ION - listed and trading in the USA

Our critical minerals recycling Investment Iondrive (ASX: ION) just listed in the US markets.

ION will trade on the OTCQB Venture Market under the ticker IIONF.

The OTCQB is the US over-the-counter market - the step below a NASDAQ or NYSE listing.

Meaning US investors can now buy and sell ION shares in US dollars, during US market hours, through a normal US brokerage account...

...without having to go and set up ASX access first.

Here is where we will be tracking trading (it should start tonight AEDT time):

(source)

ION is developing extraction tech that uses "deep eutectic solvents" to selectively pull critical minerals out of waste.

(think of them as the biodegradable cousins of the harsh acids that are normally used to recover metals)

ION has already shown it can recover:

• Silver from solar panels (85%+ recoveries at bench scale).
• Battery metals from scrap batteries (black mass): 89% lithium, 100% nickel, 98.6% cobalt, 98.4% manganese with a pilot campaign targeted for completion by July 2027, AND
• Copper, gold and silver from circuit boards.

BUT ION’s most advanced application is for rare earth recoveries from e-waste in the USA.

Specifically - recovering neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium from end-of-life permanent magnets inside the USA. (source)

(those are the three rare earths that go into the magnets inside EV motors, drones, missiles and robots - and China controls most of the supply)

Here is what ION has already done in the US:

1. Signed a binding feedstock agreement with Colt Recycling - one of the largest e-waste processors in the USA AND part of the Elemental Holding Group, which operates across 20+ countries on four continents. (source)
2. Had its tech independently validated on Colt's commercial US magnet feedstock - 96.5% neodymium, 96.5% praseodymium and 93.5% dysprosium. (source)
3. Kicked off a 5 tonne production campaign at a facility in North America - targeting ~1.4 tonnes of mixed rare earth oxide this quarter for customer qualification. (source)
4. Put numbers around a single 2,400tpa US module - US$243M post-tax NPV, US$62.1M annual EBITDA, on US$11.9M of development capital. (source)
5. Picked Oklahoma for its first module, secured a Letter of Support from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce (up to ~US$15M across three modules), and was accepted for up to ~US$5.2M in state incentives. (source)
6. Started building the funding stack - senior debt for ~US$18M Module 1 build, PLUS five US government funding applications totalling ~US$62.6M submitted. (source)

ION also recently appointed ex-BHP Head of Innovation Dr Grant Caffery as CEO.

So the US listing comes just before ION could start to land some of the big catalysts behind the rare earths business…

(like the first 1.4 tonnes of rare earth oxide produced in North America, and also the up to US$18M in US debt funding for the first Oklahoma module)

A while back we put together a list of things we want our ASX stocks with US critical minerals exposure to do - to put themselves in front of US capital and US attention. (source)

Listing on the US OTC market is one of the boxes on that list.

The logic behind the playbook is that ASX companies can generate interest from US investors as they execute their US critical minerals business ventures.

The US has the biggest capital markets in the world.

What it doesn't have is a deep bench of listed small cap critical minerals companies - like the ASX does.

We also know that private US capital is paying up for rare earth recycling specifically - Noveon Magnetics raised US$215M and Cyclic Materials closed a US$75M round this year alone. (source)

Now anyone in the US looking for a rare earths recycling exposure can trade ION in US dollars.

A US ticker makes it a lot easier for those counterparties (and any US strategic investors) to follow along and participate.

Here is where ION now sits on our US critical minerals playbook:

1. ✅ Own or acquire a US based critical minerals project (planned Oklahoma rare earth recycling module + binding Colt feedstock agreement)
2. ✅ Spend time in USA or appoint US based operations person (Kevin Hobbie, VP North America)
3. ✅ Appoint experienced, big name advisors or board members (ex-BHP Head of Innovation Dr Grant Caffery as CEO, ex-Jetti Resources CFO Hugo Schumann on the board)
4. ✅ Acquire, license or partner with downstream processing technology (ION has an exclusive worldwide licence to use IONSolv™ from the University of Adelaide)
5. ✅ Deliver early metwork and processing of bulk samples (heavy rare earths recovered from commercial US e-waste in Jun 2026, ~5 tonne production campaign from old magnets currently underway)
6. ✅ Outline plan for a small, cheap and fast project (2,400tpa module, US$11.9M development capital)
7. ✅ List on the US OTC market (OTCQB as IIONF - today)
8. 🔄 Prove samples can be processed, deliver downstream product (~1.4 tonnes of mixed rare earth oxide due this quarter)
9. 🔄 Secure US government funding (Oklahoma incentives application accepted, USDA debt pathway, five federal applications submitted)
10. 🔲 Appoint Washington lobbyist
11. 🔲 Attract interest from private US investors
12. 🔲 US investor roadshows
13. 🔲 Commence NASDAQ or NYSE listing process
14. 🔲 Use larger market cap to bolt on later stage/advanced projects in the USA
15. 🔲 Deliver domestic US critical minerals supply

What we want to see next from ION

🔄 Produce and qualify rare earth oxide in the US

ION is currently running its first ~5 tonne production campaign at a rented plant, this is targeting to produce 1.4 tonnes of mixed rare earth oxides within 150 days (so by around end of December). (source)

Here are the milestones we are tracking for this:

• ✅ First ~5 tonnes of production underway.
• 🔄 1.4 tonnes of mixed rare earth oxide produced. (source)
• 🔲 Product qualified by a customer (magnet maker / refiner / defence contractor)
• 🔲 First offtake or supply agreement

🔄 Non-dilutive funding OR downstream partnership for US rare earths facility

ION is targeting US$18M in debt funding to help set up its first Oklahoma module, with up to 80% of this potentially guaranteed under a USDA program. (source)

Oklahoma has already formally accepted ION’s application for up to US$5.2M in state incentives. (source)

Here are the milestones we are tracking for this:

• 🔄 US federal grant / loan (USDA loan guarantee on ~US$18M senior debt in progress)
• 🔄 Oklahoma state incentives (Quality Jobs application accepted, up to US$5.2M for Module 1)
• 🔲 Strategic or downstream investment
• 🔲 Commercial roll out agreement in the US

🔄 Final Investment Decision on US rare earth plant

ION has begun FEED on its first module and assessing the suitability of a brownfield site in Latimer County, Oklahoma. (source)

Here are the milestones we are tracking for this:

• 🔄 Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for the first module
• 🔲 Feedstock supply deal
• 🔲 Site selection, permitting and approvals
• 🔲 Final Investment Decision (FID)
• 🔲 Construction and commissioning
• 🔲 First commercial rare earth oxide production

🔄 Battery recycling pilot campaign

ION is now moving its battery recycling pilot to a third party facility (instead of building its own), so is now targeting completion of the pilot runs by July 2027. (source)

Here are the milestones we are tracking for this:

1. 🔄 Bench scale flowsheet optimisation
2. 🔲 Third party pilot facility agreement finalised
3. 🔲 Pilot plant runs completed (targeting July 2027)
4. 🔲 First results from the pilot campaign