Rare Element Resources Announces Completion of Funding Agreement for $4.4 Million Wyoming Energy Authority Grant

Rare Element Resources Ltd. (the “Company” or “RER”) (OTCQB: REEMF) is pleased to announce the completion of the funding agreement for the previously announced $4.4 million grant from the Wyoming Energy Authority (the “WEA”). The WEA grant is a cost reimbursement award for future expenditures related to construction of the Company’s rare earth processing and separation demonstration plant to be located in Upton, Wyoming. The plant is also supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (the “DOE”) through a previously announced $21.9 million financial award. The funding provided through the DOE and WEA programs is expected to cover more than half of the estimated project costs.

In further support of the rare earth industry in Wyoming, earlier this year, Governor Mark Gordon signed a bill into law to advance the process for Wyoming to assume certain licensing and regulatory aspects of the rare earth industry. The unanimously approved bill seeks to amend the existing agreement state status between the state and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the “NRC”) to allow Wyoming the permitting and regulatory authority related to rare earth element source materials. Once approved by the NRC, Wyoming will have primacy for the NRC’s licensing of Wyoming-based rare earth processing facilities.

“We are very pleased with the many affirmative steps that the state of Wyoming is taking in support of the rare earth industry and the Company. The Bear Lodge Project has one of the highest-grade rare earth deposits in North America, and its location positions Wyoming to be a key player in developing a domestic rare earth supply chain,” Brent Berg, President and CEO of RER, stated. “Construction of the demonstration plant is the next step in advancing the Company’s innovative recovery and separation technology, developed with our world-class technology partner, General Atomics. The plant will provide data critical for the design of a commercial facility. The state’s legislative initiative will have licensing efficiency benefits for commercial-scale rare earth operations. We applaud Wyoming’s forward thinking and goal of economic diversification and appreciate its ongoing support of the rare earth industry and the Company.”