Chilean Government Prioritises Laguna Verde for CEOL

CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM: CTL, Frankfurt: T2N, OTCQX:CTLHF), an exploration and development companyadvancing lithium projects in Chile for the clean energy transition, reports an announcement by the Chilean Government on the Expressions of Interest (‘RFIs‘) process under which the Company made submissions in June 2024. This is part of the process for the awarding of aSpecial Lithium Operating Contract (‘CEOL‘) to enter production.

The Government has prioritised six salt flats for lithium development, including Laguna Verde the Company’s flagship project, as having the most favourable conditions to advance lithium exploration and extraction. The Ministry of Mining will award one CEOL per salt flat with companies only considered if they meet certain criteria.

Highlights:

Laguna Verde prioritised by the Chilean Government as one of six salt flats for which the CEOL awarding process will start.CTL submitted RFIs to the Chilean Government in June 2024 in line with the updated CEOL application procedure as part of the National Lithium Strategy.For a CEOL to be awarded companies must have experience in any stage of the lithium industry value chain, which includes exploration and development, the financial capacity to develop the project and, additionally, hold mining concessions equivalent to or greater than 80% of the applicable CEOL area within any of the six prioritised salar basins.CTL´s RFI application directly addressed each of these key criteria and as the Company has a dominant licence position in the Laguna Verde basin it is the only Company that meets the mining concession area requirement.The Chilean Government will now commence indigenous community consultations related to these six salars.Additional to other criteria, CTL has developed a strong relationship with indigenous communities located in the surroundings areas, based on early engagement including a collaborative alliance signed in December 2023 to co-design the project´s Environmental Impact Assessment (‘EIA‘). The Company is also working with the regional University to promote local opportunities for future projects.The next stage of the process is for companies to submit the CEOL application by December 31st 2024.The RFI process has been transparent, and recognises the importance of progress made by applicants, with CTL being a leader in developing its projects based on using Direct Lithium Extraction (‘DLE‘), early and groundbreaking community engagement in the Atacama region, and full alignment with Chile´s National Lithium Strategy.

Steve Kesler, Executive Chairman and Interim CEO, of CleanTech Lithium PLC, said:

‘We are pleased the Chilean Government has provided an update on the CEOL process to support the lithium industry in Chile. It is very positive to see Laguna Verde has been prioritised as one of the salt flats that has the most favourable conditions to develop lithium production. We submitted our RFI highlighting the significant investment we have already made, the positive progress with DLE and our established engagement with local indigenous communities. The criteria set out by the Government recognises the status of the Company´s progress at the Laguna Verde project and puts in place a clear path to award a CEOL and the project’s development into production, which is targeted for 2027.’

For further information contact:

CleanTech Lithium PLC

Steve Kesler/Gordon Stein/Nick Baxter

Jersey office: +44 (0) 1534 668 321

Chile office: +562-32239222