Home Partner News Media Releases Mainstream News Opportunities Multimedia Events Press Release Montreal, March 19, 2024 – Geomega Resources Inc. (“Geomega” or the “Corporation”) (TSX.V: GMA) (OTC: GOMRF), a developer of clean technologies for the mining, refining, and recycling of rare earths and other critical materials, is pleased to provide an update to shareholders on its rare earths recycling demonstration plant, including certain required project design modifications, and an update on site preparation activities that have started at the Saint-Hubert facility. Project engineering update The past 6 months have been dedicated to bringing engineering to a sufficient level of completion that it could be tendered to the construction contractors for execution and completion of the rare earths recycling demonstration project. Procurement also progressed and various items were ordered while others were received at the Saint‑Hubert facility during this period. In parallel, permitting activities have been ongoing at both the municipal and provincial levels. The objective was to be able to start the construction activities in February 2024. As a result of providing all the requested data to the governmental authorities, Geomega was notified by the municipality of Saint-Hubert, a borough within the city of Longueuil, that the sewer system capacity is not currently able to accommodate the water discharges from the cooling tower that was to be installed for the demonstration plant (please see September 20, 2023 press release for the 3D model of the originally intended layout of the plant and cooling tower). Various solutions have been evaluated by Geomega, including in collaboration with city engineers, however none were appropriate for the project due to resulting increased costs, additional unforeseeable delays, and the overall feasibility of the proposed solution. As a result, Geomega had to undertake a design change for the rare earths recycling demonstration plant. Project design change from batch to continuous Geomega’s engineering team has begun a design change for the rare earths recycling demonstration plant from a batch process to a continuous 24hrs operation with smaller equipment and lower demand for utilities, most importantly in regard to the cooling requirements (chillers with a closed loop operation instead of a cooling tower with regular water discharges into the municipal sewer system). Despite the design change, the demonstration plant throughput capacity is planned to remain unchanged at 1.5 tonnes of feed material per day. Geomega’s engineering team believes that there are advantages to the change to continuous design: Geomega is aware that such a major design change may result in significant risks. The following are some of the primary risks that were considered and are being addressed by the management and engineering teams at Geomega: For ease of reference, a comparison between batch and continuous design is presented in the table below: Batch Design Continuous Design Operation schedule 8-10 hrs per day 24 hrs per day Process cooling technology Cooling tower with regular water discharges Chillers with closed loop operation Magnet throughput capacity 1.5 tpd 1.5 tpd Heating duty 1,962 kW 466 kW Cooling duty 1,940 kW 449 kW Start of Site Preparation Activities at the Saint‑Hubert Facility Following a thorough review of the required construction activities and the ongoing design change, the engineering team was able to select several items that are not being impacted by the design change to continuous operation. In particular, Geomega has secured the services of a local construction company that will manage and execute the required work. The site preparation activities that have begun at the Saint‑Hubert facility include some of the civil work that is not being affected by the design change, electrical work, installation of the required fire protection system and the HVAC system for the rare earths recycling demonstration plant. The majority of that work is expected to be completed by end of June 2024. Engineering and procurement work will continue in parallel to these site preparation activities to avoid any further delays once equipment installation and assembly is ready to commence. “We have been working diligently with all the stakeholders to build a sustainable solution for rare earths recycling. Although we have some challenging engineering work to do during the coming months, we are excited to finally start the site preparation activities at our Saint‑Hubert facility. We believe that the proposed design modifications not only resolve the obstacle we faced with the municipality’s sewer infrastructure but overall makes our process a more environmentally sustainable technological solution to REE recycling, a more robust industrial application and a better demonstration plant for our future clients to see. As design modifications and procurement progress during the coming months, we will be better positioned to provide regular updates. In addition, I would like to highlight that none of the recent developments and changes to the REE demonstration plant are expected to affect our bauxite residues valorization initiatives. Furthermore, we continue to believe that the centralized facility in Saint-Hubert is the best available option for both the demonstration plant and our other R&D activities.” commented Kiril Mugerman, President & CEO of Geomega. Addendum to the Last Press Release Geomega would like to make an addendum to its January 26, 2024 Press Release relative to the vesting of the Restricted Share Units (“RSUs”) in order to align with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The change is as follows: Vesting and settlement terms as indicated in the January 26, 2024 press release: “The RSUs vest over a 2-year period in increments of 25% every 6 months and may be settled after 3 years.” The corrected vesting and settlement terms: “The RSUs vest over a 2-year period in increments of 50% every year and may be settled after 3 years.” The rest of the information presented in the January 26, 2024 press release remains unchanged. About Geomega (www.geomega.ca) Geomega develops innovative technologies for extraction and separation of rare earth elements and other critical metals essential for a sustainable future. With a focus on renewable energies, vehicle electrification, automation and reduction in energy usage, rare earth magnets or neo-magnets (NdFeB) are at the center of all these technologies. Geomega’s strategy revolves around gradually de-risking its innovative technology and delivering cashflow and return value to shareholders while working directly with the main players in these industries to recycle the magnets that power all those technologies. As its technologies are demonstrated on larger scales, Geomega is committed to work with major partners to help extract value from mining feeds, tailings and other industrial residues which contain rare earths and other critical metals. Irrespective of the metal or the source, Geomega adopts a consistent approach to reduce the environmental impact and to contribute to lowering greenhouse gases emissions through recycling the major reagents in the process. Geomega’s process is based around its proprietary, low-cost, environmentally friendly way to tap into a C$1.5 billion global market to recycle magnet production waste and end of life magnets profitably and safely. Geomega also owns the Montviel rare earth carbonatite deposit, the largest 43-101 bastnaesite resource estimate in North America and holds over 16.8M shares, representing approximately 14% of the issued and outstanding shares, of Kintavar Exploration Inc. (KTR.V), a mineral exploration company that is exploring for copper projects in Quebec, Canada. For further information, please contact: Kiril Mugerman President and CEO Geomega 450-641-5119 ext.5653 [email protected] Nancy Thompson Vorticom Public Relations 212-532-2208 [email protected] X: @Geomega_REE IBF4
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