Ucore is pleased to announce that the United States Department of Defense (DOD) has contracted with Ucore via the Company''s US operating subsidiary Landmark Alaska L.P. to conduct a mineralogical and metallurgical study on the Company''s Bokan Mountain heavy REE property in Southeast Alaska. The program, to be managed by DOD under the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) will focus on possible development of Bokan Mountain, America''s largest NI 43-101 compliant heavy rare earth resource, to meet the requirements of the Department of Defense for an ongoing supply of critical heavy REE''s. Under the agreement, Ucore will provide DOD with the most up-to-date data on the Bokan project''s mineralogy and proprietary bench and pilot scale Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) nanotechnology research.

According to a March 2012 report from DOD, yttrium, terbium, and dysprosium are all considered to be "critical to the production, sustainment, or operation of significant United States military equipment," as well as "subject to interruption of supply, based on actions or events outside the control of the government of the United States." Yttrium, in particular, was shown to be in deficit when considering projected future domestic supply.

This announcement demonstrates strong interest by the U.S. Government in domestic mining and production of rare earth elements to support the heavy rare earth requirements of DOD. Bokan Mountain is the richest domestic source of three heavy rare earth elements -dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium - which are critical to several advanced weapon systems, such as stealth helicopters and precision-guided weapons. Currently, all of the world''s commercially-available heavy rare earth elements are produced in China. Ongoing production and export quotas have limited the availability of these materials to global markets.

"The United States does not yet have the capability to produce three of the heavy rare earths that occur naturally and in abundance in Bokan Mountain," said Jim McKenzie, President and CEO of Ucore. "The Department of Defense''s investment in the Bokan deposit and Ucore''s proprietary SPE technology represents a significant step toward recapturing the rare earths technological lead surrendered to China decades ago. What''s more, the DOD relationship adds a great deal of credibility to Ucore''s domestic supply chain development, representing one of the largest purchasing capabilities amongst prospective customers worldwide