July 2026

A year ago, I wrote that without financing, we risked placing our cornerstone Lac des Iles (“LDI”) mine on care and maintenance. It was a difficult message to deliver, but it reflected the reality we faced at the time.

While we continue to face challenges, the conversation is changing.

Demand for our graphite is growing, our balance sheet is stronger, and we are preparing Lac des Iles for a pit extension that will add as much as eight years to the mine life.

Firm Foundation

In the past year we have secured government support for Lac des Iles, established a joint venture with one of Saudi Arabia’s largest private companies and reached an agreement to restructure our senior secured debt, providing tangible evidence that key stakeholders recognize the value of our assets and the potential of our strategy.

In an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment and against a backdrop of rising demand and growing concern around supply chain security, Northern is assembling the infrastructure to build resilient graphite supply chains linking mines and battery anode material processing across Canada, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

This is not a theoretical vision. We have already laid the foundations for a global graphite and battery materials platform outside China through our graphite mining assets in Canada and Namibia, the processing expertise and technological capabilities of our Battery Materials Group in Frankfurt, and the strategic partnerships needed to execute, including a joint venture agreement that is expected to put Northern into Battery Anode Material production in Saudi Arabia by 2028.

Preparing Lac des Iles for the Future

Over the past year, Northern has been preparing Lac des Iles for a restart that positions the operation to attain its full potential, including plant upgrades that will support 24/7 operations and help achieve the nameplate capacity of 25,000 tonnes per year.

The current pit extension is based on an updated mineral resource estimate completed in January 2024 and is expected to add up to eight years to the mine life. A subsequent drilling program was completed in November 2024 with the objective of identifying and expanding LDI resources in and  around the mine, although core logging and data compilation are still pending due to the Company’s current financial constraints.

Restructured Balance Sheet

Over the past year, we secured federal and provincial government financing of up to $6.225 million for the Lac des Iles pit extension, raised $4.8 million through equity financings, and generated approximately $9.1 million through technology licensing, patent transactions and other revenue generated by our Battery Materials Group.

In April, we reached an agreement to restructure our debt, stream and royalty financing arrangements with funds managed by Sprott Resource Streaming and Royalty Corp., removing approximately US$22 million in senior secured debt and accrued interest from our balance sheet while aligning our financial obligations with our development timeline.

The transaction will also see Sprott, one of the most experienced and sophisticated investors in the global mining sector, become our largest shareholder, with an ownership position of approximately 9.9%.

Building the Next Stage of Growth

In January of this year, we announced a joint venture project to build a US$200 million Battery Anode Material (“BAM”) facility in Yanbu which, subject to a final investment decision, will form the cornerstone of a broader global battery materials platform.

Beyond providing access to rapidly growing markets, the project represents an important step toward the development of secure graphite supply chains outside China while positioning Northern to participate in the higher-value battery materials segment of the graphite value chain.

The joint venture, to be majority owned by one of Saudi Arabia’s largest private family offices, the Obeikan Investment Group, will see us become one of the first large-scale BAM producers in the Western world.

Critically, the joint venture agreement includes a provision for an offtake agreement for up to 50,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate feed annually from our Okanjande mine in Namibia, effectively creating a customer for future production and providing the commercial foundation needed to support financing and restart efforts.

In June we completed the relocation of our processing plant equipment to the Okanjande site in a first step toward the planned restart of production in late 2027, subject to financing, and over the coming months we expect to complete a final feasibility study at Yanbu, followed by a final investment decision by the end of the year and construction anticipated to begin in early 2027.

Beyond the Mine Gate

As battery supply chains mature and markets become more sophisticated, value is increasingly being created downstream through the production of advanced materials rather than simply at the mine gate.

That reality has shaped Northern’s strategy since we established our Battery Materials Group in 2024. Today, the division is responsible not only for developing and commercializing our proprietary technologies, but also for leading the design, development and construction of our planned BAM facilities as we expand further along the graphite value chain.

Importantly, Yanbu will form the blueprint for our planned BAM facilities in France and in Baie-Comeau.

In Baie-Comeau, we are working with our partners, the BMI Group, toward a feasibility study for a BAM hub that could be capable of processing graphite not just from our own mines, but from the host of other deposits in Quebec’s rich graphite corridor. In France, our BAM project has been selected as one of 47 Strategic Projects under the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act (“CRMA”), qualifying it for fast-tracked permitting and funding support.

Our Battery Materials team is pursuing further opportunities to generate additional licensing revenue from our technologies while qualifying our battery-grade graphite products with leading battery manufacturers and automotive companies.

Over the past year, we have also expanded our partnerships with global leaders in the battery technology space, including Italy’s Alkeemia, Rain Carbon Canada and a German consortium that includes Rain Carbon Germany GmbH, H.C. Starck Tungsten GmbH and Friedrich Schiller University Jena. Importantly, these partnerships included R&D funding from the Canadian and German governments amounting to an aggregate of $2.7 million.

Taken together, our mining assets, battery materials capabilities and planned downstream facilities position Northern to participate across the graphite value chain.

Looking Ahead

We recognize that our share price has not yet reflected the progress we have made, and I share the frustration many shareholders feel.

While the global graphite market continues to face challenges and investor sentiment toward the sector remains fragile, our focus remains firmly on execution, disciplined capital allocation and creating long-term value for shareholders.

The coming months will be focused on returning Lac des Iles to production, progressing toward a final investment decision and construction of our Saudi BAM project, and continuing to advance the restart of Okanjande in support of our future battery materials strategy.

The long-term fundamentals underpinning our business continue to strengthen.

Demand from electric vehicles, energy storage, renewable power, defense and advanced manufacturing applications continues to grow while new graphite supply outside China remains limited and we believe the industry is moving toward significant graphite supply shortages later this decade and beyond 2030.

We have more work ahead of us, but we are increasingly confident that Northern is positioned to play a meaningful role in the development of secure global graphite supply chains.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and management team, I would like to thank our employees, customers, partners, local communities and shareholders for their continued support and confidence.

Sincerely,

Hugues Jacquemin, Chief Executive Officeer