Mr. Karl Kottmeier reports

EMP METALS COMPLETES CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECT AURORA DEMONSTRATION PLANT AND ADVANCES COMMISSIONING TOWARD Q3 START-UP

Construction of EMP Metals Corp.'s Project Aurora demonstration plant located within the company's Viewfield project area in Saskatchewan has been successfully completed.

The fully integrated demonstration facility is now directly connected to both the production well and waste brine disposal well, allowing continuous wellhead brine delivery to the facility process while returning spent brine to the targeted disposal interval. This integrated configuration enables full commissioning of the demonstration plant under real operating conditions and is among the first lithium brine facilities in Canada to achieve this level of integration.

Commissioning activities continue to progress according to plan and are now approximately 50 per cent complete. Live production brine is currently being processed through multiple operating systems as commissioning advances toward full plant start-up. The company remains on schedule to commence demonstration operations during the third quarter of 2026.

The demonstration plant has now achieved several key milestones, including:

• Construction and field infrastructure 100 per cent complete;
• Direct wellhead connection established to both production and disposal wells;
• Raw brine delivery from the production well into the process facility and advancing toward continuous flow, steady state operations;
• Waste brine disposal system fully operational with injection into the targeted disposal formation;
• Approximately 50 per cent of the overall commissioning schedule completed;
• Commissioning advancing across all major processing systems;
• Start-up in Q3 2026 remains on schedule.

"Completing construction of Project Aurora marks a major milestone for EMP as we transition from building the facility to operating it," said Karl Kottmeier, chief executive officer of EMP Metals. "Having the demonstration plant fully connected directly to both the production well and disposal well allows us to commission the facility under true field operating conditions. Fresh production brine is now flowing through the process as we continue integrating each system, and with commissioning approximately halfway complete, we remain on schedule for Q3 start-up."

Project Aurora is EMP's integrated, continuous-flow lithium refining demonstration system designed to process 10 cubic m/day of raw brine from wellhead to lithium chemicals. The facility is intended to validate process performance, optimize operating parameters, and generate engineering and economic data to support future commercial-scale development.

The demonstration program represents a key step toward commercializing EMP's lithium brine resource in Saskatchewan. Operational data generated throughout the demonstration campaign will support engineering design, process optimization and economic evaluation for a future modular commercial facility capable of producing more than 3,000 tonnes per year of lithium products.

EMP's Saskatchewan lithium resource continues to benefit from favourable brine chemistry free of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and oil-derived organics, shallow low-cost drilling, established infrastructure, and a supportive critical minerals regulatory environment, positioning the company to pursue initial commercial modules targeting 1,500 to 3,000 annually, expandable thereafter.

About EMP Metals Corp.

EMP is a Canadian-based lithium exploration and development company focused on large-scale resources using direct lithium extraction (DLE). EMP currently holds over 205,000 net acres (83,000 hectares) of subsurface dispositions and strategic well bores in Southern Saskatchewan.

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