Ivanhoe Electric Inc. announced that exploration activities have commenced in Saudi Arabia by the 50/50-owned joint venture company established between Ivanhoe Electric and Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma'aden. Ma'aden and Ivanhoe Electric established the Joint Venture to unlock the significant mineral potential in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Joint Venture has exclusive access to explore approximately 48,500 km2 of underexplored land on the Arabian Shield that Ma'aden will make available to the Joint Venture.

The Joint Venture was formally established in July 2023 and was funded with its initial working capital of approximately $66 million from Ma'aden's initial $127.1 million investment into Ivanhoe Electric common stock. Ma'aden became a 9.9% shareholder in Ivanhoe Electric and subsequently exercised its top-up right in October 2023, investing an additional $20.4 million as part of Ivanhoe Electric's September 2023 follow-on equity offering, maintaining its 9.9% ownership interest. The initial exploration activities underway at Al Amar are the first steps in an extensive, multi-year mineral exploration campaign across a vast area of underexplored lands in Saudi Arabia.

The Joint Venture will have exclusive access to approximately 48,500 km2 the land for exploration in Saudi Arabia. Ma'aden will make available substitute land for exploration by the Joint Venture if an ELA is not converted to an EL. Map of 48,500 km2 of exploration land available to the Joint Venture showing the current Exploration Licenses and Exploration License Applications available.

The Technical Committee is responsible for supervising the exploration activities of the Joint Venture, including at this initial land identification stage. The Joint Venture will follow surveying activities with targeted exploration drilling to identify potential mineral resources in areas where Typhoon?? indicates the presence of geophysical anomalies.

Based on the site visit and review of existing geological data, the Technical Committee determined to focus the Joint Venture's initial exploration activities on three exploration license areas: the Al Amar Belt (initially around Ma'aden's existing Al Amar Mine), and the Wadi Bidah and Bir Umq Belts. Given this work, the initial Typhoon?? survey to be conducted by the Joint Venture will be over the entirety of the Umm Ash Shalahib EL and the Al Amar mining license with the intention to produce first data in versions by the end of 2023.

The Wadi Bidah is the first step of the Joint Venture's first first step of the Joint Venture.