Rare Earths Recovery at Korella to be Studied by CSIRO

NEWS RELEASE 22-06 May 12, 2022


RARE EARTHS RECOVERY AT KORELLA TO BE STUDIED BY CSIRO

WELLINGTON New Zealand – Chatham Rock Phosphate Limited (TSXV: “NZP” and NZX: “CRP”
or the “Company") is pleased to announce that we have engaged CSIRO (the Australian Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) to evaluate the potential to extract Rare Earths from
our Korella mine and Korella South phosphate ore using biomining technology.

Korella phosphate is enriched with Rare Earth Elements (REE) and CSIRO will use biomining
technology, utilizing microbes, to study the potential to extract REE.

In past exploration of the Korella deposit the presence of yttrium (Y) mainly in the form of
xenotime (YPO
4
) was identified. The previous explorer Krucible reported an inferred JORC
resource of 4.2 million tonnes at 746 g Y/tonne (i.e., 0.96 kg Y
2
O
3
/t).

Also, in past exploration other more valuable heavy REE such as neodymium (Nd) and
dysprosium (Dy) were identified as being associated with the yttrium but no systematic testing
for these additional REE was conducted.

To enable CSIRO to commence its studies, new samples of the REE enriched phosphate and
associated strata along with endemic microbes will be obtained. At the same time new
exploration including sampling within the existing mine will be undertaken to test for all REE.

In subsequent stages of CSIRO’s evaluation, the potential REE biomining microbes will be
cultivated and tested as to their ability to “mine” REE.

Biomining is being tested as an alternative to the conventional techniques for REE
recovery/enrichment that are highly dependent on the use of chemicals.

We look forward to keeping shareholders updated on the exciting developments in the REE story
associated with Korella.


For further information please contact:

Chris Castle
President and Chief Executive Officer
Chatham Rock Phosphate Limited
64 21 55 81 85 or chris@crpl.co.nz


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