America’s Leading Manufacturer of Rare Earth and Advanced Material Products

        U.S. SALES & ADMINISTRATION: SUITE 2000 1093 BROXTON AVE. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  90024

May 25, 2004

PRESS RELEASE

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AMERICAN ELEMENTS ANNOUNCES NANOFLUOR™ LINE OF NANOSCALE RARE EARTH AND ADVANCED METALLIC FLUORIDE POWDERS

[May 25, 2004, Los Angeles, CA] American Elements announced today the successful development and commercial availability of a new product group of nanoscale metallic fluoride powders. Included in the group are fluorides of the rare earths (lanthanide series) and several other advanced metal fluoride powders with known application value. Marketed under the trade name “NanoFluor™”, the new nanopowders also have ultra high purities up to 99.9999% (6N). Among the benefits of this application of nanotechnology is the creation of reactive surface area as high as 40 square meters per gram of powder.

The combination of ultra high purity and ultra high surface area makes these new nanomaterials excellent next generation candidates for numerous high technologies, including optical transmission and advanced electronic applications. The new product group includes, among others, nanoscale high purity fluorides of the elements Erbium, Ytterbium, Aluminum and Scandium.

For further technical and pricing information on the full line of NanoFluor™ products, 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 . American Elements is America’s leading manufacturer and supplier of rare earth and other advanced material products with distribution offices in Europe, Asia and South America.