CleanTech Lithium (LON: CTL) has secured options to add two lithium brine properties in Argentina’s Salar de Antofalla, expanding its portfolio near its flagship Laguna Verde project.
The company signed agreements to acquire 100% of the Genoveva and Sal de Litio 1 properties, collectively known as the Antofalla project, about 80 km from Laguna Verde in Catamarca Province. The licences are adjacent to an exploration property held by Albemarle (NYSE: ALB), the world’s top lithium producer.
CleanTech shares rose 7.4% in London following the announcement, closing at 7.25 pence apiece and giving the developer a market value of £25.5 million ($34 million).
The acquisition gives CleanTech a foothold in what it describes as Argentina’s largest undeveloped salt flat, with potential to share infrastructure and processing facilities across its regional lithium projects.
The company plans to begin exploration at Antofalla in 2027, while keeping Laguna Verde as its development priority.
“We are excited by the addition of this project in Argentina,” CleanTech CEO Ignacio Mehech said. “We expect these three projects to have significant development synergies, as well as potentially benefitting from sharing a centralised conversion facility in Copiapó.”
Acquisition terms
CleanTech will pay the unnamed sellers $525,000 during the first year, followed by another $1.4 million in scheduled payments between October 2027 and May 2031. The company plans to fund the approximately $1.93-million acquisition through existing cash resources.
The agreements give CleanTech the option to acquire both properties outright, although their exploration potential has yet to be established.
Management sees opportunities to integrate Antofalla with Laguna Verde and its Viento Andino project, potentially reducing future development costs through shared infrastructure.
“The Laguna Verde project remains our main focus; however, the addition of the Antofalla project provides strong long-term value enhancement for our shareholders,” Mehech said.
The planned 2027 exploration program will be an early test of Antofalla’s resource potential and help determine how the properties could fit into CleanTech’s broader South American lithium development strategy.