CEO Newsletter

Critical Metals plc / EPIC: CRTM / Market: Main Market / Sector: Closed End Investments

6 January 2021

Critical Metals plc ("Critical Metals" or the "Company")

 CEO Newsletter

Dear Shareholder,

Whilst 2020 was a difficult year during which many businesses globally experienced disruptions, it was a significant year for Critical Metals with our listing on the Official List of the London Stock Exchange in September, marking an important and exciting milestone in our story. After listing we hit the ground running, entering into early stage discussions with a number of potential acquisition opportunities in an effort to advance our strategy to identify and acquire brownfield mining opportunities in the strategic metals sector while building value for shareholders.

As you are no doubt aware, our focus is on commodities which have been identified by several governments as "critical minerals", meaning guaranteeing supplies is seen as a strategic necessity.  Examples are antimony, beryllium, cobalt, copper, fluorspar, gold, rare earth elements, tin, tungsten and vanadium. The global strategic metals market is expected to grow from USD 23,125.13 million in 2018 to USD 57,452.13 million by the end of 2025 at a compound annual growth rate of 13.88%^*, and demand for critical minerals has grown significantly in recent years as a result of increased appetite for new technology and electric vehicles, amongst other drivers. In addition, the on-going trade war between the USA and China has been instrumental in highlighting the importance of thinking strategically about critical minerals to ensure a stable supply of metals that will allow economies to operate and grow and avoid being at the mercy of foreign competitors.  For example, China dominates current production of rare earth minerals.

This increasing uncertainty regarding the supply and demand in the critical metals sector is the key driver behind our company strategy, as the need to invest in a stable supply becomes increasingly apparent.

Initially your Board is considering acquisitions into operators or near term production operators within the natural resources development and production sector in the continent of Africa and immediately following listing the Board began by evaluating a pipeline of sixteen companies, representing potential investment. We finished the year having narrowed down this search to a very small number of targets that meet our stringent investment criteria and preliminary discussions continue with these possible targets.

Looking forward to the year ahead, we are committed to rigorously evaluating this targeted list of potential opportunities to ensure that we secure and execute the right initial transaction and build value for shareholders, and I look forward to providing further updates as we advance this process.

I am very excited about what 2021 will bring for Critical Metals and I look forward with confidence to what I hope will be a year of significant growth for the Company.

Finally, I would like to thank all of our shareholders for their continued support during 2020 and wish everyone a safe 2021.

Russell Fryer

*https://www.reportlinker.com/p05911634/Strategic-Metals-Market-Research-Report-by-Type-by-Application-Global-Forecast-to-Cumulative-Impact-of-COVID-19.html?utm_source=GNW

**ENDS**

For further information on the Company please visit www.criticalmetals.co.uk or contact:

About Critical Metals

Critical Metals was formed as an investment company and intends to make equity investments into operators or near-term production operators within the natural resources development and production sector in the continent of Africa. It is envisaged that such acquisition or acquisitions will trigger a reverse takeover in accordance with the listing rules. The Company intends to search initially for acquisition opportunities in the natural resources sector on known deposits and more specifically minerals that are perceived to have strategic importance to future economic growth. Commodities such as antimony, beryllium, cobalt, copper, fluorspar, gold, rare earth elements, tin, tungsten, titanium, and vanadium have been identified by several governments as "critical minerals" and so guaranteeing supplies is seen as a strategic necessity. The Company therefore believes that the market conditions for these minerals will remain strong in the short-to-long term.