REG - Mkango Resources Ltd - FIRST COMMISSIONING RUNS IN HYPROMAG GERMANY

Mkango ResourcesAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 7109Z  Mkango Resources Limited  09 April 2026

 MKANGO RESOURCES LTD.
 550 Burrard Street
 Suite 2900
 Vancouver
 BC V6C 0A3
 Canada

 

 

FIRST COMMISSIONING RUNS FOR MAGNET RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY SUCCESSFULLY
COMPLETED AT HYPROMAG GERMANY

 

London / Vancouver: April 9, 2026 - Mkango Resources Ltd. (AIM/TSX-V: MKA)
("Mkango") is pleased to announce that HyProMag GmbH has completed the first
commissioning runs for the commercial scale Hydrogen Processing of Magnet
Scrap ("HPMS") vessel at its rare earth magnet recycling and manufacturing
plant (the "Plant") located in Pforzheim, Germany. The Plant consists of a
commercial scale rare earth sintered magnet recycling and manufacturing line,
underpinned by the patented HPMS technology. The Plant is fully permitted for
production of up to 750 tonnes per annum of neodymium-iron-boron ("NdFeB")
magnets and alloys, and HyProMag GmbH is targeting phased scale-up to this
level over the next three years.

Development of the Plant was partly funded by the European Regional
Development Fund and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour, and Tourism
Baden-Württemberg.

An opening ceremony of the Plant is scheduled for April 28, 2026 and will be
presided over by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

·        The HPMS vessel is fundamental to the Plant, producing a high
grade, recycled NdFeB alloy powder for commercial sale and to feed the
downstream magnet manufacturing line.

·        The jet mill for processing of NdFeB alloy powder for magnet
manufacturing has been installed, and commissioning will be completed in the
coming weeks.

·        Other major equipment for the Plant, including the transverse
alignment press and the sintering furnace for manufacturing of sintered magnet
blocks, have been delivered, with installation and commissioning taking place
sequentially.

·        The expansion and upgrade of the Plant infrastructure have
been completed, including the installation of gas storage facilities (gas tank
and storage systems) and the power supply upgrade through a new transformer
station.

·        Once fully commissioned, the Plant will have a minimum
initial capacity of approximately 100 tonnes per annum of NdFeB increasing to
up to circa 350 tonnes per annum with multiple shifts. A further expansion to
a targeted 750 tonnes per annum is under evaluation.

·        HyProMag is engaging with multiple customers for NdFeB alloy
powder and magnets on an ongoing basis to support the scale-up of operations.

 

Will Dawes, Chief Executive Officer of Mkango commented: "This is a major
milestone for HyProMag, creating a strong platform for further scale-up at our
site in Pforzheim and beyond. We continue to evaluate complementary
acquisition and organic growth opportunities in the rare earths supply chain,
and see the growing rare earths ecosystem in Germany as one of the
cornerstones of our growth strategy. With the rare earth magnet recycling and
manufacturing plants being scaled-up and developed by HyProMag in UK and USA,
and Mkango's advanced stage rare earth mining and separation projects in
Malawi and Poland, we are well positioned to provide customers with a
one-stop-shop solution for rare earth products across the supply chain."
 

Nelson Brito, Managing Director of HyProMag GmbH commented: "With first
commissioning of the HPMS vessel successfully completed, we are now entering
the next phase of scaling operations and delivering high-quality recycled
NdFeB materials to the market. This milestone represents a significant step
towards strengthening Europe's strategic autonomy in rare earth supply,
reducing external dependencies and supporting the objectives of EU industrial
and climate policy. HyProMag is proud to contribute to building a resilient,
sustainable and sovereign rare earth value chain in Europe."

Carlo Burkhardt, Founding Director of HyProMag GmbH commented: "I am delighted
to see the Plant progress to this stage of development, and look forward to
welcoming all stakeholders and supporters of the project to the site on 28(th)
April. We are excited for the next stages of development and optimistic we can
make a real difference to the development of more robust supply chains in
Europe."

The NdFeB product from HPMS has a total rare-earth content
(neodymium/praseodymium together with dysprosium/terbium) exceeding 28% which
is analogous to the typical NdFeB alloy content specification for magnet
manufacture, whilst, as a recycled product, having a significantly lower CO(2)
footprint relative to both primary (mined) and other recycled (chemical / long
loop) NdFeB products.

HPMS technology was developed by the Magnetic Materials Group at the
University of Birmingham ("UoB") and is underpinned by approximately US$100
million of research and development funding. HyProMag is the exclusive
licensee of HPMS technology from the UoB.

HyProMag GmbH was established to commercialise HPMS technology in Germany and
the European Union, to further support policy initiatives to strategically
strengthen European rare earth supply chains and to accelerate the green
transition. First commissioning is a major milestone in the execution of this
strategy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HPMS Vessel (left) & Jet Mill (right)

 

 

Installed: Transverse Alignment Press (left) & Gas storage and power
supply (right)

 Expanded development plan

Global Recycling and Magnet Manufacturing Strategy

In parallel with development of the Plant in Germany, HyProMag is
commercialising HPMS technology in the UK and the USA, and is also evaluating
other jurisdictions including Japan, Canada and South Korea. In the UK, a rare
earth magnet recycling and manufacturing plant has been developed at Tyseley
Energy Park, Birmingham in conjunction with the University of Birmingham, with
initial production underway.

HyProMag USA LLC ("HyProMag USA") has completed a feasibility study for a
large-scale rare earth magnet recycling and manufacturing operation in the
USA, with detailed engineering work underway and first production targeted in
2027.

About Mkango Resources Ltd.

Mkango is listed on the AIM and the TSX-V Stock Exchanges. Mkango's corporate
strategy is to become a market leader in the production of recycled rare earth
magnets, alloys and oxides, through its interest in Maginito Limited
("Maginito"), which is owned 79.4 per cent by Mkango and 20.6 per cent by
CoTec Holdings Ltd ("CoTec"), and to develop new sustainable sources of
neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium to supply accelerating demand
from electric vehicles, wind turbines and other clean energy technologies.

Maginito holds a 100 per cent interest in HyProMag Limited and a 90 per cent
direct and indirect interest (assuming conversion of Maginito's convertible
loan) in HyProMag GmbH, focused on short loop rare earth magnet recycling in
the UK and Germany, respectively, and a 100 per cent interest in Mkango Rare
Earths UK Ltd ("Mkango UK"), focused on long loop rare earth magnet recycling
in the UK via a chemical route.

Maginito and CoTec are also expanding HPMS recycling technology into the
United States via the 50/50 owned HyProMag USA joint venture company.

Mkango currently owns 100% of the advanced stage Songwe Hill rare earths
project in Malawi and the proposed Puławy rare earths separation plant in
Poland. Both the Songwe and Puławy projects have been selected as Strategic
Projects under the European Union Critical Raw Materials Act. Songwe has also
received Development Funding from the U.S. International Development Finance
Corporation (DFC), the U.S. Government's development finance institution,
securing US$4.6 million in reimbursable funding for Front End Engineering and
Design. Mkango signed a Business Combination Agreement with Crown PropTech
Acquisitions to list the Songwe Hill and Puławy rare earths projects on
NASDAQ via a SPAC Merger under the name Mkango Rare Earths Limited.

For more information, please visit www.mkango.ca

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR') which has been incorporated into UK law by the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this
announcement via Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is
now considered to be in the public domain.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of
that term under applicable securities laws) with respect to Mkango. Generally,
forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as
"plans", "expects" or "is expected to", "scheduled", "estimates" "intends",
"anticipates", "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or
statements that certain actions, events or results "can", "may", "could",
"would", "should", "might" or "will", occur or be achieved, or the negative
connotations thereof. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans,
intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their
nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and
unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to
the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other
forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual performance
and results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or
projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, without limiting
the foregoing, , the availability of (or delays in obtaining) financing to
develop Songwe Hill, the recycling plants being developed by Maginito in the
UK, Germany and the US (the "Maginito Recycling Plants"), governmental action
and other market effects on global demand and pricing for the metals and
associated downstream products for which Mkango is exploring, researching and
developing, geological, technical and regulatory matters relating to the
development of Songwe Hill, the ability to scale the HPMS and chemical
recycling technologies to commercial scale, competitors having greater
financial capability and effective competing technologies in the recycling and
separation business of Maginito and Mkango, availability of scrap supplies for
Maginito's recycling activities, government regulation (including the impact
of environmental and other regulations) on and the economics in relation to
recycling and the development of the Maginito Recycling Plants and Pulawy, and
future investments in the United States pursuant to the proposed cooperation
agreement between Maginito and CoTec, cost overruns, complexities in building
and operating the plants, and the positive results of feasibility studies on
the various proposed aspects of Mkango's and Maginito's activities. The
forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the
date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims
any intention and assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise,
except as required by applicable law. Additionally, the Company undertakes no
obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third
parties in respect of the matters discussed above.

For further information on Mkango, please contact:

 

Mkango Resources Limited

 

William
Dawes

Chief Executive Officer

will@mkango.ca (mailto:will@mkango.ca)
 

 

Alexander Lemon

President

alex@mkango.ca (mailto:alex@mkango.ca)

 

Canada: +1 403 444 5979

www.mkango.ca (http://www.mkango.ca)

@MkangoResources

 

Montfort Communications

Nick Miles, Ann-marie Wilkinson, Jack Hickman

UK: +44 20 3514 0897

mkango@montfort.london

 

SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP

 

Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker

Caroline Rowe, Jen Clarke, Devik Mehta

UK: +44 20 3470 0470

 

Alternative Resource Capital

Joint Broker

Alex Wood, Keith Dowsing

UK: +44 20 7186 9004/5

 

H&P Advisory Limited

Joint Broker

Andrew Chubb, Leif Powis, Jay Ashfield

UK: +44 20 7907 8500

 

The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of
this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation
Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of
an offer to buy any equity or other securities of the Company in the United
States. The securities of the Company will not be registered under the United
States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") and may
not be offered or sold within the United States to, or for the account or
benefit of, U.S. persons except in certain transactions exempt from the
registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act.

 

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