Inauguration of DLE Pilot Plant

CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM: CTL, Frankfurt:T2N, OTCQX:CTLHF), an exploration and development company, advancing sustainable lithium projects in Chile for the clean energy transition, inaugurated its Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) pilot plant in the city of Copiapó, Atacama Region, on Thursday 23rd May 2024. The ceremony was attended by authorities, business representatives, community members, and academics.

Attendees at the ceremony included the Presidential Delegate of the Atacama Region, Luis Pino, Regional Councillor Javier Castillo; CORFO Director Rosa Román; CORPROA President Andrés Rubilar; miners' union president Joel Carrizo; indigenous community representatives Christián Milla and Ercilia Araya, who also spoke at the ceremony highlighting the Company's plan to collaborate with local communities to develop sustainable lithium production in Chile.

Steve Kesler, Executive Chairman and Interim CEO of CleanTech Lithium said: "We are extremely proud to inaugurate our DLE pilot plant. The start of our plant's operations is concrete evidence of our commitment to Chile and the Atacama region to advance sustainable lithium production, preparing to meet the international markets' demand for battery-grade lithium, and adhering to the conditions established in the National Lithium Strategy by the Chilean Government. We are nearing the point of becoming one of the first DLE-based companies in Chile to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate."

Ercilia Araya Altamirano, President of the Pai-Ote Community, commented: "Today we are here in Piedra Colgada, inaugurating CleanTech Lithium's plant. We have been getting to know it; the last time we visited it was smaller, and now it is larger and more developed. The challenge of the plant is very interesting. We believe that it can be a very good methodology to implement in the upper territory (in the mountains) with minimal impact. We know there will be some impact, but in this way, I do not think we will have major problems. Regarding CleanTech's work with the communities, there is an initial phase of work before the consultation. We will conduct anthropological and human environment assessments, as well as environmental studies. In general, we will be working on all these aspects, and we will also validate the documents ourselves through the fieldwork we will undertake, because we know the territory and where it affects us. It is a great challenge, a great dream that we both share, because for the first time it is happening that we will bring in professionals whom we trust."

The Presidential Delegate of the Atacama Region, Luis Pino, stated: "It is very important that this type of project is already being established in the Atacama Region. We find it very interesting, particularly in light of the national lithium policy led by our President Gabriel Boric, which allows us to have a strategy and key guidelines on how the matter of lithium will be addressed over the next 20 or 30 years. It is extremely positive that CleanTech Lithium, in the process of establishing itself as a company, also generates this work with indigenous communities, which allows us to respect the processes involving participation, promotion, and, why not say it, respect for the sacred lands of the indigenous communities."

Image 1: Ribbon cutting at the inauguration of the CleanTech DLE Pilot Plant in Copiapó, Chile

Image 2: Ercilia Araya, President of the Pai-Ote Community and Executive Chairman and Interim CEO, Steve Kesler

Image 3: Steve Kesler, Executive Chairman and Interim CEO joins Presidential Delegate and CORPROA representatives

Image 4: Attendees at the inauguration ceremony of the DLE Pilot Plant

The inauguration ceremony of CleanTech Lithium's DLE Pilot Plant was part of a recent trip made by the Executive Chairman and Interim CEO, Steve Kesler, to meet CTL's operations and community relations teams and several of the Company's partners. The Company has recently announced encouraging results from the processing of brine from Laguna Verde and the dispatch of the first batch to Conductive Energy's processing plant in the United States.

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