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    CleanTech Lithium’s 40‑year Chile CEOL: tenure and design implications for mine planners

    March 11, 2026|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    CleanTech Lithium’s 40‑year Chile CEOL: tenure and design implications for mine planners

    First reported on MINING.com

    30 Second Briefing

    CleanTech Lithium has agreed a 40‑year special operating contract (CEOL) with Chile’s mining ministry for the Laguna Verde brine project, covering 153 km² from exploration through to closure and giving direct contractual backing from the Chilean state. Laguna Verde holds a JORC‑compliant resource of 1.9 million tonnes at an average 174 mg/L lithium carbonate, with a 2023 scoping study outlining 20,000 tpa LCE over 30 years and a pre‑feasibility study due this quarter. The CEOL, one of only a few granted in Chile and still subject to Comptroller General ratification, materially reduces tenure risk for project financing and process design decisions.

    Technical Brief

    • CEOL term explicitly spans exploration, evaluation, construction, production and closure over the 153 km² licence.
    • Contract is structured as a decree requiring final ratification by Chile’s Comptroller General’s Office.
    • Laguna Verde brine aquifer has been drilled through multiple campaigns since 2021 to define the current resource.
    • Resource size and grade position Laguna Verde among Chile’s largest lithium brine projects outside the Atacama Salar.
    • Share price moved 4.8% on announcement, approaching a 52‑week high and signalling improved perceived tenure security.
    • CEOL award places Laguna Verde in a small group of Chilean lithium projects with long-term state-backed operating contracts.

    Our Take

    With a JORC resource of 1.9 million tonnes and a 30‑year life outlined in the 2023 scoping study, Laguna Verde sits at the smaller end of Latin American lithium assets in our database, which likely makes the 40‑year contract term more about tenure certainty than scaling to major-brine volumes.

    CleanTech Lithium’s c. £22.3 million market capitalisation is low relative to most Latin American lithium developers in our coverage, so securing long‑dated operating rights in Chile’s Atacama region could materially de‑risk the project pipeline and support future equity or strategic funding rounds.

    The presence of both lithium and gold as tagged commodities, alongside a 1.8% spot gold gain this quarter, underlines how sentiment in precious metals can still influence capital flows into smaller UK‑listed battery metals plays such as CleanTech Lithium, especially when they are advancing long‑life projects in Chile.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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