IPERIONX TITAN DFS CONFIRMS HIGH-RETURN U.S. RARE EARTHS AND CRITICAL MINERALS PROJECT

U.S. Government supported Definitive Feasibility Study delivers US$813 million after-tax NPV₈, 39% IRR and US$1.9 billion after-tax free cash flow from an initial 14-year mine plan producing heavy rare earth concentrate, titanium minerals and zircon in Tennessee, U.S.A.

IperionX Limited (NASDAQ: IPX, ASX: IPX) (IperionX or Company) is pleased to announce the results of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS or Study) for the Company’s 100%-owned Titan Critical Minerals Project (Titan or Project), located near Camden, Tennessee, United States. The DFS confirms Titan as a large-scale, technically robust and high-return critical minerals project designed to produce titanium, zircon and a heavy rare earth concentrate from a single domestic resource in the United States.  The Study underpins an initial 14-year mine plan based entirely on Proved and Probable Ore Reserves, with no Inferred Mineral Resources included in the Production Target.

	■	Compelling after-tax returns: DFS delivers after-tax NPV8 of US$813 million, after-tax IRR of 39% and an after-tax payback period of 3.6 years
	■	Significant cash generation: Forecast life-of-mine EBITDA of US$2.8 billion and after-tax free cash flow of US$1.9 billion over an initial 14-year mine plan
	■	Capital-efficient staged development: Phase 1 development capital of US$228.1 million and Phase 2 incremental capital of US$153.2 million, for total development capital of US$381.3 million
	■	Strong scale-up to Phase 2 cash flow: Phase 2 forecast average annual EBITDA of US$226 million and average annual after-tax free cash flow of US$172 million.
	■	Maiden Ore Reserve: Reserves of 117 million tons at 3.2% THM, containing 3.7 million tons THM, with approximately 80% of Ore Reserves classified as Proved
	■	High-value critical mineral products: Multi-critical mineral platform for American supply-chains from a single domestic resource base, including rare earths, titanium minerals and zircon.  Phase 2 annual production forecast of approximately 5,287 tpa HREC (Heavy Rare Earth Concentrate), 118,658 tpa ilmenite, 24,656 tpa rutile and 65,668 tpa zircon concentrate
	■	Heavy rare earth leverage: Titan HREC contains strategically important heavy rare earths dysprosium, terbium and yttrium (Dy, Tb, Y) and other heavy rare earth elements representing a large share of HREC basket value.  The heavy rare earths are vital for U.S. supply chains for high-performance magnets, defense, advanced ceramics, aerospace, and semiconductor applications
	■	Titanium and zircon critical minerals: Titan is positioned as a near-term, U.S.-based critical minerals platform for titanium and zircon critical minerals for downstream domestic metal production
	■	Simple, modular execution pathway: Titan is a near-surface, free-dig mineral sands development with no blasting or hard-rock crushing, using industry standard wet concentration, flotation and dry mineral separation
	■	U.S. infrastructure advantage: Titan Project is located in west Tennessee near road, rail, barge, power, water and gas infrastructure, with access to an established regional industrial workforce
	■	U.S. Government-supported DFS pathway: The DFS was supported under U.S. Government IBAS-related funding, reinforcing Titan’s strategic relevance to resilient domestic critical minerals and titanium supply chains for defense, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, energy and robotics
	■	Strategic U.S. minerals-to-metals platform: Titan is positioned to underpin domestic critical mineral feedstock for U.S. heavy rare earth, titanium, zirconium and advanced materials supply chains, while complementing IperionX’s downstream titanium metal technologies and Virginia manufacturing platform

	Virginia	Tennessee	Utah
	1092 Confroy Drive South Boston, VA 24592	279 West Main Street Camden, TN 38320	1782 W 2300 S West Valley City, UT 84119
IperionX Limited ABN 84 618 935 372

IperionX CEO Taso Arima said:

“The Titan DFS confirms Titan as one of the most compelling, shovel-ready rare earth and critical minerals development opportunities in the United States.

The investment case is powerful: an after-tax NPV8 of US$813 million, after-tax IRR of 39.4%, US$1.9 billion of after-tax free cash flow and a 3.6-year payback. These outcomes are underpinned by key mine-area permits already in place, a Proved and Probable Ore Reserve base, a modular staged development pathway, conventional mineral sands processing, established infrastructure and a premier U.S. critical minerals jurisdiction.

What makes Titan exceptional is the combination of strong economics, multi-critical-mineral diversity and direct relevance to U.S. supply-chain security. Titan is designed to produce a heavy rare earth concentrate enriched in dysprosium, terbium and yttrium, together with titanium minerals and zircon concentrate. These are critical feedstocks for high-performance permanent magnets, aerospace and defense systems, semiconductors, thermal barrier coatings, nuclear materials, zirconium and hafnium pathways, advanced ceramics and next-generation manufacturing.

Titan is the leading asset of Tennessee’s Big Sandy Critical Minerals Province — a large-scale, high-grade U.S. critical minerals system with the potential to become the largest domestic source of heavy rare earths, titanium and zircon minerals.

For IperionX, Titan is the cornerstone asset for an integrated U.S. critical minerals-to-metals strategy, connecting Tennessee rare earth and critical mineral feedstocks with downstream rare earth processing, permanent magnets, titanium metal production and American advanced manufacturing.

Our objective is clear: to build a resilient, scalable and domestic critical minerals-to-metals platform that strengthens America’s defense industrial base, reduces reliance on foreign-controlled supply chains and creates long-term value for IperionX shareholders.”

A copy of the Technical Report Summary (TRS), including Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves reported for the Titan deposit using the definitions in Regulation S-K 1300 (S-K 1300), under Item 1300 promulgated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can be accessed here.

For further information and enquiries please contact:

+1 980 237 8900

Figure 1: Key metrics from Titan DFS.

Figure 2: Titan's projected LOM production of ilmenite and rutile and HREC are estimated to contain sufficient titanium and NdPr- material to support the production of ~37,000 Boeing 787s, ~13 million electric vehicles, and ~5.7 million humanoid robots¹.

Table 1: Summary DFS metrics¹.

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¹ Units throughout the DFS are stated in metric tons

Titan Project Overview

The Titan Critical Minerals Project is IperionX’s flagship U.S. critical minerals development, located in west Tennessee approximately 80 miles west of Nashville, near the town of Camden. Titan benefits from an established industrial setting with access to road, rail and barge logistics, power, water, gas infrastructure and a skilled regional workforce.

The Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) confirms Titan as a large-scale, shovel-ready U.S. critical minerals asset with compelling project economics, a diversified multi-product revenue base and a conventional execution pathway. The project is designed to produce heavy rare earth concentrate, titanium minerals and zircon concentrate from the McNairy Formation within the Big Sandy Critical Minerals Province.

IperionX commenced exploration at Titan in 2020 and has advanced the project through resource definition, technical studies, permitting and now completion of the DFS. The DFS was supported by U.S. Government Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment-related funding, with approximately US$5 million allocated to accelerate Titan to feasibility-study status within IperionX’s broader U.S. minerals-to-metals critical supply chain development program.

The DFS evaluates an initial 14-year mine plan and staged processing strategy. At Phase 2 run-rate, Titan is forecast to produce approximately 5,287 tpa of heavy rare earth concentrate (HREC), 118,658 tpa of ilmenite, 24,656 tpa of rutile and 65,668 tpa of zircon concentrate.

Titan’s development plan is modular and staged. Phase 1 is designed for the initial four years of operations, followed by a scale-up to Phase 2 for the remaining ten years. The process route is conventional and scalable, using contractor excavator-and-truck mining, ROM ore conveying, wet concentration, rare earth mineral flotation, dry mineral separation and progressive backfill.

The DFS demonstrates strong financial outcomes, with an after-tax NPV8 of US$813 million, an after-tax IRR of 39.4%, total life-of-mine EBITDA of US$2.8 billion and total after-tax free cash flow of approximately US$1.93 billion. Phase 1 development capital is estimated at US$228.1 million, with Phase 2 incremental capital of US$153.2 million, for total development capital of US$381.3 million.

Titan is more than a mineral sands project. It is a differentiated U.S. critical minerals platform with exposure to three strategic product streams from a single domestic resource base. Its heavy rare earth concentrate is enriched in yttrium, dysprosium and terbium — materials required for high-temperature magnets, advanced ceramics, radar, semiconductor equipment, aerospace and defense systems. Its titanium and zircon product streams extend Titan’s relevance into U.S. defense, energy, aerospace, nuclear, robotics and advanced manufacturing supply chains.

This combination of scale, permitting, infrastructure, conventional processing and strategic product exposure positions Titan as one of the most actionable near-term U.S. critical minerals projects capable of addressing multiple supply chain gaps from a single domestic source.

Strategic Importance to the U.S.

Titan is positioned as a cornerstone U.S. critical minerals project because it combines four attributes rarely found in one domestic mineral resource base.

First, Titan has a near-term development pathway in the United States, with key permits already in place. Second, it is designed to produce a heavy rare earth concentrate containing strategically scarce yttrium, dysprosium and terbium. Third, it provides meaningful titanium and zircon mineral streams that are relevant to defense, aerospace, nuclear and advanced manufacturing supply chains. Fourth, it is based on a staged, lower-risk development plan using conventional mineral sands processing methods.

The United States is actively rebuilding rare earth separation, metal, alloy and magnet manufacturing capacity. However, those midstream and downstream investments require secure upstream feedstock. Titan directly targets this missing domestic feedstock node by providing a U.S.-based source of heavy rare earth concentrate while also supplying titanium minerals and zircon concentrate into markets that are exposed to foreign concentration and supply chain disruption.

Titan is not a single-product project. It is a multi-critical-mineral industrial platform.

Titan’s permitting and execution position is a major competitive advantage. The project is located in an established industrial corridor, with key mine area permits already in place and access to road, rail, barge, power, water and gas infrastructure. This execution setting differentiates Titan from many remote or earlier-stage critical mineral developments that require substantial greenfield infrastructure, long permitting pathways and higher logistics complexity.

Titan’s product suite is also directly aligned with some of the most important material requirements of the U.S. defense industrial base. Through one domestic mineral platform, Titan has the potential to support American supply chains for rare earth magnets, advanced ceramics, propulsion materials, refractory inputs and lightweight structural alloys.

Figure 3: Titan's products map to defense magnets, advanced ceramics, propulsion materials, and lightweight alloys.

Dysprosium, terbium and neodymium-praseodymium rare earths are essential to high-performance permanent magnets used in missiles, precision munitions, unmanned systems, radar platforms, electric actuators, guidance systems and other mission-critical defense technologies. Yttrium, gadolinium, zirconium, hafnium and titanium materials support applications ranging from turbine thermal barrier coatings, armor ceramics and electronic warfare systems to hypersonics, naval components, airframes, missile structures, engine parts and soldier systems.

Collectively, these materials occupy high-value positions in platforms where performance requirements are demanding, substitution is limited and secure domestic supply is increasingly strategic.

Titan therefore represents a rare combination: a near-term U.S. development project with strong financial returns and key permits already in place, conventional execution, and direct relevance to multiple strategic supply chains. Titan offers leverage to a diversified critical minerals platform with compelling economics, staged capital intensity and strong alignment with U.S. industrial policy, defense resilience and the reshoring of advanced manufacturing.

Titan’s relevance extends beyond defense into the next generation of physical AI, including humanoid robotics, factory automation and advanced manufacturing. Humanoid robots will require high-torque, high-efficiency magnets for actuators, motors, hands and joints; titanium-based materials for lightweight frames, limbs and structural components; specialty rare earths and ceramics for sensors, optics, chips and electronics. As robotics demand scales, Titan’s broader suite of magnets, metals and ceramic feedstocks positions the company at the intersection of national security, industrial automation and American supply-chain resilience.

Figure 4: Titan enables the materials stack for humanoid robotics and physical AI.

Rare Earths Overview

Rare earths are a group of 17 elements comprising the 15 lanthanides, plus scandium and yttrium. Although rare earths are not necessarily scarce in the earth’s crust, the economically recoverable heavy rare earth elements — particularly dysprosium, terbium and yttrium — are geologically scarce and strategically valuable.

Their importance is driven by properties that are difficult to substitute: exceptional magnetic strength, high-temperature stability, optical performance, catalytic activity, plasma resistance and durability in harsh operating environments. For U.S. defense and advanced industry, the most strategically important rare earths are concentrated in a small subset:

The supply-chain risk is structural. China dominates major stages of the rare earth system, including mining, cracking, separation, metallization and sintered magnet manufacturing. Heavy rare earth exposure is even more acute because global dysprosium and terbium supply has relied heavily on Myanmar-origin feedstock processed through China, while U.S. heavy rare earth and yttrium supply remains highly import-dependent.

The result is a direct vulnerability for U.S. defense, aerospace, automotive, semiconductor, energy and robotics supply chains.

This is what makes Titan strategically differentiated. Titan is not simply another light rare earth project. It is designed to produce a U.S.-sourced heavy rare earth concentrate enriched in dysprosium, terbium and yttrium from monazite- and xenotime-bearing mineral sands. That positions Titan as a potential upstream feedstock node for the U.S. mine-to-magnet, semiconductor and advanced materials supply chains now being rebuilt with U.S. Government support.

U.S. Rare Earth Supply Chain

The United States is actively reshoring rare earth separation, metal, alloy and permanent magnet manufacturing capacity. Federal support has been directed across multiple downstream and midstream projects, including MP Materials, Lynas USA, E-VAC, Noveon Magnetics, TDA Magnetics, Vulcan Elements and ReElement Technologies.

This downstream investment is strategically important, but it does not solve the entire supply-chain problem. Separation plants, metal makers, alloy producers and magnet manufacturers require secure, qualified and scalable upstream feedstock. Without a U.S.-based, heavy-rare-earth-rich resource, domestic magnet and semiconductor supply chains remain exposed to imported dysprosium, terbium and yttrium.

Figure 5: Titan addresses the upstream feedstock bottleneck in the U.S. rare earth supply chain by providing a potential domestic source of monazite- and xenotime-bearing heavy rare earth concentrate.

The largest current U.S. rare earth mine, MP Materials’ Mountain Pass operation, is a globally important light rare earth bastnaesite deposit. However, Mountain Pass is not a material domestic source of the heavy rare earths most constrained in U.S. supply chains. Its ores contain only trace amounts of dysprosium, terbium and yttrium.

Titan is differentiated by mineralogy. Its monazite- and xenotime-bearing mineral sands are designed to produce a heavy rare earth concentrate enriched in yttrium, dysprosium and terbium, while also containing neodymium and praseodymium for permanent magnet supply chains.

Titan fills a different role: a U.S. mineral resource capable of feeding the separation, metal, alloy and magnet investments the United States is already building.

The U.S. requirement for rare earths now extends well beyond electric vehicles and wind turbines. High-performance magnets are embedded in precision actuators, drones, satellites, missile systems, radar platforms, shipboard systems, EV drivetrains, industrial automation and humanoid robots. Yttrium and other specialty rare earths extend Titan’s relevance into semiconductors, lasers, photonics, microwave components, advanced ceramics and thermal barrier coatings.

In practical terms, modern defense systems and physical AI platforms will need minerals, magnets and metals — not just software.

China’s use of rare earths as a strategic lever is no longer hypothetical. The 2010 China-Japan dispute demonstrated rare earth leverage, and China’s 2025 export controls on medium and heavy rare earths and related magnet materials showed how quickly non-China manufacturers can face licensing risk, shortages and price dislocation. The U.S. response cannot be limited to downstream subsidies. It must also secure the upstream heavy rare earth feedstock that makes downstream capacity viable.

Figure 6: Illustrative Dy/Tb supply versus selected U.S. NdFeB magnet manufacturing deman^1,2,3.

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Titan is one of the most actionable near-term U.S. development options to address that gap. It combines a domestic resource base, existing permits, established logistics, conventional mineral sands processing and a heavy rare earth concentrate product designed around the materials most constrained in the U.S. supply chain.

Table 2: Titan’s role across the U.S. rare earth supply chain.

Table 3: Representative U.S. demand for rare earth magnets and HREE/Y materials.

Humanoid robots, semiconductor fabs, data centers and automated factories are emerging as new critical-mineral demand centers. They require high-performance magnets for actuators and motors, titanium and zirconium-bearing materials for lightweight structures and harsh-environment components, yttrium and gadolinium for sensors, optics and specialty ceramics, and thermally robust materials for power electronics and energy infrastructure.

Titan Project's Role in the U.S. Rare Earth Supply Chain

Titan is designed to address the missing upstream resource gap in the U.S. heavy rare earth supply chain.

The DFS forecasts total life-of-mine production of approximately 60,790 tons of HREC, including approximately 5,287 tpa at full Phase 2 run-rate. The DFS design-basis HREC is approximately 61.4% TREO and contains important dysprosium, terbium and yttrium exposure, derived from monazite and xenotime mineralization contained within Titan’s mineral sands.

This mineralogy is fundamentally different from bastnaesite deposits such as Mountain Pass, which is a globally important light rare earth operation, but does not by itself address the heavy rare earth supply gap. Titan is designed to produce a concentrate with meaningful exposure to the materials that remain most constrained: dysprosium, terbium and yttrium.

At the Phase 2 annual HREC production rate, Titan’s HREC product is forecast to contain approximately:

Based on Argus 2026 forecast prices, heavy rare earth elements represent approximately 13% of TREO content by mass, but more than 70% of forecast HREC basket value. This means Titan’s HREC is not just heavy-rare-earth-bearing; it is heavy-rare-earth-dominant by value. That is a critical distinction for investors and policymakers. Titan’s strategic value is not driven solely by total rare earth tonnage. It is driven by the value, scarcity and strategic importance of the contained heavy rare earths and yttrium.

Titan is positioned to address one of the most important gaps in the U.S. critical minerals strategy: secure domestic feedstock for heavy rare earth separation, metals, alloys and magnets.

The project combines a U.S. resource base, existing permits, conventional mineral sands processing, established infrastructure and a differentiated HREC product enriched in dysprosium, terbium and yttrium. This positions Titan as a potential cornerstone upstream feedstock source for U.S. defense, aerospace, semiconductor, robotics and advanced manufacturing supply chains.

Figure 7: Annual projected Dy+Tb and Y output compared to MP Materials’ Mountain Pass operation¹.

1 See Endnote 1 - peer comparison material assumptions, page 22.

 

Table 4: Titan Project heavy rare earth concentrate.

Titanium Overview

Titanium is a strategic metal with a rare combination of high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, fatigue performance, heat tolerance and compatibility with demanding aerospace and defense environments. These properties make titanium essential across airframes, engine-adjacent structures, landing gear, fasteners, armor, naval systems, missiles, satellites, drones, medical devices, energy infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.

For U.S. defense and industrial policy, titanium is not simply another metal. It is a qualification-heavy material embedded in mission-critical platforms where shortages, long lead times or uncertain provenance can affect readiness, production schedules, platform cost and supply-chain resilience.

The legacy titanium metal supply chain is capital-intensive, energy-intensive and structurally inefficient. Titanium minerals are typically upgraded and chlorinated into titanium tetrachloride, reduced by magnesium through the Kroll process to produce titanium sponge, melted and re-melted into ingot, converted through forging or rolling into mill products, and then machined into finished components. Each step adds cost, time, yield loss and qualification complexity. One ton of titanium sponge typically yields only approximately 0.6–0.8 tons of titanium mill product, and after downstream buy-to-fly losses, can result in as little as approximately 0.2 tons of finished titanium parts.

This inefficiency is a major reason titanium remains expensive and strategically sensitive. It is also why supply-chain control matters. The U.S. no longer produces commercial titanium sponge, leaving domestic ingot, mill-product, forging and component suppliers reliant on imported sponge, imported scrap and domestic recycled scrap. USGS estimates indicate that the U.S. imported approximately 44,000 tons of titanium sponge and approximately 32,000 tons of titanium scrap in 2025.

The strategic risk is compounded by foreign concentration. Japan, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia were leading U.S. titanium sponge import sources through July 2025, while China has become the world’s dominant producer and consumer of titanium mineral concentrates and has materially expanded across the titanium value chain. Russia and China also remain strategically important global sponge and titanium metal supply-chain actors, creating a resilience challenge for U.S. defense, aerospace and advanced manufacturing customers.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Section 232 titanium sponge investigation found that titanium sponge imports threatened to impair U.S. national security, highlighting that the absence of domestic sponge production capacity could limit U.S. surge capacity for defense and critical infrastructure needs during a national emergency. That finding remains highly relevant: domestic melting and downstream fabrication capacity do not fully resolve the vulnerability if the upstream sponge and mineral feedstock inputs remain foreign-dependent.

Figure 8: Global primary titanium (sponge) production locations and U.S. capacity vs. China and Russia capacity over time¹.

U.S. Titanium Supply Chain

The current U.S. titanium supply chain is fragmented. The United States has world-class aerospace, defense, specialty metals, forging, casting and precision component manufacturing capability. Domestic companies can convert sponge and scrap into qualified titanium products for aerospace and defense platforms. However, those operations remain structurally dependent on imported sponge and variable scrap availability.

This creates a strategic mismatch. The U.S. has advanced titanium-consuming industries, but lacks secure domestic primary titanium input capacity at commercial scale.

For defense procurement, this matters because titanium alloys are specialty metals embedded across aircraft, missile and space systems, ships, submarines, tanks, weapon systems and ammunition. U.S. law and DFARS provisions focus on specialty metals melted or produced in the United States or qualifying countries. However, a domestic melt step does not by itself solve the upstream vulnerability. A supply chain that begins with imported sponge remains exposed to foreign capacity constraints, logistics disruption, price spikes, geopolitical risk and qualification bottlenecks.

The defense exposure is visible in the F-35 supply chain. Public Howmet / Alcoa materials state that titanium bulkheads and titanium material are used to manufacture airframe structures for all three F-35 variants, including the largest titanium bulkheads for the CTOL variant. This illustrates why titanium supply security is not theoretical: titanium availability, cost and qualification directly affect high-priority aerospace and defense programs.

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Table 5: Representative U.S. demand for titanium.

Strategic Importance to Defense and Advanced Manufacturing

Titanium is embedded across major U.S. weapons platforms and advanced industrial systems. It supports lightweighting, survivability, fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance and high-temperature performance.

Figure 9: Select major U.S. defense platforms that require titanium components.

Key defense applications include:

Titanium demand is also expanding beyond traditional aerospace and defense. Humanoid robotics, automated factories, advanced energy systems and physical AI platforms are likely to increase demand for lightweight, high-strength, fatigue-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials. Robotics require low-mass structural components, precision actuators, fasteners, gears, bearings, thermal management systems and durable mechanical assemblies. Titanium is well suited to these applications where performance, weight reduction and reliability matter.

Figure 10: Projected growth in humanoid robot sales, and demand implications for critical mechanical components that would benefit from titanium material usage¹.

Titan’s Vital Role in the U.S. Titanium Supply Chain

Titan gives IperionX a differentiated pathway to address the U.S. titanium supply-chain challenge from upstream mineral resource through to finished titanium products.

The Titan DFS is designed to produce two titanium mineral products: ilmenite and rutile. At full Phase 2 run-rate, Titan is forecast to produce approximately 118,658 tpa of ilmenite and 24,656 tpa of rutile. Using the DFS product specifications of 62.5% TiO₂ for ilmenite and 91.1% TiO₂ for rutile, this equates to approximately 58,000 tpa of titanium metal contained in Phase 2 product streams before downstream upgrading, recovery, commercial and processing assumptions.

Over the 14-year DFS mine plan, Titan is forecast to produce approximately 1.37 million tons of ilmenite and 286,000 tons of rutile. On the same TiO₂-to-titanium metal basis, those saleable product streams contain approximately 670,000 tons of titanium metal across the life of mine.

On an in-situ resource basis, using the DFS grand total THM of 9.163 million tons and THM assemblage of 40.8% ilmenite and 9.6% rutile, Titan contains an indicative approximately 1.71 million tons of titanium metal in ilmenite and rutile minerals.  Importantly, the Big Sandy critical minerals province is estimated to contain significantly more titanium minerals that could underpin higher production over decades.

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This scale is important, but the strategic significance is greater than mineral feedstock alone. IperionX is not only a mineral-feedstock developer. Titan can feed a broader integrated technology pathway that includes:

This creates the strategic bridge from Tennessee titanium minerals to U.S. titanium metal production and finished titanium components.

IperionX’s Mineral-to-Metal Advantage

HAMR™ and HSPT™ are designed to address two of the largest structural inefficiencies in the incumbent titanium system.

HAMR™ is designed to bypass the Kroll process’s chlorination, sponge, melt and re-melt complexity by using hydrogen-assisted metallothermic reduction to produce titanium powder from recycled titanium or mineral feedstocks, providing the potential to reduce titanium metal powder production costs by 40–70% relative to incumbent processes.

HSPT™ then enables near-net-shape titanium parts with wrought-quality mechanical properties, improving manufacturing yield and reducing buy-to-fly losses for defense, aerospace and advanced industrial parts.

This matters because the legacy titanium supply chain loses value at every stage: mineral upgrading, sponge production, melting, mill-product conversion and final machining. IperionX’s pathway is designed to compress that chain, reduce waste, lower production cost and increase U.S. supply-chain control.

Figure 11: Titan-to-titanium metal pathway from Tennessee minerals to U.S. titanium components.

IperionX is already scaling its downstream platform through development of titanium powder capacity of approximately 200 tpa, a U.S. Government-backed expansion to approximately 1,400 tpa by 2027, and a target of more than 10,000 tpa by 2030¹. Titan provides the backward-integration option that can move this platform from recycled scrap dependence toward a fully U.S. mineral-to-metal titanium supply chain.

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¹ Refer to ASX announcement dated September 2, 2025, titled “IperionX Commences U.S. DoD backed Titanium Expansion”

The strategic value is clear: Titan provides domestic titanium mineral feedstock; Green Rutile™ and ARH™ provide a potential upgrading pathway; HAMR™ provides a lower-cost titanium powder production route; and HSPT™ provides a pathway to high-performance titanium components with reduced buy-to-fly losses.

Zirconium and Hafnium Overview

Zircon’s commercial importance is broad. It is used in ceramics, refractories, investment casting, zirconia chemicals, high-temperature materials, thermal barrier coatings and chemical processing equipment. However, its strategic importance is much greater than traditional industrial markets suggest.

Zirconium metal and zirconium alloys are vital to the nuclear industry because zirconium has low neutron absorption and excellent corrosion resistance, making zirconium alloys the dominant material for nuclear fuel cladding. Secure zirconium supply is therefore directly relevant to civil nuclear power, naval nuclear propulsion and long-duration energy security.

Hafnium has a smaller-volume but high-strategic-value demand profile. It is used in nuclear control rods, nickel-based superalloys, plasma arc nozzles, high-temperature ceramics and semiconductor high-k dielectric materials, including hafnium oxide. Hafnium is also relevant to refractory alloy pathways, including niobium-hafnium-titanium systems such as C-103, which are used in rocket nozzles, space propulsion, re-entry systems and hypersonic structures.

This combination makes zircon more than a ceramic mineral. It is an upstream feedstock into some of the most demanding materials systems in nuclear energy, aerospace propulsion, hypersonics, semiconductors, advanced ceramics and high-temperature industrial applications.

Figure 12: Titan zircon-hafnium pathway and the Y + Zr advanced-ceramics multiplier.

U.S. Zirconium + Hafnium Supply Chain

The U.S. zirconium and hafnium supply chain is specialized, qualification-heavy and strategically important. It spans upstream zircon mineral feedstock, zircon and zirconia chemicals, zirconium metal, hafnium separation, nuclear-grade alloys, semiconductor materials and advanced ceramic systems.

The United States has downstream zirconium metal capability and significant nuclear-related expertise. However, the upstream supply chain remains exposed to global heavy mineral sands supply and specialized processing pathways.

Despite having significant domestic resources of zircon, such as Titan and those within the Big Sandy critical minerals province, the U.S. import sources for zirconium ores and concentrates have historically included South Africa, Australia and Senegal, highlighting the lack of a large domestic mineral production base.  China lacks significant domestic resources of economic extractable zircon and is highly reliant on the same countries as the U.S.

This creates a strategic vulnerability. The U.S. has high-value downstream demand in nuclear, aerospace, defense, semiconductor and advanced ceramics applications, but the upstream zircon and hafnium-bearing mineral supply chain remains dependent on foreign sources.  Titan and the Big Sandy critical minerals province can underpin long term domestic supply security of zircon and hafnium for the United States.

Zirconium and hafnium matter at the intersection of several strategic markets:

For U.S. policymakers and defense customers, the issue is not simply zircon pricing. It is whether the United States has secure access to upstream feedstocks required for nuclear systems, propulsion materials, high-temperature ceramics and semiconductor manufacturing.

As such, Titan’s zircon concentrate is a strategically relevant upstream feedstock into a domestic material pathway that extends well beyond traditional mineral sands markets.

Table 6: Representative U.S. demand for zirconium and hafnium.

Titan’s Role in the Zirconium Supply Chain

Titan is designed to produce zircon concentrate as a saleable product alongside heavy rare earth concentrate, ilmenite and rutile. This gives Titan a multi-product revenue base and positions the project as a potential domestic source of rare earth, titanium and zircon-bearing mineral feedstocks from a single U.S. resource base.

The DFS projects production of approximately 767,168 tons of zircon concentrate over the life of mine and approximately 65,668 tpa of zircon concentrate at Phase 2 run-rate. The DFS product specification of 34.4% ZrO₂ for zircon concentrate equates to approximately 34,000 tpa on a premium zircon basis.

That scale is important. It is not so large that it would overwhelm global zircon markets, but it is meaningful as a domestic U.S. feedstock source for strategic zirconium-related supply chains. Titan’s zircon concentrate product contains approximately 195,000 tons of zirconium metal over the life of mine and approximately 16,700 tpa at Phase 2 run-rate, before downstream processing and recovery assumptions.

A further advantage is the Y + Zr multiplier given that Titan’s HREC is enriched in yttrium while its zircon concentrate provides a zirconium feedstock. Together, these streams are relevant to yttria-stabilized zirconia and advanced ceramic systems used in thermal barrier coatings, turbine engines, high-temperature electronics, armor ceramics, semiconductor equipment and harsh-environment sensors. This makes Titan more than a standalone zircon project: it is a potential domestic platform for zirconium, hafnium and yttrium-linked materials systems.

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Endnote 1 – peer comparison material assumptions

Source: IperionX – Titan Project Definitive Feasibility Study, June 4, 2026 (this report), MP Materials – Form 10K Annual Report, February 26, 2026 (link)

Notes: Values subject to rounding. Titan reserve grade presented in Total Heavy Mineral (THM). Mountain Pass reserve grade presented in Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO). The Mountain Pass reserve is reported pursuant to the requirements of Regulation S-K Subpart 1300 (“S-K 1300”), and the Titan reserve is reported under the JORC Code (2012). The Competent Person has not undertaken sufficient work to classify the S-K 1300 estimates as JORC Compliant Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves, meaning that following further evaluation the estimate may change or not achieve JORC status. Nonetheless, the comparison is reasonable because:

- The comparator projects are disclosed under alternative recognised reporting standards (i.e. S-K 1300), with broadly equivalent scale, grade ranges and development status.

- All data inputs are sourced from public filings (e.g. public reports and investor presentations) and referenced to the original source and date.

- The comparative metrics are clearly contextual – intended as industry benchmarks for scale and stage, rather than definitive reserve/resource values.

DFS Summary

Introduction and Background

IperionX is pleased to announce the completion of the DFS for the commercial-scale development of the Titan Project, located near Camden, Tennessee (“Titan”, the “Titan Project”, or the “Project”). The DFS design considers the mining and processing of heavy mineral sands from the McNairy Formation to produce saleable ilmenite, rutile, zircon concentrate and heavy rare earth concentrate (“HREC”) over a 14-year mine life based on proved and probable reserves.

The Titan Project is strategically significant because it combines a large, domestic mineral resource, a conventional and simple mineral sands processing route, a multi-product revenue base and a location within an established U.S. industrial jurisdiction. These characteristics distinguish Titan from many remote mineral sands and rare earth projects and support its potential role as a domestic upstream source of critical minerals. The DFS confirms the Titan Project as a technically and economically robust development, supported by a maiden Ore Reserve and a multi-product revenue base including critical mineral product lines, as defined by the U.S. federal government.

The DFS was prepared by Marshall Miller & Associates, Inc. (MM&A). While MM&A fulfilled the responsibility as the integrator of the DFS, other consulting firms also completed vital aspects of the Study. Karst Geo Solutions, LLC (KGS) was responsible for exploration results for the Project. Mineral Technologies Pty Ltd (MT) completed the process plant design and related modular plant cost estimation. Primero Group Americas Inc. (Primero) completed the non-process infrastructure (NPI) design and related cost estimates and was responsible for integrating the mining, process and NPI costs into a discounted cash flow financial model for the DFS.

The Company has included supporting technical information in Appendix 1 and JORC Table 1 disclosure in Appendix 2. Appendix 1 summarizes the technical workstreams and assumptions supporting the DFS outcomes. Information relating to Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves has been prepared and reported in accordance with the JORC Code 2012 and is supported by the Competent Persons Statements included in this announcement.

Key DFS Work Programs and Assumptions

The DFS builds upon prior exploration, mineral resource estimation, metallurgical test work, process design, infrastructure design, environmental baseline work, permitting analysis, mine planning and financial modeling. The DFS has been prepared to support estimation of Ore Reserves and provide a detailed basis for decision-making on project development, financing and implementation planning.

Work completed for the DFS included updated geologic modeling and resource estimation, pit optimization, mine scheduling, process flowsheet development, engineering design, infrastructure design, capital and operating cost estimation, financial modeling, environmental and permitting analysis and market studies.

Capital and operating cost estimates are prepared to a ±15% level of accuracy. All costs are expressed in real 2026 United States dollars.

Project Overview

The Titan Project is a proposed critical minerals mining and mineral processing operation near Camden, Tennessee. The Project is designed to recover mineral sands from the McNairy Formation and process those minerals into saleable ilmenite, rutile, zircon concentrate and HREC. The mine and Wet Concentrator Plant (“WCP”) are located near the mineral deposit, while the Rare Earth Plant (“REP”) and Mineral Separation Plant (“MSP”) are planned to be located at a separate industrial site in the Camden area.

The Project benefits from its location in the United States, including access to road and rail infrastructure, skilled labor, industrial services, utilities and customers in critical mineral sectors. The project location is a core strategic differentiator when compared with remote projects that require long-distance logistics, greenfield camp infrastructure, airstrips and isolated power solutions.

Ownership and Tenure

IperionX has a large regional ground holding prospective for valuable mineral sands, of which a small subset of the mineral tenure hosts the current Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates. For the purposes of this Report, the term “Property” is used for the larger ground holding, and the term “Study Area” is used for the area that hosts the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates.

The Titan Project is located near Camden, Tennessee, U.S., approximately 128 kilometers (km) (80 miles) west of Nashville, Tennessee and approximately 11 km (7 miles) northwest of Camden, Tennessee. The Study Area is centered at approximately 36.147349°N, -88.20974°W.

As at June 4, 2026, the Property consists of approximately 40.8 square kilometers (km²) (10,091 acres) of surface and associated mineral rights in Tennessee, of which approximately 6.0 km² (1,490 acres) are owned by IperionX, approximately 5.9 km² (1,457 acres) are subject to long-term lease by IperionX, and approximately 28.9 km² (7,144 acres) are subject to exclusive option agreements with IperionX. These exclusive option agreements, upon exercise, allow IperionX access to the surface property and associated mineral rights.

As at June 4, 2026, the Study Area is comprised of approximately 13.4 km² (3,317 acres) of surface and associated mineral rights, of which approximately 4.9 km² (1,212 acres) are owned by IperionX, approximately 4.6 km² (1,147 acres) are subject to long-term lease by IperionX, and approximately 3.9 km² (958 acres) are subject to exclusive option agreements with IperionX.

For the optioned and leased land, IperionX will pay the landowner the greater of 1) US$75 per acre of the property per year, or 2) the production royalty, generally 5% of net revenues from products mined and removed from the property. All properties owned by IperionX or its subsidiary will not incur a royalty.

	Ore Reserve Estimate	ROM tons			THM	THM	THM Assemblage
							Zircon	Rutile	Ilmenite	REE
	Unit	Proved	Probable	Total	(%)	(t)	(%)	(%)	(%)	(%)
	Upper McNairy	24,565,000	2,415,000	26,980,000	2.30	620,000	6.2	6.2	23.6	0.2
	Lower McNairy	68,740,000	21,307,000	90,047,000	3.43	3,086,000	12.7	10.5	48.3	1.9
	Total	93,306,000	23,722,000	117,027,000	3.17	3,706,000	11.6	9.8	44.2	1.6

Notes to accompany ore  reserve table: 1.         Ore Reserves are reported using the definitions set out in the 2012 JORC Code and are current as at June 4, 2026. Ore Reserves are reported at the point of delivery to the process plant. 2.         The Competent Person responsible for the estimate is Justin Douthat. 3.         Ore Reserves are reported within a finalized mine design pit shell that uses the key assumptions summarized in the Report in the Appendix above. 4.         Ore Reserves are reported above a cut-off grade of 0.85% THM. 5.         Ilmenite includes leucoxene, pseudorutile, and ilmenite and REE includes monazite, xenotime, and unclassified REE. 6.         Estimates have been rounded.

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Mining Unit Plant (MUP)

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Feed Preparation Plant (FPP)

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Wet Concentrator Plant (WCP)

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Concentrate Upgrade Plant (CUP)

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Tailing Dewatering Circuit (TDC)

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Rare Earth Plant (REP)

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Mineral Separation Plant (MSP)

	Titan DFS Product Suite	Key Specification	DFS Design Value
	Ilmenite	TiO2 content	62.5%
	Rutile	TiO2 content	91.1%
	Zircon concentrate	ZrO2 content	34.4%
	Heavy Rare Earth Concentrate	Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO)	61.4%

CeO₂	Dy₂O₃	Er₂O₃	Eu₂O₃	Gd₂O₃	Ho₂O₃	La₂O₃	Lu₂O₃	Nd₂O₃
25.15	0.9	0.39	0.16	1.49	0.16	11.72	0.04	11.3
Pr₆O₁₁	Sc₂O₃	Sm₂O₃	Tb₄O₇	Tm₂O₃	Y₂O₃	Yb₂O₃	TREO
3.08	0.004	2.05	0.2	0.05	4.39	0.32	61.4
Note: Totals may not sum due to rounding.

	Titan DFS Products LOM Average Price	Unit	Value
	Ilmenite price	US$/t	353
	Rutile price	US$/t	1,471
	Zircon concentrate price	US$/t	829
	HREC price	US$/t	41,759

	Item	Phase 1 400tph (US$)	Phase 2 – Incremental 800tph (US$)	Total Phase 1+ Phase 2 (US$)
	Direct Costs
	1000 - Site Wide - Mining	$23,237,857	$347,042	$23,584,929
	1000 - Site Wide - non-process infrastructure	$18,316,630	$0	$18,316,630
	1000 - Site Wide - Balance of Scope	$18,499,189	$3,191,001	$21,690,190
	2000 - Feed Preparation Plant	$10,086,726	$15,587,107	$25,673,833
	3000 - Wet Concentrator Plant	$44,143,921	$62,212,480	$106,356,401
	4000 - Mineral Separation Plant	$25,058,422	$33,435,617	$58,494,039
	5000 - Rare Earth Plant	$33,181,069	$1,240,555	$34,421,625
	8000 - Mining Unit Plant	$1,304,793	$2,133,248	$3,438,041
	Direct Costs Sub-total	$173,828,608	$118,147,079	$291,975,688
	Indirect Costs
	EPCM	$22,414,018	$14,663,588	$37,077,606
	Temporary Facilities and Services	$2,240,370	$1,247,800	$3,488,170
	Vendor's ME Installation Assistance	$250,000	$190,000	$440,000
	Contractor's Pre-Commissioning Assistance	$186,342	$244,769	$431,111
	Commissioning & Testing	$1,898,000	$1,620,320	$3,518,320
	Spare Parts	$928,893	$1,196,017	$2,124,910
	First Fills	$143,330	$223,407	$366,737
	Indirect Costs Sub-total	$28,060,953	$19,385,901	$47,446,854
	Total, excl. Contingency and Owner’s Costs	$201,889,562	$137,532,980	$339,422,542
	Owner's Costs	$5,598,338	$1,637,627	$7,235,964
	Contingency	$20,638,419	$14,027,432	$34,665,851
	Total CAPEX, 400tph and 800tph	$228,126,319	$153,198,038	$381,324,357
	Note: Totals may not sum due to rounding.

	Operating Costs	US$/year		US$/t ore
		Phase 1 Average	Phase 2 Average	Phase 1 Average	Phase 2 Average
	Mining	21,505,614	64,334,874	6.32	6.22
	Process Plant	15,520,852	27,967,350	4.56	2.70
	Product Transport	3,558,600	8,900,738	1.05	0.86
	Royalties	4,747,628	8,052,134	1.39	0.78
	Total Operating Costs	45,332,694	109,255,096	13.31	10.57
	Note: Totals may not sum due to rounding.

	Financial Forecast	Units	Value
	Total EBITDA	US$ million	2,804
	Pre-Tax NPV8	US$ million	1,016
	Pre-Tax IRR	%	42.6
	Pre-Tax Payback Period	Year	3.49
	After-Tax NPV8	US$ million	813
	After-Tax IRR	%	39.4
	After-Tax Payback Period	Year	3.63
	NPV/Initial Capital		3.56
	NPV/Total Capital		2.13

	Key Milestones	Target Date
	Early Contractor Involvement Start	July 2026
	Phase 1 Construction Start	January 2027
	Phase 1 Modular Plant Procurement Start	January 2027
	Phase 1 Commissioning Start	June 2028
	Phase 1 Production Ramp Up Complete	September 2028
	Phase 2 Construction Start	June 2031
	Phase 2 Production Ramp Up Complete	September 2032

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Expansion of the study area through additional drilling, mine planning and permitting.

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Potential development of adjacent properties, subject to drilling, resource definition, mine planning, permitting and economic analysis.

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Processing optimization, including recovery improvements, product quality improvements, reagent optimization, water management optimization and potential downstream integration.

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Modular execution and procurement optimization to reduce construction schedule risk and improve capital efficiency.

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Additional offtake, strategic investment, government financing or partnership opportunities aligned with U.S. critical minerals and titanium supply chain priorities.

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Integration with IperionX’s titanium technologies and U.S. manufacturing strategy, subject to technical, commercial and regulatory assessment.