RCS - CleanTech Lithium - End-of-Year Message from CEO

Cleantech LithiumAnnouncement

31/12/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 2005N  CleanTech Lithium PLC  31 December 2025

31 December 2025

CleanTech Lithium PLC ("CleanTech Lithium" or the "Company")

End-of-Year Message from CEO

 

CleanTech Lithium PLC ("CleanTech Lithium" or "CleanTech" or the "Company")
(AIM: CTL, Frankfurt:T2N), an exploration and development company advancing
sustainable lithium projects in Chile has published an end-of-year message
from CEO, Ignacio Mehech. The letter can be found below in full and on the
Company's website here: https://ctlithium.com/investors/circulars-documents/
(https://ctlithium.com/investors/circulars-documents/)

 

End-of-Year Message from Ignacio Mehech, CEO, CleanTech Lithium Plc

Dear CleanTech Lithium Community,

As 2026 approaches, I'm pleased to share my first end-of-year message as CEO
of CleanTech Lithium. Having joined the company in April of this year, I have
had the privilege of witnessing first-hand the hard work, passion, and
ambition that defines our teams in Chile and the UK. My intention with this
message is to capture some of the key operational and technical highlights and
milestones we have achieved recently and the priorities for the early part of
what promises to be a pivotal 2026.

Despite the challenging market conditions that we are all aware of, I'm proud
to say that CleanTech Lithium has continued to develop its lithium projects in
Chile, strengthen partnerships with leading companies around the world and
nurtured our relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, from indigenous
communities to shareholders.

Our Special Lithium Operating Contract (CEOL) Application

The Chilean government announced recently that the streamlined process has
opened for new applications for Laguna Verde salar. Companies have until the
end of January 2026 to apply but we will be submitting ours in the very near
future.

We are confident that our application will meet all of the criteria set out by
the Government earlier in the year and as part of Chile's National Lithium
Strategy. If successful, there will be a negotiating period with the
Government and then the award of the CEOL is expected in Q2 2026. The Ministry
of Mining has already agreed on a number of CEOLs for new lithium projects in
Chile, so we can expect this process for Laguna Verde's CEOL to be
expeditious. There will be more detail on this in January.

 

Image 1: Current CleanTech Lithium's Preferential Licence Extent at Laguna
Verde

 

Strengthening Our Value Proposition and Expanding Our Resources

2025 has also seen an updated resource estimate at our flagship project,
Laguna Verde. We now have a total of 1.9 million tonnes of lithium carbonate
equivalent (LCE), 0.84 million tonnes of LCE of which is in the Measured +
Indicated category at a grade of 178 mg/L lithium. The new data provides
increased confidence in the scale and quality of the asset and reinforces our
strategy to be the next lithium producer from Chile and to advance efficient
extraction technologies.

This upgraded resource will feed our Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), which is
scheduled to be published soon, once we have been accepted into the
streamlined process for the CEOL.

Producing High-grade Lithium Carbonate

This year we advanced one of the company's most strategic pillars: the
development and evaluation of next-generation extraction and processing
technologies. We have continued our test-work on lithium processing
technologies that aim to deliver higher efficiency, improved sustainability,
and stronger economic outcomes.

In January, we announced the production of high-grade lithium carbonate from
our pilot plant in Copiapó. A test run volume of concentrated eluate was
processed in December 2024, into an 8kg sample of high-grade lithium carbonate
which a laboratory at the University of Calgary confirmed achieved 99.78%
purity. With the results published in January, this exceeds the 99.6% purity
standard (Chinese GB/T 23853-2022 (Type 1)) for battery grade lithium
carbonate from brine. We are looking to continue this process work in the new
year and scale sample production for potential strategic partners to examine,
as well as proving the end-to-end the process and flowsheet contained in our
PFS.

Image 2: Filter press used in the conversion process to produce lithium
carbonate

A further highlight has been the collaboration with DuPont Water Solutions'
newly developed nanofiltration (NF) membrane technology, which shows promise
for achieving high lithium recovery while reducing environmental footprint.
The test work so far has exceeded expectations in the removal of impurities
and an increase in lithium recovery. We published initial results in July and
will continue this test work in the new year as it has the potential to reduce
both Capex and Opex costs.

These advances, as well as others still in the evaluation phase, underscore
our commitment not only to produce lithium, but to producing it responsibly
and efficiently. We aim to be a company that leverages innovation to minimise
our impact such as water use, energy use, and operational footprint, whilst
maximising returns.

Building the Future of CleanTech Lithium

Beyond operational progress, engaging with investors has been a key focus
since I joined the company, and this is something I will do more of in the new
year. In September, I visited London to meet shareholders, potential strategic
partners, and analysts who remain deeply engaged with the global lithium
narrative and CleanTech Lithium's position within it. Their feedback,
enthusiasm, and long-term thinking have been instrumental as we refine our
pathway to production. I plan to visit London again in the new year and look
forward to continuing the informative discussions with our stakeholders and
advisors during this visit.

 

Image 3: Ignacio Mehech joined Maximo Pacheco (Codelco), Juan Pablo Schaeffer
(Anglo American), and Darryn Quayle (Worley), at the Anglo Chilean Society
Event during London Metal Exchange Week, October 2025.

Our strategy for 2026 is clear: advance our projects toward final investment
decisions, increase the understanding of our resource base, deepen our
partnerships, and maintain our leadership in sustainable lithium development
in Chile by securing the CEOL and publishing the PFS for our Laguna Verde
Project. With a strengthened resource base, new technologies under evaluation,
and continued support from international investors and locally with indigenous
communities and the Chilean government, we are entering the new year with
momentum and confidence. This will allow us to have more meaningful
discussions with potential strategic partners who have the experience and
financial firepower to assist us in unlocking the real potential of Laguna
Verde. We are already taking actions in this regard and will provide further
updates to the market soon.

To our shareholders: thank you for your trust and engagement throughout the
year.

To the CleanTech Lithium team and our partners: thank you for your dedication,
resilience, and belief in our shared vision. The achievements of 2025 reflect
your hard work.

I wish you and your families a successful New Year. I look forward to
continuing this exciting journey together and sharing many more milestones in
2026 amid encouraging signs with the lithium price and global adoption of
electric vehicles and energy storage systems.

 

Warm regards,

Ignacio Mehech

Chief Executive Officer

CleanTech Lithium Plc

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 For further information contact:
 CleanTech Lithium PLC
 Ignacio Mehech/Gordon Stein/Nick Baxter       Office: +44 (0) 1534 668 321

                                               Mobile: +44 (0) 7494 630 360

                                               Chile office: +562-32239222
 Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser)  +44 (0) 20 7628 3396

 Roland Cornish/Asia Szusciak
 IStar Capital Limited (Joint Broker)          +44 (0) 20 3884 8450

 Daniel Fox-Davies                             daniel@istar.capital (mailto:daniel@istar.capital)
 Canaccord Genuity (Joint Broker)              +44 (0) 20 7523 4680

 James Asensio

About CleanTech Lithium

CleanTech Lithium (AIM:CTL, Frankfurt:T2N) is an exploration and development
company advancing lithium projects in Chile for the clean energy transition.
CleanTech Lithium has two key lithium projects in Chile, Laguna Verde and
Viento Andino, and exploration stage project in Arenas Blancas (Salar de
Atacama), located in the lithium triangle, a leading centre for battery grade
lithium production.

CleanTech Lithium is committed to utilising Direct Lithium Extraction ("DLE")
with reinjection of spent brine resulting in no aquifer depletion. Direct
Lithium Extraction is a transformative technology which removes lithium from
brine with higher recoveries, short development lead times and no extensive
evaporation pond construction. For more information, please
visit: www.ctlithium.com (http://www.ctlithium.com/)

 

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