Lithium Chile Inc. announced excellent results from preliminary metallurgical test work carried out to determine the best production processes for lithium extraction. Lithium Chile is assessing potential commercial development pathways for its Salta lithium brine project in Argentina, Arizaro. All metallurgical test work referenced in this report were completed using brine collected (2000 liters) in August 2022 from the first production well ARGENTO-01, finished under the first phase program which has a reported average grade of 300 mg/l of lithium.

Most of the metallurgical testing completed to date has focused on selectively recovering lithium from brines using Direct Lithium Extraction Technologies ("DLE"), an alternative to the conventional evaporation process. DLE has the potential to shorten lithium extraction time and provide higher recovery of lithium, addressing the critical supply constraints and sustainability requirements to meet the surge in lithium demand due to the increased pace of adoption of electric vehicles and renewable energy. A baseline evaporation investigation is currently underway at Norlab´s facility in Salinas Grandes, Jujuy under the direction of Dr. Daniel Galli.

The work aims to study small-volume samples for 2 paths: concentration to the point of loss of lithium in precipitated salts (as a constituent element of the crystals); and methodology for obtaining concentrated brine with low impurity content. Test work is underway for Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) ­ a technology that can reduce production time, increase recovery rates, eliminate large evaporation ponds, and reduce the environmental footprint. Brine was delivered to Chengxin's DLE facility in China for production tests as well as Summit Nanotech in Calgary, Alberta and Minería Positiva SRL in Salta, Argentina for analysis.

The following are key outcomes of the DLE testing: MINERÍA POSITIVA SRL (MP+): MP+ conducted bench test on Selective Adsorption of Lithium using alumina-based adsorbent from a local producer. These tests include advanced chemical studies in the laboratory recently established in the province of Jujuy. The results show that the resin recovery factor averaged 5.6 mg Li/g of resin at a flow rate of 3 BV/h at 20°C. A maximum lithium recovery of 95% was achieved during adsorption, followed by a 76.4% elution of the recovered lithium in the elution output stream.

The operational product according to the analyses has an average lithium concentration in the eluate (937 mg/L) greater than three times the concentration of the lithium concentration from that of the feed brine and a lower concentration of impurities. MP+ has made great progress on processing raw brine with Aluminum resin, currently testing pre-concentrated brine and performing additional tests to confirm results. Optimization of the DLE process and lithium conversion processes are being reviewed focusing the efforts on important operational variables such as water and energy consumption.