The maximum possible amount of $1 million was awarded to the project titled, "Innovative and Low-Emission Manufacturing Pathways of Mixed Rare Earth Metals from Idaho Sourced Minerals"

Idaho Strategic Resources, Inc. (NYSE:IDR) ("IDR", "Idaho Strategic" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that one of its participating project proposals submitted to the Department of Energy under Funding Opportunity 3105: Critical Material Innovation, Efficiency, and Alternatives was selected for funding. The announcement by the U.S. Department of Energy on May 19th is a welcomed achievement following the initial proposal submission in December of 2023.

This project brings together key Idaho stakeholders such as the University of Idaho, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Geological Survey, and Idaho Strategic Resources to advance the exploration and extraction of Idaho-sourced rare earth elements for potential commercialization of rare earth metals (REMs), using innovative and efficient manufacturing pathways. The project was submitted under Funding Opportunity 3105, Topic Area 3: Next Generation Technologies, which is focused on early-stage, high-impact technologies aimed at transforming how the U.S. extracts processes, separates, recycles, and manufactures critical minerals. Specifically, Topic Area 3 called for project proposals with high ambitions and a low technology readiness level (between 0-4) that were not based on improvements or modifications to existing technologies or methods.

Idaho Strategic's role in the project is to identify areas within Idaho Strategic's existing rare earth elements landholdings in central Idaho that are enriched in rare earth elements with a specific focus on neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium. Idaho Strategic will then work with members from the University of Idaho to collect a representative sample for downstream workplans including novel separation technologies and potential metallization. Every step of the project is being supported with technical guidance from both Idaho National Laboratory and the Idaho Geological Survey.