EU STRATEGIC
PROJECT APPLICATION SUBMITTED FOR NORRA KÄRR
Vancouver,
August 11, 2024 – Leading Edge Materials
Corp. (“Leading Edge Materials” or
the “Company”) (TSXV: LEM)
(Nasdaq First North: LEMSE) (OTCQB:
LEMIF) announces that an application for Strategic Project
designation for the Norra Kärr Heavy Rare Earths (HREE) Project has
been submitted. The European Commission has indicated that the
first list of Strategic Projects will be announced in December
2024.
Kurt Budge, Chief
Executive Officer, states: “Strategic Project status for Norra Kärr
would be a catalyst for realizing HREE production in Europe, with
Norra Kärr contributing to the EU’s needs for a secure, resilient
and sustainable supply chain supporting the manufacturing of
permanent magnets.
Norra Kärr was first
identified by the Geological Survey of Sweden in the early 1900s.
Over the last 15 years, systematic project development work has
been carried out, during which time, in 2013, an Exploitation
Concession, 25-year mining lease, was awarded for a more complex
and much larger operation, and, in 2015, a Prefeasibility Study
(PFS) was completed.
In 2021, the Project
was redesigned, increasing resource utilization and efficiency,
improving environmental, social and governance factors, minimizing
the local footprint by limiting activities taking place at the mine
site to mining and physical processing. This is the basis for the
Company’s application for a new Exploitation Concession which will
be submitted in Q4 2024.
It's an exciting time,
with the prospect of significant progress being made with Norra
Kärr in the next 12-months. The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act is
a real driver for a change and greater awareness of the need for
sustainable mining in the region. Sweden, with a long history of
mining, will continue to play a significant leadership role in the
EU’s efforts to achieve greater self-sufficiency, as will the
Company.”
Norra Kärr’s
Relevance to the EU:
The Norra Kärr deposit
is listed as a mineral deposit of national interest by the Swedish
Geological Survey. This designation is linked to the potential for
the deposit to provide a supply of rare earth elements to Sweden
and Europe. Norra Kärr is an upstream asset that could be the EU’s
first step in HREE primary production and the establishment of a
secure, resilient, and sustainable value chain for REEs; helping to
strengthen the EU’s self-reliance and to reduce strategic
dependency on China for HREEs.
There is a railway
within 30 kilometers of the Norra Kärr site. The location provides
uninterrupted road, rail and Baltic port access to European markets
where both REE refining capacity and REE enabled technology
consumers are located.
EU demand for rare
earth metals is expected to increase six-fold by 2030 and
seven-fold by 2050. The EU is almost 100% dependent on China for
HREEs1.
A report by The
European Rare Earths Competency Network (ERECON) in 2014 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 for Europe.'2
The report, now a
decade old, stated that 'With adequate funding and permitting,
mining could begin before 2020 and secure European REE supply for
decades.' Norra Kärr is one of two 'best known' advanced stage REE
projects in Europe, which given size and grade could potentially
contribute to Europe’s security of supply of REE for decades to
come.
In May 2023, the
European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA), in the report titled
Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion - A European Call for
Action3, identified over 50 investment cases targeting materials
for energy storage and conversion across Europe and beyond, and a
total investment need exceeding EUR 15 billion. Norra Kärr was one
of the projects identified, that combined with the others, if
realized, would make a significant contribution to the EU’s needs
by 2030. The report acknowledged that there is limited primary
production within the EU and for some materials related to energy
storage, the EU relies almost entirely on imports.
Critical Raw
Materials Act:
On 18 March 2024, the
European Council adopted the regulation to establish a framework to
ensure a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials,
known as the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).
The CRMA introduces
clear deadlines for permit procedures for EU extracting projects,
allows the Commission and member states to recognize a project as
strategic, requires supply-chain risk assessments, requires member
states to have national exploration plans and ensures the EU’s
access to critical and strategic raw materials through ambitious
benchmarks on extraction, processing, recycling and diversification
of import sources.
On 23 May 2024, a call
for Strategic Projects as defined by the CRMA was opened. The CRMA
designates strategic projects to increase EU capacity to extract,
process and recycle strategic raw materials and diversify EU
supplies from third countries. Strategic raw materials are crucial
for the success of the green and digital transitions as well as the
resilience of the defence and aerospace sectors.
Sources:
1https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/infographics/critical-raw-materials/
2https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/10882
3https://erma.eu/new-roadmap-for-a-value-chain-on-raw-materials/
On behalf of the Board of
Directors,Leading Edge Materials
Corp.
Kurt Budge, CEO
For further information,
please contact the Company
at:1.604.685.9316info@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),
Bergby lithium 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 August 11, 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.
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