Highlights

• Defense Metals completed its 2025 Pre-Feasibility Study for the Wicheeda Rare Earth Project in British Columbia, advancing it beyond exploration stage with proven mineral reserves among North America's top undeveloped rare earth assets.
• The company secured C$16.2 million in an oversubscribed private placement with insider participation.
• Defense Metals obtained a conditional US$250 million Letter of Interest from Export Development Canada, though full financing depends on future DFS completion and permitting.
• Key execution questions remain unanswered:
  • Identifying offtake partners
  • Establishing separation and magnet manufacturing locations
  • Demonstrating cost competitiveness against Chinese producers in the North American supply chain

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A shareholder letter today highlights progress at Wicheeda. Defense Metals Corp (opens in a new tab). released a joint shareholder letter (opens in a new tab) from Executive Chairman Guy de Selliers and President & CEO Mark Tory, positioning 2025 as a “transformative year” for the Wicheeda Rare Earth Project near Prince George, British Columbia. The company cites leadership changes, financing activity, and completion of its 2025 Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) as evidence that Wicheeda is advancing toward its next development phase.

From a Rare Earth Exchanges (REEx) perspective, this is a confidence and positioning statement, not a technical update. Still, it contains several signals worth investor scrutiny.

Note that Defense Metals is ranked on the Rare Earth Exchanges™ light rare earth upstream project ranking top 20. Meaning the company’s asset is among the top 20 such assets in the world.

What Checks Out—and What Needs Context

Defense Metals’ strongest factual claim is that Wicheeda is among a small cohort of advanced, undeveloped rare earth projects in North America with proven mineral reserves. Completion of a PFS in 2025 is a legitimate milestone and meaningfully advances the project beyond the exploration stage.

However, the letter’s assertion that Wicheeda is the only undeveloped rare earth project in North America and Europe with proven reserves should be read cautiously. Comparable projects exist at varying stages of reserve definition, feasibility, and permitting. Investors should treat exclusivity language as corporate positioning, not settled geology.

The reported C$16.2 million oversubscribed private placement, alongside insider participation—including open-market purchases by the Executive Chairman’s family trust—does signal management confidence. That said, insider alignment does not substitute for demonstrated project economics, capital discipline, or downstream execution.

Financing Signals vs. Execution Reality

The Export Development Canada (EDC) Letter of Interest for up to US$250 million is noteworthy but explicitly conditional. Such LOIs are not financing commitments and typically depend on completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), permitting progress, offtake visibility, and supportive market conditions—none of which are yet secured.

Management’s stated plan to begin DFS work in early 2026 is therefore the next material inflection point investors should monitor.

Stock Lens: Fundamentals and Market Reality

Fundamentally, Defense Metals remains a pre-revenue, single-asset developer. Valuation continues to hinge on future rare earth pricing assumptions, capex control, and whether a North American or allied downstream supply chain materializes in parallel. Technically, the stock remains driven by financing cycles and policy narratives rather than operating cash flow.

The Bigger Question for U.S. and Allied Supply Chains

Wicheeda matters because North America needs mine-to-magnet continuity, not just deposits. Key unanswered questions remain:

• Who will take Wicheeda’s future REE product?
• Where will separation and magnet manufacturing occur?
• At what cost relative to Chinese incumbents? What kinds of underlying support for pricing will exist?

Source: Defense Metals Corp. shareholder letter, December 22, 2025.

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