- It creates an opportunity for CTL to leverage its understanding of DLE in Chile and accelerate its existing projects and potentially become involved in additional lithium projects.
- The opportunity to invite minority state participation further aligns interests, without any material dilution for shareholders, given the IRR of CTL’s respective projects.
- Chile’s commitment to the DLE process will accelerate its adoption and improving industry knowledge, workforce and confidence in the technology.
- Creates long-term certainty in the government’s position, which should give the lithium industry added confidence to invest.
- At both projects existing freshwater bores drilled in the basin periphery are expected to provide sufficient process water supply
- This will have no effect on the water table of the nearest local indigenous community, which is located two hours away by road (approx. 100km)
- The Atacama Desert which is renowned for being water challenged, is located 500km north of the projects
- Laguna Verde is not known to have sensitive flora and fauna. The basin features a shallow surface lake however it is hypersaline and is not known to support fauna of significance, while flora is extremely sparse in the basin
- At Francisco Basin the project area is located several kilometres away from the salar edge and any potentially sensitive zones
- At both projects environmental impact assessments are currently underway with a leading Chilean environmental services consultant
- Llamara, our third project, is a greenfield site and in the initial exploration phase. The same rigorous assessment will commence in due course
- The Company´s total resources, exceeding 2 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at both projects, are based on underground brine aquifers. All lithium brine projects globally are based on underground brine aquifers.
- Our JORC compliant resource estimates were carried out by two independent competent persons applying JORC reporting standards, including Montgomery & Associates a highly experienced international firm specialising in Water Resource Consulting, who verified the data included in our AIM admission document.
- The technology is established and proven. There are examples of projects around the world where the technology is successfully delivering commercial quantities of battery grade lithium.
- CTL is working with one of the most experienced and trusted DLE partners in the industry, Sunresin, which has a proven track record – currently supplying services to three Chinese-based operations. In 2022, it ran over seven pilot projects globally and has tested its process over numerous brines with a total capacity of 73,000 tpa LCE.
- CTL’s lead projects are ideally suited to the DLE process. There is an extensive & tested aquifer to extract brine and CTL has control of the entire basin at both projects, meaning it has the scope to reinject the spent brine, without any risk of dilution.