Thank you Fastmarkets for having Rodney and me back to speak at the lithium

industry’s flagship conference.

It’s great to be here and see so many old friends in person and also to reach the large
virtual audience listening in.

As always, I’m going to speak about developments in lithium equity financing and
M&A and interpret what messages are contained from Mr. Market and moves by
various strategic players.

1
RK has been in business nearly 20 years, with a particular focus the last 12 as
investors in and advisors to lithium and other battery materials companies.

This is a list of all the battery materials clients we have worked with.

2
This disclaimer references which companies we currently have equity interests in.

Please note: RK Equity is not a financial advisor and nothing we say should be
construed as investment or financial advice. Please do your own research.

3
I spent much of the summer on college visits with my eldest son Jamie, now a senior
in high school.

Thankfully both of my sons are now back to school after the last year and half in the
house struggling with way too much screen time and on-line learning.

Those familiar with Rodney Dangerfield will appreciate the double entrendre: Lithium
is getting RESPECT.

4
Here’s my “back to school” 1986 high school graduation picture.

During Lithium 2.0’s bust, I drew from Steve Winwood’s early career narrating
”Traffic” ”Can’t Find my Way Home” and I counseled to have “Blind Faith”

Lithium 3.0 is like 1986 - Winwood’s middle age, peak MTV years when he achieved
his greatest popular success: “Back in the High Life Again.” “Higher Love.”

That’s where I and all lithium investors find ourselves today.

As lithium prices began in June what has become a parabolic ascent, lithium equities
were lagging/trading sideways. I suggested in mid June that Mr. Market was
presenting a gift - that Higher Love was on its way.

Many stocks on RK Equity’s lithium equity scoreboard – ASX in particular - have since
hit 52-week or all-time highs. But many other names which rose earlier this year to
undemanding valuations of $250M or below are still down 20-40% from those levels.

Many of these offer “relative value” in my opinion and are poised to re-rate as mostly
vaccinated North America goes back to school and work and digest the growing
tailwinds behind the lithium investment thematic.

Build Back Better Biden Buyer Subsidies are making their way through the legislative
sausage machine.

5
WATCH THIS VIDEO from 2 weeks ago with Ken Brinsden if you haven’t already.

Key takeaways:

Pricing is still very strong and going to get stronger

If capital does not start to flow upstream, pricing will only get more extreme and
assets will only get more expensive.

6
Imitating Li Fe - spodumene and iron ore. PLS and FMG.

Less than a year ago, Altura tottered under the weight of vulture lenders, Chinese off-
takers reneging on price floors, and SQM’s predatory pricing.

Ganfeng’s filings narrated a “survival of the fittest” Darwinian struggle. I empathize

greatly with my former client and friends at Altura. Ken, Pilbara and their advisors
Macquarie played a brilliant M&A game securing a terrific and highly synergistic asset
for just AUD220M – essentially replacement value.

RCF and Aus Super who backstopped the $100M+ equity at 36c to finance Pilbara’s
purchase are up 6X in less than one year – a fantastic result.

Pilbara has grown from zero to $5B market cap in 5 years. Fortescue has been around
~15 years and had a similar near-death experience in its early years. Before the recent
violent sell-off last week, FMG had a A$55B market cap. As the “new force in
spodumene" – can swing supplier Pilbara grow another 5-7 times to FMG’s market
value in next 5-10 years?

The iron ore chart on this slide shows two significant up periods from 2006-2011 with
the GFC & Obama/China stimulus in between.

7
This looks to me like the Lithium 2.0 bust, exacerbated by COVID, and subsequent
Trump/Biden stimulus – still ongoing as Lithium 3.0 marches on.

7
My friend Robert Friedland suggests we are in “Revenge of the Miners” mode.

Pilbara’s Altura purchase & mothball + Albemarle’s Luke Kissam’s genius Wodgina buy
& mothball is resulting in PLS's “day in the sun”.

The BMX platform is a brilliant innovation, providing much needed transparency and
price discovery – and negotiating leverage. This graph shows the “addressable
margin” Pilbara is capturing now that the lithium market is in a period of excess
demand and tight supply – caused in no small part by Pilbara’s discipline.

Pilbara will now restart the ex Altura mine and sell ALL its 200+kta unallocated
production at spot prices. Payback on the Altura purchase could be less than one
year!

8
Pilbara published its forward spodumene shipment and cost guidance last month.

Ignoring its mid and downstream aspirations, and assuming they meet the mid point
of their guidance Mr. Market is either:

1. Affixing high expectations for SC pricing over the next few years
2. Valuing SC at specialty chemicals-like multiples, rather than traditional
commodities like iron ore or copper

If you believe SC prices will be $750 by 2025 – PLS is trading at ALB-like 15X 2025
EV/EBITDA.

If prices are at $1,250 – in which case PLS will generate 67% EBITDA margins - it is
trading at 7X 2025 EBITDA. These are margins Rio received in the past few years in
iron ore and for which Mr. Market affixes ~7X multiple on THIS YEARs earnings.

At $2,500 SC, PLS looks dirt cheap, but it seems unlikely such a price is sustainable -
can EV market demand hold up at what equates to $30,000 chemical prices?

9
SCB has created a forward curve which is in contango for both carbonate/hydroxide -
$23K 12 months forward, up from $19K today.

The LME and CME hydroxide contracts have been slow going – CME has made just
two hydroxide trades of 5 tons each – one in June the second earlier this month.

Meantime, a more liquid China carbonate exchange – the Wuxi - launched in July with
3-month forward price of $13,500. That price has nearly doubled in 3 months to
$26,000

Wuxi for carbonate and Pilbara for SC are the leading price indicators to watch –
reflecting the most liquid/uncontracted (spot) China market.

10
Reg Spencer, head analyst at Canaccord, which has been the most prolific lithium
equity capital raiser over the past 10 years, suggests the industry needs $3.5B
investment EVERY YEAR for the next 10 years.

“If I was VW or Ford or GM I’d be panicking. OEMS are in most need of increases in
supply. We really need to see those guys write checks.”

11
Recall exactly one year ago, Tesla – always years ahead of its competitors - wrote a
check to build its first lithium hydroxide plant in Texas.

And, at cycle bottom, it signed a binding, 5-year, fixed price off-take for localized
spodumene in North Carolina.

12
Short supply chains are more secure, scalable, AND sustainable.

As Tesla Chairwoman Robyn Denholm said in June – the best way to reduce the
carbon footprint of minerals is to stop shipping them across 9,000 kilometers of
ocean before refining them.

13
In addition to our vodcasts, RK Equity has started a series of short Q&A with Rodney
Hooper videos covering specific topics like “All Electric Future” “Lithium Green
Premiums” and “North America’s Scramble for Lithium”.

Rodney wrote on LinkedIn in January that 2021 will be “Lithium’s Year”:

“OEM’s squeezing suppliers is a short-term move that has long consequences. EV

producers and developers – sporting super high valuations - can’t “win” unless
lithium developers/producers also win.”

In an expert call with David Deckelbaum at Cowen in May he predicted >$15k by now,
and $18-20 price by year end. Turns out he was too conservative.

What’s Rodney have to say now?

14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Woodstock has inspired much of my lithium narration over the years, including my
twitter profile pic and the tag line “Blue Sky in Green Fields”

It was a great to be back again in July with my family and our pandemic puppy Teddy.

I’d like to congratulate and thank my friend Sweet Baby James Calaway for ioneer’s
big deal with Sibanye - providing momentum for the Higher Love Lithium 3.0
narrative and an exclamation point to the transition from Almost Famous Lithium 2.0.

Those familiar with that great movie will recall the protagonist teen journalist touring
with the emerging rock band Stillwater, which culminated in their making front-page
news in Rolling Stone.

26
I’ve turned my popular monthly equity scoreboards into quarterly “Shovels & Picks”
videos.

As we are approaching quarter end, I will run through my latest thoughts.

27
September 1, 2020 – as pre-Battery Day speculation began – was the end of Almost
Famous Lithium 2.0 and the beginning of Lithium 3.0.

This scoreboard ranks by percentage return Big Cap Chemical Producers, Spodumene
Producers and Emerging Projects.

Some highlights:

• The Aggregate market cap grew 5X+ from $25B to >$125B

• Producers are up 2-6X

• Developer/emerging Projects are up 2-20X

• Among developer/emerging projects:

• ASX (~20 stocks) & hard rock (~20 projects) most prolific
• DLE has surged past clay & is approaching brine in aggregate.
• Considering many DLE stories are private and most clay/brine public the
DLE surge is even greater
• TSX on balance, is trading at discounts to ASX. AIM is LAME with even
greater discounts.
• Canada, Africa, Europe projects on balance, are discounted to peer projects

28
 elsewhere.
• Permitting risk weighing on select USA and European stories

28
The strong lithium equity thematic is now “Conventional Wisdom”

Over the last 6 weeks, 8 global investment banks, have upgraded their lithium
outlook for demand, pricing and stock price targets.

A contrarian indicator? Time to sell?

I'm not calling for that just yet.

29
Geothermal is hot!

As the Biden Administration came to power this year its “hair on fire” Energy
Secretary Jennifer Granholm has aggressively promoted green industrial policy for
America to catch up to Europe and China. While in Nevada, the Detroit News quoted
her touting Salton Sea in California as “utterly sustainable” and “very exciting”

A few weeks later, GM announced an investment “in the millions” with Controlled
Thermal and Stellantis was rumored in deals for geothermal lithium in California and
Germany.

Congratulations to Vulcan in Germany which signed deals with Renault and LG Energy
Solutions over the summer, which helped to support sentiment toward another
$200M equity raise at a healthy market valuation last week.

30
General Lithium’s Wei Xiong highlighted China’s progress with new technologies for
low ppm/high magnesium brines in an discussion with Morgan Stanley clients in June.

Leading MS voice Javier Martinez asked if these new DLE technologies could disrupt
lithium – i.e., in terms of lowering cost or enabling rapid scalability.

Wei said no, they will be higher costs and are not quickly scalable.

But they will nevertheless be needed.

31
Purple Reign.

Mesmerizing. Decarbonizing. Normalizing & Popularizing DLE.

No one has done more than Alex Grant to influence the DLE narrative over the past
12 months.

Vulcan and Standard Lithium have rocketed up the scoreboard to become two of the
most highly valued emerging projects.

Lake's partnership with Lilac has seen LKE leapfrog its conventional Argentine peers.

Will Compass Minerals and E3 start to catch up?

32
RK Equity is bullish DLE and has been and advisor to and investor in E3 Metals and
Compass Minerals over the past few years.

Orson Wells was a great pitchman for Paul Masson wines in the 1980s. To
pararphrase this ad: “Experts say DLE is a mature, complex brine, with nice ESG. What
they’re trying to say is…it tastes good.”

The DLE sustainability narrative is tantalizing. But it’s important to recognize that
every single project is unique. Bespoke. Some will work. Others won’t. Eramet
walked away from their project in Argentina after investing $150M.

As Wei Xiong of General Lithium said, they will unlikely disrupt in terms of cost
position or scalability, but they will be needed.

They will also unlikely be fast – ”we will sell no brine before it’s time”

33
Compass Minerals – Smooth Utah Jazz -- is the newest DLE entrant and presented at
Fastmarkets for the first time this year.

They’ve been piloting successfully a number of technologies over 18-24 months.

I see Compass Minerals a bit like Lanxess at Smackover – they own and operate an
existing business/resource and may license/partner with a DLE technology provider.

Like Smackover, Great Salt Lake is permitted and on non-Federal land. Compass
Minerals has strong sustainability and ESG credentials as a long-time steward of this
important American resource.

Compass Minerals published a technical/resource report in July which shows

indicated LCE tons not far from that published by Standard Lithium for Smackover in
2019. Compass anticipates similar potential production in the low 20,000 tons per
year over time.

34
Speedy Spodumene: Secure. Scalable. Sustainable?

35
School of Rock

There are more public hard rock projects on the RK scoreboard than DLE, clay and
brine projects combined.

Pilbara and others in WA show how fast spodumene can ramp; and the speed with
which China can move to build conversion capacity – all at relatively low capital
intensity.

With sustained high spodumene and chemical prices the next few years will see
significant development of ex-China spodumene mines-to-chemical plants – in
Western Australia (Kwinana, Kemerton), Korea (Posco) and likely Quebec, Ontario,
North Carolina and Europe.

Importantly, hard rock’s ESG/sustainability credentials, ex-China, is set to improve

dramatically.

36
Pilbara’s talking up the midstream potential from its partner Calix which hopes to
produce a 35% Li2O content product that could be exported to Europe.

POSCO’s POSLx is a “membrane electrolysis” technology – similar to what Nemaska

was looking to do.

POSCO articulated this Spring plans for an initial 43,000 tons in S. Korea, with
aspirations to ramp to 200,000

37
Metso Outotec and Halmek at Fastmarkets together.

Halmek, a proven Russian hydroxide producer, is planning a 20,000 ton plant using
Metso Outotec a "sulphate free" flowsheet; "soda ash leach" “alkaline leach”
technology.

This looks set to become an industry standard with Keliber/Sibanye, Critical Elements
and Piedmont all choosing this more sustainable conversion process.

38
Albemarle’s recent Investor Day highlighted they too are looking to make their hard
rock process more sustainable – examining alternatives to sulfuric acid leaching, like
alkaline leach and soda ash leach.

Will - "soda ash leach" - become a hot new buzzword like DLE in coming months?

39
Tesla - the most sustainable company in the world - re-iterated its focus on localized
spodumene in its widely followed Impact Report.

I did a word search comparing 2020 to 2019:

Lithium was mentioned 18 times, up from 4 last year. Spodumene was mentioned
twice up from zero.

There was no mention of clay/sediment, geothermal or DLE, but sulfuric acid and
hazardous chemicals where each mentioned twice something to reduce.

The relevant lithium/hydroxide text:

100% of the lithium we sourced was mined in Australia and Argentina.

Tesla’s novel in-house process for refining of U.S. lithium resources will
reduce carbon emissions and sulfate biproducts. An integrated lithium
strategy will enable Tesla to:

40
• Create a domestic U.S. lithium supply chain by sourcing spodumene
raw material within the U.S. thereby reducing emissions related to
the transportation efforts of moving material from traditional
lithium-producing countries in South America and Australia; and

• Commercialize a flow sheet that will eliminate dependence on

sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide, thus removing sulfate
biproducts generated during the traditional spodumene conversion
process.

40
Onto conventional brines.

SQM, incentivized by CORFO, has had massive volume growth, but lower profitability.
In Lithium 2.0, Lithium was 50% of SQM gross margin at which point it had the same
market cap as ALB (about $15B). Now SQM’s margin is about 15-20% and ALB’s
valuation is nearly 2X SQMs

Supply chain shortages are creating new demand for low nickel and LFP chemistries -
so SQM may very well benefit from rising carbonate prices in China.

But unless and until SQM becomes a high quality hydroxide supplier – likely from Mt.
Holland with Wesfarmers - I think Mr. Market could affix a permanently lower
commodity multiple on their lithium earnings than for ALB's specialty chemical
earnings.

41
M&A in Argentina - Orocobre/Galaxy

I’m a big fan of this consolidation of two Lithium 1.0 stalwarts – creating a well
capitalized, multi asset/multi jurisdiction player.

Could Allkem further consolidate Argentina through Lithium Americas/Minera Exar?

Buy Livent?

What will they do in James Bay – Galaxy had talked about conversion in Quebec,
North Carolina or Georgia?

42
M&A in Argentina - Millennial Lithium

A Western style bidding war has emerged between two dynamic Chinese private
companies.

CATL’s bid is only 7% higher than Ganfeng's

Will Ganfeng match?

Is a DFS level permitted project like ML's really going to go for just $325M?

43
When will clay have its day?

Does Ganfeng's $400M purchase of Bacanora, a very large, very advanced clay asset
in North America, reflect how strategic investors may value other clay assets?

44
This slide lists a number of mid and large capitalized entrants into lithium in recent
times. And shows how dynamic juniors with access to capital are becoming strategic
investors in their own right.

Bangchak, CEZ, Pallinghurst, Compass Minerals - not exactly household names

entering the lithium business.

Piedmont - taking two pages from Ganfeng - has secured equity stakes and long-term
spodumene off-take at deeply discounted valuations with Sayona, North American
Lithium and Ironridge Resources. PLL’s January investment in Sayona is up 20X in less
than 9 months and SYA now has similar market cap to PLL!

Will Big Mining, Big Oil, Big Auto, Big Battery soon follow Sibanye Stillwater’s lead and
deploy real JV capital?

Will a “BHP” buy ALB as Rio bought Alcan a decade ago?

45
How does the EV/Battery/Material thematic look from the perspective of a Jane and
George Batterypack investor in the USA?

46
I’ve been involved with SPACs for over 15 years and wrote about California rare earth
play MP Materials in July last year.

My SPAC scoreboard now has nearly 30 consummated deals in the EV/Battery space
broken down into 5 categories:

EV, Battery, Charging, Lidar, Raw Materials

SPAC euphoria peaked in March. A wheat from chaff dynamic is underway.

Most SPACs are trading 40%-80%+ below their 52-week highs.

Yet, relative to IPO price about 1/3 are up 20%+, one third down 20% and the
remainder down less than 20%.

Like the pre-revenue lithium scoreboard, these SPACs are “public venture capital”.

I’m invested in MP, Freyr and Licycle, highlighted in yellow.

LiCycle ended up raising $580M while Freyr, an RK client making clean, Nordic
batteries, raised $700M – no small sums and yet both stocks trading at not huge
premiums to these cash levels. FREY is $1B, LICY is $1.4B

47
THE CATHODES ARE COMING to the US and Europe

Like Tesla, its co-founder JB Straubel is focused on shortening supply chains.

The graphic on this slide concisely summarizes Redwood's business thesis to address
what so many lithium watchers have been talking about for years. We've asked
“where’s Umicore, BASF, Johnson Matthey” and others building cathode plants?

Now a big entrepreneur with big ambitions is tackling the midstream in a BIG way:

$1B
1M square feet
100GWH by 2025 going to 500GWH by 2030

As Emily Hersh Tweeted – "it's about F-ing time"

Straubel says the industry needs at least 4 companies with equal ambitions.

It will be many, many years before Redwood achieves 100% recyclability. 50% is the

48
best that can be hoped for medium term.

Meanwhile, he will need a lot of virgin lithium, nickel etc from new projects. Which
companies in North America and Europe are best placed to supply Redwood’s
cathode surge?

48
A Big Deal.

Amazon and Ford backed Rivian. Shunning SPACs, going proper IPO route.

$8B at rumored $70B market value. Will Rivian - ahead of Cybertruck & F-150
Lightning - and Lucid ($26B market value) succeed before their incumbent brethren at
Ford, GM and Stellantis?

49
The list of fully SEC registered lithium stocks on US exchanges is growing

First LAC then PLL, now SLI, CMP and SGML - lithium vehicles fully listed on US
exchanges.

Higher liquidity = fuller market value - usually

LAC has more trading liquidity than Livent & SQM

Expect more - especially for north American projects/managements

Ioneer, Critical Elements, E3 and others have talked about it.

50
Value is in the Eye of the Beholder
CMP vs. LTHM:
Earnings Growth & Quality in Essential Salts, Minerals & Chemicals

Compass had ~4X revenue and more the 3X EBITDA than Livent on average over the
last 4 years. With materially less earnings volatility. It pays a 4.5% dividend yield while
Livent pays nothing. CMP's assets are in safe North American jurisdictions vs. LTHM’s
core Argentina asset.

CMP trades at $2.2B market value about half LTHM. 12X 2021 EV/EBITDA vs. LTHM’s
65X – an 80% discount.

Will CMP begin to trade in part as a “lithium stock “ and begin to re-rate in line with
peer developers/producers?

51
Value is in the Eye of the Beholder
KISS Lithium-ion Bull’s Portfolio

As I telegraphed last year, undervalued public venture capital lithium should close the
valuation gap with overvalued public venture capital EV SPACs.

The upside lithium velocitility is great news for long-term bulls who stayed invested or
averaged down. The very strong financing and M&A markets will hopefully continue
to ensure that sufficient and patient capital is deployed.

As we’ve long argued, the market needs to ”overfund” projected demand growth, as
supply will struggle to keep pace. Delays/cost overruns are the norm.

I’m a value/growth at a reasonable price, not a growth at any price kinda of guy.
Commodity equities follow commodity prices – with such a strong lithium price
backdrop, we will likely see more Higher Love in coming months and into 2022. But,
like SPAC Velocitility, many stocks look to have run ahead of themselves - achieving 5
years upside in less than one year.

There’s still great potential to earn 3, 5 or 10X returns with junior, emerging projects.
But it’s important to be selective.

52
I’ve been part of many great stories from early stages – Western Lithium Americas
since 2009, Kidman, Piedmont and many others. I’ve also missed many from early on
like Pilbara, Liontown and Vulcan. A slew of new Lithium 4.0 plays are making their
way to public market like Quebec rock Winsome Resources. Emily Hersh is cooking up
a brine play in Nevada, Luna Lithium.

Highlighted in green are my current lithium holdings: Compass Minerals, Frontier,

Critical Elements, Piedmont, E3 Metals, Iron Ridge, Mineral Resources, European
Metals Holdings and Albemarle. I fully expect these will provide sufficient capital not
only for impending college cash calls. And perhaps they will lay the groundwork for a
future career promoting a genuine early-stage Rock Star….

52
53
Please visit Rock Stock Channel on YouTube for all RK Equity/Lithiumion Rocks Video

And check out FuelhouseTributes on Spotfiy – my son Jamie Klein’s recently launched
EP – and tell all your friends.

54
Piedmont Lithium – A strategically located North
American lithium chemical company trading at a
deep discount to its net present value.

Rodney Hooper October 2021

0
Executive Summary

Piedmont Lithium ("Piedmont or PLL") is trading more than 20% below the $70 price at which it
raised $123M at the end of March, during which time:

• Piedmont's flagship Carolina Lithium Project has increased its resource of spodumene and
by-products (feldspar, quartz, mica) by 40%, its planned lithium hydroxide production by
34% (to 30kta) and its overall project NPV by 80% (to $1.9B);
• Piedmont and its JV partner Sayona acquired North American Lithium in Quebec – the most
advanced brownfield spodumene project globally – for a 75% discount to $400M sunk cost;
• Piedmont secured an initial investment in, and staged path to 50% control of, Iron Ridge
Resources portfolio of high-grade spodumene development projects in logistically blessed
Ghana;
• Spodumene concentrate prices have more than quadrupled from $500 to over $2,000, and
spot lithium carbonate & hydroxide prices have more than doubled from $12,000 to over
$25,000.
• Piedmont's peer universe of development comparables (~15 developers above USD350M
market value) have appreciated between 39% and 386%

Piedmont's project-level ownership and offtake rights with Sayona and Iron Ridge pave the way for
Piedmont to have access to sufficient spodumene concentrate to produce ~60,000tpa of battery-
grade lithium hydroxide in North Carolina and Quebec by the end of this decade, equivalent to
~10% of forecasted 600,000 hydroxide demand in the USA by 2030.

1
Based on PLL's current stock price and Piedmont's cash balance ($143M), the implied look-through
valuation of Piedmont's Carolina Lithium Project is just US$244m compared to its NPV of
US$1,923m. This ratio of 0.13x is the lowest it's been in the past 12-months despite the substantial
increase in lithium prices, the recent Biden administration announcements regarding EV buyer
subsidies and a 40-50% 2030 penetration target in the USA, the progression of the project toward
completion of a definitive feasibility study ("DFS") and the addition of experienced operational
executives to the management team.

Source: Piedmont Lithium company presentation

The primary reason for Piedmont's low relative and absolute valuation relates to the market not
valuing its highly accretive recent transactions in Sayona and Iron Ridge Resources, and the
perceived risk around permitting/rezoning in North Carolina. Risk perception has been exacerbated
since July 20th following a Reuters article and boisterous public hearing with commissioners in
Gaston County, North Carolina during which Piedmont's CEO and General Manager formally
presented its updated plans for its planned ~$870M investment in the county. Since that
presentation, Gaston County set in motion a 60-day moratorium period that culminated in the
September 28 publication and unanimous approval of updated land use ordinances, which include
regulations for mining and reference lithium quarrying and processing of chemicals. Piedmont
submitted its state mining permit application with the North Carolina Department of Environmental
Quality at the end of August, the 30-day comment period concluded on September 30, and the next
steps will be one or more additional hearings over the coming weeks/months to educate the public
and local government officials about the project. Should Piedmont's state permit and county
rezoning applications be successful (estimated H1 2022), I believe there is immediate share price
upside potential given where the implied valuation of the Carolina Lithium Project has traded
historically and where its development peer universe is trading.

Based on a conservative EV/NPV valuation ratio for Piedmont's Carolina Lithium Project of 0.4x –
0.8x, and discounting any further upside to its Sayona and Iron Ridge investments and offtakes,
the implied share price for PLL is between US$83 – US$131/share. Should Piedmont achieve 0.8x
NPV – my estimate of what Sibanye Stillwater will pay for a 50% JV stake in ioneer, subject to
ioneer receiving all of its permits, the implied price of $131, represents 162% upside from
US$50/share.

2
Why the USA is the most important EV and battery metals market globally

Source: Veloz

The USA auto market is of a similar size to Europe and approximately 70% of China. However, the
average USA new car price (US$41k) is substantially higher. With the Biden administration's EV buyer
subsidy soon to become a reality (up to US$12,500 per vehicle), the buying power of the American
consumer will mean far bigger average battery packs. RK Equity forecasts that the USA average
battery pack size in 2030 will be ~80 kWh, whereas the China average will remain in a range
between 40-45 kWh and Europe around the 50 kWh mark. As a result, the USA's total EV battery cell
demand in 2030 will be similar to Europe and China despite having a lower EV penetration rate.
Importantly, the USA is coming off a far lower base (2020), making it the fastest growing major
battery market globally.

Source: Rho Motion

3
The North American battery cell capacity proposed pipeline in August 2021 was 500GWh; the recent
announcement by Ford and SK Innovation will increase that total by 129 GWh. SK Innovation's
cathode choice for the F-Lightening series is high nickel NCM9.5.5, 129 GWh would require
approximately 107ktpa of battery-grade hydroxide, 3 ½ times Piedmont's Carolina Lithium Project’s
planned output. RK Equity believes there is far more to come on planned cell capacity, and by 2030
that capacity will be over 1,000 GWh. The BlueOval JV battery plants are in Tennessee and Kentucky
- ~500 miles from Piedmont's Carolina Lithium Project. Piedmont would be well positioned to deliver
battery-grade hydroxide regionally depending on the cathode plants that supply these cell factories.
Jim Farley of Ford – as Elon Musk did during Tesla's Battery Day last September – made specific
mention of mining and raw materials in his announcement – "We have to bring battery production
here, but the supply chain has to go all the way to the mines. That's where the real cost is,
and people in the U.S. don't want mining in their neighborhoods," said Farley. "So are we going to
import lithium and pull cobalt from nation-states that have child labor and all sorts of corruption
or all we going to get serious about mining? ... We have to solve these things and we don't have
much time."

Piedmont

Source: Ford / SK

Three years ago, in October 2018, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence was tracking global battery cell
capacity at 1,100 GWh by 2028, which is now over 3TWh. Tesla is aiming for 3 TWh on its own by
2030. While battery recycling will play a role in easing lithium supply requirements, given the
improving quality, length of life and second use cases for battery cells, we see a limited contribution
from recycling before 2030 other than from defective cells discarded at the production stage.
Primary producers will remain the key suppliers of battery-grade lithium for the foreseeable future.

In the USA, where energy independence drove support and financial aid for the oil industry in the
early 21st century, localized battery raw material supply is increasingly becoming a top priority. The
USA has also correctly identified Canada as a potential ally and supplier, given access to clean and
cheap energy. Piedmont's astute acquisition of an 18.8% stake in Sayona and 25% ownership of
Sayona Quebec (NAL), and 50% offtake rights provides flexibility for either spodumene concentrate
supply or downstream conversion capacity. Piedmont has potentially secured over 600,000tpa of
spodumene concentrate supply once all three assets are in production.

4
 Source: Redwood Materials

As with Tesla and Ford, Tesla co-founder JB Straubel's Redwood Materials ("Redwood") has major
ambitions for localized manufacturing but focused on the key midstream missing link for a fully
secure, sustainable, "closed-loop" North American battery and EV supply chain. RK Equity has been
waiting to hear of a major investment plan for cathode materials produced within the USA.
Redwood has just announced its intention to produce 100 GWh and 500 GWh of active cathode
materials by 2025 and 2030. From a CO2 perspective, transportation distances on their own have a
minor impact on the total, according to Minviro. But long transportation distances create greater
risk in potential logistical bottlenecks, trade tariffs and inventory management. Logically Redwood
will seek to secure locally supplied key battery materials to avoid these risks. 500 GWh of active
cathode materials would need approximately 400-500KT (excluding supply from recycling) of
battery-grade lithium chemicals, an ambitious target considering current production volumes are
approximately 10ktpa. For now, China dominates the production of lithium chemicals, cathode and
battery cells, including forecasted new capacity in the future. In my opinion, Europe and the USA will
increasingly look inward or to allies for supply on all fronts and will look to exclude China where
possible. If lithium is the new oil, then Piedmont and other USA based projects should be viewed as
critical and strategic. As mentioned previously, we believe the EV demand for batteries in the USA
will be similar or match China and Europe by 2030, yet it is years behind in planning (Europe) and
production (China) concerning lithium.

20x battery
demand growth
from 2020-2030

Source: RK Equity estimate

5
Carolina Lithium Project's Logistical Advantages & Sustainability Attributes

Piedmont has optimized its operational plan to one integrated site in Gaston County to limit its CO2,
land footprint, and water usage. The mineral concentrator and hydroxide plant are located
alongside one another and will partially use solar power. Further, Piedmont will employ in-pit
crushing and will invest ~$63 million to install electric conveyors to reduce noise and dust. The
flowsheet outlines the use of the innovative Metso-Outotec process that is both sulphate and acid-
free. Based on independent analysis, Piedmont's hydroxide CO2 footprint should match hydroxide
made from converted South American carbonate and should be materially lower than Western
OEM’s main source of battery quality hydroxide today - China converted hydroxide from Australian
spodumene.

Source: Piedmont company presentation

6
Piedmont near-term valuation analysis

If we strip out the Sayona and Iron Ridge assets and net cash from Piedmont's market
capitalization, then the enterprise value of Piedmont's flagship Carolina Lithium Project is currently
US$245M. That compares to the project NPV of US$1,923M.

Source: Piedmont company presentation

Source: Author estimates and market data

7
Chart 1 below highlights Piedmont's EV/Carolina Lithium Project NPV ratio over the past 12-
months; the current 0.13x is the lowest recorded level during that period despite several positive
market and company announcements. The average ratio since September 2020 is ~0.5x, and the
average EV is US$580M. I would argue, considering spodumene and lithium chemical prices have
risen 2-4X during the year, OEMs and battery cell manufacturers have committed to investing
billions of dollars into local capacity, and Piedmont is due to finalize a DFS before year-end that PLL
could trade well above the average if the company secures permitting for the mine and chemical
plant. According to our analysis, Sibanye will pay an estimated EV/NPV of ~0.8x for its 50% stake in
ioneer's Rhyolite Ridge project post permitting approvals.

Average ~ 0.5x

Chart 1: Piedmont EV / NPV for Carolina Lithium Project based on the author

Average US$580M

Chart 2: Implied US$M valuation for Piedmont's North Carolina project based on author estimates

8
 Notes: LAC phase 1 production includes Cauchari Olaroz (20ktpa), and Thacker Pass (30ktpa)/Phase 1 production for all projects is each company's "equity tons."

At only 3.3X forecasted fully funded EV / EBITDA Piedmont's Carolina Lithium Project, a conventional spodumene-to-hydroxide developer in a Tier One
jurisdiction, is trading at a significant discount to development peers with higher technical and/or sovereign risk. I believe the market is not fully valuing
the look-through valuation of Piedmont's Carolina Lithium project after deducting the Sayona and Iron Ridge Resources equity and project stakes estimated
at US$402M based on current market prices.

Piedmont longer-term valuation analysis - upside from Iron Ridge and Hydroxide Capacity Increase

Piedmont acquired its 50% (effective 45%) stake in Iron Ridge's Ghananian lithium portfolio for a substantial discount to the current after-tax NPV.
Piedmont will invest US$87M and effectively receive 45% of the US$413M NPV. There is significant resource upside potential for Iron Ridge's Ewoyaa
project (currently 14.5MT at 1.4% Li2O). Based on my forecasts, Ewoyaa NPV can increase to approximately US$775M – implying that Piedmont purchased
its stake at a P/NPV of 0.25x, bearing in mind the Ewoyaa NPV used a conservative US$650/t as a long term price for SC6%.

Should the Ewoyaa NPV increase to US$775M through a combination of a greater resource and a higher SC6% price assumption, there is substantial upside
for Piedmont. Once in production, the asset could be valued at a P/NPV of 1.0x (EV/EBITDA 5x – 6x), implying a net value of US$300M to Piedmont after
capex. That equates to ~US$19/share.

Longer-term, there is substantial upside potential should Piedmont successfully add downstream chemical conversion capacity in North Carolina and/or
Quebec to 60,000tpa hydroxide or more.

9
Once producing, Piedmont will have access to ~500,000tpa of SC6% and 35,000tpa of lithium
hydroxide capacity. However, the 500,000tpa of SC6% equates to approximately 60,000tpa of
lithium hydroxide; we anticipate the company will seek to expand its hydroxide capacity.

Piedmont Asset Spodumene Concentrate Hydroxide Capacity

North Carolina 248,000 ** 30,000
Sayona Quebec 113,000 5,000
Iron Ridge Resources 147,500
TOTAL S 508,500 35,000
** Includes Tesla offtake volume

Source: Piedmont Lithium company presentation

10
Conclusion

On a near term basis, Piedmont is trading at a deep discount to the NPV of its flagship Carolina
Lithium Project. This discount has largely been driven by perceived risk around applying for state and
county permits and giving little credit to Piedmont for its accretive Sayona and Iron Ridge
investments. In my view, this risk is overstated, and Piedmont is undervalued relative to peer
comparables with similar or greater technical, sovereign or permitting challenges.

Piedmont is in constructive dialogue with state and local officials and the necessary paperwork has
now been filed. A Gaston County ordinance update was released on September 28, 2021, outlining a
framework for lithium mining and chemical processing. In my observation, the Gaston County
updated ordinance is supportive of Piedmont's ambitions to carry out these activities and supply
battery-grade hydroxide to meet North American EV battery demand. Longer-term, Piedmont will
have sufficient spodumene concentrate supply to produce 60,000tpa of battery-grade hydroxide.

Source: Piedmont Lithium company presentation

Should Piedmont secure the outstanding permits required (estimated H1 2022), we believe an
EV/NPV ratio of 0.4x-0.8x for the planned 30,000kta Carolina Lithium Project would be possible,
given a DFS should be concluded by then. Piedmont will be ready for a final investment decision
and financing/strategic partnering. JP Morgan and Evercore are running a process for Piedmont
evaluating strategic partners.

A 0.4x – 0.8x EV/NPV ratio equates to a share price range of US$83 – US$131.

In the medium and longer-term, Piedmont has further upside potential from a potential re-rating
of its investment in Iron Ridge, which trades at a significant discount to peers and from potential
upsized plans to produce 60,000tpa of battery-grade hydroxide in North America from its
500,000tpa of available spodumene resources.

11
Appendix – Piedmont Deal Terms with Sayona and Iron Ridge Resources

The broad terms of Piedmont's recent transactions with Sayona and Iron Ridge Resources are as
follows:

- Piedmont owns 18.8% of Sayona's issued equity

- In addition, Piedmont owns a 25% project level stake in Sayona Quebec
- Separately, Piedmont has a supply agreement with Sayona Quebec for 50% of the seller's
production or 113,000 dmt per annum, whichever is higher. The CIF price paid is subject to a
floor and a ceiling (see below)
- Piedmont owns 9.9% of Iron Ridge Resources' issued equity
- On completion of sole funding a regional exploration and DFS (US$17M), Piedmont will earn
a 22.5% interest in Iron Ridge's Ghana lithium portfolio
- On completion of sole funding of US$70M capex to build the Ewoyaa lithium project,
Piedmont will earn an additional 27.5% interest in the Ghana portfolio – any cost overruns
beyond US$70M will be shared equally
- The Ghanian state has a 10% free carried interest in the Ghana portfolio – potentially 15% if
contributing. Therefore, Piedmont's effective stake will likely be 45%
- The Ewoyaa project is anticipated to produce 295,000tpa of spodumene concentrate –
Piedmont has a 50% offtake – the pricing will be at market with Piedmont's price exposure
hedged through its ~45% ownership in the Ghana holding company

Source: Piedmont Lithium company presentation

12
Source: RK Equity, press releases

13
Piedmont's Iron Ridge Resources transaction summary

Source: RK Equity, press releases

14
DISCLAIMER

The author of this independent company research about Piedmont Lithium ("Piedmont Lithium
Report"), Rodney Hooper ("Rodney"), is an independent analyst and investor based in Cape Town,
South Africa. This Piedmont Lithium Report remains Rodney's property, and no material contained
herein may be reproduced or distributed without the prior written approval of Rodney.

Rodney's research process includes the following protocols to ensure independence is maintained at
all times:

• The research process has complete editorial independence from the company.
• The research does not provide a recommendation; therefore, this report cannot be interpreted
as investment advice.

This Piedmont Lithium Report may contain general advice that is not appropriate for all persons or
accounts while believed to be accurate at the time of publication. This report does not purport to
contain all the information that a prospective investor may require. Recipients of this Piedmont Lithium
Report must consider market developments after the date of this document, and whether the Piedmont
Lithium Report's information is appropriate in light of his or her financial circumstances.

Information in this document has been obtained from sources believed to be true, including Piedmont
Lithium 's CEO, President, CFO and chief geologist, and various Piedmont Lithium public filings. In
connection with this Piedmont Lithium Report.

This Piedmont Lithium Report and/or excerpts from there, along with other publications by Rodney
may be distributed through various forums including direct email, LinkedIn, Twitter, Seeking Alpha and
other syndication partners, including Rock Stock Channel and Lithium-ion Rocks! a YouTube channel
and podcast Rodney co-hosts with Howard Klein, both published by New York-based advisory firm RK
Equity Advisors, LLC (www.rkequity.com). Over the past 60 months, RK Equity has had fee-paying
advisory assignments with public companies in the battery raw materials space including Western
Lithium/Lithium Americas, CleanTeq, Lithium Power International, Millennial Lithium, Altura Mining,
NeoMetals, Nouveau Monde Metals Corp, Kidman Resources, Nemaska Lithium, Savannah Resources,
Critical Minerals Corp, Nouveau Monde Graphite, e3 Metals, European Metals Holdings and Bacanora.
As of the date of this report, Rodney, Howard or RK Equity own securities in Mineral Resources, Talon
Metals, Albermarle, Piedmont Lithium, Livent, e3 Metals, European Metals Holdings, Critical Elements,
Frontier Lithium, Nouveau Monde Graphite, Lynas Corp and MP Materials. Neither Rodney nor Howard
Klein nor RK Equity is a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer. The information contained
herein is not financial advice and whether in part or its entirety, neither constitutes an offer nor makes
any recommendation to buy or sell any securities.

Recipient Representations/Warranties: By accepting this report, the recipient represents and warrants
that he or she is entitled to receive such report following the restrictions set out in this document and
agrees to be bound by the limitations contained herein. Any failure to comply with these limitations
may constitute a violation of the law.

15
Nouveau Monde Graphite – Low carbon battery-
grade anode material for the North American
supply chain. Overview and fair value analysis.

Rodney Hooper September 2021

1
Nouveau Monde Graphite (“NMG”)

Executive Summary

In the context of a graphite anode material market nearly 100% supplied by China and, from artificial
graphite material produced from fossil-fuel derivatives, Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG) has all the
cornerstones of developing into a world class, sustainable, secure, low cost, high margin North
American battery specialty metals company. Listed on the NYSE (Ticker: NMG) and Toronto Venture
Exchange (Ticker: NOU), NMG:

- Offers pure-play exposure to vertically integrated coated spherical high purity graphite
(CSHPG) anode material in a world class chemical industrial park (Becancour) from its world
class natural flake graphite mine (Matawine), both in Quebec;
- Will supply CSHPG anode material to battery cell plants in North America directly (the fastest
growing market globally), without having to transport to Asian precursor plants as is most
often the case for cathode battery materials (eg, lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese);
- Has a robust stage 1 qualification strategy (2,000 tpa CSHPG demonstration plant) that
should be completed in H1 2022 and will pave the way for a binding take or pay offtake
contract;
- It is located in Quebec, an investment- and mining-friendly jurisdiction with access to cheap
and clean zero-carbon hydropower;
- Is partnered with Olin Corporation, the #1 global Chlor Alkali producer;
- Has financial backing from Pallinghurst, a deep pocketed private equity sponsor with a
proven track record of delivering nine resource projects to production with strong financial
returns;
- Has strong political and government financial support from Investissement Quebec (IQ);
- Has potential to secure grant funding similar to Quebec EV bus-maker Lion Energy (NYSE:
LEV) and cheaper ECA funding from equipment suppliers
- The resource potential is more than double expected production and forecasted 2025
EBITDA (USD 200M) via a 2028 stage 3 production and steady-state USD500M EBITDA by
2028.

With USD 86M cash on hand and assuming USD756M capex (estimated debt finance USD 433M,
grant USD 80M, equity USD 324M raised at USD 10/share), I estimate NMG’s base case and “blue
sky” fair value between US$15.50 – US$26.40/share post the signing of a binding offtake
agreement and qualification of its CSHPG in Q1 or Q2 2022.

2
Understanding NMG & Vertically Integrated Graphite Anode Developers

Because the graphite anode market is 100% dominated by China and there are no meaningful
publicly traded producers of CSHPG who report in the English language, investor understanding of
this opaque market is far lower than other burgeoning battery materials markets like lithium which
have prominent investable producers like Albemarle, Livent, SQM and Allchem (former
Orocobre/Galaxy) regularly communicating with the market.

To understand graphite – and the NMG investment thesis – comparisons to vertically integrated
lithium chemical producers and developers are relevant; e.g., spodumene-to-hydroxide is similar to
flake graphite-to-CSHPG. Likewise, as the cost of carbon credits is forecast to rise to over US$100/t
post-2025 (or sooner), synthetic graphite is likely to attract ~US$500/t carbon taxes; NMG’s “net-
zero carbon" attributes should attract similar investors & OEM attention as having “zero-carbon”
geothermal lithium projects which have recently signed MOUs with GM, Stellantis, Renault and
LGES.

3
With the recent Biden administration target of 50% zero-emission vehicles by 2030 in the US, the
investment thesis for NMG is apparent and should gain traction in North America. Why?

- The US has the highest passenger EV battery cell demand growth rate of all major auto
markets. RK Equity forecasts that passenger EV battery demand will grow from 20GWh in
2020 to 600 GWh in 2030.
- If we add in EV demand from Canada and energy storage in both countries, the total
demand for the US and Canada could reach ~800 GWh in 2030.
- That demand equates to approximately 1MT of battery quality anode material. Currently,
there is zero anode material made in the US or Canada.
- Globally the resurgence in LFP cathode demand for EVs and energy storage applications
should underpin graphite-based anode materials as the addition of silicon has been reported
to likely reduce cycle life.
- The graphite/anode supply chain is far simpler than other battery materials (lithium, nickel,
cobalt and manganese) as anode material does not need to be shipped to Asian
precursor/cathode plants before being delivered to the battery cell plant. Anode material
from NMG’s Bencancour plant can be shipped directly to US/Canadian battery cell plants.
This reality lowers transport distances, carbon emissions and costs, improves inventory
management, and removes tariff and export tax risks.
- We believe that the Canadian government will support downstream initiatives and
incentivize battery cell manufacturing within its borders. Such an initiative will reduce the
transport distance and cost of delivering NMG’s CSHPG from Becancour.
- The scale of NMG’s pilot plant (2,000tpa) and Becancour location, along with its tier 1
partnership with Olin, is, in our view, superior to other developing battery metal juniors.
- NMG’s effective net-zero carbon anode material is made largely possible by utilizing zero-
carbon low-cost hydropower, and an electrified mining fleet rather than commercializing a
difficult/unproven process flowsheet.
- The economics of NMG’s anode plant (capex/opex) is almost exactly HALF that of an ex-
China integrated lithium carbonate or hydroxide plant. Yet, NMG trades at a substantial
discount to developing lithium companies targeting zero-carbon hydroxide or carbonate.
- NMG has a high probability of securing generous government grants and ECA funding,
reducing the equity funding needs to cover capex and improve project economics.
- NMG has a lower permitting risk and technical risk than lithium developers.
- Should NMG qualify its CSHPG material (Q1/Q2 2022) with offtake partners, it has the future
potential to expand production capacity (at the Matawine mine and Becancour) from 42ktpa
in 2025 to 84ktpa by 2028.
- Given Olin’s ability to supply additional chlorine, the amount of available land for expansion
at Becancour, and NMG’s soon to be patented thermochemical purification technology, the
company could continue to expand past phase 3 using 3rd party graphite.

4
 Noveau Monde vs. Novonix

Phillips 66 Investment in NVX

Post Tesla Battery Day last September, Nouveau Monde stock on the Toronto Venture Exchange
soared more than 10X from ~CAD 2.00 (pre-10-for-1 stock split) to more than CAD 27.00 in early
February before falling 70%, equating to today’s fully diluted ~USD 375M market cap. NMG’s stock
price performance contrast sharply with that of artificial graphite developer Novonix (ASX: NVX, USD
1.3B market cap) and several lithium developers at a similar stage of development which are trading
at 2-4X or more NMG’s valuation.

NMG has raised approximately USD90M in equity in 2021, in which NMG’s lead investors
Pallinghurst and IQ were substantial participants. NMG has research coverage from U.S. investment
banks Evercore, Roth Capital, B Riley.

We believe the market is underappreciating NMG’s potential and strategic value for the following
key reasons:

- China dominates the anode market more than any other battery material component,
making it a prime target for diversification to reduce logistics/geopolitical risk.
- Graphite is bulky, meaning transport costs of artificial graphite from China have an even
higher carbon footprint per tonne as a percentage. NMG will be a cost-competitive net-zero
carbon producer located near a major battery cell market.
- A binding offtake following the qualification of its anode material should be a similar de-
risking event for NMG as was Novonix agreeing to sell Phillips 66 a 16% stake in the company
and could result in a share price appreciation of similar magnitude as Novonix’s (50%+).
Aside from potentially supplying specialty coke, the investment from Phillips 66 will facilitate
a 30,000tpy expansion for Novonix. NMG’s demonstration/qualification plant production of
2,000tpa of anode material would allow for a binding offtake agreement rather than a non-
binding or binding MOU with exit clauses subject to product qualification.

5
- NMG’s anode plant (coated, high purity spherical graphite) based in Becancour will have
economics on a per tonne of capacity basis that correlates to approximately 50% of a
lithium hydroxide/carbonate converter ex-China.

- Unlike other NMC battery materials (nickel, cobalt and manganese sulphates), battery grade
anode material is delivered directly to the battery cell plant, not the precursor/cathode
plant. China currently controls approximately 75% of cathode capacity globally, with South
Korea and Japan making up most of the balance. There is very little cathode capacity in
North America. Why is this important? The latest US targeting of 50% EV penetration by
2030 further reaffirms our thesis that the US will be the fastest growing battery cell market
globally. We estimate a 35%-40% EV penetration rate by 2030 (~7M), requiring ~600GWh of
battery cell capacity. Adding other applications such as ESS, aviation and other North
American demands, we could see 800GWh of total battery demand. RK Equity forecasts that
the US and Canada will aim for self-sufficiency from a battery cell perspective first and then
back integrate and establish local cathode/raw material supply chains. If the North
American battery cell market reaches 800GWh in 2030, it will need ~1MT per annum of
battery-grade anode material.

6
 - NMG has a high probability of receiving a grant similar to the C$100M received from the
federal and Quebec governments by Quebec EV bus maker Lion Energy (NYSE: LEV) – and
low-cost debt funding to complete the anode plant. Through IQ, the local government has
already subscribed for equity twice in 2021, taking a placement of C$5.75M in February 2021
at C$14.50/share and C$18.3M in July 2021 at C$9.25/share.
- Given the location of the anode plant in Becancour, we believe that NMG has substantially
less permitting risk than other battery material projects in North America.
- Olin is a key supplier of chlorine to NMG – NMG’s initial demand for phase 2 represents only
5% of Olin’s supply at Becancour, leaving plenty of scope for a phase 3 expansion.
- NMG has already secured a 200,000sqm plot within the industrial park for phase 3.
Therefore, NMG’s phase 2 plant of 42ktpa is equivalent to ~21ktpa of LiOH. Should NMG
expand production (2025 onwards) to 84ktpa, that would equate to 42ktpa.

Capital Structure/Estimated Fair Value

Fully diluted shares in issue:

• Common shares = 47,008,895

• Bond = 7,500,000
• Options = 2,773,750
• Fully diltuted = 57,282,645

At today’s prices of USD 6.6, the fully diluted market capitalization is US$377M.

Based on a capex requirement of US$756M, the adjusted enterprise value of NMG is currently
US$1,133M with a “base case” steady-state EBITDA in 2025 is US$265m split as approximately
$200M for the CSHPG plant and $65M for the Matawine mine.

The “blue sky” scenario results in 2028 EBITDA of US$530M, which includes a phase 3 anode plant
that doubles production to ~84kt plus 6kt of jumbo flakes, for a total additional capex of ~US$475M
(US$327M for the anode plant and US$150M to expand the mine to 200kt). Therefore, the adjusted
EV for the “blue sky” scenario is US$1,610M assuming capex is not funded from free cash flows.

Is there a risk of share dilution for capex?

The total base case capex is US$756M; we believe a 50/50 debt/equity ratio is possible for the
Matawine mine and 60/40 for the Becancour anode plant. That equates to an equity requirement of
US$323.5M for the total project capex (excluding a government grant). The large capital expenses
will be incurred in 2022/2023, after signing a binding offtake. Investors should note that anchor

7
shareholder Pallinghurst will follow its rights, thereby reducing the size of the equity needed from
outside shareholders. We think the Pallinghurst connection is key: they have completed nine
projects, do not view their investments as passive, and commit to completing the mine if everyone
else pulls out.

Running “what if?” scenarios for the issue price of NMG’s equity raise to fund the mine and anode
plant capex, we derive the following “base-case” and “blue sky” valuation metrics assuming:

• allocating existing cash on hand (US$86M) to the pilot plant and future working
costs/capital;
• US$756M capex funded as US$432.5M in debt and the balance of US$323.5M, raised with
equity, conservatively assumed at $10/share
• a fixed EV/EBITDA post-funding multiple of 7x (EBITDA US$200M) for the anode plant and a
P/NPV of 0.75x for the Matawine mine (NPV(7%) US$400M):
• Once NMG reaches steady-state production in 2025, a 10-12x EV/EBITDA multiple on the
anode plant earnings and a P/NPV of 1.0x for the mine is achievable given future demand
growth potential.

Equity issue Shares Total shares in Fair value based on 7x “Blue sky” fair value based
price (US$) issued (MM) issue (MM) EV/EBITDA (2025) on 7x EV/EBITDA (2028)
6.00 53.92 111.20 11.4 18.5
7.00 46.21 103.49 12.2 20.3
8.00 40.44 97.72 13.0 21.8
9.00 35.94 93.22 13.6 23.2
10.00 32.35 89.63 14.1 24.5
11.00 29.41 86.69 14.6 25.6
12.00 26.96 84.24 15.0 26.6

These fair value prices excludes any grants awarded to NMG. We believe a grant of at least US$80M
is likely – thereby increasing the fair value price range to US$15.50 – US$26.40/share post an
equity raise to cover full funding (conservatively assumed to be raised at US$10/share).

Using a 10-12x EV/EBITDA multiple on the anode plant earnings and a P/NPV of 1.0x for the mine
once NMG reaches steady state production, we estimate base case fair value between US$22-
US$26/share and US$37 -US$44/share in the phase 3, 2028 “blue sky” scenario

8
NOTE: Should we include a 10X and 12X EV/EBITDA multiple chart to show these higher stock price
targets?

NMG vs Lithium Peers

NMG vs. zero carbon DLE (VUL, LKE, SLI)

- We believe NMG offers attractive absolute and relative value with a similar or lower risk
profile than the following lithium development concepts:

9
NMG vs Hard Rock Hydroxide (PLL, INR)

Likewise, we believe NMG’s integrated flake-to-CSPHG business plan can be compared to

integrated lithium rock-to-hydroxide developers in North America and offers absolute and
relative value for similar projected EBITDA in base and blue sky cases with lower capex
requirements.

NMG vs Brine Carbonate (NLC, GLN)

NMG’s absolute and relative valuation also compares favourably to lithium brine-to-
carbonate projects in Argentina, which carry high technical and political risk.

10
Conclusion and Key Catalysts over next 12-48 months:

With the US on the brink of finalizing a domestic strategy for EVs and self-reliance for battery cell
supply, NMG is well positioned as a secure, sustainable anode material pure play – one of the only
fully listed on a US exchange. The validation of NMG’s earnings potential is 6-9 months away
following the successful production of CSHPG (target Q1 2022) and qualification into the battery
supply chain (Q2 2022). Given the recent re-rate of Novonix and the relative and absolute value to
comparable lithium development peers, we believe NMG will follow in these footsteps toward our
base case and “blue sky” fair value of US$15.50 – US$26.40/share post these milestones being
achieved by Q2/Q3 2022:

• Purification plant operational in Q3 2021

• Coating pilot plant commissioning (2,000tpa) Q1 2022
• Qualification of anode material with offtake parties Q2/Q3 2022
• Binding (take or pay) offtake agreements signed with tier 1 counterparties Q2/Q3 2022
• Construction of downstream anode plant at Becancour Q3/Q4 2022
• Matawine mine commissioning 2023
• Becancour anode plant (CSHPG) commissioning 2024/2025

11
 Appendix - Matawine mine expansion potential:

In March 2020, NMG published an updated pit-constrained Mineral Resource Estimate (the “Current
Resource”) for its West Zone deposit, located in the Tony Claim Block part of its Matawinie graphite
property (see press release dated March 19, 2020). The Mineral Resource Estimate includes a 25.6%
increase in the combined Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource categories with a minimal change
to the new resource pit footprint and mineralization that remains open at depth and north and south.
This update follows a drilling campaign completed in the fall of 2019 (see press release dated
December 3, 2019).

Several exploration targets could ensure the expansion of the resource to allow for the doubling of
production to 200,000tpa after 2025 to feed the phase 3 anode plant.

12
DISCLAIMER

The author of this independent company research about Nouveau Monde Inc ("Nouveau Monde
Report"), Rodney Hooper ("Rodney"), is an independent analyst and investor based in Cape Town,
South Africa. This Nouveau Monde Report remains Rodney's property, and no material contained
herein may be reproduced or distributed without the prior written approval of Rodney.

Rodney's research process includes the following protocols to ensure independence is maintained at
all times:

• The research process has complete editorial independence from the company.
• The research does not provide a recommendation; therefore, this report cannot be interpreted
as investment advice.

This Nouveau Monde Report may contain general advice that is not appropriate for all persons or
accounts while believed to be accurate at the time of publication. This report does not purport to
contain all the information that a prospective investor may require. Recipients of this Nouveau Monde
Report must consider market developments after the date of this document, and whether the Nouveau
Monde Report's information is appropriate in light of his or her financial circumstances.

Information in this document has been obtained from sources believed to be true, including Nouveau
Monde 's CEO, President, CFO and chief geologist, and various Nouveau Monde public filings.

This Nouveau Monde Report and/or excerpts from there, along with other publications by Rodney may
be distributed through various forums including direct email, LinkedIn, Twitter, Seeking Alpha and
other syndication partners, including Rock Stock Channel and Lithium-ion Rocks! a YouTube channel
and podcast Rodney co-hosts with Howard Klein, both published by New York-based advisory firm RK
Equity Advisors, LLC (www.rkequity.com). Over the past 60 months, RK Equity has had fee-paying
advisory assignments with public companies in the battery raw materials space including Western
Lithium/Lithium Americas, CleanTeq, Lithium Power International, Millennial Lithium, Altura Mining,
NeoMetals, Nouveau Monde Metals Corp, Kidman Resources, Nemaska Lithium, Savannah Resources,
Critical Minerals Corp, Nouveau Monde Graphite, e3 Metals, European Metals Holdings and Bacanora.
As of the date of this report, Rodney, Howard or RK Equity own securities in Mineral Resources, Talon
Metals, Albermarle, Piedmont Lithium, Livent, e3 Metals, European Metals Holdings, Critical Elements,
Frontier Lithium, Nouveau Monde Graphite, Lynas Corp and MP Materials. Neither Rodney nor Howard
Klein nor RK Equity is a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer. The information contained
herein is not financial advice and whether in part or its entirety, neither constitutes an offer nor makes
any recommendation to buy or sell any securities.

Recipient Representations/Warranties: By accepting this report, the recipient represents and warrants
that he or she is entitled to receive such report following the restrictions set out in this document and
agrees to be bound by the limitations contained herein. Any failure to comply with these limitations
may constitute a violation of the law.

13