Milestone Reached In Development Of The Kuska Project

VANCOUVER - Wealth Minerals Ltd. reported reaching an important milestone in its development of the Kuska project at the Salar de Ollagüe, Antofagasta region, Chile.

Hendrik van Alphen, CEO, said, "We are extremely happy with the positive PEA results and this important milestone to develop the Kuska project at our Ollagüe salar concessions. The PEA is a quality study that has thoroughly incorporated all the technical investigation, field data and best industry practices necessary to make Kuska into a world-class lithium production operation. Given Wealth's long experience with Direct Lithium Extraction technology (DLE), we paid particular attention to this aspect of the PEA, incorporating an extensive selection process for the most suitable DLE equipment and technology providers."

The Kuska project has been based on the maiden resource report published by Wealth Minerals Ltd. The Resource Report estimates 741,000 tons Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) indicated resources grading 175 mg/l (plus 701,000 tons LCE inferred resources grading 185 mg/l). After the preparation of the Resource Report, the Company acquired an additional 2,500 ha of mineral concessions adjacent to the concessions covered in the Resource Report. To date, these new concessions have not been investigated for lithium.

The PEA describes the Kuska project development towards a 20,000 metric tpa LCE output and an anticipated Life of Mine (LOM) of 20 years. The Company intends to use a mature DLE technology (TRL 8 in the PEA) converting lithium-bearing brine into battery-grade Lithium Carbonate (LC). Wealth Minerals spent almost 1.5 years to analyze and select market-ready DLE technologies for the PEA. The final selected technology converts lithium-bearing brine into highly pure lithium chloride concentrate and a refinement step to convert the lithium-rich eluate into high purity lithium carbonate (>99.5% LC).

Operations will be scaled up in two phases. The initial phase envisions building out a mining operation and plant with a capacity of 10,000 tpa LCE, which will then be scaled up to double that capacity within two years with a second production module for a total of 20,000 tpa LCE at the Kuska project. In addition, the preliminary plant concept includes process water recycling and waste treatment facilities for a minimum impact on the production area's environment. It is assumed to incorporate a maximum degree of renewable energy resource options.

The mining operation consists of a well field with necessary lithium-rich brine pumping capacity and a re-injection feed system to return Li-depleted brine back into the salar. The combination of wells and depleted brine operations, together with DLE methods, enable a near-zero environmental impact on the salar to preserve salar integrity and water equilibrium to the maximum extent possible.

Wealth intends to de-carbonize its lithium production operations as much as possible and has begun investigations into using renewable energy supplies that will power the production plant and associated infrastructure. Both solar and geothermal energy sources are targets of the Company's engineering team and consultants.