We are a U.S.-domiciled critical minerals and advanced materials company developing the North Star Manganese Project to establish a fully domestic U.S. supply of high-purity manganese products.

Principal Asset

Our principal asset is the Emily manganese deposit in Minnesota, the highest-grade manganese deposit in North America. The North Star Manganese Project is a 100% U.S. domestic project comprising a manganese mine in Emily, Minnesota, and a U.S.-based processing facility designed to produce high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate (HPMSM) and electrolytic manganese metal (EMM).

Project Economics

The project has been the subject of extensive technical work, including a Preliminary Economic Assessment prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The PEA outlined an after-tax net present value of US$1.39 billion at a 10% discount rate, a 43.5% after-tax internal rate of return, average annual after-tax cash flow of US$249.6 million and a 23-month payback period. Initial HPMSM production is planned at 100,000 tonnes per year, expanding to 200,000 tonnes per year in Year 3, with a 10,000 tonnes per year EMM production circuit now incorporated into the project's engineering and development concept.

Strategic Focus

Our mission is to strengthen America's critical mineral independence by developing a secure domestic supply of high-purity manganese chemical and metal products for North American electric vehicle and energy storage batteries, defense applications, critical infrastructure, specialty alloys, advanced technologies, and industrial uses. With manganese playing an increasingly important role in lithium-ion battery formulations and with no current domestic U.S. production of manganese ore, HPMSM, or EMM, the development of the North Star Manganese Project represents a strategic opportunity to reduce dependence on foreign supply chains and support U.S. industrial, energy, and national security priorities.

Development Activities

We are currently advancing the project through multiple technical and engineering workstreams designed to identify opportunities to improve ore selectivity and recovery, reduce material-handling and processing costs, optimize downstream plant design and advance the Project toward pre-feasibility. Recent work includes an ore sorting assessment that demonstrated potential to upgrade drill core averaging 8.2% Mn to approximately 17.5% Mn while recovering approximately 92% of the contained manganese.

Our management team consists of the following executive officers:

Brian C. Savage, President, Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Secretary Mr. Savage is an entrepreneurial business executive with a long history of identifying, building, growing, and transforming mining and metals businesses throughout the world. His expertise extends across commodity and capital markets, organizational development, and strategic growth initiatives, including mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. Mr. Savage has founded and co-founded several businesses focused on developing and advancing mining operations in challenging jurisdictions, including Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). His recent experience in the DRC has allowed him to develop a profound understanding of the manganese markets, including the production of high-value, high-purity manganese products for the electric vehicle and energy storage markets. Mr. Savage earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Mineral Economics from the Colorado School of Mines.

Natasha Tsai, Chief Financial Officer Ms. Tsai is a Chartered Professional Accountant with Malaspina Consultants Inc. Previously, she was a senior accountant with Grant Thornton LLP. She has acted as Chief Financial Officer and/or controller for a number of listed companies and has corporate finance and listed-company experience in an array of sectors.

Our Board of Directors includes:

Dr. Quinton Hennigh, Chairman Dr. Hennigh is an internationally-renowned economic geologist with over 25 years of exploration experience and expertise with major gold mining companies such as Homestake Mining Company, Newcrest Mining Limited, and Newmont Mining Corporation. He has made a number of significant gold discoveries for Canadian exploration companies, including the 5 million oz. Springpole alkaline gold deposit near Red Lake, Ontario, for Gold Canyon Resources. He is currently Chairman and President of Novo Resources Corporation and an adviser to Eskay Mining Corp. and Lion One Metals Ltd. Dr. Hennigh holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Missouri, and M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in geology and geochemistry from the Colorado School of Mines. He is currently CEO of private miner, San Cristobal Mining Inc..

Dr. Henry Sandri, Director Dr. Sandri is a senior mining executive with a successful history of exploration, project development, construction management and operations on six continents. He is a former senior officer for base, precious and battery metals and industrial minerals companies, and a former director of private and public corporations on Canadian, United States and United Kingdom exchanges. Dr. Sandri was previously President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of TSX-listed Duluth Metals Limited, a US-based base metals company, and took the company's value from less than US$1 million to over US$350 million in fewer than four years. A former officer at Inco Limited and senior consultant at Behre Dolbear, Dr. Sandri obtained a BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, an M.A in Applied Economics from The American University, and a PhD in Mineral Economics from the Colorado School of Mines.

Steve Durbin, Director Mr. Durbin is the Managing Partner of Quail Bend LLC, a private equity firm he founded in 2010 that is focused primarily on investing in small cap companies in the mining and financial technology sectors. In 2017, he co-founded BRYT, a money remittance provider, and remains the company's CEO. Mr. Durbin has been a director of SaveDaily Holdings Corp since 2012 and retains a controlling interest in the company. He has also been a director of ISLV Partners LLC since 2012. Prior to founding Quail Bend, Mr. Durbin acted as Senior Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking at The Watley Group, a boutique financial services firm that provides a variety of financial, operating and advisory services for companies in or near Chapter 11. Prior to the Watley Group, Mr. Durbin was a Principal at Red Mountain Capital Partners, a small cap activist hedge fund. Prior to that, Mr. Durbin was an Associate at Oak Hill Capital Partners where he focused on investments in the business and financial services sectors. Mr. Durbin began his career as an investment banker in JP Morgan's financial sponsor group. He graduated from Harvard with an A.B. in Economics.

Michèle McCarthy, Director Ms. McCarthy is an accomplished business executive and corporate director with extensive experience in corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and organizational restructuring across multiple sectors, including financial services, mining, and real estate. She has held senior executive roles at Deutsche Bank Canada, UBS Bank, and GMAC/Ally Bank, where she oversaw legal, compliance, and risk management functions during periods of significant structural change. Ms. McCarthy has chaired and served on the boards of numerous public and private companies, including as Chair of the Toronto Port Authority, and currently serves on the boards of Osisko Development Corp. and Russell Investments Corporate Class Inc., as well as trustee of Pier 4 REIT. Her board experience includes audit and risk oversight, independent review committees, and strategic governance in complex regulatory environments. Ms. McCarthy holds an LLB and LLM in Securities Law from Osgoode Hall, has earned both ICD.D and CDI.D designations, and is the recipient of multiple honors, including the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Dr. Sylvia Chen, Director Dr. Chen is currently the Vice President of Finance at Dundee Precious Metals. She is an accomplished finance professional with a successful career spanning across global Canadian firms and publicly listed companies in diverse sectors, including the mining industry for the last 10+ years. Sylvia holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and an MBA in Accounting, as well as designations including Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA), U.S. Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and U.S. Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Tyson Hall, Director Mr. Hall brings more than 20 years of global experience and a decade of executive leadership in specialty chemicals, manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and start-ups. He has experience in technical development, manufacturing, and P&L management. He has led organizations as large as 10,000 employees with full P&L responsibility for businesses comprising more than $3 Billion per year in sales. Mr. Hall has served on the global leadership teams of two publicly traded companies. Most recently he served as COO of 5E Advanced Materials (NASDAQ: FEAM) and previously as a member of the global leadership team of Pilgrims Pride (NASDAQ: PPC) with responsibility for a multi-billion dollar business. He is listed as an inventor or coinventor on 5 US patents, holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arkansas, and an MBA from the Sam Walton School of Business.