Mr. John Lee reports

CLEANTECH VANADIUM WELCOMES DOE US$1 BILLION INITIATIVE TO SECURE AMERICAN CRITICAL MINERALS AND MATERIALS SUPPLY CHAIN

The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Aug. 13, 2025, close to $1-billion (U.S.) in forthcoming funding to strengthen domestic critical mineral and material supply chains, with emphasis on critical mineral recovery from mine tailings and other waste streams. In addition, the U.S. Geological Survey released the 2025 list of critical minerals, expanding the list to 54 commodities and underscoring the importance of fluorspar, germanium, gallium, indium, silver and vanadium to supply disruption risk to the U.S. economy and national security.

Cleantech intends to pursue DOE (and other federal) funding opportunities with an initial focus on the company's fluorspar and critical mineral projects spanning more than 8,150 acres in the Illinois-Kentucky fluorspar district. The Department of Defence is currently funding research work at the Hicks Dome project in southern Illinois at IKFD, approximately three kilometres from the company's fluorspar project located in the Empire subdistrict in Pope county, Illinois. DOD funding includes support for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Critical Minerals & Materials Center to evaluate the Hicks Dome's rare earth and fluorspar deposit potential and advance process-development studies.

The IKFD historically produced an estimated 30.3 million tons of raw fluorspar -- approximately 90 per cent of total U.S. production during the Second World War (1939 to 1945) when national demand for steel was high. A review of the relevant literature indicates that significant mine wastes and tailings remain at the company's projects and across the IKFD containing fluorspar, germanium, gallium, indium, zinc, lead and silver. Visible tailings and waste dumps are evident from company site visits, on Google Maps and lidar imagery across the company's Babb and Tabb projects in the southern part of IKFD. Historical records indicate the Babb fault system produced approximately 145,335 tons of refined fluorspar grading 38 per cent CaF2 and 1.5 per cent zinc, while the Tabb fault system is reported to have produced two million to three million tons with a grade above 30 per cent fluorspar. These production figures suggest substantial tailings and waste materials may remain on site.

Past production at the Babb fault system and the Tabb fault system is historic in nature and not indicative of any future potential production or the economic viability of any of the company's projects in the IKFD.

In addition, the company's Gibellini vanadium open-pit, heap leach project located in Battle Mountain district in Nevada is estimated to contain 21.3 million tons grading 0.298 per cent V2O5 (127 million pounds of vanadium pentoxide) in measured and indicated category, with 31.5 million tons grading 0.31 per cent V2O5 (195 million pounds of vanadium pentoxide) in inferred category. The Gibellini project may be fast-tracked for federal funding given that the Gibellini pit that features a strip ratio of 0.4 to 1, greatly minimizes the mineral extraction cost. The Gibellini project received a positive environmental impact statement record of decision from the Bureau of Land Management in October, 2023.

DOE $1-billion (U.S.) initiative

The DOE has outlined a multitrack funding effort approaching $1-billion (U.S.). Specifically, DOE notices of intent include up to $500-million (U.S.) from the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains for battery material processing, manufacturing and recycling; $250-million (U.S.) from the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management to byproduct recovery at domestic industrial facilities; up to $135-million (U.S.) under MESC for a rare earth element demonstration facility that will test recovery routes from mine tailings and other waste streams; about $50-million (U.S.) for a critical mineral and material accelerator program tied to refining and alloying steps in the magnet and semiconductor chain from the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office; and $40-million (U.S.) program from the Advanced Research Projects Agency -- Energy -- to recover critical minerals from industrial waste water.

The U.S. Geological Survey's 2025 list of critical minerals

The U.S. Geological Survey's 2025 list of critical minerals, released on Aug. 25, 2025, proposes adding potash, silicon, copper, silver, rhenium and lead while removing arsenic and tellurium. It also formalizes an economic effect method that ranks minerals by their probability-weighted impact on U.S. gross domestic product under trade disruption scenarios.

The USGS's 2025 list of critical minerals serves as a technical recommendation to the Department of the Interior, and, after interagency review, public comment and further assessment, the secretary of the Interior determines and publishes the final list.

Fluorspar is ranked No. 47 by the USGS on probability-weighted gross domestic product impact, with an estimated $14-million (U.S.) net decrease in U.S. GDP. Fluorspar is categorized as moderate risk and recommended for inclusion in the final list of critical minerals. U.S. fluorspar demand is driven by hydrofluoric acid production for uranium enrichment, battery electrolyte production, semiconductors, refrigerants, fluoropolymers, aluminum and defence while domestic supply remains almost non-existent. Therefore, recovering fluorspar from legacy mine tailings is strongly aligned with U.S. supply chain goals. Cleantech's review of historical records indicates a material inventory of legacy tailings across the IKFD that may host fluorspar, silver, germanium, gallium and indium, making it a strong candidate for a Department of Energy-focused $1-billion (U.S.) initiative to remediate tailings and recover critical minerals.

Vanadium is ranked No. 23, with an estimated $92-million (U.S.) net decrease in U.S. GDP. Vanadium is categorized as elevated risk by USGS and recommended for inclusion in the final list of critical minerals. U.S. vanadium consumption is driven by high-strength steel products with an accelerating grid-storage demand through vanadium redox flow batteries. With limited primary domestic production, the DOE plan is to increase U.S. production and processing capacity so that both battery-grade electrolyte feed and ferrovanadium can be sourced at home in the United States. Cleantech's plan to advance U.S. vanadium production and processing through the development of its Gibellini vanadium project is designed to meet that need.

Germanium and gallium are ranked No. 7 and No. 6, respectively, by the USGS, with estimated probability-weighted net decreases in U.S. GDP of $814-million (U.S.) and $1.4-billion (U.S.), and both are categorized high risk and recommended for inclusion in the final list of critical minerals. Germanium and gallium U.S. exposure is especially acute because it is essential to fibre optics, infrared optics and advanced semiconductors, and features extensively in the USGS disruption modelling. Germanium and gallium are present in sphalerite-rich zones of the company's Tabb and Babbs projects' tailings, and, with appropriate processing, they could be recovered to provide a U.S. supply and reduce dependence on imports.

Qualified person

The technical contents of this news release have been prepared under the supervision of Carlos Zamora, who is a member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists and a certified professional geologist since 2024. Mr. Zamora is an independent qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Cleantech Vanadium Mining Corp.

Cleantech is a mining company focused on critical mineral resources in the United States. The company has an option to acquire 8,150 acres of mineral rights with historic fluorspar resources across multiple projects in the Illinois-Kentucky fluorspar district. Cleantech also owns a 100-per-cent interest in the Gibellini vanadium mine project in Nevada.

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