סטנדרד ליתיום ולנקסס מסיימים תוכנית לפרויקט ליתיום מסחרי ראשון בארקנסו

Standard Lithium Ltd., חברת טכנולוגיה חדשנית ופיתוח פרוייקטי ליתיום, הגיעה להסכם מיום 23 בפברואר 2022, עם שותפתה האסטרטגית, LANXESS Corporation ("Lanxess"), המייעלת ומזרזת את התוכנית לפיתוח פרויקט ליתיום מסחרי ראשון בארקנסו, אשר יוקם במתקן לנקס תפעולי באל דוראדו, ארקנסו ("הפרויקט"). על פי ההסכם, Standard Lithiumתשלוט בכל הפיתוח של הפרויקט עד וכולל השלמת מחקר התכנון ההנדסי הקדמי ("FEED"). Standard Lithium תחזיק, לכל הפחות, ברוב של 51% מהמניות בפרויקט ועשויה לשמור על עד 100% מהפרויקט. החברה גם תשמור על 100% בעלות על פרויקט דרום מערב ארקנסו שלה, כל טכנולוגיות המיצוי הקנייניות שלה, הקניין הרוחני והידע הרלוונטי.

Standard Lithium and Lanxess Finalize Plan for First Commercial Lithium Project in Arkansas

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE):

Standard Lithium Ltd. (“Standard Lithium” or the “Company”) (TSXV: SLI) (NYSE.A: SLI) (FRA: S5L), an innovative technology and lithium project development company, has reached an agreement (the “Agreement”), dated February 23, 2022, with its strategic partner, LANXESS Corporation (“Lanxess”), that streamlines and expedites the plan for development of the first commercial lithium project in Arkansas, which is to be constructed at an operational Lanxess facility in El Dorado, Arkansas (the “Project”). Under the Agreement, Standard Lithium will control all development of the Project leading up to and including the completion of the Front End Engineering Design (“FEED”) study. Standard Lithium will hold, at a minimum, a 51% majority equity stake in the Project and may retain as much as 100% of the Project. The Company will also retain 100% ownership of its South West Arkansas Project, all its proprietary extraction technologies, relevant intellectual property and know-how.

Robert Mintak, CEO of Standard Lithium commented, “This agreement builds upon the successful working relationship that has been established between the companies. By entering into this Agreement, Standard Lithium takes ownership of the Project and its development timelines with a clear path towards delivering the first new commercial lithium production in the USA in over 50 years.¹ We have already begun the process of engaging and integrating the strategic team members to make this project a success.  With the recent investment from our largest shareholder, Koch Strategic Platforms, we are fully funded to complete all planned Project milestones leading to a Definitive Feasibility Study, which is expected to be completed in Q4 2022”.

Key Highlights:

• StandardLithium will form an initially wholly-owned company (“Project Company”)that owns 100% of the Project during pre-FEED and FEED engineering studies(see news release dated January 20^th, 2022). The FEEDengineering will be used to produce a NI43-101 Definitive FeasibilityStudy (“DFS”) in Q4 2022;
• Lanxesswill, via a series of commercial agreements, provide the brine supply forthe Project, the Project site lease, and rights of way, infrastructure,and other services for the Project;
• StandardLithium will provide a market fee-based license to the Project Company ofits suite of intellectual property;
• StandardLithium is able to utilize its intellectual property, extractiontechnology and know-how at its 100% owned South West Arkansas Project,certain other sites in Arkansas and at all project sites outside ofArkansas, and will maintain control and ownership over the futuredevelopment of its IP portfolio; and,
• Lanxessis obliged to support development of the Project and upon completion of aDFS, has the option to acquire an equity interest in the Project Companyof up to 49% and not less than 30%, at a price equal to a ratable share ofSLL’s aggregate investment in the Project Company.

If Lanxess acquires an ownership interest:

• Theparties will share the costs of financing construction of the Project on aratable basis; and,
• Lanxesswill have the right to acquire some, or all of the lithium carbonateoff-take produced at the commercial plant at market-based terms less ahandling fee.

If Lanxess does not acquire an ownership interest:

• StandardLithium will own 100% of the Project including customary dividends,distribution, or similar rights;
• StandardLithium can elicit bids from other interested parties to buy up to 49% ofthe Project Company; and,
• Lanxesswill have the right to acquire some, or all of the lithium carbonateoff-take produced at the commercial plant at a price of market minus up to20%, to be agreed by Lanxess and Standard Lithium and taking intoconsideration several key commercial agreements (including the costs ofbrine supply and disposal for the Project, the Project site lease cost andrights of way, infrastructure, and other services for the Project).

The parties have also agreed that development of the second and third projects on the Lanxess properties will be on a joint basis and that the parties will perform the same roles using similar contractual structures as the first Project. Lanxess will also have the right to purchase the lithium carbonate off-take from the additional projects upon market-based terms to be agreed by Lanxess and Standard Lithium, taking into consideration other commercial agreements required for their development (e.g. site leases, brine supply/disposal etc.).

Advisors

Stifel Nicolas Canada Inc. acted as financial advisor to Standard Lithium during negotiation of this Agreement.

About Standard Lithium Ltd.

Standard Lithium is an innovative technology and lithium development company. The Company’s flagship project is located in southern Arkansas, where it is engaged in the testing and proving of the commercial viability of lithium extraction from over 150,000 acres of permitted brine operations. The Company operates its first-of-a-kind industrial-scale direct lithium extraction demonstration plant at Lanxess’s south plant facility in southern Arkansas. The demonstration plant utilizes the Company’s proprietary LiSTR technology to selectively extract lithium from Lanxess’s tail brine. The demonstration plant is being used for proof-of-concept and commercial feasibility studies. The scalable, environmentally friendly process eliminates the use of evaporation ponds, reduces processing time from months to hours and greatly increases the effective recovery of lithium. The Company is also pursuing the resource development of over 30,000 acres of separate brine leases located in southwest Arkansas, referred to as the South West Arkansas Lithium Project, and approximately 45,000 acres of mineral leases located in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California.

Standard Lithium is jointly listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and the NYSE American under the trading symbol “SLI”; and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol “S5L”. Please visit the Company’s website at http://www.standardlithium.com.

On behalf of the Board of Standard Lithium Ltd.
Robert Mintak, CEO & Director

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

¹ See https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-lithium.pdf

For further information contact:

LHA Investor Relations

David Barnard

+1 415-433-3777

[email protected]

[email protected]

Twitter: @standardlithium

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/standard-lithium/

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