Ucore Appoints Schrider as Chief Operating Officer


HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Feb. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSX-V:UCU) (OTCQX:UURAF) (“Ucore” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Schrider, P.E. to the position of Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Schrider is a registered Professional Engineer with more than 27 years of experience in manufacturing, engineering and managing complex industrial projects.  He was an integral part of the team that oversaw the operations and management of the Alaska Ship and Drydock (ASD) facility in South East Alaska, a USD $80M project undertaken in co-operation with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA). Mike has been a consultant to Ucore since December of 2015 and has been instrumental in engineering and logistics planning for the Company since then.  In August of 2016 he joined Ucore full time as Vice President of Operations focusing on commercial production opportunities for the Company.

“I’m delighted to announce Mr. Schrider’s appointment to this position at Ucore”, said Jim McKenzie, President & CEO of Ucore.  “He is a welcome addition to Ucore’s senior executive team and will ensure that Ucore’s technical and production related issues continue to be well managed as we transition to commercial production of individual rare earth oxides in our Ketchikan, Alaska SMC.”

Commensurate with his appointment, Mr. Schrider will be granted 200,000 stock options. The options are exercisable at a price of $0.19 per share and will expire five years from the grant date, February 12, 2018. One third of the options will vest six months after the date of the grant, with an additional third to vest every six months thereafter until fully vested.

The Company is currently conducting its second phase of SMC due diligence and will reveal additional schedule highlights once confirmed.

Both the appointment of Mr. Schrider and the granting of the options are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Background

Ucore Rare Metals is a development-phase company focused on rare metals resources, extraction and beneficiation technologies. The Company has a 100% ownership stake in the Bokan project. On March 31, 2014, Ucore announced the unanimous support of the Alaska State Legislature for the investment of up to USD $145 Million in the Bokan project at the discretion of the Alaska Import Development and Export Agency (“AIDEA”).

For further information, please contact Mr. Jim McKenzie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ucore Rare Metals Inc. at: +1 (902) 482-5214 or visit http://www.ucore.com.

Cautionary Notes
This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future exploration drilling, exploration activities, research and development timelines, and events or developments that the Company expects, are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include exploitation and exploration successes or setbacks, research and develop successes or setbacks, continued availability of financing, and general economic, market or business conditions.

MRT is at advanced testing stages and has yet to be proven, at a commercial scale, for the separation of rare earth elements. The Company has not yet released an economic assessment on the use of MRT for the separation of rare earth elements and does not yet have any specific contracts for the processing of rare earths using MRT.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined by the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.