VANCOUVER, BC, July 13, 2026 /CNW/ - Defense Metals Corp. ("Defense Metals" or the "Company"; (TSXV: DEFN) (OTCQB: DFMTF) (FSE: 35D) is pleased to provide shareholders with an update on the Company's continued progress in advancing the Wicheeda Rare Earth Project and positioning itself as a leading participant in the rapidly evolving North American critical minerals supply chain.
While broader market conditions have contributed to recent weakness in the Company's share price, management believes the underlying value of Defense Metals continues to strengthen through consistent execution across multiple technical, strategic and commercial initiatives.
The Company recently completed its 2026 Spring drill program designed to support the ongoing feasibility study through additional geotechnical, geochemical and hydrogeological data collection. These activities represent another milestone in advancing engineering work toward development.
In parallel, the Company is completing its pilot-scale flotation testing at SGS Lakefield and is preparing for additional pilot testing work in relation to the hydrometallurgical plant to further optimize process design and validate metallurgical performance. This work builds upon the positive metallurgical test results achieved to date and is expected to provide important inputs for the feasibility study.
In addition, Defense Metals recently received conditional government funding support for infrastructure initiatives associated with the Wicheeda Project and has continued to engage constructively with provincial, federal and Indigenous stakeholders as project advancement continues. Defense Metals remains the only rare earth project selected by the government of British Columbia as one of four priority projects in the province.
"The market has understandably experienced periods of volatility, particularly across the junior mining sector," said Mark Tory, President and CEO of Defense Metals. "However, our focus has remained unchanged: execute against our development plan, reduce technical risk, build strategic relationships and position Wicheeda to become an important future supplier of critical rare earth elements. We believe the intrinsic value of the Company continues to grow as we systematically pursue these objectives."
The global strategic landscape continues to reinforce the importance of secure rare earth supply chains. Management believes Defense Metals is exceptionally well positioned to benefit from these long-term structural trends as one of the very few new rare earth development projects with published reserves in North America.