Mr. Kurt Budge reports

LEADING EDGE MATERIALS WELCOMES SWEDISH MINERAL STRATEGY AND POTENTIAL MEASURES TO ACCELERATE STRATEGIC PROJECTS

Leading Edge Materials Corp. has welcomed the Swedish government's newly announced mineral strategy, which places critical raw materials and mining at the centre of Sweden's industrial competitiveness and national security agenda.

The government's strategy outlines a series of proposed initiatives intended to strengthen Sweden's position as a leading supplier of critical raw materials while improving the conditions for the development of strategically important mining projects.

The proposed reforms are highly relevant to the advancement of the company's 100-per-cent-owned Norra Karr heavy rare earth elements project, one of Europe's richest deposits of dysprosium and terbium.

Proposed reforms to improve permitting

The Swedish government announced that it will launch an inquiry into the Minerals Act and the broader mining permitting system with the objective of creating a more efficient and predictable approval process. The government indicated that the European Union's Critical Raw Materials Act will serve as a model, including consideration of statutory timelines for different stages of permitting.

If implemented, these reforms could provide greater certainty for strategically important projects such as Norra Karr by reducing permitting complexity and improving the predictability of regulatory timelines.

Government considering strategic investment mechanisms

The mineral strategy also proposes an inquiry into how Sweden could participate in the financing of strategic mining projects.

While no specific funding mechanism has been decided, the government noted that one option could be the establishment of a state-owned investment company to support the development of prioritized mining projects. Such an instrument would represent a significant policy development as Sweden currently has limited direct financial participation in new mining developments outside its ownership of LKAB, a state-owned Swedish mining company.

The government highlighted increasing international competition for critical minerals and acknowledged that many jurisdictions actively support domestic mining industries through strategic investment. The proposed inquiry is intended to examine how Sweden can strengthen its competitiveness in this environment.

Building stronger local partnerships

Recognizing that local acceptance is fundamental to successful mine development, the government also announced an inquiry into new models for local value sharing.

The review will examine potential changes to Sweden's existing mineral compensation framework with the objective of ensuring that communities hosting mining projects receive greater economic benefits while maintaining Sweden's competitiveness as a mining jurisdiction.

With Norra Karr, Greenna Mineral has already made significant progress in building relations with local stakeholders and the government's initiatives in these areas will only support a healthy and continuing dialogue with communities.

Critical minerals recognized as a strategic security priority

More broadly, the Swedish government emphasized the growing geopolitical importance of critical raw materials and explicitly identified mining as an integral component of Sweden's national security policy.

The government also indicated it will consider new approaches to protecting strategically important mineral belts, including the possibility of designating larger mineralized regions as areas of national interest rather than limiting such designation to individual deposits. If adopted, this would represent a significant evolution in Swedish mineral policy.

Kurt Budge, chief executive officer, commented: "The Swedish government's mineral strategy is an encouraging signal that critical raw materials are increasingly being recognized as fundamental to Sweden's industrial competitiveness, national security and the energy transition. We are particularly encouraged by the proposed focus on more efficient permitting, consideration of strategic investment mechanisms and initiatives to strengthen local value creation.

"Norra Karr is Europe's most advanced heavy rare earth elements and has the potential to become an important long-term source of dysprosium, terbium and yttrium, required for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, defence technologies and advanced electronics. As Sweden and the European Union work to build resilient domestic critical raw materials supply chains, projects such as Norra Karr have an increasingly important strategic role to play.

"While these proposals remain subject to government inquiries and future legislative processes, they represent a positive direction of travel for Sweden's mining sector. We look forward to engaging constructively with government, regional authorities and local stakeholders as these initiatives develop and to continuing to advance Norra Karr as a strategically important European critical raw materials project."

About the Norra Karr project

Norra Karr is one of Europe's most significant deposits of heavy rare earth elements. The project's strategic value is underpinned by its high dysprosium and terbium (Dy/Tb) content, critical inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence applications.

On June 28, 2026, an exploitation concession (Sw. bearbetningskoncession) -- 25-year mining lease -- was granted by the Swedish government following a formal recommendation from the mining inspectorate (Sw. Bergsstaten), which submitted the application to the government for a final decision after all involved agencies had either endorsed the application or recommended approval.

The strategic importance of heavy rare earth elements to Europe's industrial future has never been more apparent. As China's export controls have demonstrated, access to dysprosium, terbium and yttrium cannot be taken for granted -- and the consequences of supply disruption are severe. Norra Karr, now holding an exploitation concession, is key to addressing Europe's critical risk exposure.

About Leading Edge Materials Corp.

Leading Edge Materials is a Canadian-listed company focused on developing critical raw material assets across the European Union. Its primary focus is the wholly owned Norra Karr heavy rare earth element project in Sweden -- one of the world's most strategically significant heavy rare earth deposits and among the few advanced-stage projects within the European Union capable of producing dysprosium, terbium and yttrium at meaningful scale. Situated in one of the globe's most politically and regulatory stable mining environments, Norra Karr is well positioned to contribute directly to the objectives of the European Union's Critical Raw Materials Act, including the bloc's target of sourcing 10 per cent of its critical raw material consumption domestically by 2030. Beyond rare earths, the company also holds the Woxna graphite mine in Sweden -- a fully constructed and permitted facility -- as well as a 90-per-cent stake in the Bihor Sud nickel-cobalt exploration alliance in Romania.

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