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[Ferro-Alloys.com] December 2025 Quarterly Report Butcherbird Manganese Ore Operations – Western Australia

Quarterly Highlights

Butcherbird Manganese Ore Operations – Western Australia

• Lead Engineer Altris Engineering commenced engineering design activities on Butcherbird

Expansion Project (BBX) as an Integrated Project Team (IPT), in collaboration with E25 engineers1.

• Engineering detailed design well advanced in preparation for construction/build phase of BBX.

• Process improvement studies targeting potential cost savings and execution flexibility options.

• Mining services contract tender approaching final selection; key processing equipment procured.

• Offtake discussions well advanced with term sheets under final review.

• AU$10 million placement3 completed and AU$50 million senior debt facility secured from

Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF).

• Multiple term sheets under negotiation to secure balance of funds for BBX.

• BBX aims to expand production to 1.1Mtpta of manganese concentrate per annum.

• Butcherbird Ore Reserve of 101.4Mt at 10.4% Mn for 10.54Mt contained manganese underpins a robust, >18-year LOM operation.

• Butcherbird manganese concentrate will also supply Element 25’s planned lithium-ion battery grade high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) production facility in Louisiana, USA.

Battery Grade High Purity Manganese (HPMSM)

• Element 25 is working to finalise project financing for its planned Louisiana HPMSM refinery.

• Louisiana financing comprises US$166 million in grant funding from the US Department of Energy,

US$85 million in senior debt from General Motors LLC and US$30 million from Stellantis N.V. as equity and offtake prepayment.

BUTCHERBIRD MANGANESE PROJECT, WA

During the quarter, Element 25 advanced its Butcherbird Expansion Project (BBX/Project) towards construction. BBX aims to increase Butcherbird’s production to 1.1Mtpa of manganese concentrate.

The Company plans to expand production capacity at the Project to supply manganese concentrate to traditional steel markets and to supply feedstock for its own proposed battery grade, high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) processing facility planned to be built in Louisiana, USA.

Project Finance

In June 2025, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) approved a senior debt facility of up to AU$50 million, including AU$42.5 million in senior debt and a AU$7.5 million cost overrun facility, to support BBX.

The Company has also completed an equity raising via a $10 million share placement at $0.28 per share, led by Petra Capital to accelerate the Butcherbird Expansion Project in Western Australia.

This funding is being deployed in accordance with the BBX budget, principally to advance detailed engineering activities and secure key long lead equipment items in accordance with the project schedule.

The Company is currently negotiating with a number of counterparties with respect to securing the balance of funding for BBX.

Project Engineering

Detailed design has commenced with Altris Engineering (Altris) appointed as lead engineering consultant in October 202512.

Element 25 and Altris are implementing an Integrated Project Team (IPT) methodology, with Element 25 engineering personnel embedded and located with the Altris team to ensure collaboration and information sharing are maximised.

Early process and cost improvement studies have commenced with benefits being identified relating to cost-saving and execution flexibility opportunities.

Altris continues to expand its team in line with the ramp up of project resourcing requirements as the project advances towards commencement of construction.

The IPT is currently focussed on refinement and further definition of the core engineering detail

including trade-off studies, site layout, detailed cost range analysis and a review of pricing and quantities with the previous project cost estimate as the baseline. Long lead items are being progressed in line with key Project milestones.

Commercial Contracts

Mining Services Contract

The Element 25 Procurement Team has materially advanced the tender process to secure a suitable mining services contractor to support the planned mining operations at the expanded Butcherbird Manganese Mine.

The team have engaged with, and assessed several rounds of clarifications from, participating contactors, evaluating each proposal based on key selection criteria including contractor experience, capability and value for money. Applicants have been short-listed and the tender assessment process continues.

Crushing and Mineral Sizer Solutions13

Element 25 has undertaken a detailed assessment of the crushing requirements for the expanded operations at Butcherbird, extensively evaluating the design requirements of the mineral crusher and sizers, including the associated equipment and circuit design to establish the most cost effective and efficient design for this capability.

Mineral sizers from MMD have been selected as the preferred equipment for this application, and a procurement contract signed with MMD to supply both the primary and secondary sizer units along with critical spares and commitment for commissioning support and post-commissioning maintenance services. Equipment delivery is scheduled to align with the overall project plan and will be closely monitored

Logwasher

The logwasher is a large-scale scrubbing unit with two counter?rotating paddle shafts that scrub the feed while an opposing water flow separates liberated fines discharging clean product at the upper outlet of an inclined trough. This is a key step on the process flowsheet for BBX where the process aims to liberate the lump manganese product for the intercalated lateritic clay material.

E25 has entered into a supply contract with KISA Gmbh to supply a logwasher unit with a nominal 600 t/h federate and max 11° gradient. The unit has been carefully selected for the proposed BBX use. The logwasher has been manufactured and awaits transportation to the Project site in accordance with the current schedule.

Logistics

Element 25 maintains a close partnership with REGROUP, the logistics service provider who supported the Stage 1 operations at Butcherbird, providing road haulage services for manganese concentrate from the Butcherbird mine site.

The road haulage agreement for the BBX Project is currently being negotiated with REGROUP to provide for increased volumes as well as more efficient material movement through revised equipment selection and scheduling and improved analytics as well as a broader review of contract terms.

As the largest cost of the proposed operation, both parties are working together to maximise efficiencies and reduce transportation costs, with identifying opportunities for continuous improvement being a key priority.

As per the Stage 1 operations, the Company will utilise the Utah Point common user facilities to export manganese concentrate cargos, with adjustments to the logistics plan being developed to accommodate the larger volumes and optimise the overall transport costs.

Offtake

Discussions remain ongoing with a number of key counterparties to finalise offtake for the increased production from the BBX Project.

The manganese concentrate product produced from the Butcherbird Mine has a unique set of properties which make it attractive to smelters, particularly in the silico-manganese market. These attributes include a high silica content (>20%), low levels of deleterious contaminants such as phosphorous, heavy metals and arsenic, a suitable iron-manganese ratio and a physical competency which minimises fragmentation and fines generation which can be important for transport and in smelting operations.

The Company continues to refine the terms of the offtake under these negotiations and plans to finalise the preferred offtake partner and commercial terms as soon as practicable.

Core Operating Systems

The Core Operating and Business Intelligence Systems are key for the success of both the BBX Project and the long-term operations of the Butcherbird Manganese Mine.

Element 25’s procurement team is working with selected consultants to develop the solution design document and define the scope of work for the core systems and associated infrastructure, including the Company’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

These systems will provide the foundation for the Company’s vision to deliver a highly granular digital business intelligence system with detailed visibility on all operational elements form pit-to-port to support ongoing efficiency improvements, optimise product quality and reduce costs.

As a long-term operation, it is critical that the Butcherbird Mine utilises a future facing technology strategy to maintain its competitive edge as the world moves towards the expanded adoption of real-time data driven automated decision making to maximise performance across all key metrics including safety, performance, and profitability.

Permitting and Approvals

The Element 25 Butcherbird Project is fully approved under the Western Australian Regulatory Framework to construct the 1.1Mpta processing plant.

The Company has maintained all regulatory approvals including the Environmental Licence, since the Stage 1 plant commenced in 2021 through ongoing compliance and regular statutory

reporting. The water abstraction licence, heritage clearances, native title and pastoral agreements are in place and continue to remain applicable.

An established Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) is fully approved to support the storage requirements of the expansion for the first six years of operations and subsequent staged lifts and engineering designs have been completed to sustain the current Reserve life of the project.

To reflect the expanded processing plant footprint and increase in throughput, the Mining Proposal and Mine Closure Plan were updated and approved in December 2024 by the Department of Mines,

Petroleum and Exploration (DMPE formerly DMIRS) 16. The Works Approval for the construction of the expanded processing facility project was approved by the WA Department of Environment and Regulation (DWER) in March 2025.

Project Schedule

The schedule for BBX is continually updated to accommodate commercial contracting, supplier

engagement, completed works, and alignment with the project plan, including activities that are

forecasted, planned, commenced and achieved.

The work breakdown structure (WBS) is comprehensive, with significant interdependencies among tasks and activities. The team remains dedicated to maintaining project timelines and budgetary objectives.

Figure 1 provides a high-level overview of the current target schedule for the BBX Project.

The schedule remains subject to a number of key dependencies including achieving project financial close, completion of detailed engineering, procurement of key equipment and finalising the construction contract(s) in accordance with the planned key dates.

The schedule continues to be monitored as the Company progresses BBX.

HPMSM REFINERY PROJECT – LOUISIANA, USA

The Company plans to produce HPMSM from manganese ore sourced from its Butcherbird Project, which will be shipped to the planned Louisiana site. Element 25 has developed an innovative, advanced processing flowsheet to convert Butcherbird manganese concentrate into HPMSM, a critical raw material for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. The proprietary flowsheet reduces energy consumption, virtually eliminates waste and delivers the lowest reported carbon intensity HPMSM globally.

In January 2025, Element 25 announced formal awarding and signing of a Grant Agreement for

US$166 million (AU$268 million) in grant funding from the DoE under the MESC Battery Materials

Processing Grant Program19. This will support construction of Element 25’s proposed battery-grade HPMSM facility in Louisiana, USA, which plans to bring domestic production of a key critical battery raw material to the USA. The grant forms a key component of Element 25’s financing strategy, in addition to the US$115 million already committed by offtake partners GM and Stellantis, and its execution team will now work to finalise the project schedule, subject to grant finalisation.

• [Editor:tianyawei]