Low grade, how leachable is it? • easy to mine, leached ‘in situ’ • Higher amounts heavy REE • V. low radioactivity • ALKALINE ROCKS • Large • Lower grade • Hard rock • Complex mineralogy • Higher amounts heavy REE (Y, SEG, Dy, Tb) • Low radioactive Th content Greg Hall Comparison of four main deposit types Eneabba , Western Australia http://www.amcconsultants.com.au/2010_jun.asp?ID=3 • CARBONATITES • Reasonably large • Higher grade • Fresh magmatic & weathered types • Usually light REE ( Ce,La,Nd,Pr ) • Lower radioactive Th content ( but variable from deposit to deposit) (Weathered carbonatite) Greg Hall • MINERAL SANDS • Reasonably large • But low grade • Key is that REE minerals ( monazite and xenotime ) are by - products of Ti , Zr mining. • High radioactive Th content • ION ADSORPTION • Small / shallow – yet broad environmental impact • Low grade, how leachable is it? • easy to mine, leached ‘in situ’ • Higher amounts heavy REE • V. low radioactivity • ALKALINE ROCKS • Large • Lower grade • Hard rock • Complex mineralogy • Higher amounts heavy REE (Y, SEG, Dy, Tb) • Low radioactive Th content Greg Hall Map after Elliott et al., Ore Geology Reviews, 2018 Global REE resources there are many! – but challenges in bringing to market NZ – sorry! >> Bayan Obo 200 Ion adsorption deposits Weishan Maoniuping Indian mineral sands Rare Earth Mines in production Greg Hall Linda Campbell Bayan Obo (Lovozero Weishan Ion adsorption clays Mt Weld Mountain Pass Gakara Browns Range The projects that are in production TODAY are conventional deposits – known mineralogy, easily winnable, and/or advantage of long lead - time Ion adsorption clays REE Trade Flows 2019 www.etechmetals.com 14 The ideal near - term REE deposit? 1. Deposit composition - high grade, conventional/proven REE ore mineral e.g. bastnäsite and/or monazite, with low actinide (Th, U) content. A high proportion of Nd & Pr. 2. Mining mechanics – well constrained deposit, efficient beneficiation and high recovery. 3. Deposit accessibility - geography, topography, politics, tax regime, proximity to infrastructure i.e. road/rail, water, electricity, shipping port. 4. Offtake agreement in place Ultimately resulting in an easily winnable product at low capital expenditure and low operating expenditure , with minimal and controlled environmental impact. Summary of REE processing routes $ $$ $$$ Summary of REE processing routes $ $$ $$$ www.etechmetals.com 17 Separation bottle - neck in the REE business is separation into individual rare earth oxides (REOs) – normally via solvent extraction (SX) $$$ Beneficiation of REE ore 1. REE mineral concentrate $ 2. Intermediate “crack” to mixed REE product $$ REE ore deposit 3. Separation into individual rare earth oxides $$$$ 4. Production of rare earth metals, compounds and metals $$$$$ Beneficiation bottle - neck for many mine developers expensive multi - stage processing flow sheets needed to “win” the REE - bearing mineral, or minerals. Many unresolved or sub - economic $$...? REE processing bottle - necks “mine to magnet” 2 Major bottlenecks Mountain Pass rare earth mine, California, USA HC1 Box 224, 67750 Bailey Road, Mountain Pass, CA 92366 Primary carbonatite - bastnäsite from Mountain Pass Complex flow sheet – and this just to get to concentrate bastn ä site quartz baryte carbonates 1 cm 500 um www.lynascorp.com Matt Demmer E.g. Weathered carbonatite mine at Mount Weld in Western Australia, with an average grade of 15.4 % REOxide Laterite contains goethite, crandallite , monazite Carbonatite laterites – high grade, but a challenge to process Mountain Pass rare earth mine, California, USA HC1 Box 224, 67750 Bailey Road, Mountain Pass, CA 92366 M ount Weld, WA weathered carbonatite – flow sheet to monazite concentrate Fresh carbonatite and associated silicate rocks Saprolite Apatitic horizon (residual) Crandallitic horizon / monazite Iron - rich surface horizon 10 m 50 - 200 m 10 m