Ucore raising $10 million for rare earth separation project
Ucore Rare Metals Inc. [UCU-TSXV, UURAF-OTQX] has signed an agreement with a syndicate of agents in connection with a brokered LIFE offering of units that is expected to raise up to $10 million.
The units, priced at $1.20 each, will consist of one common share and one half of one share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share for 36 months after the closing date at an exercise price of $1.75.
The company has granted the agents an option to sell up to an additional 1.25 million units at the offering price, for additional gross proceeds of $1.5 million. That option can be exercised prior to closing and could raise the aggregate gross proceeds to $11.5 million.
On Wednesday, Ucore shares eased 6.08% or $0.09 to $1.39. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $2.26 and 50 cents.
News of the offering comes after Ucore said it had executed the definitive contract for its largest financing agreement to date, the US$18.4 million follow-on first stage production award from the U.S. Department of Defense that was previously announced on May 14, 2025. The company said this award brings total funding under the company’s existing Other Transaction Agreement with U.S. Army Contracting Command-Orlando to US$22.4 million. ($30.7 million Canadian).
Ucore, has rights to a transformational rare earth separation technology, RapidSX. The company is currently undertaking heavy and light rare earth element (REE) separation at demonstration scale at its RapidSX Commercialization and Demonstration Facility in Kingston, Ont. Participants in this project include the U.S. Department of Defense and Canadian Government as Ucore implements its technology transfer plan from demonstration scale to commercial scale at its prospective Louisiana SMC.
The purpose of the additional US$18.4 million award from the DoD is to facilitate the construction of the company’s first RapidSX machine and supporting infrastructure at its Strategic Metals Complex (SMC) in Alexandria, Louisiana. Specifically, the additional requirements of the project and the company’s objectives pursuant to the amended OT agreement are to:
- Complete detailed design, engineering, construction and confirmation testing of commercial-scale RapidSX columns at the company’s Commercialization and Demonstration Facility in Kingston.
- Complete detailed design and engineering plans for the SMC in Louisiana;
- Submit all required permit applications with respect to the SMC.
- Construct the requisite RapidSX supporting infrastructure, which will initially be scaled to service three RapidSX machines within the SMC (with still capacity for additional machines within the 80,800 square foot facility).
- Construct one commercial-scale RapidSX machine within the SMC, including commissioning, demonstration, and achieving “Early Production” readiness of salable individual rare-earth element products from the SMC in Louisiana in the second half of 2026.
Net proceeds of the unit offering will be used for the finalization of upstream mixed-rare earth feedstock agreements and downstream customer offtake agreements for the SMC in Louisiana, completion of the company’s existing obligations pursuant to its agreements with the U.S. DoD and Natural Resources Canada, commercial scale column confirmation testing, and progressing engineering drawings and plans, which are ongoing for the SMC.