REG - CleanTech Lithium - Application for CEOL Submitted

Cleantech LithiumAnnouncement

15/01/2025 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250115:nRSO3319Ta&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 3319T  CleanTech Lithium PLC  15 January 2025

15 January 2025

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

Submits Application for a Special Lithium Operating Contract (CEOL)

for its Laguna Verde Project in Chile

 

CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM: CTL, Frankfurt: T2N), an exploration and
development company advancing sustainable lithium projects in Chile, is
pleased to announce that the Company's subsidiary in Chile, Atacama Salt Lakes
SpA ("ASL"), has submitted its main application (the "Application") for a
Special Lithium Operation Contract ("CEOL") for the Company's flagship asset,
Laguna Verde (the "Project"). Laguna Verde is one of six saline systems that
the Government of Chile has prioritised for development by the private sector
and the CEOL gives the applicant the right to commercially produce lithium
from the specified project.

Although contracts are normally awarded after a public tender the Government
has announced a simplified procedure whereby an applicant can be awarded a
CEOL through direct negotiation if it meets certain criteria. The Company
believes that its application for a CEOL at Laguna Verde demonstrates that
these criteria have been met and so expects to proceed with direct negotiation
with the Government on the terms of the CEOL.

Highlights:

·    ASL has submitted the main Application for the CEOL, with additional
annexes to be submitted shortly to finalise electronic submission, in
compliance with the criteria established by the Ministry of Mining to enter
the simplified procedure for the award of a CEOL through direct negotiation.

·    The Application details the basis under which CleanTech Lithium
intends to advance the Project and is supported by independent technical
studies and reports covering the considerable work undertaken and progress
achieved on the Project over the past four years. The Application runs to 1200
pages of supporting documentation.

·    This includes the work undertaken on Direct Lithium Extraction
("DLE") and the DLE pilot plant in Copiapó culminating in the recently
announced production of high-grade lithium carbonate with 99.78% purity.

·    The Application addresses the criteria set by the Ministry of Mining
which would allow ASL to enter direct negotiations with the Government for the
award of a CEOL in 2025:

o  ASL holds licences exceeding 80% of the licences in the proposed CEOL
polygon area included in the Application

o  The Company is a participant in the lithium industry through its lithium
exploration and exploitation activities in Chile

o  The Company meets the minimum equity requirement and maximum debt/equity
ratio on its consolidated balance sheet over the past two accounting periods,
and

o  Demonstrated community consultation and support - the Application includes
letters of support from indigenous community leaders for the award of the CEOL
to ASL and for CTL´s approach to develop the Project

·    The Application outlines the benefits the Project will bring to Chile
with the Company being a leader in deploying a new sustainable lithium
production method in the country, along with financial returns to the State
and local communities, employment and economic growth in the region, technical
development and value adding opportunities

·    The Company will maintain an ongoing dialogue with the relevant
Government authorities over the coming months with a view to having the
Application accepted for direct negotiation by April 2025 and then having the
CEOL awarded around mid-year 2025.

·    CleanTech Lithium will host an investor webinar today at 17:00 GMT.
Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free via:
https://www.investormeetcompany.com/cleantech-lithium-plc/register-investor
(https://www.investormeetcompany.com/cleantech-lithium-plc/register-investor)

 

Steve Kesler, Executive Chairman, CleanTech Lithium said: "We believe that our
CEOL application fully complies with the criteria established by the Mining
Ministry to enter the simplified procedure and direct negotiation. We think
this marks a major step towards advancing sustainable lithium supply from
Chile to the global battery and EV market. CleanTech Lithium has undertaken
extensive work on the Project over the past 4 years. With the recent
announcement of high-grade lithium carbonate production from Laguna Verde
brine and with the pre-feasibility study expected to complete end of March, we
believe we are extremely well-placed to engage with strategic partners and
move the Project forward towards the production of lithium carbonate in a
sustainable manner.

"Finally, I would like to thank the local community leaders who have supported
our CEOL application. We believe this reflects the approach we have taken as a
Company to work alongside the communities - and local universities - in a
collaborative and open manner and this is a key part of our story in the
Application."

Further Details:

As stated in the RNS of 27 September 2024, the Chile Government 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 production. The Ministry of Mining set out certain criteria
that companies must meet to enter a simplified procedure and direct
negotiation with Government for award of a CEOL rather than through a public
tender. The Government will award one CEOL per saline system.

 These criteria include:

Demonstrating experience in all or any of the following areas - Exploration in
mining, mining exploitation, participation in lithium refining or development
of value-added lithium products: In the CEOL application the Company provides
details of our work in exploration for lithium in Chile which has led to
declaration of a substantial resource at Laguna Verde. The criteria for
experience in mining exploitation requires that the applicant have developed
or be developing a lithium project with a minimum construction capex of
US$100million and with a minimum production capacity of 5,000tpa lithium
carbonate equivalent ("LCE") and state at which stage of development is the
project. CleanTech Lithium is at PFS stage in the development of Laguna Verde
having completed a scoping study with production rate of 20,000tpa LCE with an
estimated capex at that time of about US$400million. The Company thus meets
the experience criteria in exploration in mining and in mining exploitation.

Financial capacity: Each applicant must show it has more than US$30m equity
across financial accounts on average over the past two years and a
debt-to-equity ratio of a maximum of 1.2. In the CEOL application CleanTech
Lithium provides the audited balance sheets and income statements that
demonstrate these criteria have been met. Furthermore, the application
provides details of how the Company intends to finance the construction of the
Laguna Verde project.

Holding mining concessions for exploration and exploitation equivalent to 80%
or more of the area of the polygon corresponding to each saline system: In the
case of overlapping concessions only the concessions with priority will be
counted. The Ministry provided the georeferenced vertices of the polygon for
Laguna Verde that the Ministry will use to measure the percentage of mining
property required to access the simplified procedure. However, this polygon
has a referential nature for the purpose of determining the area over which
the CEOL will be granted and can be modified by virtue of an indigenous
consultation process and the agreements reached by the Ministry and the
applicant company. Within the CEOL application CleanTech Lithium has submitted
a proposed polygon in which ASL has over 80% of the exploration and
exploitation licences with priority. As further support, three of the
indigenous communities have provided letters to the Ministry supporting
CleanTech Lithium´s application including the proposed polygon for the CEOL
area.

Indigenous consultations: The Government stated that it would undertake
consultation with indigenous communities potentially affected by development
of lithium projects on each of the six prioritised salt flats. This
consultation process commenced in October 2024 and was expected to take 6-8
months. If the Government and applicant reach agreement on the CEOL, it would
be signed once the indigenous consultation is completed and would incorporate
any agreements reached during the consultation process. CleanTech Lithium has
a close working relationship with local indigenous communities and in December
2023 signed an alliance agreement with three of those communities. The
CleanTech Lithium application includes details of our robust plans to
collaborate and form lasting partnerships with indigenous groups and
communities directly affected by project operations and includes letters of
support from the communities of the alliance agreement.

CleanTech Lithium believes it is fully compliant with these criteria to enter
the simplified procedure. The Board's track record with successfully
developing and operating commercial mining projects, the Company's commitment
to sustainable production through use of DLE and renewable energy and
establishing partnerships with local communities position the Company in a
very strong position to be granted the CEOL for Laguna Verde.

CEOL Award Mechanism - The simplified procedure

Submission of applications close on 31 January 2025. The Ministry IT and legal
departments then have 5 business days to register and organise the submittal.
The Ministry´s Lithium and Salar Unit then has 45 business days to review and
analyse the request. Once this analysis is completed and the Lithium and Salar
Unit verifies that all the information and documents needed to enter the
simplified procedure have been submitted then an administrative act to accept
the application will be prepared. This timetable indicates that, provided all
information in the Company application is accepted, then CleanTech Lithium
will enter direct negotiation on the CEOL with the Ministry by mid-April 2025.

Following acceptance of the submittal, a preliminary CEOL draft will be sent
to the applicant and the Lithium and Salar Unit has 60 business days to
negotiate a final CEOL and issue its opinion on the advisability of entering a
CEOL with the applicant. If approved a Supreme Decree awarding the CEOL will
be drafted. This timetable indicates that the CEOL should be awarded in July
2025.

The CEOL process is a critical step in fulfilling the Government's vision of
making Chile a leader in sustainable lithium production. The awarding of a
CEOL to CleanTech Lithium will support the global energy transition while
protecting local ecosystems and advancing community development. CleanTech
Lithium shares this vision and remains committed to playing an integral role
in realising Chile's National Lithium Strategy.

For more information, visit the Ministry of Mining's website at
www.minmineria.cl (http://www.minmineria.cl) or explore the government's
lithium strategy updates at Hacienda Chile (https://www.hacienda.cl) .

 

 For further information contact:
 CleanTech Lithium PLC
 Steve Kesler/Gordon Stein/Nick Baxter          Jersey office: +44 (0) 1534 668 321

                                                Chile office: +56 9 312 00081
                                                Or via Celicourt
 Celicourt Communications                       +44 (0) 20 7770 6424

 Felicity Winkles/Philip Dennis/Ali AlQahtani   cleantech@celicourt.uk (mailto:cleantech@celicourt.uk)
 Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser)   +44 (0) 20 7628 3396

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

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

 James Asensio

 

Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish") is the Company's Nominated
Adviser and is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Beaumont Cornish's
responsibilities as the Company's Nominated Adviser, including a
responsibility to advise and guide the Company on its responsibilities under
the AIM Rules for Companies and AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers, are owed
solely to the London Stock Exchange. Beaumont Cornish is not acting for and
will not be responsible to any other persons for providing protections
afforded to customers of Beaumont Cornish nor for advising them in relation to
the proposed arrangements described in this announcement or any matter
referred to in it.

 

Notes

CleanTech Lithium (AIM:CTL, Frankfurt:T2N, OTCQX:CTLHF) is an exploration and
development company advancing lithium projects in Chile for the clean energy
transition. Committed to net-zero, CleanTech Lithium's mission is to become a
new supplier of battery grade lithium using Direct Lithium Extraction
technology powered by renewable energy.

CleanTech Lithium has two key lithium projects in Chile, Laguna Verde and
Viento Andino, and exploration stage projects in Llamara and Arenas Blancas
(Salar de Atacama), located in the lithium triangle, a leading centre for
battery grade lithium production. The two most advanced projects: Laguna Verde
and Viento Andino are situated within basins controlled by the Company,
which affords significant potential development and operational advantages.
All four projects have good access to existing infrastructure.

CleanTech Lithium is committed to utilising Direct Lithium Extraction 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. www.ctlithium.com (http://www.ctlithium.com/)

 

**ENDS**

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCKZGMMRDKGKZM