Bayan Mining Secures Rare Earth Processing Partnership at Sheep Creek Montana

Bayan Mining Secures Strategic MoU to Deploy Colorado School of Mines Rare Earth Technologies at High-Grade U.S. Deposit

Bayan Mining and Minerals Ltd (ASX: BMM) has announced a Memorandum of Understanding with US Critical Materials Corp. (USCM) to jointly advance rare earth processing technologies at USCM's Sheep Creek Project in Ravalli County, Montana — one of the reported highest-grade rare earth deposits in the United States. The Bayan Mining and Minerals rare earth processing partnership with US Critical Materials Sheep Creek Montana brings together Bayan's exclusively licensed patent portfolio, developed by the Colorado School of Mines, with Sheep Creek's high-grade bastnaesite and ancylite-hosted mineralisation.

The collaboration establishes a framework for metallurgical evaluation, flowsheet development, and commercialisation assessment. Furthermore, USCM has indicated its intention to evaluate a potential strategic investment into Bayan, subject to technical outcomes, due diligence, regulatory approvals, and definitive agreements — adding a financial dimension that investors will be watching closely.

What's Been Agreed — and What It Means?

The MoU is non-binding with an initial 12-month term, extendable by mutual agreement. It does not create binding obligations on either party to proceed with any investment or transaction. However, it establishes a clear and structured framework across several fronts:

• Technical collaboration: Joint metallurgical evaluation and flowsheet development using Bayan's licensed beneficiation technologies on Sheep Creek material
• Commercialisation assessment: Evaluation of pilot-scale and demonstration-scale processing opportunities in the United States, along with downstream rare earth processing options
• Commercial structure exploration: Includes royalties, licence arrangements, fee and revenue-sharing, joint ventures, spin-outs, and other structures
• Strategic investment pathway: USCM has flagged intent to evaluate a potential strategic investment into Bayan or its affiliated entities, subject to conditions
• IP protection: Ownership of Bayan's existing technologies, patents, and intellectual property remains exclusively with Bayan and/or its licensors under the MoU

CEO Nathan Kong commented: "This collaboration represents a major milestone in advancing Bayan's rare earth processing technologies within the United States. By combining our licensed technology platform developed by the Colorado School of Mines with the high-grade mineralisation from Sheep Creek, we believe Bayan is well positioned to participate in the development of a domestic US rare earth processing pathway."

Harvey Kaye, Executive Chair of USCM, added: "This Collaboration provides USCM with the opportunity to evaluate innovative processing technologies on some of the highest-grade rare earth systems at the Sheep Creek project in the United States. Our objective is to support the advancement of a U.S.-based processing pathway aligned with national security and domestic supply chain priorities."

The Technology Asset at the Centre of This Deal

Bayan's position in this collaboration is anchored by its exclusive worldwide licence to four rare earth processing technologies developed by the Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy at the Colorado School of Mines. Three of these technologies were developed and tested using ore and process streams from the Mountain Pass district in California — the only currently operating rare earth mine in the United States — providing a directly relevant metallurgical analogue for deployment at Sheep Creek.

The four patented and patent-pending technologies cover distinct stages of the rare earth processing chain:

Under the collaboration, the focus is specifically on the beneficiation technologies for bastnaesite-hosted and ancylite-hosted mineralisation — the first two rows above. The single-stage HCl leach and IDA resin technologies remain outside the immediate scope of this collaboration and available for Bayan's broader commercialisation strategy.

Collectively, the patents are designed to enhance recoveries, simplify processing flowsheets, reduce reagent consumption, and lower overall processing costs.

Understanding the Key Technical Concept: Beneficiation

What Is Beneficiation?

Beneficiation refers to the process of upgrading raw ore into a more concentrated, higher-value product before it undergoes chemical processing. In rare earth mining, this typically involves physical and chemical separation methods — such as flotation and gravity concentration — to remove gangue minerals and increase the proportion of rare earth-bearing minerals in the feed material.

Why Does It Matter for Investors?

The efficiency of beneficiation directly affects the economics of any rare earth project. Poor beneficiation means more ore must be processed at greater cost and with lower yield. Bayan's licensed technologies specifically target challenging scenarios — ultra-fine particles and calcite-bearing material — that can significantly reduce recoveries under conventional approaches.

A more effective beneficiation step translates to better concentrate grades, lower downstream processing costs, and improved project economics. In addition, understanding key terminology helps investors evaluate the significance of technical milestones as they emerge.

Glossary of Key Terms

• Bastnaesite: A fluorocarbonate mineral that is one of the most commercially important rare earth ore minerals, hosting light rare earths including cerium, lanthanum, and neodymium
• Ancylite: A carbonate rare earth mineral associated with alkaline intrusions, less commonly processed than bastnaesite but present at Sheep Creek
• Flowsheet: The sequence of processing steps used to convert ore into a saleable product
• HCl leach: A chemical dissolution step used to extract rare earth elements from a beneficiated concentrate
• IDA resin: Iminodiacetic acid-functionalised resin, used for selective separation of rare earth elements from mixed solutions
• Mine-to-magnet: The full value chain from rare earth mining through to the production of permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and defence systems

The Sheep Creek Project — Why Does This Location Matter?

USCM's Sheep Creek Project in Ravalli County, Montana, is described as one of the highest-grade rare earth deposits in the United States, hosting mineralisation in both bastnaesite and ancylite mineral systems. The project also contains gallium and other strategic minerals alongside its rare earth endowment.

The mineralogical profile of Sheep Creek — particularly its bastnaesite system — presents a direct analogue to Mountain Pass, the deposit against which three of Bayan's four licensed technologies were developed and tested. This alignment between the technology's development history and the target deposit's mineralogy is a key technical rationale for the Bayan Mining and Minerals rare earth processing partnership with US Critical Materials Sheep Creek Montana.

Next Steps and Near-Term Milestones

The parties have outlined a clear sequence of near-term activities to operationalise the MoU:

Any future pilot or demonstration facility development would be integrated with USCM's national laboratory partnerships and U.S. government engagement, per the announcement.

The Investment Case: A Technology-Led Position in U.S. Rare Earth Processing

What distinguishes Bayan's position is not exploration acreage alone, but the ownership of a processing technology platform with exclusive worldwide rights. This creates a differentiated role in the rare earth value chain — one focused not only on finding ore, but on solving how to process it more efficiently and economically. Several elements of the investment case are worth examining in context.

1. Exclusive Global Licence Across Four Patented Technologies

Bayan's licence is worldwide and exclusive, meaning no other company can deploy these Colorado School of Mines-developed technologies. In a sector where processing expertise is a genuine competitive bottleneck, this is a strategically meaningful position.

2. Technologies Developed With Mountain Pass-Origin Material

Three of the four technologies were tested using ore and process streams from the Mountain Pass operation — the benchmark U.S. rare earth deposit. This grounding in real operational material, rather than purely theoretical development, adds technical credibility to the platform.

3. Multi-Path Technology Platform

The four patents address different mineralogical settings and processing stages: flotation beneficiation, ancylite-specific beneficiation, single-stage leaching, and resin-based separation. This gives Bayan optionality to apply its technology across multiple rare earth deposit types and processing scenarios, not just Sheep Creek.

4. Potential Strategic Investment From USCM

The stated intention by USCM to evaluate a strategic investment into Bayan adds a potential financial dimension to the relationship. While no terms have been agreed and no certainty exists that a transaction will proceed, the mere establishment of this pathway within the MoU framework signals USCM's interest in deepening the commercial relationship beyond technical collaboration.

5. Existing U.S. Exploration Portfolio

Bayan also holds its Desert Star rare earth project in San Bernardino County, California, as well as the Bayan Springs South gold-silver project and Bayan Springs North silver-gold project in Nevada's Carlin Trend — providing additional U.S. asset exposure beyond the technology platform.

Why Investors Should Follow Bayan Mining

Bayan occupies a distinctive position in the rare earth sector: it is simultaneously an explorer and a technology holder. While many rare earth companies compete on the basis of resource size or grade, Bayan's exclusive licence to four Colorado School of Mines patents positions it as a potential participant in the processing and commercialisation layer of the value chain.

The MoU with USCM is the first public demonstration of that technology platform being deployed in a structured commercial context against a real-world high-grade deposit. With a joint technical committee being established and laboratory-scale metallurgical work set to commence, the next several months will generate the first technical data points on how Bayan's licensed beneficiation technologies perform on Sheep Creek material.

Key things for investors to monitor include:

• Metallurgical test work results from the initial laboratory-scale programme on Sheep Creek bastnaesite and ancylite samples
• Progress on establishing the joint technical committee and formalisation of the initial work programme
• Any update on USCM's strategic investment evaluation, which is subject to technical outcomes and due diligence
• Broader technology deployment activity, including advancement of the single-stage HCl leach and IDA resin technologies outside the current collaboration scope
• Progress at the Desert Star rare earth project in California

Key Takeaway: Bayan Mining and Minerals has established itself as a differentiated participant in U.S. rare earth processing through its exclusive worldwide licence to four Colorado School of Mines patents — and is now deploying that platform in a structured technical collaboration with one of the country's highest-grade rare earth project holders. With metallurgical test work set to commence and a potential strategic investment pathway on the table, the coming months represent a material catalyst period for investors tracking Bayan's technology commercialisation story.

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