Newsletter August

Stockholm, 3 September 2024 – We hope that your summer was nice and that you could get some well-deserved rest. At Eurobattery Minerals we are back with lots of interesting news from our battery mineral project Hautalampi in Finland!

Eurobattery Minerals now owns 100% of FinnCobalt Oy
At the end of July, Eurobattery Minerals AB exercised its option to acquire the remaining 30 per cent of FinnCobalt Oy, the owner of the ground and mining rights to the nickel-cobalt-copper project Hautalampi. After closing this last step of the acquisition, Eurobattery Minerals´share of ownership in FinnCobalt amounts to 100 per cent and the number of shares to 152,232,052. The acquisition is a significant step in the Company’s planned development of the Hautalampi project and the goal to establish a battery mineral mine with production and sales within a mid-term horizon.

Strategic Projects under the CRMA
In the April-May newsletter, we wrote about our intention to submit an application for the Hautalampi battery mineral project to become a strategic project under the newly approved Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).

The deadline for this first round of applications was really tight but our team did an excellent job and we submitted this application on the 21^st of August. And we already have some news from the European Commission (EC) about this call!

A total of 170 applications were submitted by the 22 August deadline. Of these, 77 applications focused on extraction, 58 on processing, 30 on recycling and 5 on substitution. Most applications, 121, were from within the EU and the remaining 49 from outside the block. All received applications will now be checked for completeness and after this, they will be assessed by external, independent experts at the EC.

The EC will now begin the assessment process and the first list of selected strategic projects is expected at the end of the year. We remain dedicated to playing a key role in Europe's strategic raw material supply chain via responsible mining, contributing to a more resilient and sustainable future.

You can read the news article from the EC here.

Strategic Projects under the CRMA – a brief summary
The European Commission's Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), effective from May 2024, is a key component of the European Green Deal, aimed at bolstering Europe's supply of strategic raw materials (SRMs) essential for green and digital technologies. The CRMA sets ambitious targets for 2030: mining within the EU must meet over 10% of the region’s annual SRM consumption, processing over 40%, and recycling over 25%, with no more than 65% of any SRM coming from a single non-EU source.

To achieve these goals, the CRMA emphasizes the development of 'Strategic Projects' (SPs). These projects, which include national exploration programs, recycling initiatives, and research into material circularity, are critical to securing a stable supply of SRMs. Strategic Projects benefit from streamlined permitting processes, access to capital, and support in forming offtake agreements, making them attractive for investors and essential for meeting EU's sustainability and supply security goals.

SPs must adhere to strict sustainability standards, including environmental impact mitigation, respect for human rights, and transparency in business practices. Compliance with the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) ensures standardized reporting and assessment of these projects, further aligning them with the CRMA’s sustainability and transparency objectives.

While the CRMA presents significant opportunities, it also faces challenges such as potential community conflicts and the variability in governance capabilities across EU member states. Despite these challenges, the CRMA is a crucial step towards securing Europe’s strategic raw materials and supporting the broader green and digital transitions.

Commodity prices – September 2023 to September 2024

Offtake agreement with Boliden
At the end of August, Eurobattery Minerals was very pleased to announce a non-binding offtake agreement with the Swedish industry giant Boliden AB. The agreement signed is for copper from the Hautalampi battery mineral project and is set to last for a minimum of 10 years.

The agreement with Boliden was entered into by Eurobattery Minerals' Finnish subsidiary, FinnCobalt Oy, which is fully owned by the Company. It outlines a long-term purchase arrangement for the Hautalampi concentrates. Boliden has evaluated the agreement with the expectation of securing the entire copper concentrate production over a period of at least 10 years. The concentrates will be processed at Boliden's Harjavalta Copper Smelter in Finland and/or the Rönnskär Copper Smelter in Sweden.

Entering into an agreement with an industry leader like Boliden is indeed a pivotal moment for the Company. Boliden is a key partner, whose increased commitment to Europe and the Nordics aligns closely with our goals and values which are focused on responsible mining. We are excited about the opportunities this collaboration will bring but we continue to work on other offtake agreements for the Hautalampi project.

A busy but very good summer, and we pretend to leverage this momentum
As you can see, we have had a very intensive and productive summer, with some exceptionally good news for the Company. We pretend to build on this momentum and continue to work hard during the upcoming months. As always, I would like to thank you for your continued support!