LEADING EDGE MATERIALS WELCOMES SWEDISH MINERAL STRATEGY AND POTENTIAL MEASURES TO ACCELERATE STRATEGIC PROJECTS
LEADING EDGE MATERIALS WELCOMES SWEDISH MINERAL STRATEGY AND POTENTIAL MEASURES TO ACCELERATE STRATEGIC PROJECTS
- Swedish Government identifies mining as a strategic component of national security and industrial resilience.
- Proposed reforms include time-bound permitting, potential state-backed investment, and measures to improve local acceptance of new mines.
- Norra Kärr is well aligned with Sweden's and Europe's growing focus on secure domestic supplies of critical rare earth elements.
- Leading Edge Materials is on track to develop the EU’s first heavy rare earth elements mine following the grant of Norra Kärr’s 25-year mining lease in June 2026
Vancouver, July 26, 2026 - Leading Edge Materials Corp. ("Leading Edge Materials" or the "Company") (TSXV: LEM) (Nasdaq First North: LEMSE) (OTCQB: LEMIF) (FRA: 7FL) welcomes the Swedish Government's newly announced Mineral Strategy, which places critical raw materials and mining at the centre of Sweden's industrial competitiveness and national security agenda.
The Government’s strategy outlines a series of proposed initiatives intended to strengthen Sweden's position as a leading supplier of critical raw materials while improving the conditions for the development of strategically important mining projects.
The proposed reforms are highly relevant to the advancement of the Company's 100%-owned Norra Kärr Heavy Rare Earth Elements Project, one of Europe's richest deposits of dysprosium and terbium.
Proposed reforms to improve permitting
The Swedish Government announced that it will launch an inquiry into the Minerals Act and the broader mining permitting system with the objective of creating a more efficient and predictable approval process. The Government indicated that the EU’s Critical Raw Materials act will serve as a model, including consideration of statutory timelines for different stages of permitting.
If implemented, these reforms could provide greater certainty for strategically important projects such as Norra Kärr by reducing permitting complexity and improving the predictability of regulatory timelines.
Government considering strategic investment mechanisms
The Mineral Strategy also proposes an inquiry into how Sweden could participate in the financing of strategic mining projects.
While no specific funding mechanism has been decided, the Government noted that one option could be the establishment of a state-owned investment company to support the development of prioritized mining projects. Such an instrument would represent a significant policy development, as Sweden currently has limited direct financial participation in new mining developments outside its ownership of LKAB, a state-owned Swedish mining company.
The Government highlighted increasing international competition for critical minerals and acknowledged that many jurisdictions actively support domestic mining industries through strategic investment. The proposed inquiry is intended to examine how Sweden can strengthen its competitiveness in this environment.
Building stronger local partnerships
Recognizing that local acceptance is fundamental to successful mine development, the Government also announced an inquiry into new models for local value sharing.
The review will examine potential changes to Sweden's existing mineral compensation framework with the objective of ensuring that communities hosting mining projects receive greater economic benefits while maintaining Sweden's competitiveness as a mining jurisdiction.
With Norra Kärr, Greenna Mineral has already made significant progress in building relations with local stakeholders and the Government’s initiatives in these areas will only support a healthy and ongoing dialogue with communities.
Critical minerals recognized as a strategic security priority
More broadly, the Swedish Government emphasized the growing geopolitical importance of critical raw materials and explicitly identified mining as an integral component of Sweden's national security policy.
The Government also indicated it will consider new approaches to protecting strategically important mineral belts, including the possibility of designating larger mineralized regions as areas of national interest rather than limiting such designation to individual deposits. If adopted, this would represent a significant evolution in Swedish mineral policy.
Kurt Budge, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“The Swedish Government's Mineral Strategy is an encouraging signal that critical raw materials are increasingly being recognised as fundamental to Sweden's industrial competitiveness, national security and the energy transition. We are particularly encouraged by the proposed focus on more efficient permitting, consideration of strategic investment mechanisms, and initiatives to strengthen local value creation."
"Norra Kärr is Europe's most advanced heavy rare earth elements and has the potential to become an important long-term source of dysprosium, terbium and yttrium, required for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, defence technologies and advanced electronics. As Sweden and the European Union work to build resilient domestic critical raw materials supply chains, projects such as Norra Kärr have an increasingly important strategic role to play.
While these proposals remain subject to government inquiries and future legislative processes, they represent a positive direction of travel for Sweden's mining sector. We look forward to engaging constructively with government, regional authorities and local stakeholders as these initiatives develop and to continuing to advance Norra Kärr as a strategically important European critical raw materials project."
About the Norra Kärr Project
Norra Kärr is one of Europe's most significant deposits of heavy rare earth elements. The project's strategic value is underpinned by its high dysprosium and terbium ("Dy/Tb") content, critical inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and defence applications.
On 28 June 2026, an Exploitation Concession (Sw. bearbetningskoncession) – 25-year mining lease - was granted by the Swedish Government following a formal recommendation from the Mining Inspectorate (Sw. Bergsstaten), which submitted the application to the Government for a final decision after all involved agencies had either endorsed the application or recommended approval.
The strategic importance of heavy rare earth elements to Europe's industrial future has never been more apparent. As China's export controls have demonstrated, access to dysprosium, terbium and yttrium cannot be taken for granted — and the consequences of supply disruption are severe. Norra Kärr, now holding an Exploitation Concession, is key to addressing Europe’s critical risk exposure.
Edison Investment Research
“Leading Edge Materials - Meeting Europe's Rare Earths Challenge", 9 February 2026.
https://www.edisongroup.com/research/meeting-europes-rare-earths-challenge/BM-2766/
“Leading Edge Materials — Addressing the European REE shortage”, 21 April 2026.
https://www.edisongroup.com/research/addressing-the-european-ree-shortage/BM-2909/
“Leading Edge Materials — Exceptional DyTb exposure at a hefty discount”, 9 June 2026.
https://www.edisongroup.com/research/exceptional-dytb-exposure-at-a-hefty-discount/BM-3470/
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Leading Edge Materials Corp.
Kurt Budge, CEO
For further information, please contact the Company at:
info@leadingedgematerials.com
www.leadingedgematerials.com
Corporate Head Office (Vancouver, Canada): 778-686-5357
About Leading Edge Materials
Leading Edge Materials Corp. is a Canadian-listed company focused on developing critical raw material assets across the European Union. Its primary focus is the wholly owned Norra Kärr Heavy Rare Earth Element project in Sweden — one of the world's most strategically significant heavy rare earth deposits and among the few advanced-stage projects within the EU capable of producing dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium at meaningful scale.
Situated in one of the globe's most politically and regulatory stable mining environments, Norra Kärr is well-positioned to contribute directly to the objectives of the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act, including the bloc's target of sourcing 10% of its critical raw material consumption domestically by 2030. Beyond rare earths, the Company also holds the Woxna Graphite mine in Sweden — a fully constructed and permitted facility — as well as a 90% stake in the Bihor Sud Nickel-Cobalt exploration alliance in Romania.
Additional Information
The information was submitted for publication through the agency of the contact person set out above, on July 26, 2026, at 23:30 Vancouver time.
Leading Edge Materials is listed on the TSXV under the symbol “LEM”, OTCQB under the symbol “LEMIF” and Nasdaq First North Stockholm under the symbol “LEMSE”. Svensk Kapitalmarknadsgranskning (“SKMG”) is the Company’s Certified Adviser for the Nasdaq First North Growth Market (Stockholm) and may be contacted via email ca@skmg.se or by phone +46 (0)8 913 008.
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