Mr. Patrick Highsmith reports

PURE ENERGY MINERALS ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF PILOT PLANT BASIC DESIGN AT THE CLAYTON VALLEY LITHIUM PROJECT

Pure Energy Minerals Ltd. has completed the basic design for the pilot plant at its flagship Clayton Valley project. Pure Energy has been working closely with its engineering providers to achieve the basic engineering and ensuing final design of the pilot plant. Building on the work reviewed at an engineering meeting on February, 2018 (see company news release dated Feb. 27, 2018), the basic design includes drafts of process flow diagrams, piping and instrumentation diagrams, specifications, subcontractor scopes, contracting documents, and facility layouts.

The pilot plant design is being led by Tenova Advanced Technologies, with significant contributions from Suez Water Technologies & Solutions, a business unit of Suez Group, and Noram Engineering & Constructors (collectively, the engineering team). The facility at the CV project will be the first pilot-scale implementation of the Tenova process in the world.

Patrick Highsmith, Pure Energy's chief executive officer, stated: "We are truly excited to receive the pilot plant basic design package from the engineering team. The team has made significant progress over the three months since we last met at Tenova's research facility in Israel. The basic design package represents the culmination of thousands of hours of engineering effort toward the design of this first-of-its-kind facility. We are particularly pleased to work with Tenova, Suez and Noram, all of whom are world-renowned leaders in their respective fields. Their support is invaluable to the development and success of the CV project."

Completion of the pilot plant basic design is an important milestone in Pure Energy's development of the CV project. The company plans to build the pilot plant in Nevada to further evaluate the innovative technology developed by Tenova for the extraction of lithium and production of lithium hydroxide monohydrate at the CV project (the Tenova process). Data from a successful pilot-plant trial will be used in the design of a full-scale commercial plant to produce lithium hydroxide directly from Clayton Valley brine using the Tenova process.

The Tenova process flowsheet consists of three distinct sections:

1. Pretreatment -- LiP: The pretreatment stage efficiently removes the alkaline earth elements (calcium, magnesium and strontium) with minimal lithium loss. This was achieved in the mini-pilot plant testwork using membranes supplied by Suez.
2. Solvent extraction -- LiSX: The solvent extraction step incorporates Tenova pulsed columns in each of the extraction, scrubbing and stripping stages to extract the lithium from the brine and concentrate it into a strip solution. Based on successful mini-pilot plant test results (see company's news release dated Dec. 13, 2016), the LiSX step is expected to increase the lithium concentration by a factor of approximately 38 with no measurable lithium losses.
3. Electrolysis -- LiEL: Through electrolysis, the lithium sulphate produced in the preceding solvent extraction step is transformed into lithium hydroxide using equipment and a process designed by Noram. This step allows for the direct production of lithium hydroxide monohydrate without having to first produce lithium carbonate.

The Tenova process is specifically designed to exclude solar pond evaporation, increase and accelerate lithium recovery, and reduce the associated environmental footprint of lithium production. After successful bench-scale testing, proof-of-concept for the Tenova process through mini-pilot plant test work was completed in 2016 at Tenova's research and development centre in Israel.

The engineering team is committed alongside Pure Energy to the design, construction and operation of the pilot plant, as described in the memorandum of understanding between Pure Energy, Tenova and the rest of the engineering team (see company news release of Oct. 11, 2017). To date, the engineering team has contributed more than $600,000 (U.S.) toward the pilot plant project in the form of in-kind contributions and discounts.

Quality assurance

Walter Weinig, professional geologist and SME registered member (SME registered member No. 4168729), is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Weinig is not independent of the company, as he is an officer.

About Pure Energy Minerals Ltd.

Pure Energy Minerals is a lithium resource developer that is driven to become a low-cost supplier for the growing lithium battery industry. Pure Energy's CV project is located in Esmeralda county, Nevada, adjacent to the only producing lithium-brine operation in North America. The CV project has access to excellent infrastructure and an experienced work force in one of the world's premier mining jurisdictions. The company is also exploring a new lithium brine project in the Lithium Triangle of South America, the Terra Cotta project.

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