American Lithium Receives First of 3 Drill Permits to Commence Additional Development and Discovery Drilling at and around Falchani Peru

Drilling to Start Immediately

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Lithium Corp. (“American Lithium” or the “Company”) (TSX-V:LI | Nasdaq:AMLI | Frankfurt:5LA1) is pleased to announce receipt of the first of three permits from Peruvian authorities for drilling near Quelcaya, 5-6 kms west of the Company’s Falchani deposit, and drilling will start immediately.

Simon Clarke, CEO of American Lithium states, “This is a very significant development for the Company which validates recent supportive comments from the new government in Peru and enables us to target the discovery of new lithium mineralization on some of the best previously identified targets on the Macusani Plateau. With momentum building, the Company continues to advance its projects in Peru and Nevada with PFS work being fast-tracked on both of our large-scale lithium projects.”

This is a major development for the Company as it represents the successful conclusion of the Company’s permit application process to secure this drill permit which now enables the Company to drill test several new, high priority lithium targets. It also provides validation of recent comments from the new government in Peru that the mining sector is now working “as normal” again and supporting the development of our lithium projects and the industrialization of lithium as a new mineral in Peru.

Given these recent developments, we also anticipate final permits being approved shortly for expansion and infill drilling at both the Falchani lithium deposit and at the Macusani uranium project. The Company has four diamond drills on site at Falchani where drilling related to the ongoing environmental impact assessment (“EIA”) commenced in 2022 and is well advanced. The current intention is to complete drilling at both Falchani and Quelcaya prior to commencing drilling at Macusani, likely following completion of the intended spin out of this Project into its own listed vehicle, as previously announced.

Highlights:

• Quelcaya discovery and exploration permit received from MINEM; community access agreements and other permits already in place; drilling to start immediately on priority targets;
• Final Falchani expansion and infill drill permit expected within the next few weeks;
• Up to 8,000 m of diamond drilling (40 drill holes) planned, including:
  • Discovery / exploration diamond drilling at Quelcaya on 3 key target areas 5-6 km west of the Falchani resource area; recent field work located outcrop grab samples¹ of up to 3,272 ppm Li;
  • Deposit extension drilling on the Falchani deposit, focused west of Tres Hermanas and to the northwest of resource footprint on previously untested ground; and
  • In-fill drilling within the Falchani resource area for resource reclassification and expansion of the large, indicated and inferred mineral resource to measured and indicated.
• Pre-feasibility Study (“PFS”) work is well underway on Falchani with completion targeted for late 2023 / early 2024, including an update to existing PEA by mid 2023 which will include:
  • Cesium and potassium by-products which are not currently included;
  • Updated long term LCE pricing from original outdated $12,000/t to $20,000/t; and
  • Updated mineral resource estimate from current drill program.

Notes