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

WILMINGTON, DE / ACCESS Newswire / September 23, 2026 / Electric Metals (USA) Limited (TSXV:EML)(OTCQB:EMUS) ("Electric Metals" or the "Company") 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-estimated 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's 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
(303) 656-9197 | [email protected] | www.electricmetals.com

Darrow Associates Investor Relations
Matt Kreps, Managing Director
(214) 597-8200 | [email protected]

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the results and conclusions of the FEL-1 Costing Study; estimated capital costs; comparisons between the FEL-1 Study and the PEA; the potential development, construction, expansion and operation of the proposed Gulf Coast processing facility; potential production of HPMSM and EMM; the proposed 32-month development schedule; site selection and permitting; subsequent engineering activities; potential sources of financing and government support; and the Company's plans to develop an integrated domestic manganese supply chain.

Forward-looking statements are based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances as of the date such statements are made. Such assumptions include, among other things, the ability to advance engineering and permitting as anticipated; identify and secure a suitable Gulf Coast site; obtain required permits, approvals, financing and government support; secure necessary equipment, materials, labor, utilities and infrastructure; and develop the proposed HPMSM and EMM facilities substantially in accordance with the cost estimates and schedules described herein.

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to: the preliminary nature of the FEL-1 Study and its ±50% cost-estimate accuracy range; the exclusion of Owner's costs, permitting costs and tariff impacts from the estimate; the Company's allocation of shared infrastructure costs between HPMSM and EMM for comparison purposes, which involves judgment and may differ from final cost allocation; the risk that subsequent engineering may identify different capital costs, operating costs, technical requirements, design parameters or schedules; the fact that the economic viability of the proposed EMM circuit has not yet been established; risks associated with obtaining required permits and approvals and selecting and securing a Gulf Coast site; risks that the Company may not obtain non-dilutive financing, government support or offtake-linked financing on favorable terms or at all and may be required to pursue dilutive equity financing; construction, commissioning and supply-chain risks; and other risks disclosed in the Company's filings available on SEDAR+.

There can be no assurance that the proposed Gulf Coast facility or EMM circuit will be constructed or placed into production on the terms, costs or schedule contemplated, or at all. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws.

^[1] Hargrove Engineers & Constructors is a full-service project engineering firm serving global industrial, chemical, refining, energy generation, manufacturing, and infrastructure clients. Engineering News Record Sourcebook (2025) ranked Hargrove as #1 in the Chemical sector in the United States.

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F.Tremblay--SMC