Lifezone Metals Advances ESG Framework with 2024 Sustainability Report Highlighting Operational Excellence in Tanzania

• Lifezone Metals published its 2024 sustainability report demonstrating significant progress across environmental, social, and governance metrics at its Kabanga Nickel Project in Tanzania.
• The company achieved over 75% reduction in diesel consumption by transitioning the Kabanga project to grid power, while completing 96% of cash compensation payments totaling $10.5 million to Project Affected Households.
• Safety performance reached a milestone of 2.2 million hours worked without lost time injury at the Kabanga site, demonstrating operational excellence in a challenging mining environment.
• Governance improvements included integrating sustainability oversight at the board level, aligning with Sustainability Accounting Standards Board standards, and completing the first Human Rights Due Diligence assessment.
• The company continues advancing its Hydromet Technology for cleaner battery metals production, positioning itself as a responsible operator in the critical minerals sector while working toward International Finance Corporation alignment.

Lifezone Metals (NYSE:LZM) operates as a cleaner metals production and recycling company, leveraging proprietary Hydromet Technology to deliver lower energy consumption, reduced emissions, and cost-effective metals production compared to traditional smelting methods. The company's primary asset is the Kabanga Nickel Project in Tanzania, believed to be one of the world's largest and highest-grade undeveloped nickel sulfide deposits. Through its US-based recycling partnership, Lifezone applies its technology to recover platinum, palladium, and rhodium from automotive catalytic converters, supporting a circular economy approach to precious metals recovery.

For investors evaluating Lifezone Metals, the 2024 sustainability report provides concrete evidence of the company's operational capabilities and commitment to responsible mining practices. The demonstrated progress across environmental, social, and governance metrics, combined with the company's focus on cleaner technology applications, positions LZM as a differentiated player in the battery metals sector with potential for sustainable long-term value creation.

Environmental Progress Drives Operational Efficiency

Lifezone Metals achieved substantial environmental improvements throughout 2024, with the most significant being the transition of the Kabanga Nickel Project to grid power. This infrastructure upgrade resulted in a reduction of diesel consumption by over 75%, directly impacting both operational costs and environmental footprint. The company also initiated land rehabilitation and biodiversity restoration programs, demonstrating proactive environmental stewardship beyond regulatory requirements.

The environmental progress extends to regulatory compliance, with the company making meaningful progress on uplifting the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments to international standards. This advancement is crucial for international investors as it aligns the project with globally recognized environmental standards, potentially facilitating future financing and partnership opportunities.

The company's environmental initiatives support the company's broader Hydromet Technology value proposition, which offers potential for lower energy consumption, lower emissions and lower cost metals production compared to traditional smelting. The operational improvements at Kabanga provide tangible evidence of the company's ability to execute on its environmental commitments while maintaining project development momentum.

Social Impact Demonstrates Community Engagement

The social component of Lifezone's sustainability framework showed measurable progress in 2024, particularly in community compensation and stakeholder engagement. The company completed 96% of cash compensation payments, totaling $10.5 million, to Project Affected Households. This achievement demonstrates the company's ability to execute complex community agreements and maintain social license to operate in Tanzania.

Stakeholder engagement remained robust with over 430 stakeholder engagements conducted in Tanzania throughout the year. The company continued its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives focused on local education and healthcare programs, building long-term community relationships essential for project sustainability.

In the company news release, CEO Chris Showalter emphasized the importance of these achievements, stating:

"This report marks an important milestone for Lifezone. It reflects our commitment to transparency, responsible growth, and delivering long-term value to our stakeholders – while minimizing our environmental footprint and maximizing our positive social impact."

The social metrics provide investors with confidence in the company's ability to maintain community support, a critical factor for mining operations in emerging markets. The completion rate of compensation payments and extensive stakeholder engagement suggest effective local management and cultural integration.

Safety & Operational Credibility

Safety performance represents a cornerstone of Lifezone's operational excellence, with the Kabanga site recording over 2.2 million hours worked without lost time injury. This achievement is particularly significant given the inherent risks associated with mining operations and project development activities in remote locations.

Showalter highlighted the safety milestone's broader significance: "We are especially proud of the 2.2 million hours worked without a lost time injury at Kabanga – a testament to our culture of safety and operational excellence." This statement underscores management's recognition that safety performance serves as a proxy for overall operational discipline and risk management capabilities.

For investors, the safety record provides evidence of the company's ability to manage complex operations while maintaining high standards. Strong safety performance typically correlates with operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and reduced risk of costly incidents that could impact project timelines and financial performance.

Governance Framework Support

Lifezone made significant governance improvements in 2024, focusing on sustainability oversight integration and international standard alignment. The company continued integrating sustainability oversight at the board level, ensuring ESG considerations receive appropriate strategic attention and governance oversight.

The alignment of internal reporting with Sustainability Accounting Standards Board standards represents a meaningful step toward institutional-grade reporting. This standardization facilitates comparison with peer companies and supports institutional investor evaluation processes. Additionally, the company progressed toward International Finance Corporation alignment, potentially opening access to development finance institutions and ESG-focused capital sources.

Head of Sustainability Catherine Nichas emphasized the strategic importance of these governance improvements:

"Sustainability is not a side initiative – it is central to how we operate. This report provides a strong foundation for future disclosures as we continue to scale our operations and deliver meaningful, measurable outcomes for our stakeholders."

The completion of the first Human Rights Due Diligence assessment and initiation of Life Cycle Assessments for key projects demonstrate proactive risk management and due diligence practices. These assessments are increasingly required by international investors and provide frameworks for ongoing risk monitoring and mitigation.

Technology Development & Market Positioning

Lifezone's Hydromet Technology remains central to its competitive positioning in the battery metals market. The technology platform targets nickel, copper, and cobalt production from the Kabanga project while also supporting precious metals recovery from automotive catalytic converters through the company's US-based recycling partnership.

The dual application of Hydromet Technology across primary mining and recycling operations provides potential diversification benefits and exposure to growing circular economy trends. The technology's claimed advantages of "lower energy consumption, lower emissions and lower cost metals production compared to traditional smelting" address key industry challenges around environmental impact and operational efficiency.

The Kabanga project's scale and grade provide a substantial resource base for technology application. The deposit is believed to be one of the world's largest and highest-grade undeveloped nickel sulfide deposits, offering potential long-term production visibility subject to successful development execution.

For Tanzania, the project represents an opportunity to achieve in-country beneficiation adding value beyond raw material export. This alignment with national development objectives supports the project's social license and potential government support.

Investment Implications & Forward Outlook

The 2024 sustainability report provides investors with quantitative evidence of Lifezone's operational capabilities and ESG framework implementation. The demonstrated progress across environmental efficiency, community engagement, safety performance, and governance standards suggests effective management execution and operational discipline.

Key investment considerations include the company's ability to maintain this performance trajectory while scaling operations toward commercial production. The sustainability metrics provide baseline performance indicators that investors can monitor for consistency and improvement over time.

The governance improvements and international standard alignment position the company for potential institutional investor engagement and development finance access. These capital sources are increasingly important for mining companies operating in emerging markets and pursuing ESG-differentiated strategies.

Risk factors remain significant, as outlined in the company's forward-looking statements, including commodity price volatility, development execution risks, regulatory changes, and general economic conditions. However, the sustainability report provides evidence of management's ability to execute complex operational and community programs while maintaining safety and environmental standards.