February 23, 2006

PRESS RELEASE

AMERICAN ELEMENTS ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF NEW T-MITE™, C-MITE™ and A-MITE™ OXIDE NANOPOWDERS

[February 23, 2006, Los Angeles , CA] American Elements announced today the successful development and commercial availability of three new nanoscale oxide powders.

As a result of the success of its Z-MITE™ line of zinc oxide nanoparticles for use in anti-microbial and anti-fungal coatings, American Elements has developed T-MITE™, a nanoscale titanium dioxide powder, C-MITE™, a cerium oxide nanoparticle and A-MITE™, a nanoscale aluminum oxide powder.

All three new nanopowders are uniformly-sized nanocrystals which are available with diameters from 10 to 200 nm. The nanosized particles are 99+% pure, and are available uncoated, for use in aqueous mediums, and coated for use with organic solvents. Among the benefits of this application of nanotechnology is the creation of reactive surface area as high as 45 (m2/g) square meters per gram of nanopowder. The nanoparticles are available in both dispersion and dry powder form.

The combination of small particle size and ultra high surface area, makes T-MITE an excellent candidate for numerous applications in sun screens and other cosmetic applications, C-MITE a superior cerium oxide polish for CMP and glass surfaces and A-MITE a next generation additive to coatings to enhance abrasion resistance.

American Elements is a Los Angeles based global manufacturer and developer of engineered and advanced materials with the world’s largest industrial catalogue of rare earth materials accessible electronically at www.americanelements.com. For further information on the new Chinese rare earth tax rates, please contact your local American Elements distributor or American Elements U.S. corporate headquarters at (1)310-208-0551, FAX (1)310-208-0351 or customerservice@americanelements.com.