Work Programs Commence to Unlock Tantalum as a High-Value By-Product Critical Metal Opportunity

Press Release

June 25, 2025

Highlights

• Emerging and high-growth applications of tantalum are being driven by both technological innovation and strategic shifts in global industries.
• Shaakichiuwaanaan ranks as a top-5[1] tantalum pegmatite Mineral Resource[2] globally in terms of both grade and tonnage:
  • Indicated: 108.0 Mt at 1.40% Li₂O, 166 ppm Ta₂O₅, and 66 ppm Ga.
  • Inferred: 33.3 Mt at 1.33% Li₂O, 156 ppm Ta₂O₅, and 65 ppm Ga.
• High-grade tantalum (and lithium) drill intersections include:
  • 9.6 m at 0.94% Li₂O and 2,307 ppm Ta₂O₅ (CV23-271) – CV13
  • 9.5 m at 1.12% Li₂O and 1,538 ppm Ta₂O₅ (CV24-441) – CV5
  • 22.7 m at 2.79% Li₂O and 972 ppm Ta₂O₅ (CV24-661) – CV5
  • 22.9 m at 2.58% Li₂O and 621 ppm Ta₂O₅ (CV23-181) – CV5
• Tantalite is the primary mineral host for the tantalum identified at Shaakichiuwaanaan.
• Tantalite is commercially recovered as a by-product from multiple lithium pegmatite operations globally using simple, well-understood, and conventional methods – including Greenbushes, Pilgangoora, Wodgina, and Tanco.
• The Company has commenced evaluating options to advance and incorporate the tantalum opportunity at Shaakichiuwaanaan as a potential by-product into the overall economic development of the Project, to follow the completion of the lithium-only Feasibility Study on the CV5 Pegmatite which remains on track for Q3 2025:
  • Test programs now underway to thoroughly evaluate tantalum recovery, with ~19% Ta₂O₅ tantalite concentrate produced in the initial test program.

Darren L. Smith, Executive Vice President Exploration, comments: “The Shaakichiuwaanaan Project is rapidly evolving into a critical minerals powerhouse with tantalum, caesium, and gallium already identified as significant potential by-product opportunities to a primary lithium operation. Of these opportunities, tantalum is the most common in the industry, when grades are sufficiently high, and may be recovered using simple and conventional processing methods with no material impact on lithium recoveries.”

“With Shaakichiuwaanaan ranking as one of the top-5 tantalum pegmatites globally in terms of grade and tonnage, there is strong potential for tantalum to further enhance the economic and financial returns of the Project,” added Mr. Smith.

Patriot Battery Metals Inc. (the “Company” or “Patriot”) (TSX: PMET) (ASX: PMT) (OTCQX: PMETF) (FSE: R9GA) is pleased to provide an update on work streams currently underway to unlock tantalum – another important and high-value critical and strategic metal present in abundance at its 100%-owned Shaakichiuwaanaan Property (the “Property” or “Project”), located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec. The Shaakichiuwaanaan Mineral Resource[3], comprised of the CV5 and CV13 Li-Cs-Ta (“LCT”) pegmatites, is situated approximately 13 km south of the regional and all‑weather Trans-Taiga Road and powerline infrastructure corridor, and is accessible year-round by all-season road.

The Shaakichiuwaanaan LCT pegmatites are highly evolved through the process of crystal fractionation during formation, whereby mineral crystallization leads to progressive changes in the chemistry of the remaining melt, resulting in increasingly rare minerals being formed as the process unfolds. This process of LCT pegmatite formation most commonly leads to only modest enrichment of lithium and other critical metals; however, in rare circumstances may result in extreme enrichment.

The Company is very fortunate that the Shaakichiuwaanaan LCT pegmatites are highly evolved, which has resulted in the extreme enrichment of lithium, caesium, and tantalum – each at potentially world-class scale – as well as other potentially recoverable critical and strategic metals (e.g., gallium). Each of these critical metals could become further value-added by-products to the envisioned primary lithium operation at Shaakichiuwaanaan. Additional information is provided below describing the tantalum opportunity and the steps being taken to evaluate the development of this unique asset.

Tantalum Opportunity

Tantalum, which is primarily hosted in the mineral tantalite at Shaakichiuwaanaan, has been commercially recovered from LCT pegmatites historically and at active mining operations today (e.g., Greenbushes, Pilgangoora, Wodgina, and Tanco). This potentially de-risks the pathway to recover tantalum at Shaakichiuwaanaan.

Further bolstering this potential is the ranking of the MRE at Shaakichiuwaanaan as a top-5[4] tantalum pegmatite in the world in terms of both grade and tonnage (Figure 1), highlighting the exceptional critical metal endowment present at the Project – 108.0 Mt at 1.40% Li₂O and 166 ppm Ta₂O₅ Indicated, and 33.3 Mt at 1.33% Li₂O and 156 ppm Ta₂O₅ Inferred. This equates to contained tantalum content of 23,104 tonnes (50.9 million pounds) Ta₂O₅.

Figure 1: MRE tonnage vs grade chart highlighting Shaakichiuwaanaan as a top-5 tantalum pegmatite Mineral Resource globally. Mineral Resource data sourced through April 11, 2025, from corporate disclosure of NI 43-101, JORC, or equivalent regulatory body. Deposit/Project data presented includes the total resource tonnage. Mineral resources are presented on a 100% basis and inclusive of reserves where applicable. Data is presented for all pegmatite deposits/projects reporting tantalum resources to the knowledge of the Company. See Appendix 2 and 3 for further details and supporting information.

As is common in LCT pegmatites, the tantalum mineralization is zoned within the wider pegmatite body and often overlaps with lithium mineralization zonation. Very high-grade tantalum zones are present within the deposit, which may overlap with high-grade lithium zones. Drill intersections include (Table 1, Table 2):

• 9.6 m at 0.94% Li₂O and 2,307 ppm Ta₂O₅ (CV23-271) – CV13
• 9.5 m at 1.12% Li₂O and 1,538 ppm Ta₂O₅ (CV24-441) – CV5
• 22.7 m at 2.79% Li₂O and 972 ppm Ta₂O₅ (CV24-661) – CV5
• 22.9 m at 2.58% Li₂O and 621 ppm Ta₂O₅ (CV23-181) – CV5

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