Chilean Govt. Focuses on Laguna Verde for CEOL

Highlights:

• An initial volume of 88m³ of concentrated eluate, equivalent to approximately one tonne of lithium carbonate, was produced from the Company’s DLE pilot plant in Copiapó, Chile. This was achieved over a 384-hour operating period with 14 completed cycles, marking the completion of the first stage of production.

• The DLE adsorbent used in the pilot plant achieved a lithium recovery rate of about 95% from the brine, with a total recovery of approximately 88% (adsorption plus desorption). Impurity rejection rates were high, resulting in a low impurity eluate suitable for downstream conversion.

• The concentrated eluate is being shipped in four batches to Conductive Energy’s facilities in Chicago, USA, for conversion into battery-grade lithium carbonate.

• Conductive Energy conducted test-work on a 200L sample of concentrated eluate to optimize the downstream process before receiving larger volume shipments.

• The conversion test-work produced lithium carbonate samples with 99.75% purity, confirming the efficiency and repeatability of the process.

• The successful test results validate the development of a process to produce battery-grade lithium for the Laguna Verde project from pilot-scale DLE eluate.

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

“We are thrilled with these results, demonstrating our ability to produce battery-grade lithium with low impurities from the Laguna Verde brine project. Collaborating with our partners on the downstream process, Forward Water and Conductive Energy, we can showcase the complete DLE process from brine to final lithium product.

“The optimized downstream process will be applied to the initial volume of 88m³ of concentrated eluate, approximately 1 tonne of LCE, from the first stage of production at our DLE pilot plant. This will generate substantial test sample volumes of battery-grade lithium carbonate for testing with potential strategic partners. This is crucial as the Chilean government evaluates the feasibility of lithium projects to identify the most advanced companies in Chile and achieve their target of three to four new lithium projects in development by 2026.”

Further Information

Pilot Plant in Copiapó First Stage Production Completed

The Company’s DLE pilot plant in Copiapó, Chile, situated approximately 275km from Laguna Verde, concluded the first stage of production after processing 1196m³ of brine from the Laguna Verde project. A total of 14 cycles were completed, with each cycle involving filtration, DLE column operation for lithium adsorption, and RO concentration of eluate.

Key outcomes included a consistent recovery rate of 88%, stable eluate production rate, and successful achievement of plant design capacity.

A graphical representation of total recovery rate and impurity rejection was provided, highlighting the plant’s efficiency in producing low impurity eluate for downstream conversion.

Figure 1: Pilot Plant Total Recovery Rate

Downstream Processing into Battery Grade Lithium Carbonate: Test-work Completed

CleanTech Lithium partnered with Conductive Energy to perform test-work on concentrated eluate samples. The conversion process involved RO and FO concentration stages, ion exchange for impurity removal, carbonation, and product washing, filtration, and drying.

Figure 5: Conductive Energy Conversion Process

Reverse Osmosis and Forward Osmosis

Detailed concentration results through R/O and F/O stages were provided, emphasizing F/O’s effectiveness in achieving the required lithium grade for carbonation.

Table 2: Results from concentration of Laguna Verde eluate through R/O followed by F/O

Ion Exchange to Remove Impurities

The use of ion exchange for calcium, magnesium, and boron removal was highlighted, showing significant reductions in impurities while maintaining low lithium loss rates.

Carbonation and Battery Grade Lithium Sample

Carbonation test-work yielded a 96% conversion rate to lithium carbonate, producing a final product with 99.75% purity. Further optimization is planned to enhance product purity.

Table 3: Process test-work lithium carbonate sample purity Fig. 6: Test-work sample

Additional Operations

Laguna Verde Reserve Report Update

Montgomery and Associates are leading the reserve report update for the Laguna Verde project, with the completion scheduled for October 2024 pending the re-injection well’s completion in September 2024.

Competent Persons

Marcelo Bravo, Chemical Engineer, is the qualified person overseeing the metallurgical tests and subsequent processing, ensuring compliance with industry standards.

The information communicated is considered inside information as per Market Abuse Regulations, now in the public domain.

Contact:

CleanTech Lithium PLC

Steve Kesler/Gordon Stein/Nick Baxter

Jersey office: +44 (0) 1534 668 321

Chile office: +562-32239222

Or via Celicourt

Celicourt Communications

Felicity Winkles/Philip Dennis/Ali AlQahtani

+44 (0) 20 7770 6424

cleantech@celicourt.uk

Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser)

Roland Cornish/Asia Szusciak

+44 (0) 20 7628 3396

Fox-Davies Capital Limited (Joint Broker)

Daniel Fox-Davies

+44 (0) 20 3884 8450

daniel@fox-davies.com

Canaccord Genuity (Joint Broker)

James Asensio

+44 (0) 20 7523 4680

Terms and conditions may apply. For further information, please visit www.rns.com.

Source: CleanTech Lithium plc

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