GreenRoc Strategic Materials plc announced significant improvements to its previously published Preliminary Feasibility Study (the "Feasibility Study") regarding the establishment of a downstream plant to produce graphite active anode material from graphite concentrate produced from the Company's planned graphite mine at Amitsoq, South Greenland. In its RNS of 7 May 2024 announcing the results of the Feasibility Study, the Company flagged that further improvements to process design would be investigated in a second stage, commencing shortly. Those further investigations are now complete.

These updates to the existing Feasibility Study were carried out by SLR Consulting Ltd. ("SLR"), an independent UK consulting firm with considerable global expertise in the field of mining and mineral processing and the original author of the Feasibility Study, and were completed with a cost accuracy to AACE Class 4 ("AACE Class 4 Estimate"). As previously announced, the Feasibility Study was supported by a ca. £250,000 grant from Innovate UK's Automotive Transformation Fund.

Highlights: Improvements to process design, notably surrounding onsite production of nitrogen and de-ionised water, have resulted in: relatively modest (6%) overall increase in Capex from USD 321 million to USD 340 million (AACE Class 4 Estimate); significant (18%) decrease in Opex from USD 2,211 to USD 1,872 per tonne of coated spherical purified graphite ("CSPG"); and an overall 14% increase in after-tax NPV8 for anode plant from USD 545 million to USD 621 million and increase in IRR from 25.3% to 26.5%. Updated Feasibility Study has also assessed an alternative, alkaline purification method using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) instead of hydrofluoric acid ("HF") with the following preliminary results: Capex higher at USD 395 million (Cf. USD 340 million for HF method); However Opex lower at USD 1,662 per tonne (Cf.

USD 1,872 per tonne for HF method). Further test work will be undertaken to further refine the NaOH method. Further Details: While the overall concepts and processes set out in the initial Feasibility Study published by the Company on 7 May 2024 are unchanged, this updated study incorporates a series of improvements.

The most important of these are the onsite production of de-ionised water and the construction of a plant for the production of nitrogen. While these modifications result in an overall increase in Capex from USD 321 million (May 2024) to USD 340 million (July 2024), they also result in a significant decrease in Opex from USD 2,211 (May 2024) to USD 1,872 (July 2024) per tonne of CSPG. Consequently, the after-tax NPV8 has increased from USD 545 million with an IRR of 25.3% (May 2024) to USD 621 million with an IRR of 26.5% (July 2024).

Nitrogen is used in the final stages of CSPG processing when the newly coated spherical purified graphite is baked at up to 1,300°C in an oxygen-free, inert atmosphere. The incorporation of onsite plants for both nitrogen generation and de-ionised water will not only provide considerable cost savings during production but will also serve to make the anode plant less reliant on price fluctuations and on the delivery of these key consumables. The updated Feasibility Study also assesses the use of an alternative purification method using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) instead of the very efficient, but more hazardous and expensive, hydrofluoric acid.

The NaOH purification technique employs a process involving a two-stage 'cold-baking' of the CSPG in NaOH at 250-300°C with subsequent leaching using hydrochloric and/or sulphuric acid. As the NaOH Method requires two stages, rather than the one stage required in the HF Method, the Capex required is higher at USD 395 million compared to USD 340 million for the HF Method. However, the Opex is significantly lower at USD 1,662 per tonne compared to USD 1,872 per tonne for the HF Method.

The overall after-tax NPV8 for the NaOH Method is USD 601 million with an IRR of 23.7%. These figures are purely indicative at this stage and subject to further test work, which will be conducted in due course, to refine the alkaline purification method. The next milestone with regard to the CSPG production plant is identifying the preferred site for the plant and setting up a pilot-scale processing plant in order to be able to commence the qualification process with potential customers, leading to the signing of off-take agreements with key participants in the global battery industry.