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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 11, 2024) - Pure Energy Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: PE) (OTCQB: PEMIF) ("Pure Energy" or "the Company") is pleased to report that its partner, SLB (NYSE: SLB), has completed a comprehensive technology demonstration and testing program as required to earn-in to the Company's 100%- owned Clayton Valley lithium brine project ("CV Project") in Esmeralda County, Nevada. Pure Energy and SLB formed a partnership in May of 2019, which provides for SLB to design, permit, develop and build a state-of-the-art pilot plant for Direct Lithium Extraction ("DLE") of lithium brines from the Clayton Valley property. The sustainable lithium Demonstration Plant, operated by SLB, currently is producing lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) product, a direct component of lithium batteries in mobile phones, electric vehicles and energy storage.
SLB has demonstrated completion of specific technical milestones to qualify the earn-in to 100% ownership of the CV Project, which include continuous production of lithium carbonate for an extended period and achieving a material quantity of lithium product in excess of a required purity threshold, which was verified by a third party. For further details regarding SLB's participation, please refer to Pure Energy's Annual General and Special Meeting Management Information Circular dated April 4, 2019, available on www.sedarplus.ca.
Upon completion of all earn-in terms, SLB may take ownership of the CV Project claims and Pure Energy will receive a 3% net smelter return ("NSR") royalty payable on all commodities extracted from the Project, net of advance royalty payments made to the Company.
Pure Energy acquired its Clayton Valley mineral properties over an eleven-year period from 2012 - 2023 by staking open ground and through option agreements with neighboring claimholders. The property comprises 950 placer mineral claims over 9.450 hectares (23,360 acres) in good standing, granted by the US Bureau of Land Management ("BLM"). These constitute one of the largest mineral landholdings within Clayton Valley. During the period 2014-2019, nine bore holes were completed by Pure Energy, of which the production-scale hole CV-9 provides brine flow to the pilot plant. A Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") study, as amended, was published in April of 2018, incorporating results from the initial eight bore holes, and an additional seven holes subsequently were acquired together with properties. Pure Energy initiated the permitting process for development of a pilot plant in 2017.