South Star Battery Metals Corp.'s flagship Santa Cruz Graphite Mine ("Santa Cruz") in northeastern Brazil's Bahia state is scheduled to complete construction of the Phase-1 Plant in June 2024. Once completed, Santa Cruz will be the first new graphite mine in the Americas since 1996. The plant will undergo an estimated six-week commissioning process before commencing commercial production in August 2024. Once steady-state production is reached, the current Phase-1 Plant design can produce approximately 1,000 tonnes per month. The upcoming drilling campaign and an NI 43-101-guided feasibility study technical report for Phase 2 at Santa Cruz is in the final planning stages, with initial exploration commencing later this month. Environmental permits for Phase 2 (based on a nameplate capacity of 25,000 tonnes/year) and Phase 3 (based on a nameplate capacity of 50,000 tonnes/year) have already been approved. The definitive mining permits are in final review with Brazil's National Mining Agency (Agência Nacional de Mineração). The Company plans to have all permits and licenses required for Phases 2 and 3 of development at Santa Cruz in place by the time the Phase-1 Plant is commissioned. South Star's commercial strategy is to initially produce high-quality graphite concentrates for various industrial applications and sectors. Concurrently, studies and technical characterization and technical programs are
underway to advance midstream and downstream products for value-added applications ­­ specifically, battery-graphite products, including specialty coated spherical purified graphite ("CSPG") for lithium-ion ("Li-ion") battery applications and conductivity-enhancement products for a wide variety of commercial primary and secondarybattery chemistries ­­ with commercial sales planned for late 2026/early 2027.