12 AUGUST 2010

MEDIA RELEASE – US$40 Million Loan For Vanadium Expansion Project

Singapore-Listed Sapphire Obtains S$54 million Loan

Facility to Fund Expansion of Steel and Vanadium
Production

Singapore, 12 AUGUST 2010 – Singapore Exchange Catalist-listed Sapphire Corporation

Limited (“Sapphire”) said today it has secured a fresh loan of US$40 million (S$54 million)
to finance the expansion of Weiyuan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (“Weiyuan”), an indirectly held
vanadium and steel plant in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”).

Sapphire said its wholly owned Sapphire Mineral Resources (HK) Limited (“SMRHK”) has
entered into an agreement with CITIC Bank International Limited (“CITIC”) for the
transferable term loan facility.

SMRHK last month secured a loan, also from CITIC, for US$65 million. Sapphire is using
this loan to increase its stakes in two companies – 16%-held Prime Empire Limited (“PEL”),
which in turn holds 68% of Weiyuan; and 72.85%-held Lucky Art Holdings Limited, which in
turn holds 70% of Neijiang Chuanwei Special Steel Co., Ltd (“Special Steel”), which has also
been a 51%-held subsidiary of Sapphire since June 2009.

All the companies are based in Sichuan Province. Weiyuan intends to increase steel
production from 2.5 million tons a year currently to 4.65 million tons by 2013, of which a
significant amount will be reinforced by vanadium.

Should this production target be reached, Weiyuan will be able to recover 140,000 tons of
vanadium slag. Sapphire uses the slag to produce vanadium pentoxide, a feedstock for
production of ferrovanadium which is used as an alloying element for high-tensile steel used
for specialist applications in oil and gas, automotive, aerospace and precision manufacturing.

As a long-term supplier to Special Steel, Weiyuan sells about 40,000 tons a year of slag to
Special Steel which produces about 3,500 tons of vanadium pentoxide. If Weiyuan can raise
slag output to 140,000 tons per year as planned, it can yield 12,250 tons of vanadium
pentoxide a year.
Vanadium pentoxide currently fetches RMB 82,000 per ton, up from RMB 75,000 in 2009. As
Special Steel already achieves gross margin of about 34% for vanadium pentoxide
production, the increased volume amid high prices will contribute to the financial
performance of its parent, Sapphire.

Weiyuan has obtained regulatory approval from the PRC Central Government to expand its
steel production capabilities and targets to invest approximately RMB 5.6 billion to carry out
the enhancement project in Sichuan. They have also obtained in-principle approval from
local PRC banks to finance 60% of the project’s capital expenditure.

“We continue to see strong demand for vanadium in the PRC. Supported by a growing
economy which needs higher standards in infrastructure development, vanadium continues
to be in heavy demand for the production of high-tensile steel used in construction,” said Mr.
Teo Cheng Kwee, Chief Executive Officer of Sapphire.

“The loan facility underscores our commitment to grow as a leading steel and steel-related
producer in the PRC by enhancing the value proposition of our strategic partners and related
companies,” Mr Teo said. “While short-term weaknesses have affected demand and prices,
we remain confident about the long-term outlook for the PRC steel industry.

“By focusing on producing vanadium, we see ourselves as being a significant value-added

player in the specialist steel sector in the PRC, and in the process, enhance shareholder
value,” he said.

Sapphire is expected to release its results for the six months ended 30 June 2010 on 13
August 2010.

# ENDS #

This announcement has been prepared by the Company and its contents have been reviewed by the
Company’s sponsor, Stamford Corporate Services Pte Ltd (the “Sponsor”), for compliance with the
relevant rules of the SGX-ST. The Sponsor has not independently verified the contents of this
announcement.

This announcement has not been examined or approved by the SGX-ST and the SGX-ST assumes
no responsibility for the contents of this announcement including the correctness of any of the
statements or opinions made or reports contained in this announcement.
The contact person for the Sponsor is Mr. Bernard Lui.
Telephone number: +65 6389 3000 Email: bernard.lui@stamfordlaw.com.sg
Media & Investor Relations Contacts:

WeR1 Consultants Pte Ltd Sapphire Corporation Limited

29 Scotts Road 123 Genting Lane
Tel: (65) 6737 4844 Fax: (65) 6737 4944 Tel: (65) 6843 6802 Fax: (65) 6253 8585

Ng Chung Keat ngck@wer1.net Angeline Lim

Corporate Communications Manager
angelinelim@sapphirecorp.com.sg

About Sapphire Corporation

Sapphire Corporation Limited is principally engaged in the production of steel and vanadium products,
mainly hot rolled coils and vanadium pentoxide (“V2O5”) flakes and trading of minerals as well as
investments in mining and resource-related businesses.

The Group’s production operations are undertaken by its core subsidiary, Neijiang Chuanwei Special
Steel Co. Ltd (“Special Steel”) which is part of an integrated steel-making group.

The Group’s mineral trading arm procures strategic minerals for our steel plants as raw materials as
well as supplying to other customers in China.

Apart from Special Steel, the Group’s holds deemed interests of 11.2% in Neijiang Bowei Fuel &
Chemical Co. Ltd, a coke plant and 10.88% in Weiyuan Steel Co. Ltd, a steel plant and 9.5% in
directly-held China Vanadium Titano-Magnetite Mining Company Limited – an iron ore producer listed
on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (stock code:HK893). All entities are part of the integrated steel
group located in Sichuan Province, PRC.

Sapphire has been listed on the Singapore Exchange since 1999. Based in Singapore, the Group
has subsidiaries and associate companies in China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.