Monday, 24 August 2026 06:50 AM
Company Update
Program Targets Higher Recoveries, Lower Costs and a Pipeline of Value-Enhanced Milestones for an Onshore U.S. Manganese Critical Minerals Supply Chain - That Does Not Yet Exist
WILMINGTON, DE / ACCESS Newswire / August 24, 2026 / Electric Metals (USA) Limited (TSXV:EML)(OTCQB:EMUS) (the "Company" or "Electric Metals") today announced the launch of an integrated optimization program comprising multiple technical and engineering workstreams at its North Star Manganese Project in Minnesota (the "Project"), host to the highest-grade manganese deposit in North America.
The programs are designed to identify opportunities to improve ore selectivity and recovery, reduce material-handling and processing costs, optimize downstream plant design and advance the Project toward pre-feasibility. With several workstreams now underway in parallel, Electric Metals expects to report results progressively, creating multiple potential project cost savings and income-enhancing results through the balance of 2026 and into 2027.
The Project's previously announced Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") defined an after-tax net present value of US$1.39 billion at a 10% discount rate, a 43.5% after-tax internal rate of return, average annual after-tax cash flow of US$249.6 million and a 23-month payback period.
North Star Manganese Project Investment Highlights
US$1.39 billion after-tax NPV₁₀ and 43.5% after-tax IRR outlined in the PEA.
US$249.6 million in average annual after-tax cash flow and 23-month payback period estimated in the PEA.
Highest-grade manganese deposit in North America, located in Minnesota.
Initial HPMSM production of 100,000 tonnes per year, expanding to 200,000 tonnes per year in Year 3, as outlined in the PEA.
A 10,000 tonnes per year EMM production circuit, not included in the PEA, is now incorporated into the project's FEL-1 engineering and broader development concept.
U.S. import dependence for manganese and the absence of an integrated domestic mine-to-high-purity-manganese supply chain.
Multiple optimization workstreams now underway, establishing a pipeline of potential project cost savings and income-enhancing updates through 2026 and into 2027.
Manganese has been designated a U.S. critical mineral since 2018, and the U.S. Geological Survey classifies it as having an elevated supply-disruption risk. The United States is 100% import-reliant, has not mined manganese ore domestically in more than 50 years, and has extremely limited intermediate and no advanced domestic manganese chemical processing capacity. With virtually no substitutes and global recycling averaging only 9%, this dependence is particularly significant given manganese's essential role in steelmaking, metal alloys, high-performance lithium-ion batteries, aerospace, drones, defense systems, infrastructure, transportation, power generation, electronics, and other industrial and consumer applications. Compounding this vulnerability, China controls an estimated 96% of global HPMSM capacity and approximately 98% of global EMM capacity.
Against this backdrop, the North Star Manganese Project is among the most advanced primary manganese projects in the United States. The optimization program announced today is designed to strengthen Electric Metals' potential to become a secure, competitive and capital-efficient domestic source of high-purity manganese products.
"The PEA told us what the North Star Manganese Project is worth, but it wasn't optimized; this program is about making the Project better and worth more," said Brian Savage, Chief Executive Officer of Electric Metals. "Manganese sits on America's critical minerals list, yet this country hasn't mined manganese ore in more than fifty years, and almost none of the world's high-purity manganese chemistry happens outside China. The North Star Manganese Project is one of the few projects in the United States with the grade and scale to change that. These programs are how we sharpen an already compelling project's economics as we move toward pre-feasibility."
Multiple Workstreams Targeting Project Value
The Company is advancing geology, ore sorting, metallurgy, downstream engineering and environmental review in parallel so that results from each workstream can inform the others as they become available. Work now underway includes:
1. Improve mine planning and ore selectivity
Development of a mineral-speciation block model to map manganese mineral types and grade variation throughout the Emily Deposit.
Investor Benefit - Better definition of mineable ore types and grades could support more selective mine planning, reduce waste material sent to the plant, and improve metallurgical recoveries.
2. Increase feed grade through water- and chemical-free ore sorting
Expanded sensor-based ore-sorting evaluation, including particle-size recovery, crush-size optimization, staged sorting and additional modeling.
Investor Benefit - Preliminary ore sorting demonstrated doubling ore grades with less than 5% loss of manganese. Enhanced sorting could further increase plant feed grade and recovery while reducing material movement, transportation requirements, plant size, capital costs and operating costs.
3. Reduce chemical consumption and processing costs
Creation of deposit-wide mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical datasets to support advanced geometallurgical investigations.
Investor Benefit - The work is designed to improve the Company's understanding of acid consumption, recovery, impurities and mineral liberation - the variables that most directly affect downstream chemical-processing costs and product quality.
4. Evaluate additional low-cost mineral separation opportunities
Development of deposit-wide density and magnetic-property data in partnership with the University of Minnesota's Institute for Rock Magnetism.
Investor Benefit - The data could improve exploration targeting and help determine whether magnetic separation can further improve mineral separation and recovery, while adding independent university research capability at low incremental cost.
5. Optimize U.S. HPMSM and EMM plant design and economics
Completion of a preliminary engineering and economic design for HPMSM production with an EMM circuit through the Front-End Loading 1 ("FEL-1") Study.
Investor Benefit - The independent engineering review will test the capital-cost assumptions underpinning the PEA and identify opportunities for further engineering and optimization. This workstream most directly advances Electric Metals' strategy to become a domestic producer of battery-grade manganese and EMM rather than solely an ore supplier.
Path Toward Pre-Feasibility and Future Development
In parallel with the workstreams above, Electric Metals continues evaluating the Project-level technical work required to support future resource-to-reserve conversion and pre-feasibility activities. This work includes additional evaluation of historical U.S. Steel drilling information, resource confidence, rock mechanics, hydrology, mining methods, metallurgical performance and environmental assessment. Completion and timing will depend on technical priorities, funding, permitting considerations and the results of preceding work.
"We're running geology, ore sorting, metallurgy, downstream engineering and environmental review in parallel because that's the fastest way to let each workstream inform the others in real time," said Savage. "Shareholders should expect a steady flow of substantive project updates through the balance of 2026 and into 2027 as these programs reach meaningful milestones."
Next Steps
Results will be reported progressively as the individual programs achieve meaningful milestones. Together, these workstreams are intended to provide the technical and economic inputs needed to evaluate potential improvements in recovery, feed grade, material movement, chemical consumption, process plant configuration, capital efficiency, environmental considerations and overall project economics, while supporting the North Star Manganese Project's advancement toward pre-feasibility and future development.
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Donald E. Hulse, PE, SME Registered Member #1533190RM, a "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Hulse is an independent consultant and Managing Director with Frenchman Creek Consultants LLC.
About Electric Metals (USA) Limited
Electric Metals (USA) Limited is a U.S.-domiciled critical minerals and advanced materials company advancing the North Star Manganese Project in Minnesota, host to the Emily Manganese Deposit, the highest-grade manganese deposit in North America. The Company's strategy is to build an integrated, domestic manganese supply chain, from mine to battery-grade, high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate and electrolytic manganese metal, serving U.S. battery, defense, aerospace, drone, steel, and industrial customers. Electric Metals trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol EML and on the OTCQB under the symbol EMUS. Learn more at www.electricmetals.com.
For Further Information
Electric Metals (USA) Limited
Brian Savage, Chief Executive Officer
(303) 656-9197 | [email protected] | www.electricmetals.com
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the scope, timing, cost and anticipated benefits of the optimization program described herein; expected improvements to ore selectivity, feed grade, recoveries, material handling, capital costs and operating costs; the results and implications of the PEA, including the estimated net present value, internal rate of return, annual cash flow and payback period; the potential for resource-to-reserve conversion and the commencement or completion of pre-feasibility work; the potential development of domestic HPMSM and EMM production capacity; the expected cadence of future project updates through 2026 and into 2027; and statements regarding U.S. critical minerals policy, import dependence and demand from battery, defense and industrial end markets.
The benefits anticipated from these studies remain subject to further test work and engineering and economic validation and should not be interpreted as definitive conclusions regarding recoveries, costs or economic outcomes. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the results of the PEA, or of the programs described in this news release, will be realized.
Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management considers reasonable as of the date of this release, including assumptions as to the availability of financing, the accuracy of mineral resource estimates, metallurgical and geometallurgical test results being representative, the receipt of required permits and approvals, commodity prices, and the absence of material adverse changes in policy or market conditions. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including risks relating to exploration and development, technical study outcomes, capital and operating cost estimation, permitting, financing, manganese market pricing and supply, changes in U.S. trade or critical minerals policy, and the other risk factors described in the Company's continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE: Electric Metals (USA) Limited