Critical Elements Lithium Corporation

Corporate Update

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MONTRÉAL, Dec. 18, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Critical Elements Lithium Corporation (the “Corporation” or “Critical Elements”) (TSX-V: CRE) (US OTCQX: CRECF) (FSE: F12) is pleased to provide an update on its activities. Over the last few months, Critical Elements has been in steady communication with Provincial and Federal regulatory authorities concerning the permitting of the Rose Lithium-Tantalum project (“Rose” or the “Project”). Critical Elements provided Québec’s Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (the “MELCC”) and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the “CEAA”) with requested information this week and expects feedback within the next 4-6 weeks.

Strategic Partner & Project Financing Discussions

The Corporation continues to work closely with its financial advisor, Canaccord Genuity Corp., to evaluate ongoing interest from global strategic partners that seek to accelerate Rose Lithium-Tantalum project into production.

As part of the process, Critical Elements and their advisors have been in contact with a number of logical potential strategic parties, including OEMs, cathode manufacturers and battery cell manufacturers. These discussions are expected to continue into next year.

“Potential end-users recognize that our team has the capacity to successfully deliver lithium products and that our development strategy provides the flexibility to meet the current and future needs of major end-users. We remain confident in our ability to achieve a strategic partnership with a large lithium product end-user”, stated Jean-Sébastien Lavallée, Chairman & CEO of Critical Elements.

In parallel, we continue to work with various financial institutions and lenders to explore project debt financing opportunities for the construction of Rose.

Other Key Developments

Critical Elements is also pleased to reiterate some of the progress that has been made in recent months in terms of aligning community interests with those of the Corporation, as well as advancing the project engineering of Rose.

Impact & Benefit Agreement

In July 2019 the Cree Nation of Eastmain, the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee), the Cree Nation Government and the Corporation have signed an impact and benefit agreement, referred to as the Pikhuutaau Agreement (the “Pikhuutaau Agreement“), concerning the development and operation of Rose in Eeyou Istchee.