Innovation Metals Corp. and Ucore Applaud White House Executive Order to Establish a U.S. Critical-Minerals Supply Chain

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 2, 2020) - Innovation Metals Corp. ("IMC" or the "Company") and its corporate parent, Ucore Rare Metals Inc. ("Ucore") (TSXV: UCU) (OTCQX: UURAF) applaud the new Executive Order from the United States Federal Government directing the enhancement of North American supply chains for critical minerals. The September 30, 2020 U.S. Presidential Executive Order, entitled, 'Executive Order on Addressing the Threat to the Domestic Supply Chain from Reliance on Critical Minerals from Foreign Adversaries,' directs the upgrade of U.S. mining and production capabilities amid threats from foreign adversaries and overreliance on Chinese supply chains and specifically addresses rare-earth elements ("REEs").

"Our dependence on one country, the People's Republic of China (China), for multiple critical minerals is particularly concerning. The United States now imports 80 percent of its rare earth elements directly from China, with portions of the remainder indirectly sourced from China through other countries. In the 1980s, the United States produced more of these elements than any other country in the world, but China used aggressive economic practices to strategically flood the global market for rare earth elements and displace its competitors. Since gaining this advantage, China has exploited its position in the rare earth elements market by coercing industries that rely on these elements to locate their facilities, intellectual property, and technology in China. For instance, multiple companies were forced to add factory capacity in China after it suspended exports of processed rare earth elements to Japan in 2010, threatening that country's industrial and defense sectors and disrupting rare earth elements prices worldwide."

President Donald J. Trump
The White House
September 30, 2020

The Executive Order requests that agencies consider funding for mining projects through multiple legislative mechanisms as well as potential trade actions. Ucore has long suggested that additional funding for U.S.-based critical-materials supplies is a critical pillar of any meaningful, long-term strategy to establish critical-material independence in North America.

IMC's Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Dr. Gareth Hatch, CEng, FRSA, FIMMM, FIET stated, "Currently, North America has no commercial capacity whatsoever to refine REEs into the high-purity REE oxides ("REOs") required by end users. The complete inability of the United States to transform these REE minerals into the highly specialized technology materials that power high-tech, green-energy and defense applications - at commercial scale - is a critical, time-sensitive problem that has compromised U.S. national and economic security. The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on global critical-materials supply chains, only underscores this argument. However, the United States does have the capability to rapidly build a secure, complete domestic, commercial REE supply chain. We have access to secure, U.S.-allied-sourced upstream REE sources now, we have the necessary technologies required to scale REE downstream commercial capacity, and we have the REE projects needed to secure diverse supply for the future. And with the announcement of the September 30^th Executive Order, the U.S. government has outlined an excellent strategy to address the significant REE supply-chain risk for the U.S. and its allies."

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About Innovation Metals Corp.

IMC has developed the proprietary RapidSX™ process, for the low-cost separation and purification of REEs, Ni, Co, Li and other technology metals, via an accelerated form of solvent extraction. IMC is commercializing this approach for a number of metals, to help enable mining and metal-recycling companies to compete in today's global marketplace. IMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ucore Rare Metals Inc.

For more information, please www.innovationmetals.com.

About the RapidSX™ Technology

IMC developed the RapidSX separation technology with the assistance of US$1.8 million in funding from the United States Department of Defense ("US DoD"), resulting in the production of commercial-grade, separated REOs at the pilot scale. RapidSX combines the time-proven chemistry of conventional solvent extraction ("SX") with a new column-based platform, which significantly reduces time to completion and plant footprint, as well as potentially lowering capital and operating costs. SX is the international REE industry's standard commercial separation technology and is currently used by 100% of all REE producers worldwide for bulk commercial separation of both HREEs and LREEs. Utilizing the same chemistry as conventional SX, RapidSX is not a "new" technology, but represents a significant improvement on the well-established, well-understood, proven conventional SX separation technology preferred by REE producers.

About Ucore Rare Metals Inc.

Ucore is focused on rare and critical metals resources, extraction and beneficiation technologies with potential for production, growth, and scalability. The Company has a 100% ownership stake in the Bokan-Dotson Ridge Rare Earth Project. Ucore's vision and plan is to transition to become a leading advanced technology company that provides mineral separation products and services to the mining and mineral extraction industry. This vision includes the development of the Alaska SMC in Southeast Alaska and the development of the Company's rare earth minerals property located at Bokan Mountain in Alaska.

Ucore is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol "UCU" and in the United States on the OTC Markets' OTCQX^® Best Market under the ticker symbol "UURAF". For further information, please visit www.ucore.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains projections and statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian, United States and other laws. Forward-looking statements in this release may include, among others, statements regarding the future plans, costs, objectives or performance of Innovation Metals Corp. ("IMC"), or the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. In this news release, words such as "may", "could", "would", "will", "likely", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "goal", "estimate" and similar words and the negative forms thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are beyond IMC's control, and which may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of IMC to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties could cause actual results and IMC's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. IMC can offer no assurance that its plans will be completed. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, IMC assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

CONTACT
Dr. Gareth Hatch, CEng, FRSA, FIMMM, FIET
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors

Innovation Metals Corp.
+1 416 218 2006
info@innovationmetals.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/65099