Ucore Adds US$4.6 Million War Department Grant for Samarium Work

Ucore Rare Metals said on September 14, 2026 that it signed a US$4.6 million Other Transaction Agreement modification with the U.S. Department of War to expand samarium and gadolinium process development and the first RapidSX Enhanced Machine A for its Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex, lifting total OTA funding to US$27.0 million.

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (OTCQX: UURAF) has signed a US$4.6 million modification to its Other Transaction Agreement with the U.S. Department of War, money earmarked for samarium and gadolinium process development and for expanding the first RapidSX Enhanced Machine A destined for the company's planned Strategic Metals Complex in Alexandria, Louisiana. The Halifax-based company, which also trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol UCU, disclosed the award on September 14, 2026.

The modification takes cumulative OTA grant funding from the Department of War to US$27.0 million. On the arithmetic of the two disclosed figures, roughly US$22.4 million had been committed before this award — a run of contract increments rather than one large appropriation, which is how Other Transaction Agreements are typically structured.

What an Other Transaction Agreement actually buys

An Other Transaction Agreement is a contracting instrument that sits outside the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Defense agencies use it to fund prototypes and process development quickly, without the full procurement apparatus that governs a conventional contract. The practical consequence for a company like Ucore is that money can arrive in tranches, tied to technical milestones, and the scope can be widened by modification — which is precisely what happened here.

That structure explains the shape of Ucore's funding history. Rather than a single award that finances a plant, the company has accumulated a series of increments, each attached to a defined piece of work. The latest one is narrow and specific: samarium and gadolinium, two rare earth elements the U.S. government has identified as priorities for strengthening domestic supply.

The work itself is being split across two locations. Process development for samarium and gadolinium is expanding at Ucore's facility in Kingston, Ontario, where the company runs its RapidSX demonstration work. The hardware — Enhanced Machine A — is intended for deployment at the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex in Alexandria. Development in one country, deployment in another, under a U.S. defense agreement: that division of labor is itself a feature of how North American critical minerals projects are being financed right now.

Why samarium and gadolinium, and not neodymium

Most public conversation about rare earths fixes on neodymium and praseodymium, the elements that go into the permanent magnets used in electric motors and wind turbines. Samarium and gadolinium occupy a different, smaller and more defense-weighted corner of the market.

Samarium-cobalt magnets hold their magnetic properties at temperatures where neodymium magnets fade, which makes them a preferred choice in aerospace, missile guidance and other high-temperature military applications. Gadolinium has neutron-absorbing properties that give it roles in nuclear control and shielding, alongside uses in medical imaging contrast agents. Neither is a bulk commodity in the way lithium or nickel is. Both are elements where a modest volume of domestic separation capacity can matter disproportionately to a defense supply chain.

Ucore said it is seeing heightened interest from Washington on samarium and gadolinium development. The funding modification is the tangible expression of that interest, and it is consistent with a broader pattern: U.S. agencies are increasingly targeting money at the separation and refining step rather than at the mine. Ore is not the bottleneck. Turning mixed rare earth concentrate into individually separated, high-purity oxides is, and that capability has been concentrated outside North America for decades.

The separation gap the Louisiana complex is aimed at

Rare earth separation is chemically awkward because the elements are so similar to one another. Conventional solvent extraction — the industry standard — requires long cascades of mixer-settler stages, large reagent inventories, big footprints and long commissioning periods. RapidSX is Ucore's proprietary approach to compressing that process, and the Enhanced Machine A units are the physical embodiment of it.

The commercial logic of the Alexandria site follows from that. A Strategic Metals Complex that can take feedstock and produce separated oxides on U.S. soil addresses the part of the chain where the country has the least redundancy. Whether it does so at competitive cost is the question that no grant can answer; that is settled at commissioning and at steady-state throughput, not at contract signature.

For investors, the sequence to watch is straightforward. Does Enhanced Machine A move from Kingston process development to Louisiana installation on schedule? Does further OTA money follow, and is it tied to additional elements or to scaling what already exists? And does Ucore convert government-funded prototype work into commercial offtake, which is what ultimately supports a valuation? Details of the award were carried by INN Battery Metals.

The market's reaction was muted

The shares did not celebrate. On the OTCQX, UURAF last traded at 1.82, down 2.15% from the previous close of 1.86, within a day range of 1.78 to 1.88 as of 17:46 GMT on September 14, 2026. That is a decline against a broadly soft tape: the S&P 500 tracker (SPY) was at $762.66, down 0.21%, the Nasdaq 100 tracker (QQQ) at $712.52, down 0.33%, and the Dow tracker (DIA) at $525.09, down 0.13%.

A US$4.6 million increment is not, on its own, a re-rating event for a company at this stage. Grant money of this size funds engineering and process work; it does not fund a commercial plant, and it does not generate revenue. The market appears to have treated it as confirmation that the existing program continues rather than as new information about the size of the eventual prize.

That reading has some support in the structure of the disclosure. The modification expands scope within an existing agreement. It adds elements to a development program and adds capability to a machine already being built. It does not announce a construction decision at Alexandria, a customer, or a production date.

What would change the picture

Three things would move this story beyond incremental. The first is a materially larger federal commitment — a shift from process-development increments to capital funding for the Louisiana complex itself. The second is a commercial offtake agreement, particularly one covering samarium-cobalt magnet feedstock, which would put a private buyer behind the government's interest. The third is demonstrated throughput at Alexandria, the point at which RapidSX stops being a promising process and becomes an operating one.

Until then, the cumulative US$27.0 million is best read as what it is: a defense agency paying, in stages, to find out whether a faster separation technology works at scale on elements it cannot easily source at home. That is a reasonable use of public money. It is also a long way from a finished supply chain.

Key facts

• New OTA modification: US$4.6 million from the U.S. Department of War
• Total OTA funding to date: US$27.0 million
• Share price: UURAF 1.82, -2.15%, as of 17:46 GMT Sept 14, 2026
• Deployment site: Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex, Alexandria

Frequently asked questions

What did Ucore announce on September 14, 2026?

Ucore Rare Metals said it executed a US$4.6 million Other Transaction Agreement modification with the U.S. Department of War. The money funds samarium and gadolinium process development at its Kingston, Ontario facility and expands the first RapidSX Enhanced Machine A, which is planned for deployment at the company's Strategic Metals Complex in Alexandria, Louisiana. Total OTA funding now stands at US$27.0 million.

What is an Other Transaction Agreement?

An Other Transaction Agreement is a U.S. federal contracting instrument used outside the Federal Acquisition Regulation, designed for prototype and process-development work. It lets defense agencies release funding in milestone-linked increments and expand the scope of existing awards through modifications, which is how Ucore's cumulative funding has grown to US$27.0 million rather than arriving as one lump sum.

Why are samarium and gadolinium considered priorities?

The U.S. government has identified both as priorities for domestic supply. Samarium is used in samarium-cobalt magnets, which retain magnetic strength at high temperatures and are used in aerospace and defense systems. Gadolinium absorbs neutrons, giving it nuclear control and shielding applications alongside uses in medical imaging contrast agents. Neither is currently separated at scale in North America.

Where does Ucore stock trade?

Ucore Rare Metals trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol UCU and on the OTCQX in the United States under UURAF. As of 17:46 GMT on September 14, 2026, UURAF last traded at 1.82, down 2.15% from a previous close of 1.86, having ranged between 1.78 and 1.88 during the session.

What is RapidSX?

RapidSX is Ucore's proprietary rare earth separation technology, intended to compress the long solvent-extraction cascades that the conventional industry standard requires. Enhanced Machine A is the first hardware unit built around it. Separation — not mining — is the step where North America has the least capacity, which is why federal funding has concentrated there.

Did the announcement move Ucore shares?

No. UURAF fell 2.15% on the day to 1.82, against modest declines in the major U.S. benchmark trackers: SPY down 0.21% at $762.66, QQQ down 0.33% at $712.52, and DIA down 0.13% at $525.09. A US$4.6 million development increment funds engineering work rather than commercial production, which limits its immediate valuation impact.

Sources

• Ucore Secures Additional US$4.6 Million from U.S. Department of War to Advance Samarium and Gadolinium Refining — INN Battery Metals

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