Nano One Provides Update on Validated Feedstock Suppliers for LFP Cathode Production

Highlights

• Diversified range of feedstock suppliers to support raw material provision in Development Company (DevCo) markets
• A total of six sources of lithium carbonate and phosphoric acid from the United States, Europe, Chile and Argentina have now been pre-qualified
• Suppliers of potential iron oxide material in Europe are now advancing through validation, with supply sources of lithium, iron and phosphoric acid in Canada now in pre-qualification
• Nano One’s One-Pot™ technology makes LFP (lithium iron phosphate) cathode active material (CAM) independent of China-produced iron phosphate precursor (pCAM)
• Focus on the energy storage application sector as the volume market, with defence applications being a smaller but strategic segment—future LFP product for target customers in those segments will be supported by the same feedstock base

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--$NANO--Nano One® Materials Corp. (“Nano One” or the “Company”) (TSX: NANO) (OTCQB: NNOMF) (Frankfurt: LBMB), a process technology company specializing in cathode active materials (CAM) for lithium-ion batteries, is pleased to announce a key milestone in its feedstock qualification program. A diverse range of lithium carbonate and phosphoric acid suppliers have now been pre-qualified for LFP cathode production, with suppliers of iron oxide also advancing through validation. Input material sources have now been identified in multiple regions—including Canada, the United States, Europe, Chile and Argentina. This raw material supply chain and qualification work supports the Canada Development Company (“DevCo”) project announced September 11, 2026 and was undertaken at Nano One facilities in Canada—these work programs have also been supported by the Government of Canada, the Government of Québec and the U.S. Government.

Lithium and Phosphate Pre-Qualified, Iron Advancing Through Validation

Three lithium carbonate suppliers have now been pre-qualified, spanning material sources in Argentina and Chile, while a further two suppliers in the United States and Canada are in the process of pre-qualification. Three phosphoric acid suppliers have now been pre-qualified, from sources in the United States and Europe, with a further two development-stage sources in Canada commencing early-stage sampling work. An iron oxide supplier in Canada is advancing toward tonne-scale validation, with a source in Europe also in the process of validation—a further five potential suppliers of iron are in development.

Pre-qualification of feedstock involves the material being validated at pilot reactor scale using Nano One’s process for CAM quality and consistency. A typical feedstock qualification process may take up to two years to advance through A-Sample (gram to kg scale) to B-Sample (kg to tens of kg) to C-Sample (hundreds of kg to tonne-scale samples)—this early qualification work is important, as it will allow a shorter timeline and pathway to production for future planned LFP projects using Nano One’s technology.

“Nano One has approached the building of LFP CAM production capacity outside of Asia with the objective of establishing an integrated supply chain from the ground up, in order to provide for greater self-resiliency going forward. Over the past few years, the Company has established key relationships with suppliers of input materials for lithium, iron and phosphate, and has now made significant progress in advancing those feedstock sources through qualification with its own proprietary processing technology, from a diverse range of suppliers across multiple continents. The establishment of a diverse and resilient supply chain network is key, as the energy storage sector continues to be the major driver of growth in LFP demand, with defence applications emerging as a small but strategic segment with the strictest content procurement policies on sourcing,” said Denis Geoffroy, Chief Operating Officer of Nano One.

“Iron is seemingly everywhere, but the right purity, located and sourced from the right regions, simply isn’t,” Mr Geoffroy added. “We have worked diligently, collaborating with the key supply chain partners and thanks to the Government of Canada’s recent support for iron feedstock diversification, have now been able to research and develop our technology to expand the universe of iron even further.”

One-Pot Removes the pCAM Chokepoint

Conventional LFP plants buy iron phosphate precursor (pCAM) and react it with lithium carbonate. The International Energy Agency’s Energy Technology Perspectives 2026 puts China’s share of precursor cathode material above 95%, so a plant outside China that depends on pCAM inherits the concentration regardless of where it sits.

One-Pot removes the step. It makes LFP cathode directly from lithium carbonate, iron and phosphoric acid—raw materials produced in multiple jurisdictions—so provenance is managed at the raw-material level rather than accepted from a precursor supplier. As the process accepts a range of iron inputs, Nano One is qualifying iron oxide from producers in Europe and Canada, as well as iron from two U.S. producers. The process is patented and owned by Nano One.

The pre-qualification work also strengthens Nano One’s licensing strategy: licensees building plants on One-Pot can draw on pre-qualified feedstock specifications and sources rather than starting supplier qualification from the very beginning, which can lead to an accelerated path to operations for future projects sped up by 12+ months.

LFP for Energy Storage Secures Defence Supply

Energy storage is building the LFP industrial base, and defence is a dual-use segment of that market—a small but significantly strategic one. The Center for Strategic and International Studies notes that defence battery needs will remain a fraction of commercial demand¹, and the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) own 2026 outlook puts its lithium-ion demand in the hundreds of megawatt-hours a year², so defence buyers rely on the industrial base energy storage builds. Canada’s emerging cell-manufacturing base is also moving toward LFP. For the Company’s customers, lithium and phosphate have been pre-qualified for Candiac’s package, with iron oxide validation underway.

Canadian Inputs, Canadian IP, Canadian Priorities

Canada’s Critical Minerals List includes lithium, phosphorus and high-purity iron—the three inputs to LFP cathode³. Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy prioritizes secure supply chains for key inputs and Canadian-owned intellectual property⁴; Nano One’s One-Pot process is patented and Canadian-owned, part of a platform supported by over 50 granted patents held by the Company.

A Canadian iron oxide producer is advancing toward tonne-scale validation and the recently announced Canada DevCo project plans to connect domestic upstream resources to local LFP cathode production⁵. The Company is also qualifying early-stage samples from producers and developers in Canada across all three inputs—lithium, phosphate and iron—the focus being on building a supply base in tandem with resource owners and developers in Canada that are bringing their projects online in the coming years. The Candiac expansion is supported by the Government of Canada, the Government of Québec and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

Europe

Europe is one of the DevCo jurisdictions identified in the Company’s August 26, 2026 strategy update, alongside Canada and the United States. The program has European sources for two of the three inputs: phosphoric acid has been pre-qualified, and iron oxide is in validation.

Procurement Rules Are Tightening

In the USA, Section 842 of the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (10 U.S.C. § 4865) requires the Department of War (DoW) to procure advanced batteries whose functional cell components—including cathode materials—are not owned, sourced, refined or produced by a foreign entity of concern (FEOC), starting with new acquisition programs on January 1, 2028⁶. A battery qualifies only where final assembly is by a non-FEOC, more than 95% of functional-cell-component cost is non-FEOC, and it is produced without technology licensed from a FEOC.

The program documents the provenance of LFP cathode inputs for cell manufacturers subject to FEOC rules, and One-Pot is technology that Nano One owns. Under the U.S. Defense Production Act (DPA), a business producing in Canada qualifies as a domestic source⁷, along with the fact that Canada is part of the U.S. National Technology and Industrial Base⁸.

The Company continues to target initial commercial LFP supply agreements for small-scale defence and energy storage applications; commissioning of the expanded ~800 tpa Candiac capacity is expected in the first half of 2027⁹.

About Nano One®

Nano One® Materials Corp. (Nano One) is a process technology company changing how cathode active materials (CAMs) are produced for lithium-ion batteries. Nano One’s platform is built on a portfolio of patented processes, decades of manufacturing know-how and modular plant designs that enable scalable, cost-competitive and easier-to-permit CAM production with resilient supply chains. The technology eliminates wastewater and byproducts while enabling regionally sourced raw materials and reducing exposure to foreign supply chain volatility. Modular plants are designed with fewer steps to reduce capex, energy and environmental intensity and to accelerate deployment, manufacturing and licensing. Product development and process optimization are based at Nano One’s Innovation Centre in Burnaby, British Columbia while piloting, demonstration and commercial production are based in Candiac, Québec, supported by a team with more than 15 years of commercial cathode manufacturing experience supplying global cell manufacturers. Strategic collaborations with global partners including Sumitomo Metal Mining, Rio Tinto and Worley support Nano One’s Design-One-Build-Many growth strategy. Nano One has received funding support from the Governments of Canada, the United States, Québec and British Columbia.

For more information, please visit nanoOne.ca.

Cautionary Notes and Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of terminology such as 'believe', 'expect', 'anticipate', 'plan', 'intend', 'continue', 'estimate', 'may', 'will', 'should', 'ongoing', 'target', 'goal', 'potential' or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur.

Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to: the progress, timing and outcomes of the Company's feedstock qualification program, including the pre-qualification of lithium carbonate and phosphoric acid sources, the advancement of iron oxide sources through validation (including toward tonne-scale validation), and the pre-qualification of Canadian and other sources across lithium, phosphate and iron inputs; the time required to progress feedstock through sample stages to qualification; the ability of the One-Pot™ process to produce LFP cathode active material from ex-China feedstock, accept a range of iron inputs, and remove reliance on iron phosphate precursor (pCAM); the anticipated benefits of pre-qualified feedstock specifications and sources for the Company's licensing strategy, including the expectation that licensees can accelerate their path to operations by 12 months or more; the Company's strategy to establish LFP cathode production in DevCo jurisdictions, including the Canada DevCo project and the potential for European and U.S. DevCos; anticipated market demand and growth for LFP in energy storage, electric vehicle and defence applications; the anticipated impact of Canadian and U.S. procurement rules, policies and priorities, including Section 842 of the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act, the U.S. Defense Production Act and Canada's Critical Minerals List and Defence Industrial Strategy, on demand for the Company's technology and supply; the Company's expectation that its Canadian operations qualify as a domestic source under U.S. procurement rules; the anticipated provenance documentation of LFP cathode inputs for cell manufacturers; the Company's target of initial commercial LFP supply agreements for small-scale defence and energy storage applications; and the timing of commissioning of the expanded ~800 tpa Candiac capacity, expected in the first half of 2027.

Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and are not, and cannot be, a guarantee of future results or events. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including but not limited to: the ability of feedstock suppliers to meet the Company's quality, consistency, volume, cost and timing requirements, and the risk that pre-qualified or validated sources do not progress to full qualification or commercial supply; the availability, quality and stage of development of Canadian and other regional feedstock sources; changes to, or differing interpretations of, procurement rules and government policies, including foreign entity of concern requirements; trade and export controls and general and global economic, geopolitical and regulatory changes; the timely execution of the Company's business plans, including the Candiac expansion and commissioning; the Company's ability to establish DevCos and attract licensees, partners, customers and capital on acceptable terms; the development of technology, supply chains and cathode production facilities; the Company's ability to convert customer discussions into definitive commercial agreements; successful collaborations with OEMs, miners, governments or others; the Company's ability to achieve its stated goals and commercialize its technology and patents via license, joint venture, DevCo or independent production; the accuracy of third-party data and projections regarding LFP and battery storage demand; anticipated global demand and projected growth for LFP batteries; and other risk factors as identified in Nano One's Annual Information Form dated March 25, 2026, for the year ended December 31, 2025, its MD&A for the year then ended, and in recent securities filings for the Company which are available at www.sedarplus.ca. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that is incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Company Contact:
info@nanoone.ca
+1 (604) 420-2041