5E Advanced Materials Announces Agreement to Sell $6 Million of Additional Convertible Notes

Additional notes expands the Company’s runway for further refinement of active operational process development and expanded commercial arrangements

Company provides additional updates on recent operational performance

HESPERIA, Calif., May 28, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 5E Advanced Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: FEAM) (ASX: 5EA) (“5E” or the “Company”), a boron and lithium company with U.S. government Critical Infrastructure designation for its 5E Boron Americas Complex, agreed to issue $6 million in additional senior secured convertible notes (the “Notes”). Bluescape Energy Partners and Ascend Global Investment Fund SPC will each purchase $3 million in additional Notes that will be initially convertible into common stock at $1.53 per share, with an August 2028 maturity, paying interest in-kind at 10%. The additional capital will facilitate the ongoing operation of the Small-Scale Facility and FEL-2 engineering while the Company progresses qualifying customers for commercial offtake agreements and continues to pursue various government funding applications.

Paul Weibel, Chief Financial Officer at 5E Advanced Materials, stated, “This new capital will provide additional cash resources to operate the small-scale facility as our team turns our focus towards engineering and financing for our large commercial operation. We are highly encouraged with the initial operational results of our small-scale facility, which underscores the quality of our resource deposit and conversion process. Since launching operations this year, we have captured data that is assisting in identifying ways to optimize our expected CAPEX and OPEX and build the base foundation for the commercial scale engineering. We expect the customer qualification process to kick-off in the short term so we can begin placing boric acid in future customers hands.”

Additional details regarding the additional Notes are included in a Current Report on Form 8-K the Company filed this morning with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

Recent Operational Highlights:

• Mining operations commenced at the start of 2024 and announced appointment of EPC firm to spearhead commercial engineering.
• Bench tested mined leach solution to produce commercial grade boric acid.
• Production commenced in early April 2024 and 5E achieved run-of-mine head grade of 5.5%.
• 5E produced first batch of boric acid from Small-Scale Facility, allowing Company to continue refining boric acid filtering, drying and bagging parameters to meet and exceed customer specifications.
• The customer qualification process is expected to begin in the short term.
  

About 5E Advanced Materials, Inc.

5E Advanced Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: FEAM) (ASX: 5EA) is focused on becoming a vertically integrated global leader and supplier of boron specialty and advanced materials, complemented by lithium co-product production. The Company’s mission is to become a supplier of these critical materials to industries addressing global decarbonization, food and domestic security. Boron and lithium products will target applications in the fields of electric transportation, clean energy infrastructure, such as solar and wind power, fertilizers, and domestic security. The business strategy and objectives are to develop capabilities ranging from upstream extraction and product sales of boric acid, lithium carbonate and potentially other co-products, to downstream boron advanced material processing and development. The business is based on the company’s large domestic boron and lithium resource, which is located in Southern California and designated as Critical Infrastructure by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release regarding the company’s business strategy, plans, goal, and objectives are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “budget,” “target,” “aim,” “strategy,” “plan,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “intent,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s current expectations and assumptions about future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. We caution you that these forward-looking statements are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control, incident to the extraction of the critical materials we intend to produce and advanced materials production and development. These risks include, but are not limited to: our limited operating history in the borates and lithium industries and no revenue from our proposed extraction operations at our properties; our need for substantial additional financing to execute our business plan and our ability to access capital and the financial markets; our status as an exploration stage company dependent on a single project with no known Regulation S-K 1300 mineral reserves and the inherent uncertainty in estimates of mineral resources; our lack of history in mineral production and the significant risks associated with achieving our business strategies, including our downstream processing ambitions; our incurrence of significant net operating losses to date and plans to incur continued losses for the foreseeable future; risks and uncertainties relating to the development of the Fort Cady project, including our ability to timely and successfully complete our Small Scale Boron Facility; our ability to obtain, maintain and renew required governmental permits for our development activities, including satisfying all mandated conditions to any such permits; the implementation of and expected benefits from certain reduced spending measures, and other risks and uncertainties set forth in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. These risks are not exhaustive and the information in this press release may be subject to additional risks. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is made as to, and no reliance should be place on, any information, including projections, estimates, targets, and opinions contained herein, and no liability whatsoever is accepted as to any errors, omissions, or misstatements contained herein. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as to the date of this press release.

For additional information regarding these various factors, you should carefully review the risk factors and other disclosures in the Company’s Form 10-K filed on August 30, 2023 and subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission throughout the year. Any forward-looking statements are given only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, 5E expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements. Additionally, 5E undertakes no obligation to comment on third party analyses or statements regarding 5E’s actual or expected financial or operating results or its securities.

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