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April 15, 2025 – IperionX Limited (Nasdaq | ASX: IPX) is pleased to present its quarterly report for the period ending March 31, 2025. Key highlights during and subsequent to the end of the quarter include:
Commercial Operations – On Track and Accelerating
- Commissioning of the Titanium Manufacturing Campus in Virginia progressed rapidly during the quarter, with full system scrap-to-forged titanium product operational capacity expected by mid-2025.
- Repeated production cycles of the Hydrogen Assisted Metallothermic Reduction (HAMRTM) furnace continue to successfully produce high-quality titanium that exceeds industry standards.
- Commissioning-phase process improvements have reinforced the low-capex scalability of the HAMR process, and underscore strong potential to surpass original nameplate titanium powder production.
- Commissioning of initial pressing and Hydrogen Sintering and Phase Transformation (HSPTTM) sintering systems is complete, enabling forged near-net-shape titanium production.
Expanding Commercial and Strategic Customer Partnerships
- Product development and qualification continues to build momentum across key customer sectors - defense, automotive and consumer electronics.
- Strong customer engagement for high-performance titanium components that suffer from historically low material yields (high scrap rates) - such as titanium fasteners, housings, and precision components.
- IperionX is actively working on pilot production, with eight commercial partners supporting a rapid path-to-market for high-performance titanium manufactured components.
Continued Momentum in U.S. Government Engagement
- IperionX was awarded up to $47.1 million in U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) funding to accelerate development of a secure, low-cost, mineral-to-metal titanium supply chain. An additional $11.0 million in financing was approved by the U.S. Export-Import Bank for advanced manufacturing equipment.
- IperionX is progressing long-term, tax-exempt bond financing through Virginia’s Halifax County Industrial Development Authority to underpin future titanium production expansions.
- Multiple additional government funding applications are underway, with strong potential for fast-track review under the new U.S. administration.
Titanium Production Expansion Plans Underway
- The DoD award provided the catalyst to commence engineering and design for expansion of titanium production capacity at the Titanium Manufacturing Campus.
- Expansion of titanium production capacity is targeted by the end of 2026, with future modular-based production expansions scoped through to 2030. Expansion plans are expected to be released mid-2025.
Titan Project - DFS Underway for U.S. Critical Minerals Supply
- Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) commenced at the Titan Critical Minerals Project, funded in part by the recent U.S. DoD award. The Titan Project is the largest critical mineral sands project in the U.S.
- The DFS, expected to be completed in Q2 2026, will define engineering, flowsheets, and infrastructure for long-term supply of titanium feedstock and heavy rare earths, including dysprosium and terbium - key elements for high-performance magnets and defense systems.
Strong Financial Position
- At March 31, 2025, IperionX held US$66.1 million in cash
For further information and enquiries please contact:
investorrelations@iperionx.com
+1-980-237-8900
TITANIUM METAL OPERATIONS UPDATE
Commissioning and Ramp-Up of Commercial Operations
Commissioning of IperionX’s Titanium Manufacturing Campus in Virginia continued at pace during the quarter, with steady-state full-system titanium production targeted to commence by mid-2025.
Figure 1: Titanium Production Facility, location of the HAMR furnace operations
The HAMR furnace has consistently demonstrated the process’s effectiveness in producing high-quality titanium metal powder that exceeds industry standards. During successful commissioning, IperionX has identified significant process improvements that are expected to support both higher nameplate capacity and low-capex scalability of the HAMR process.
Based on current performance with new process improvements, IperionX anticipates revising its original nameplate capacity of 125 metric tonnes per year upwards, with new titanium powder production capacity expected to be confirmed by mid-2025. Notably, the majority of ancillary production process systems have already been scaled beyond the nameplate capacity, which supports future titanium production growth via modular addition of HAMR furnaces at lower capital.
In parallel, IperionX has completed commissioning of its initial powder metallurgy manufacturing capabilities at the Titanium Manufacturing Campus and Advanced Manufacturing Center, that uses the patented Hydrogen Sintering and Phase Transformation (HSPT) technology. This includes:
- Commissioning of traditional vacuum furnace based HSPT sintering capacity, with future capacity enabled by minor modifications to existing HAMR units
- Installation of a cold-isostatic press, enabling manufacture of longer, high-aspect-ratio parts such as titanium tubes, rods, and fasteners
- Progression of binder jetting development, expanding the range of potential low-cost titanium product formats
IperionX now possesses an installed manufacturing base capable of transforming titanium powder into a wide range of low-cost, high-performance forged titanium products — delivering a full scrap-to-product solution through proprietary HAMR and HSPT technologies.
Accelerating Customer Engagement and Strategic Partnerships
IperionX made significant progress across multiple product development and qualification programs with leading customers in the defense, automotive, and consumer electronics sectors. During the quarter, interest expanded to include additional high-value and high-volume industries, particularly aerospace — underscoring growing demand for sustainable, low-cost titanium components.
IperionX has unlocked higher-volume prototyping capacity and is actively engaged with eight commercial partners on pilot-scale production and qualification programs. As IperionX advances toward steady-state production across both titanium powder and titanium powder-to-parts manufacturing, the capacity to engage new customers, deliver prototypes, and transition into contracted production is expected to accelerate significantly.
Initial product development is focused on titanium components that suffered from high scrap rates and low material yield under traditional manufacturing methods - products that are high-cost despite relatively simple geometries. These include titanium fasteners (nuts, bolts, washers, lug nuts), titanium housings for consumer electronics, and titanium enclosures for luxury goods. These titanium products offer high-volume opportunities across multiple markets and represent a logical entry point for commercial rollout.
As operations scale, IperionX expects to expand product development activities to support a growing customer pipeline across a wide range of industries, including those targeting advanced robotics, mobility, and precision engineering.
Figure 2: Ancillary Equipment and Utilities Installation
Figure 3: Powder to Parts Manufacturing Equipment
Figure 4: IperionX Titanium Technologies Product Map
Commencement of 2026-2030 Expansion Studies
The up to $47.1 million U.S. Government IBAS award announced during the quarter provided the catalyst for IperionX to commence detailed expansion plans, targeting execution and production in 2026. The scale-up plan and the recent success in operation of the HAMR furnace also enables IperionX to develop scoping level plans for additional growth from 2027.
These plans will continue to be focused on the manufacturing of titanium metal products via the HAMR and HSPT process using 100% scrap as the raw material. IperionX anticipates finalizing these plans, presenting them to the U.S. Government for consideration, and subsequent public release in mid-2025.
U.S. GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES
IperionX was awarded up to US$47.1 million in funding by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to strengthen the U.S. Defense Industrial Base by accelerating development of a resilient, low-cost, and fully-integrated U.S. mineral-to-metal titanium supply chain. The DoD has obligated US$5 million to expedite the Titan Critical Minerals Project in Tennessee to ‘shovel-ready’ status. The remaining up to US$42.1 million is expected to be obligated by the DoD over the duration of the agreement, with the funds to be applied to facilitate vertical integration and increased titanium production capacity at IperionX’s Titanium Manufacturing Campus in Virginia.
Additionally, the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM Bank) approved an equipment finance loan of US$11.0 million to support the significant expansion of IperionX's advanced titanium manufacturing capabilities, subject to the completion and execution of definitive documentation. The EXIM Bank loan will finance the acquisition of state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, including advanced additive manufacturing systems and precision machining tools.
IperionX is undertaking a process relating to private activity bonds, with the Industrial Development Authority of Halifax County, Virginia (IDA) authorizing the issue of tax-exempt bonds of at least $100 million and up to $400 million. IperionX is currently advancing a process relating to the potential issue of these tax-exempt private activity bonds, which, subject to further approvals, is expected to conclude in late 2025.
IperionX continues to advance multiple applications for additional U.S. Government funding, with potential for accelerated review under the new Administration. A select list of U.S. government funding opportunities is shown below:
Agency | Program | Total program funding available (2024-2025)[i] / current estimate |
U.S. Department of Defense | DPA – Ukraine Supplemental Bill Funding for Strategic and Critical Materials | $140m remains, as of March 2024 |
U.S. Department of Defense | DPA Title III – Casting & Forgings Initiative | Up to ~$80m |
U.S. Department of Defense | IBAS – Casting & Forgings Infrastructure Investments | Up to ~$80m |
U.S. Department of Defense | SBIR Phase III | Up to $50-$100m in funding |
U.S. EXIM Bank | Make More in America Initiative / China and Transformational Exports Program | $11 million |
State / local authorities | Tax-exempt private activity bonds | ~$150m |
Table 1: U.S. government funding opportunities.
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ABOUT IPERIONX
IperionX aims to be the leading American titanium metal and critical materials company – using patented and proprietary metal technologies to produce high performance titanium alloys, from titanium minerals or scrap titanium, at lower energy, cost and carbon emissions.
Our Titan critical minerals project is the largest JORC-compliant mineral resource of titanium, rare earth and zircon minerals sands in the U.S.
IperionX’s titanium metal and critical minerals are essential for advanced U.S. industries including aerospace, defense, consumer electronics, hydrogen, electric vehicles and additive manufacturing.
This announcement has been authorized for release by the CEO & Managing Director.
Forward Looking Statements
Information included in this release constitutes forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “continue”, and “guidance”, or other similar words and may include, without limitation, statements regarding the timing of any Nasdaq listing, plans, strategies and objectives of management, anticipated production or construction commencement dates and expected costs or production outputs.
Forward looking statements inherently involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance, and achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance, or achievements. Relevant factors may include, but are not limited to, changes in commodity prices, foreign exchange fluctuations and general economic conditions, increased costs and demand for production inputs, the speculative nature of exploration and project development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits and diminishing quantities or grades of reserves, political and social risks, changes to the regulatory framework within which the Company operates or may in the future operate, environmental conditions including extreme weather conditions, recruitment and retention of personnel, industrial relations issues and litigation, as well as other uncertainties and risks summarized in filings made by the Company from time to time with the Australian Securities Exchange and in the Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Forward looking statements are based on the Company and its management’s assumptions relating to the financial, market, regulatory and other relevant environments that will exist and affect the Company’s business and operations in the future. The Company does not give any assurance that the assumptions on which forward looking statements are based will prove to be correct, or that the Company’s business or operations will not be affected in any material manner by these or other factors not foreseen or foreseeable by the Company or management or beyond the Company’s control.
There may be other factors that could cause actual results, performance, achievements, or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and many events are beyond the reasonable control of the Company. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements. Forward looking statements in these materials speak only at the date of issue. Except as required by applicable law or stock exchange listing rules, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of the forward-looking statements or to advise of any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
Competent Persons Statement
The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled and/or reviewed by Mr. Adam Karst, P.G. Mr. Karst is a consultant to IperionX. Mr. Karst is a Registered Member of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) which is a Recognized Overseas Professional Organization (ROPO) as well as a Professional Geologist in the state of Tennessee. Mr. Karst has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style and type of mineralization present at the Titan Project area and to the activity that he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the “Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves” (the 2012 JORC Code). Mr. Karst consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.
The information in this announcement that relates to Mineral Resources is extracted from IperionX’s ASX Announcement dated October 6, 2021 (“Original ASX Announcement”) which is available to view at IperionX’s website at www.iperionx.com. IperionX confirms that a) it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the Original ASX Announcement; b) all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Mineral Resource Estimate included in the Original ASX Announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed; and c) the form and context in which the relevant Competent Persons’ findings are presented in this report have not been materially changed from the Original ASX Announcement.
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[i] Estimates of total funds available under each program based upon Department of Defense FY25 budget request materials released in March 2024, and other U.S. government guidance. IperionX’s potential access to these funding programs is subject to successful application, award and contract under each program.
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