Engineering Cost Study Validates Commercial-Scale U.S. HPMSM Capital Cost and Establishes EMM Capital Cost for Electric Metals’ North Star Manganese Project

The more detailed FEL-1 Costing Study validates the PEA capital cost estimate for the 200,000 tpy HPMSM chemical plant and further supports the PEA economic analysis.

Electric Metals’ North Star Manganese Project would represent North America’s only fully integrated, U.S.-based, ore-to-high-purity manganese chemicals supply chain, serving critical U.S. defense and industrial markets.

The Study also estimated the cost of adding a 10,000 tpy EMM plant at the same facility. (A further assessment of an EMM plant will require an independent analysis, which has not been completed.)

Wilmington, Delaware, September 23, 2026: Electric Metals (USA) Limited (TSXV: EML; OTCQB: EMUS) (the “Company” or “Electric Metals“) is pleased to announce the positive results of a Front-End Loading 1 (“FEL-1”), Class 5 Costing Study (the “Study”) for the planned Gulf Coast processing facility of the Company’s North Star Manganese Project. Hargrove Engineers and Constructors (“Hargrove”) of Mobile, Alabama, completed the Study.[1]

The chemical facility is designed to process manganese ore concentrate shipped by rail from the Company’s Emily, Minnesota project and produce High-Purity Manganese Sulfate Monohydrate (“HPMSM”) through a leaching, purification, and crystallization circuit. 

FEL-1 Study Highlights

• The FEL-1 Study was designed to provide a higher level of engineering analysis and costing than the PEA; while comparable to the 2025 PEA, it did not reassess the economics of the NSMP – that will be conducted as additional Project improvements are incorporated into a new NI 43-101 Technical Report.
  
• The FEL-1 total installed cost (“TIC”) of $452 million for a full-production HPMSM facility producing 200,000 tpy of HPMSM compares favorably to $464 million in the Company’s 2025 Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”)[2], representing a cost saving of approximately 3%. (Table 1 compares the FEL-1 results with the PEA.)
  
• Estimate developed using Aspen Capital Cost Estimator (ACCE) software from a conceptual plant layout, preliminary equipment list, and preliminary plot plan with the facility occupying less than 40 acres.
  
• The estimate incorporates a 20% contingency and 5% escalation allowance in accordance with AACE Class 5 estimating guidelines, providing additional conservatism at this stage of engineering; the PEA used a 25% contingency.
  
• Estimated 32-month schedule from the start of detailed design to mechanical completion and start-up — positioning the Company to reach start-up readiness within just over two-and-a-half years of a final investment decision; the PEA estimated 36 months to reach full production.
  
• The proposed location on the U.S. Gulf Coast will provide access to river and port logistics, rail infrastructure, and processing chemical feedstocks from petrochemical plants; a specific site has not yet been selected.

TABLE 1: 200,000 tpy HPMSM Plant 2025 PEA and 2026 FEL-1 Study Comparisons

Comparison to the 2025 PEA

The FEL-1 Study announced today reflects a more detailed level of engineering definition than the PEA.  The PEA and FEL-1 Study were prepared about a year apart by different engineering firms, and both have a cost-estimate accuracy of ±50%. 

“Hargrove’s FEL-1 capital estimate for the full-scale commercial 200,000 tpy HPMSM facility is approximately 3% below the PEA estimate, validating the earlier capital estimate and further supporting the PEA economics,” said Brian Savage, CEO of Electric Metals. 
 
“For more than five decades, the United States has relied entirely on imported manganese in all forms, including ores, concentrates, advanced chemicals, and metals and metal alloy additives. The Country has no primary manganese production and only limited intermediate processing capacity. Because manganese has few viable substitutes in most uses and global recycling averages just 9%, this dependence creates a major strategic vulnerability across defense, aerospace, power generation, batteries, electronics, infrastructure, transportation, and other industrial and consumer sectors.”

“With the United States designating manganese a Critical Mineral and relying on imports for all of its manganese sulfate, the engineering study reinforces the strategic urgency of building dedicated domestic capacity to secure our supply chains.  We’re moving directly into the next phase of engineering, with continued updates on the North Star Manganese Project’s path to production.”

FEL-1Study Scope

The Study’s scope for the processing plant included a preliminary basis of design, heat and material balance, process flow diagrams (Figure 1), a process equipment list with major equipment pricing, a plot plan (Figure 2), and a site sketch. Using this conceptual layout of the plant’s footprint and major equipment, Hargrove derived quantity-based estimates for materials such as concrete, cable, and piping, producing ±50% total installed cost estimates, including contingency, for both a 100,000 tpy HPMSM and a 200,000 tpy HPMSM facility. Site size, raw material and product storage capacity, and utility capacity were sized from the outset to accommodate the higher production rate, such that scaling to the expansion case is expected to require minimal incremental capital investment and time.

Figure 1:  FEL-1 Study HPMSM Plant Simplified Flowsheet 

Figure 2:  FEL-1 Study HPMSM Plant Plot Plan

Mine site development and transload infrastructure associated with the Company’s proposed Minnesota and Gulf Coast operations were outside the scope of this Study and will continue to be evaluated separately. The Gulf Coast site selection and associated permitting will advance in parallel with subsequent engineering phases.

The FEL-1 Study was designed to provide a higher level of engineering analysis and costing than the PEA, and while comparable to the 2025 PEA, it did not reassess the economics of the North Star Manganese Project – that will be conducted as additional Project improvements are incorporated into a future NI 43-101 Technical Reports.

Preliminary EMM Capital Cost Estimate

In addition to preparing an FEL-1 Engineering Costing Study for both a 100,000 tpy HPMSM and a 200,000 tpy HPMSM chemical plant, Hargrove separately evaluated the capital cost of integrating a 10,000 tpy EMM circuit at the same facility.

The FEL Study’s scope for the EMM circuit included a preliminary design, heat and material balance, process flow diagrams (Figure 3), a process equipment list and pricing, a plot plan, and a site sketch, for a 10,000 tpy EMM line within the full chemical facility complex.  The EMM circuit was designed as an add-on facility to the HPMSM chemical plant. The FEL-1 installed cost estimates for the EMM plant, siting, storage, utility infrastructure and plant buildout was estimated at US$98.6 million, and the EMM line construction was assumed to be in association with the development of an HPMSM plant, saving costs on infrastructure development, including concrete, steel, cable, and piping.  

The FEL-1work on the EMM plant did not assess its economic impact on the North Star Manganese Project – it was solely prepared to generate initial installed cost information for an integrated EMM plant to be used in future studies that will be conducted as additional Project improvements are generated and incorporated into future NI 43-101 Technical Reports. 

Figure 3: FEL-1 Study Integrated HPMSM Plant with an EMM Plant Simplified Flowsheet 

Manganese – Critical to U.S. Defense and National Security.

Manganese is a critical mineral essential to U.S. defense, aerospace, steel, battery, energy, and industrial supply chains. The U.S. relies 100% on imports for manganese, while China controls about 96% of global high-purity manganese sulfate (HPMSM) processing and 98% of electrolytic manganese metal (EMM) processing.

Manganese is essential to steel and specialty alloys used throughout the defense industrial base, including in armor and military vehicles, aircraft and aerospace components, naval applications, munitions, and other high-strength military applications. HPMSM is also an important input for manganese-bearing lithium-ion battery chemistries used in electrification, energy storage, and increasingly in defense systems requiring advanced battery technologies.

This dependence on foreign supply has elevated manganese to a U.S. national security priority. The federal government has identified manganese as an essential material for defense and civilian battery applications and has prioritized developing secure domestic critical-mineral supply chains to reduce reliance on foreign sources. More broadly, federal policy identifies secure supplies of critical minerals and materials as essential to military applications, including aircraft, munitions, armor plating, and naval ships, reinforcing the strategic importance of establishing secure domestic sources of manganese and other critical materials.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Donald Hulse, SME-RM, of Frenchman Creek Consultants LLC, who is a “qualified person” under NI 43-101. 

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, please contact:

Electric Metals (USA) Limited

Brian Savage, Chief Executive Officer