CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM: CTL, Frankfurt:T2N), an exploration and development company advancing sustainable lithium projects in Chile, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ignacio Mehech, former Country Manager of Albemarle in Chile, as the Chief Executive Officer (‘CEO’) and director of CleanTech Lithium.

Click link to watch interview with Ignacio Mehech: https://youtu.be/4iMx2vIZw9g

Highlights:

· Mr Mehech spent seven years up to 2024 at Albemarle with the last three years as Country Manager in Chile, managing a workforce of 1,100 employees and key stakeholder relationships, including Government and indigenous communities

· Albemarle is the world’s largest producer of battery grade lithium with Chile accounting for 30 – 40% of its production*

· Native to Chile, Spanish speaking and fluent in English, Mr Mehech has deep leadership and project development experience in lithium production

· Managed high profile engagements with investors, customers, NGOs, analysts, scientists and international government representatives

· Before Albemarle, Mr Mehech led the legal strategy for the El Abra copper operation in Chile, a joint venture with Codelco, and leading US mining company Freeport McMoRan

· Throughout his career Mr Mehech has led profound transformations in organisations to generate sustainable value

· Mr Mehech holds a law degree from the Universidad de Chile and a master’s degree in Energy and Resources Law from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Ignacio Mehech, Chief Executive Officer, CleanTech Lithium PLC said:

‘I’ve been following CleanTech Lithium’s progress in Chile for the past couple of years and have been impressed at the progress that has been achieved, with the Company being one of the most active in Chile in seeking to develop a more sustainable means of producing lithium from Chile’s abundant brine resources.

I’m truly excited to take on the role as CEO to advance CleanTech’s Laguna Verde project and the other business opportunities in Chile. The immediate focus is entering direct negotiations with the Chilean government and progressing the CEOL application for Laguna Verde and delivering the Pre-Feasibility Study to initiate strategic partner conversations. I look forward to leading CleanTech Lithium’s project development alongside a dedicated team and to deliver value to all our stakeholders whilst supporting the ambitions of Chile’s National Lithium Strategy.’

Steve Kesler, Executive Chairman, CleanTech Lithium PLC, said:

‘We are delighted that Ignacio has agreed to join us as CEO. His experience in Chile is invaluable, having been Country Manager for leading lithium producer Albemarle, and working on the EL Abra copper mine in Chile for US mining giant Freeport McMoRan. Ignacio joins CleanTech at a crucial point in our development and his significant experience will be instrumental in leading our Laguna Verde project into the next phase.’

‘I will continue in my role as Executive Chairman intending to move back to being the Company’s Non-Executive Chairman when our Board believes the time is right. I look forward to working with Ignacio and remain confident in the long-term potential of CleanTech Lithium.’

Figure 1: Ignacio Mehech (centre) participating in a panel discussion at the Future Mining and Energy Congress in Santiago, Chile October 2023. Photo credit: Future Mining and Energy Congress

Background on Ignacio Mehech

During his tenure at Albemarle, a US-listed company with a current market cap of around US$6 billion as of 8^th April 2025, Mr Mehech played a pivotal role in driving production growth, strategic negotiations, and sustainability initiatives, significantly impacting Albemarle’s operations in Chile and the broader region. Since 2015, Chile has been Albemarle’s largest single operation – depending on market prices – accounting for 30 to 40% of its global production.

A landmark achievement under his guidance was securing the first-ever IRMA (Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance) certification for a lithium operation worldwide at the Salar de Atacama plant-a testament to his commitment to environmental and social responsibility.

Previously to Albemarle, Mr Mehech has worked as a legal manager at Freeport-McMoRan, one of the largest copper and molybdenum producers in the world, with multiple assets around the globe. In Chile, it operates SCM El Abra, a joint venture with Codelco, located in Calama and where Mr Mehech was responsible for developing and leading the legal strategy for the business, assuring operational continuity, building relationships with regional authorities, indigenous and non-indigenous communities.

Ignacio Mehech Castellon, aged 42, has held the following directorships and/or partnerships in the past 5 years:

Mr Mehech currently holds no ordinary shares or other securities in the Company.

There is no further information on Ignacio Mehech required to be disclosed under Schedule Two, paragraph (g) (i)-(viii) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

*Statistic taken October 2024 – Albemarle is the world’s largest lithium producer – Mining.com https://www.mining.com/web/ranking-the-worlds-top-lithium-producers/

The information communicated within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. The person who arranged for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was Gordon Stein, Director and CFO.

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) is an exploration and development company advancing lithium projects in Chile for the clean energy transition. CleanTech Lithium has two key lithium projects in Chile, Laguna Verde and Viento Andino, and exploration stage project in 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 three projects have good access to existing infrastructure.

CleanTech Lithium is committed to utilising Direct Lithium Extraction (‘DLE’) 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. For more information, please visit: www.ctlithium.com

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Tariff fears lift silver, but industrial demand uncertainty looms

Precious metals, including silver, have benefited from the volatility created by the Trump administration’s constant tariff threats since the beginning of the year. These threats have caused chaos throughout global equity and financial markets, prompting more investors to seek safe-haven assets to stabilize their portfolios.

“We don’t really have any indication yet that industrial demand has weakened. There is, of course, a lot of concern regarding industrial demand, as tariffs could cause demand destruction as costs go up,” he said.

Krauth noted that for solar panels there is an argument that tariffs could positively affect industrial demand if countries have a greater desire for self-sufficiency and reduced reliance on energy imports.

He referenced research by Heraeus Precious Metals about a possible slowdown in demand from China, which accounts for 80 percent of solar panel capacity. However, any slowdown would coincide with a transition from older PERC technology to newer TOPCon cells, which require significantly more silver inputs.

“This, along with the gradual replacement of older PERC solar panels with TOPCon panels, should support silver demand at or near recent levels,” Krauth said.

Recession could provide headwinds

Another potential headwind for silver is the looming prospect of a recession in the US.

At the beginning of 2024, analysts had largely reached a consensus that some form of recession was inevitable.

While real GDP in the US rose 2.8 percent year-on-year for 2024, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow tool shows a projected -2.8 percent growth rate for the first quarter.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis won’t release official real GDP figures until April 30, but the Atlanta Fed’s numbers suggest a troubling fall in GDP that could signal an impending recession.

“When the economy slows down, demand for manufactured goods, including silver, decreases, which means that buying in the next six months is unlikely to be a wise decision,” she said.

Solar panels account for significant demand, with considerable amounts also used in electric vehicles. Tariffs on US vehicle imports and a possible recession could create added pressure for silver.

“Another important factor is silver’s connection to the electric vehicle market. Previously, this sector supported demand for the metal, but now its growth has slowed down. In Europe and China, interest in electric cars is no longer so active, and against the background of economic problems, sales may even decline,” Khandoshko said.

Silver demand from solar panel production stands at 232 million ounces annually, with an additional 80 million ounces used by the electric vehicle sector. A recession could lead consumers to postpone major purchases, such as home improvements or new vehicles, particularly if coupled with the extra costs of tariffs.

Although the impact of tariffs on the economy — and ultimately demand for silver — remains uncertain, the Silver Institute’s latest news release on March 3 indicates a fifth consecutive annual supply deficit.

Silver price outlook for 2025

“I think silver will hold up well and rise on balance over the rest of this year,” Krauth said.

He also noted that, like gold, there have been shipments of physical silver out of vaults in the UK to New York as market participants try to avoid any direct tariffs that may be coming.

Khandoshko suggested silver’s outlook is more closely tied to consumer sentiment. “The situation may also change when the news stops discussing the high probability of a recession in the US,” she remarked.

With Trump announcing a sweeping 10 percent global tariff along with dozens of specific reciprocal tariffs on April 2, there appears to be more instability and uncertainty ahead for the world’s financial systems.

This uncertainty has spread to precious metals, with silver trading lower on April 3 and retreating back toward the US$31 mark. Investors might be taking profits, but it could also be a broader pullback as they determine how to respond in a more aggressively tariffed world. In either scenario, the market may be nearing opportunities.

“There is some risk that we could see a near-term correction in the silver price. I don’t see silver as currently overbought, but gold does appear to be. I think we could get a correction in the gold price, which would likely pull silver lower. I could see silver retreating to the US$29 to US$30 level. That would be an excellent entry point. In that scenario, I’d be a buyer of both the physical metal and the silver miners,” Krauth said.

With increased industrial demand and its traditional safe-haven status, silver may present a more ideological challenge for investors in 2025 as competing forces exert their influence. Ultimately, supply and demand will likely be what drives investors to pursue opportunities more than its safe-haven appeal.

How did tech stocks perform in Q1?

The performance of major tech companies was influenced by a confluence of events and trends in Q1.

The sector began the year in positive territory, reflecting optimism from investors who saw US President Donald Trump’s November victory as a boon for business. However, this upward trend proved short-lived.

Economic headwinds, most notably cautious monetary policy and investor anxieties about global trade disruption, triggered a market downturn that resulted in periods of tech stock selloffs.

The tech market did demonstrate some signs of recovery in the final week of the quarter.

NVIDIA’s chip-making competitors

Competition within the chip industry heated up in the first quarter as AI spending enthusiasm shifted to other semiconductor companies and custom chip development advanced.

Barclay’s (NYSE:BCS,LSE:BARC) analyst Thomas O’Malley reaffirmed his ‘buy’ rating for NVIDIA on January 20 and raised his price target to US$175, but warned that NVIDIA’s customers are looking for alternatives to its GPUs.

He identified Marvel Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) as NVIDIA’s biggest contenders, adjusting their price targets to US$150 and US$260, respectively.

For its part, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM) has continued to experience strong demand for its chip-making services. Its quarterly profits for Q4 2024 reached a record, and the company is anticipating strong revenue growth moving forward. The firm has planned significant investments in technology and capacity, including US$100 billion for new facilities to boost US chip production.

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML), the sole producer of the EUV lithography machines crucial for advanced AI chips, also exceeded Q4 earnings expectations, resulting in a positive effect on its share price.

AI agents and other emerging tech

Looking ahead, the market for AI agents — autonomous entities that can take actions to achieve specific goals — is poised for expansion. At its annual GPU Technology Conference, held from March 17 to 21, NVIDIA’s CEO emphasized a shift from generative AI to physical AI, describing AI agents as a “multi-trillion dollar opportunity.’

Strategic acquisitions, such as ServiceNow’s intention to buy Moveworks, underscore the growing importance of agentic AI in enterprise solutions. Amazon Web Services is developing a team focused on developing agentic AI, betting on increased client spending for automation. Meta is gearing up to test AI agents for small businesses, and OpenAI is developing premium agent offerings for business and academic pursuits.

While these advancements are exciting, challenges remain, with Gartner predicting a sharp rise in AI agent-related security breaches by 2028. To address reliability, Microsoft is developing ‘deep reasoning agents.’

The first quarter of 2025 also signaled a major acceleration in robotics development, with Google’s new Gemini Robotics models and partnership with Apptronik indicating AI and robotic integration. The US$2 billion valuation for Kyle Vogt’s the Bot Company suggests the robotics sector is poised for growth and market expansion.

Advances like Eliza Wakes Up’s humanoid and Figure AI’s in-house development signal the potential for near-term commercial availability. Funding activity, with Field AI seeking a US$2 billion valuation and Aescape securing US$83 million in strategic funding, demonstrates investor confidence in the potential of robotics.

Investor takeaway

Wrapping up the quarter, Nick Mersch, portfolio manager at Purpose Investments, hosted an ‘ask me anything’ session on Reddit (NASDAQ:RDDT) to share insights on what investors should consider when evaluating tech stocks.

“The number one predictor of stocks over time is their earnings power. Invest in companies that are growing earnings more than the overall market and you will win. This is easy in theory but difficult in practice. You need to look at secular trends in order to skate to where the puck is going. It is much easier to pick a winner in a sector that has strong overall growth than picking through the rubble of a beaten-down industry,’ said Mersch.

“However, you do also have to recognize that sometimes, this is cyclical. That’s why I like to pick companies that are what I call ‘compounders.’ These are companies that are growing both top line (revenue) and bottom line (earnings) at a solid rate and are reinvesting in new growth avenues. At the end of the day, you need cash flow generative companies.’

Mersch added, “Look for three things — earnings, earnings, and earnings.”

DRC export suspension boosts oversupplied market

Cobalt supply has ballooned over the last five years, with annual mine supply of the critical metal growing from 140,000 metric tons in 2020 to 290,000 metric tons in 2024. This 107 percent increase has far outpaced rising demand from the electric vehicle (EV) sector and other end-use segments, leading to a massive oversupply.

In mid-February, Rob Searle, battery raw materials analyst at Fastmarkets, wrote that while sector participants were waiting to see whether demand would pick up after the Lunar New Year, his firm wasn’t overly optimistic on prices.

‘At this stage we are not expecting a significant price correction given the oversupplied nature of the market from intermediates to cobalt metal,’ he explained, adding that cobalt could be due for ‘another bearish year.’

Searle also noted that producer CMOC’s (OTC Pink:CMCLF,SHA:603993) 2025 guidance is pegged at 100,000 to 120,000 metric tons, on par with the 114,000 metric tons it produced in 2024.

Looking at the US, he said while potential tariffs on Canadian cobalt metal could create short-term tightness for ‘certain Western brands,’ Fastmarkets wasn’t looking for a strong 2025 recovery in standard-grade cobalt metal pricing.

In response to the free-falling cobalt metal price, the DRC — the world’s leading cobalt-producing country by far — enacted a four month cobalt export suspension on February 24. The move quickly added tailwinds to cobalt metal prices, which as mentioned rose to a two year high of US$36,262 on March 17.

“The cobalt market has been quiet and stagnant for some time as production has far outstripped demand in the last 18 months. This was the first sign of life and took nearly all parties by surprise … a cut of supply this large will likely lead to a significant price correction in the coming months,” Searle noted in a March 14 release.

“Post-June, when the ban is supposed to lift, the potential for export quotas going forward could support cobalt hydroxide and metal prices for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026.”

While companies are unable to ship cobalt hydroxide from the DRC, the suspension does not prevent the production and stockpiling of the critical material. Officials plan to review the embargo after three months.

Breaking down cobalt demand

The battery sector remains the largest cobalt end-use segment, representing approximately 70 percent of demand. This includes batteries in EVs, consumer goods and energy storage systems.

Super alloys, tooling and chemicals and catalysts account for the majority of the remaining 30 percent, with a small fraction also being used in magnets, medical implants and additive manufacturing (3D printing).

As Adam Webb, head of battery raw materials at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, explained at the Toronto-based Benchmark Summit in March, positive forecasts and significant growth in the EV market in 2020 and 2021 led to a widespread demand uptick for battery raw materials, including cobalt.

“That led to markets going into deficit, prices rising, and that incentivized new production to come online,” he said.

“But bringing on a new mine is not like turning on a tap — it takes time. So that new supply that was incentivized eventually came online a couple of years later, at the same time there’s been a slowdown in the growth of that demand, and that’s led to all of these markets becoming oversupplied and weighing on prices,’ Webb added.

Will EV growth catalyze cobalt prices?

Although global EV sales have been lower than projected, the sector has registered widespread growth, setting a sales record in 2024 of 17.1 million EVs sold, representing a 25 percent year-on-year increase.

Regionally, China dominated with 40 percent growth, capped by a historic December that saw 1.3 million EVs sold, the highest monthly volume ever recorded, according to RhoMotion. The US posted a modest 9 percent uptick, fueled by federal tax credits that are now threatened by potential Trump administration rollbacks; meanwhile, Europe lagged with a 3 percent decline as automakers and consumers braced for tougher 2025 emissions standards.

“What is clear is that Government carrots and sticks are working,” Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said in a January report. He explained that subsidies, incentives and mandates in the UK and North America supported growth.

“Meanwhile the removal of subsidies in Germany had a devastating impact on the whole European market, if the US follows suit, we may see the same there,” Lester added.

While full Q1 data for EV sales is yet to be available, January brought sales of 1.3 million units, an 18 percent year-on-year increase. The steady increase has prompted Rho Motion to forecast full-year sales exceeding 20 million units.

Substitution concerns mount as supply chain tightens

While EV sales continue to rise, cobalt’s future demand outlook is slightly obscured. The opacity is due to its growing substitution, with some battery chemistries using smaller amounts or no cobalt at all.

Although lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) batteries remain the preferred chemistry for EV batteries, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistries have been increasing their market share. Accounting for 6 percent of the battery sector in 2020, LFPs now comprise as much as 34 percent of the market.

Even with low prices making cobalt affordable, the market is fraught with issues that make substitution appealing.

Human rights abuses, including child labor and unsafe work conditions in the DRC, have long plagued the country’s cobalt sector. These ethical concerns have prompted companies to seek more sustainable and humane alternatives.

Concentration of production has also created instability in the cobalt supply chain. The DRC’s dominance in cobalt production, accounting for over 60 percent of global supply, exposes manufacturers to geopolitical and supply risks.

To combat these issues, researchers and companies are developing cobalt-free battery technologies, such as lithium-ion batteries using nickel-rich cathodes, which perform comparably to traditional cobalt-based batteries.

“In 2024, the volume of cobalt deployed per vehicle declined by 25 percent year on year,” as per Fastmarkets.

While demand for cobalt will continue due to the expansion of the EV market, these ethical, economic and supply chain concerns are driving the industry toward alternative battery chemistries with reduced or eliminated cobalt content.

In light of these factors, Benchmark’s Webb expects the cobalt sector’s compound annual growth rate to be slightly lower than that of other battery raw materials, coming in at 7 percent over the next decade.

“That’s simply because cobalt is not used in every single lithium ion battery, whereas lithium — the clue is in the name — it is,” said Webb.