Queensland Pacific Metals Ltd. announced that it has entered into a binding ore supply agreement ("Agreement") with Société Le Nickel ("SLN"). The execution of the Agreement and New Caledonian Government approval follows on from the Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") entered into between SLN and QPM in April 2021. That MOU contemplated ore supply of 800,000 wmt per annum.

QPM is delighted to achieve an outcome that secures a greater level of tonnage. Term: Five year ore supply term with five year extension, subject to mutual agreement. Tonnage: Up to 1,000,000 wmt per annum, ramping up in line with the TECH Project.

As part of the Agreement, SLN and QPM have also agreed to explore other partnership opportunities regarding additional ore supply and potential TECH Project participation. Whilst the DNi ProcessTM can treat the entire laterite ore profile, QPM is targeting the purchase of limonite ore. The global seaborne nickel ore trade is almost exclusively saprolite ore, which sits below the limonite ore body layer.

The saprolite is used to produce nickel pig iron and ferronickel operations and can't be easily, cheaply or sustainably converted into battery grade nickel and cobalt sulfate for lithium-ion batteries. Saprolite ore miners either avoid areas with a high proportion of limonite, or have to mine through the limonite and either stockpile or treat it as overburden, creating significant inefficiencies. By exclusively purchasing limonite ore, QPM delivers a strategic benefit to any counterparty it deals with.