CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM:CTL, Frankfurt:T2N, OTCQX:CTLHF), an exploration and improvement firm advancing sustainable lithium initiatives in Chile for the clear vitality transition, is happy to announce its unaudited Interim Outcomes for the six-month interval ended 30 June 2024 (“1H 2024” or “the Interval”).
The Firm has made important progress with the Pre-Feasibility Research (“PFS“) on the flagship venture, Laguna Verde, and seen encouraging outcomes from the Direct Lithium Extraction (“DLE”) pilot plant in Chile and will likely be producing battery-grade lithium carbonate for potential strategic companions to judge. The Firm can also be pursuing a twin itemizing on the Australian Inventory Trade (“ASX“) and goals to be buying and selling on the ASX in This autumn 2024.
Highlights of the Interval:
Operational:
· Well being & Security:
o Zero-harm security tradition targeted on steady enchancment to attain an harm free and wholesome work atmosphere – no LTIs, main incidents or close to misses recorded in 1H 2024.
· Laguna Verde Drilling Programme:
o 5-well useful resource drilling programme commenced. Work designed in collaboration with Montgomery & Associates, a number one hydrogeology and useful resource analysis consultancy.
o Programme goals to provide a maiden reserves estimate utilizing modifying components from the Pre-Feasibility Research (“PFS”) which is underway and focused for completion by the top of 2024.
· DLE Pilot Plant:
o Operational and producing top quality lithium chloride eluate with low impurities.
o Eluate is being transformed to provide batches of battery-grade lithium carbonate which will likely be made accessible to potential strategic companions in This autumn 2024 to start out product qualification.
o Inauguration occasion was held in Might 2024 the place native communities and authorities officers have been in attendance.
· Mission Licences:
o CTL entered right into a sale and buy settlement (“SPA”), now taking full possession of sure Laguna Verde licences that have been beforehand held by the use of an possibility settlement
o The licences held within the Salar de Atacama basin, which we perceive are situated outdoors the salar space outlined as strategic by the Authorities and have been re-named the ‘Arenas Blancas’ venture, are a doubtlessly very promising alternative.
· CEOL Contracts:
o Expressions of Curiosity (“RFIs”) for a complete of 5 lithium initiatives have been submitted to the Chilean Authorities. CTL could be very properly positioned as essentially the most superior exploration stage firm progressing DLE based mostly initiatives in Chile.
o Francisco Basin venture has been renamed Viento Andino, in step with the RFI submission, to spotlight the venture space is outdoors a nationwide park of the same identify situated within the basin.
Company:
· Board adjustments:
o Govt Chairman Steve Kesler assumed the duties of CEO on an interim foundation, following the resignation of CEO, Aldo Boitano in April.
o The seek for a brand new CEO is properly underway and the chosen candidate will likely be introduced sooner or later.
· Money place:
o The Firm’s money place on the interval finish, together with proceeds obtained from Mortgage Notes shortly after interval finish, was £2.1 million.
Submit-period Highlights:
Operational:
o Pump exams and a reinjection properly at Laguna Verde, deliberate to be undertaken in This autumn 2024, will assist outline the brine extraction and reinjection wellfield design and the sustainable manufacturing charge required for the PFS.
o A plant location examine was accomplished by Worley for the Laguna Verde venture and concluded that the DLE and eluate focus ought to be undertaken at venture web site and the purification and carbonation near Copiapo which is at a decrease elevation with good technical help domestically accessible. This latter plant can be expanded sooner or later to additionally course of concentrated eluate from the Viento Andino venture.
o Completion of the primary stage of manufacturing of concentrated eluate from the Firm´s DLE pilot plant which has been shipped for conversion to battery-grade lithium carbonate by course of companions in North America.
Company:
· ASX Itemizing:
o The Firm is looking for to dual-list on the Australian Securities Trade (“ASX”). Though the Firm introduced an extension to the ASX IPO timetable on 20 September 2024, to permit it to handle some procedural issues raised by ASX, the intention stays to finish the IPO earlier than the 12 months finish. An related capital elevate is deliberate to allow completion of the PFS and continuance of different work programmes. However, the Firm continues to think about its funding choices on an ongoing foundation as part of its regular observe.
· CEOL Course of:
o The Authorities has streamlined the CEOL course of, saying an replace on the finish of September prioritising six salt flats for lithium improvement together with Laguna Verde, the Firm’s flagship venture, as having essentially the most beneficial circumstances to advance lithium exploration and extraction. CEOL functions to be submitted by 31st December 2024.
· Native stakeholders:
o CTL attended a seminar organised by CESCO alongside native indigenous communities. The President of the Colla Pai-Ote neighborhood publicly endorsed CTL’s Laguna Verde venture as the best way ahead for the lithium trade in Chile, which was broadly reported within the Chilean media.
o CTL’s DLE carousel gear is now put in on the College of Atacama as a part of an ongoing partnership. The DLE gear will likely be accessible for analysis programmes. The long-term collaboration between the College and CTL will assist nurture the abilities required for fostering the lithium trade within the Atacama area.
Steve Kesler, Govt Chairman and Interim CEO, CleanTech Lithium mentioned:
“The primary half of 2024 has seen important operational and strategic progress on our lithium initiatives in Chile. This consists of the manufacturing of top quality lithium chloride eluate with low impurities from our DLE pilot plant, which has a capability to provide one tonne monthly of lithium carbonate equal. A drilling, pump testing and reinjection programme was began at Laguna Verde aimed toward updating the JORC useful resource estimate, offering knowledge for the PFS and creating of a maiden reserve estimate.
“The Firm can also be within the technique of itemizing on the ASX change, which can help its future improvement, because it enters potential strategic companion discussions and progresses in the direction of manufacturing. While this course of has been delayed, the ASX market is properly versed within the lithium sector and a significant variety of the Firm’s current shareholders have Australian hyperlinks.
“With the PFS properly underway and venture improvement ongoing, backed by the sturdy help from native indigenous communities and aligned with the aims of Authorities’s Nationwide Lithium Technique, we look ahead to the long run with confidence.”
CHAIRMAN AND INTERIM CEO REVIEW
The next assessment is a glance again on the highlights from the primary half of 2024:
Enterprise Technique
CleanTech Lithium continues to make nice strides in assembly the target of turning into a number one provider of battery-grade lithium carbonate to help the world’s transition to scrub vitality. The progress made in the direction of constructing sustainable lithium initiatives in Chile the place the Firm is planning to make use of Direct Lithium Extraction (“DLE”) powered by renewable vitality instantly addresses the Chilean Authorities’s ambition to drive constructive change in sustainability and social and financial improvement.
The ‘Nationwide Lithium Technique’, proposed by the President of Chile in late April 2023, goals to make sure Chile stays a prime producer and provider of lithium – a vital element for batteries in Electrical Automobiles and vitality storage programs (“ESS”). The established mining jurisdiction is at the moment the most important provider of copper on the earth and one of many largest suppliers of battery grade lithium. To maneuver to a world run on clear vitality, new lithium initiatives are wanted, and Chile has the established infrastructure, trade experience and workforce to convey initiatives like CleanTech Lithium’s into manufacturing within the subsequent few years.
New initiatives have to be inbuilt the appropriate approach and the Authorities has prescribed the usage of DLE (or comparable sustainable applied sciences) for all new lithium improvement initiatives going ahead. CleanTech Lithium’s technique is to play a major function in aiding the Chilean authorities to attain this ambition. The Firm believes it’s most the superior improvement stage DLE firm working in Chile and the achievements made within the first half of 2024 is proof of this. It is rather encouraging to see the Firm’s DLE Pilot Plant producing samples of battery-grade lithium carbonate which can quickly be examined by potential strategic companions.
The Firm’s enterprise technique is concentrated on delivering long-term sustainable development and returns for all stakeholders, constructed on 4 pillars:
· develop the Firm’s superior lithium initiatives (Laguna Verde, Viento Andino) and progress the early-stage exploration initiatives (Arenas Blancas and Llamara) in Chile;
· utilise revolutionary applied sciences, together with DLE and, the place attainable, renewable vitality to sustainably produce lithium carbonate;
· produce industrial battery-grade lithium carbonate with excessive lithium recoveries and quick manufacturing time; and
· provide instantly into the EV and battery storage market through strategic companions and offtake agreements.
To this finish, the Firm’s rapid aims are as follows:
· replace the JORC useful resource estimate for Laguna Verde on completion of the 2024 drilling campaigns and declare a maiden reserves estimate;
· full deliberate hydrogeological research and metallurgical exams at Laguna Verde, together with finishing a brand new reinjection properly and pump exams to offer the info required to additional advance modelling of the sub-surface aquifer and design the extraction and reinjection wellfields;
· ship a Pre-Feasibility Research (“PFS”) on the Laguna Verde Mission and start the Definitive Feasibility Research (“DFS”) quickly afterwards;
· full the method check work on the DLE Pilot Plant and make battery grade lithium carbonate accessible for provide to potential offtake and strategic companions to start out product qualification;
· proceed the required work to finish the environmental baseline research that commenced in 2022 and undertake the research required to allow submission of the EIA in 1H 2025;
· enter right into a Particular Lithium Operation Contract (CEOL) with the Chilean State in relation to the Laguna Verde and Viento Andino Tasks to commercially promote lithium;
· proceed to collaborate with the native indigenous communities, universities and different native stakeholders to make sure long-term help for the initiatives, and
· enter into substantive discussions with potential offtake and strategic companions with a view to reaching settlement on a future enterprise relationship, together with establishing a funding bundle for the development phases of the Laguna Verde Mission, together with fairness participation, debt and different buildings, to convey the venture on stream and begin promoting lithium carbonate on the earliest attainable alternative.
Abstract of Firm Exercise
Within the first six months of the 12 months, CleanTech Lithium made additional progress towards delivering its PFS. This included commencing a five-well drilling programme at Laguna Verde, the commissioning of its DLE pilot plant and first manufacturing of extremely concentrated eluate for additional processing to make battery-grade lithium carbonate. The PFS is instrumental to help discussions with potential strategic companions. The Firm can also be looking for to dual-list on the Australian Securities Trade (“ASX”). Though the Firm introduced an extension to the ASX IPO timetable on 20 September 2024, to permit it to handle some procedural issues raised by ASX, the intention stays to finish the IPO earlier than the 12 months finish. However, the Firm continues to think about its funding choices on an ongoing foundation as part of its regular observe.
Operations
Well being and Security
The Firm maintains a zero-harm security tradition targeted on steady enchancment to attain an harm free and wholesome work atmosphere, with no misplaced time incidents (“LTIs”), main incidents, or close to misses reported within the first half of 2024.
5-Effectively Drilling Programme at Laguna Verde
The Firm commenced a 5 properly drilling programme at Laguna Verde largely aimed toward changing Inferred useful resource to extra Measured & Indicated useful resource which can then have technical and financial modifying components utilized from the PFS to find out a maiden reserve. The programme was designed in collaboration with Montgomery & Associates, a number one worldwide hydrogeology and useful resource analysis consultancy.
The drill programme started in Q1 2024, with the graduation of wells LV07 and LV11 and suspended in Might on the onset of the winter shut-down interval, with the plan to recommence in October. The programme will even embrace extra pump testing and reinjection testing in This autumn 2024 with outcomes serving to to calibrate the hydrogeological mannequin of the basin. This mannequin will assist additional outline the brine extraction and reinjection wellfield design and the sustainable manufacturing charge from Laguna Verde. Montgomery & Associates have been engaged to handle the drill programme, JORC useful resource and reserves reporting and design of the extraction and reinjection wellfields.
Laguna Verde is the Firm’s most superior venture and has a complete JORC useful resource of 1.8 million tonnes LCE, of which 1.1 million is within the Measured and Indicated class. Laguna Verde’s Scoping Research, introduced in January 2023, highlighted strong economics, with an NPV8 of US$1.8bn, an IRR of 45.1%, internet cashflows of US$6.3 billion and a low working prices of US$3,875/t for 30 years of manufacturing at 20,000 tpa LCE.
Drilling programmes at Laguna Verde since 2022
DLE Pilot Plant Commissioning and Manufacturing
The Firm´s one-tonne monthly DLE pilot plant (equipped by Sunresin) is situated in Copiapó, Chile, roughly 250km from Laguna Verde, and completed commissioning in late March. On the R&D centre the place the pilot plant is situated, brine from the Laguna Verde venture is saved in a big 243,000 litre vessel outdoors the pilot plant after which fed into an indoor tank having handed by means of filtration to take away suspended solids. It’s then fed into the DLE columns proven within the picture beneath, that are crammed with adsorbent designed to be selective for lithium molecules. Lithium, as lithium chloride, is adsorbed from the brine, earlier than desorption with water to create a purified lithium chloride eluate.
DLE Pilot Plant at R&D Centre in Copiapó, Chile (30 x approx. 3m columns to provide as much as 1 tonne monthly of LCE)
Testing of a variety of commercially accessible adsorbents recognized that the adsorbent equipped by Lanshen carried out one of the best on the Laguna Verde brine ensuing within the number of this adsorbent. The DLE Pilot Plant commenced operation in Q2 2024, producing top quality concentrated eluate. In Might, the Firm reported the important thing DLE efficiency metrics for the primary batch of 24m3 of concentrated eluate produced on the pilot plant. The restoration of lithium from the brine was 94% within the adsorption stage and 88% into the eluate. The lithium grade within the feed brine of 197mg/L was concentrated to 710mg/L within the eluate, or a 3.6X focus issue. These outcomes exceeded the Firm’s expectations. The eluate was additional concentrated by reverse osmosis to 2,194mg/l.
For the primary stage of manufacturing, a complete quantity of 1,196m3 of brine from the Laguna Verde Mission was processed on the DLE pilot plant with a complete of 14 cycles accomplished. Every cycle represents a quantity of brine being fed first by means of filtration to take away suspended solids, then into DLE columns that are crammed with adsorbent designed to be selective for lithium molecules. Lithium, as lithium chloride, is adsorbed from the brine, earlier than desorption with water to create a purified lithium eluate.
Averaged throughout the 14 cycles, the restoration charge achieved by adsorption of lithium from the brine was 95% and the restoration charge of desorption from the adsorbent was 93%. The entire restoration charge into eluate averaged 88% and was extremely constant as proven within the determine beneath. The temperature of the brine and desorption water, utilizing the common ambient temperature in Copiapó through the March to June interval of operation, was within the vary of 20oC to 25oC indicating that good efficiency was achieved with out the necessity to warmth options in both adsorption or desorption.
Pilot Plant Complete Restoration Charge
The eluate manufacturing charge was comparatively secure after the preliminary ramp up interval reaching a median of two.8 kg LCE per hour demonstrating that the design capability of the pilot plant of 1 tonne LCE monthly was comfortably achieved. Selectivity of the adsorbent is one other key efficiency parameter for a DLE operation. DLE primarily acts as a purification stage, recovering lithium chloride from the brine while rejecting different impurities. For all the key ions within the brine, other than boron, the rejection charge was very excessive, exceeding 99%.
DLE Efficiency – Rejection of Main Impurities
The downstream conversion of lithium chloride answer to battery grade lithium carbonate is properly established within the lithium trade. Moderately than spending capital on developing a lithium carbonate conversion plant, the Firm determined to companion with Conductive Vitality, an Alberta, Canada firm to undertake this conversion at its current facility in Chicago.
An preliminary 200L batch of concentrated eluate, was shipped to Conductive Vitality in Might. This batch was used as a trial earlier than organising the conversion course of that will be used for processing bigger volumes of eluate produced by our DLE pilot plant into battery grade lithium carbonate. Conductive Vitality accomplished the set-up test-work producing lithium carbonate of 99.75% purity which is battery grade. This course of contains focus of the concentrated eluate to 18,000mg/l Li by ahead osmosis adopted by ion change to take away the hint impurities of calcium, magnesium and boron after which carbonation with sodium carbonate to provide battery grade lithium carbonate.
On completion of this trial, the Firm subsequently shipped batches of concentrated eluate from the pilot plant, with a complete of 88m3 shipped by late July, which is equal to roughly one tonne of lithium carbonate.
The downstream plant is being commissioned with lithium carbonate manufacturing anticipated in October 2024. It will present the Firm with the capability to produce important portions of battery-grade lithium carbonate samples to potential strategic companions and offtakers to start product qualification.
Pilot Plant Inauguration
In Might, the DLE pilot plant was formally inaugurated in Copiapó with a ceremony attended by numerous regional authorities, indigenous neighborhood leaders, lecturers, and enterprise representatives. Attendees on the ceremony included the Presidential Delegate of the Atacama Area, Luis Pino, Regional Councillor Javier Castillo; CORFO Director Rosa Roman, CORPROA President Andres Rubilar; miners’ union president Joel Carrizo; indigenous neighborhood representatives Christian Milla and Ercillia Araya.
