CleanTech Through Acquisition Doubles Its Illinois Mineral Rights Holdings, Surrounding Hicks Dome Rare-Earth Deposit Within Prominent Fluorspar District

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 18, 2025) - CleanTech Vanadium Mining Corp. (TSXV: CTV) (OTCQB: CTVFF) ("CleanTech" or "the Company") announces that, through its 100%-owned subsidiary, it has acquired from arms-lengths third-party vendor a package of highly prospective mineral rights (the "New Illinois Fluorspar Properties") which surround the Hicks Dome rare-earth fluorspar deposit in Illinois' Pope and Hardin Counties. The total purchase price of US$68,700 has been paid to the vendor.

CleanTech's New Illinois Fluorspar Properties consist of 37 mineral rights parcels (each a "Property") totaling 1,605 acres across Empire, Interstate, Hobbs Creek, Hicks Dome, Cave-in-Rock, and Lusk Creek subdistricts. The New Illinois Fluorspar Properties have nearly doubled Cleantech's existing Illinois Fluorspar mineral rights holdings to a total of 2,846 acres between Pope and Hardin Counties.

CleanTech's total mineral rights holdings now stand at over 17,550 acres (14,704 acres in Kentucky and 2,846 acres in Illinois) within the Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar District ("IKFD"). CleanTech's mineral properties in the IKFD have extensive exploration (over 745 drill holes) and production histories and are strategically positioned along the major mineralized fault systems that produced approximately 9 million tons of historical fluorspar between approximately 1914 to 1995 in Illinois alone^[1]. This accounted for 90% of all US fluorspar production during that time period.

John Lee, CEO of CleanTech comments: "CleanTech's mineral properties in the Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar District are now larger than Manhattan in size.

Fluorspar is a critical mineral and key input in nuclear enrichment, lithium batteries, and semiconductor manufacturing. The United States today relies entirely on foreign fluorspar imports from China and elsewhere to power its economy. CleanTech's fluorspar projects represent more than an attractive mining investment—they are key to America's mineral independence.

CleanTech is looking forward to partnering with America's industrial fluorspar users and federal and state agencies to accelerate project development."

In reviewing detailed maps and available historic data, CleanTech is also very intrigued by the potential discovery of rare earth elements ("REE") and other trace elements such as germanium given properties' proximity to the Hicks Dome deposit. Hicks Dome is particularly enriched in heavy REE such as dysprosium (Dy), scandium (Sc) and yttrium (Y)^[2] required for magnets and other military applications.