CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM:CTL, OTCQX:CTLHF) executive chairman Dr Steve Kesler talked with Proactive about the company's revised timeline for its ASX listing, aligning closely with the CEOL process for its Laguna Verde project in Chile. Kesler explained the decision to delay the listing to early 2025 to await the Chilean government's resolution on priority projects, which would allow the company to present a stronger position to potential investors in Australia.
"New potential investors in Australia have a good picture, they have the history of the company, they know where we are now with the CEOL," Kesler said. He emphasized that having the pre-feasibility study (PFS) results and updated financials in the prospectus would strengthen investor confidence in a challenging market.
Kesler also addressed the departure of the CEO designate, citing personal reasons and confirmed that CleanTech Lithium is re-engaging with other high-caliber candidates ahead of the ASX listing expected in May. Additionally, he discussed the extension of the broker retail option to March 7th, allowing more retail shareholders to participate following the successful £2.4 million interim raise.
Proactive: Steve, very good to speak with you. You've released a revised timeline for your ASX listing. It looks like it's ready to dovetail with the CEOL process for Laguna Verde and Chile.
Dr Steve Kesler: Yes, good morning Stephen. Yes, we put the announcement out just to get everybody clear with what we're doing with the ASX. Obviously, we were hoping to do the ASX at the back end of last year, but with Australia shutting down for the summer holidays, we were going to push into early 2025.
But we're coming into the position where the government has been very clear. They want to issue a resolution on those projects which they consider a high priority and whether they can go through into the streamlined process of direct negotiation with the government. Now, Laguna Verde is a priority project. We're very positive in getting that clearance to go through to the streamlined process.
So it made no sense to go to Australia and say, âwe anticipate getting the approvalâ. It would be much better to go to Australia and, in the prospectus, having had the resolution know from the government at the end of March. So that's what we intend to do. We do need to update the financials from last year, which will go into that prospectus. Weâll be able to say we will have the resolution from the government, which is positive.
And we're also coming to the end of the pre-feasibility study. So it made sense to put the results of the pre-feasibility study into that prospectus so that the new potential investors in Australia have a good picture. They have the history of the company, they know where we are now with the CEOL, they have the technical economic viability from the pre-feasibility study, and we believe that will get a much stronger reception from investors in what is quite a difficult market at the moment.
Proactive: In the meantime, Steve, the CEO designate for the company is reconsidering his position. So he's not going to accept that position. But you are reengaging with some of the other high-caliber candidates that were put forward for that job?
Dr Steve Kesler: Yes. We met last year, three very good candidates. We offered the position to Tony. He's got good experience in Latin America, spoke Spanish, which is very helpful if you're doing a project in South America. But he's got personal reasons. Obviously, the timing has stretched out, and he has other things on his agenda.
So he informed us that he's dropping out of the equation. We are re-engaging with the other candidates that we met last year. Both are excellent individuals, and we hope to move this process along quickly in time for the ASX listing process, which we're now seeing as launching at the back end of April and planning to complete during the course of May.
Proactive: You've also extended the broker retail option, that's to the 7th of March, and I suppose to give them a chance to participate in the company?
Dr Steve Kesler: Yes, we had a very successful interim raise of £2.40 million which was to complete the work on the CEOL application, the PFS, and the ASX listing. We then said that there was strong interest from quite a number of our retail shareholders and say: âWell, how can we participate in this? Why is it only the institutional and sophisticated investors that can get into the offer?â
And we said, okay, let's put in place the broker option. We had a bit of a delay getting the ISIN number for the warrants from our registrar. So we have extended the date until the 7th of March to make sure that the potential retail shareholders can contact their brokers and come into the offer.
Proactive: Sounds like an exciting a few months ahead for the company. Steve, I hope you'll keep us updated on any progress. Thanks for speaking with us today.