March 28, 2005

PRESS RELEASE

AMERICAN ELEMENTS ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF NEW VACUUMELT™ LINE OF SPUTTERING TARGETS

[March 28, 2005, Los Angeles , CA ] American Elements announced today the launch of a new product line dedicated to producing vacuum melted ultra high purity metal and sputtering targets.

The new production capability will be sold under the tradename Vaccuumelt™. It was developed to provide a next generation option to hot pressed sputtering targets for certain ultra high purity materials that have up until now only been available in such form. For example, the new process produces a 99.99% ruthenium target with superior performance to hot pressed ruthenium. The new products expand on American Elements line of Ultra High Purity Materials.

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.